Snuss - dry pouches

[sixstring]

It's actually very different from American chew. With snus, you don't spit. You don't get sick swallowing your own saliva. And it's not like a Skoal wet pouch. I too tried that and it was godawful.

I didn't take to snus immediately. At first, I only liked sweet ones. The Camel was great, as far as I was convinced, but the hardcore snusers on their forum ridiculed Camel and Marlboro. These (mostly) guys with hair on both shoulders like strong, harsh stuff.

Snus does not provide the immediate nic hit of smoking, so it can sneak up on you. I've OD'd twice, after realizing too late that I was way over the line (I was snusing and smoking a pipe at the same time; I routinely use snus and an e-cig). Note that the blood nicotine level -- the total amount of nicotine circulating in your body -- is regulary higher in snus users than even in a heavy smoker. If you use snus and any other source of nicotine, take great care.

Start light with something like the Camel or CatchDry Peppermint. Then move up. You can find the strengths and types at The Northerner or Buysnus.com

Thank you for responding.

I'll take it easy with vaping while using the general wintergreen. I still smoke analogs too (my Dad just got put under hospice care), so I'll be sure and lay off those whist "snusing". Don't want to spend the day/night praying to the porcelain god...

 

[Magish]

Bob i read some data that suggested that its about the same. only a little higher in snus users. also that only half the nicotine in a portion is usally absorbed.

i really like the nicotine over time that snus provided is very soothing

 

[TropicalBob]

Yeah, I just said higher. I've seen charts comparing cigs and cigars/pipes and snus, and snus always has more nicotine in the blood after 30 minutes. Cigs spike the level quickly, then drop it over the next 30 minutes. Snus causes a slow increase, then a maximum level at about 30 minutes that lasts longer. Different experiences.

General Wintergreen was unavailable at my store -- again. That's almost three months without it. I substituted white, but don't like it as well. Wintergreen sells out instantly when it's available -- at least in the six Florida stores owned by tobacco Depot.

 

[TropicalBob]

Got an announcement today of the world's strongest snus portion, to be called Thunder. It can be ordered from The Northerner and has 16mg of nicotine per pouch! In comparison, the General White Mint and CatchDry Peppermint that I use every day have 4mg per pouch. For reference, I've gotten sick twice on 6mg snus. I cannot imagine the knockout punch a 16mg pouch would pack. But the market keeps demanding more and more nicotine, so this one will delivery it.

 

[Magish]

thats just insane. i don't under stand how someone can use that. i like the general oynx cause the taste is rich but i can only use it for about 15 mins so i don't over nic myself.

 

[Psykosis]

Just picked up a tin of Camel Frost and Camel Mellow - these being my first experience into the wild wild realm of Snus. Only tried one of each so far. The Frost was my first experience - I rather liked it and likely sucked on it for more than 30 minutes. It did pretty much drive my desire to smoke away, causing about a four to five hour gap between analogs (which is quite good for me during business hours). The experience was pleasurable - without hiccups and just enough enough nicotine to get me by. My gum was a bit irritated afterwards, but it went away in a few hours.

I popped in the "Mellow" this morning and it was anything but mellow. My gum instantly started to burn, my eyes watered, and I was hiccuping like crazy. The taste itself was okay - a bit of a vanilla-nutty taste. I could only keep in it about 4 minutes before I had enough.

 

[TropicalBob]

Hardcore, veteran snusers look down their collective noses at Camel snus. I disagree. I rather liked them, too, when I tried some. They are not yet sold in my area, but I'll buy them when they are. To me, they seem very mild, with nicotine in the 4mg range for the Spice and Frost that I used. I've not heard of Mellow.

Four minutes is too short, BTW. You got nothing from that. These are dry pouches that take that long just to get saturated. Try for 30 minutes in the beginning. As your mouth adjusts, you'll keep each pouch about an hour, then take a break before using another or turning to e-smoking.

More FYI: It takes about 20 minutes for nicotine absorbed by your mouth to reach your brain. Much, much slower than smoking. Course, if you overdose, you'll get symptoms in about 10 minutes -- and there's nothing you can do to stop the problem at that point.

Don't suck on a pouch. Just place the pouch between your cheek and gums. Move it to a new spot every once in awhile. Don't bite it, chew on it or suck on it. It needs firm, established contact to exchange the nicotine.

 

[Magish]

one full week without a single cig. im exclusively using snus now.

=)

 

[TropicalBob]

Hard to believe, but the toughest part is now behind you. Temptations will occur, but you're past the torture, enjoying a new life with snus. Congratulations.

 

[ZambucaLu]

I just saw a poster for snus Camel Frost coming to a local gas station here. I want to try it. I have been having an awful time with withdrawal at work when I have long meetings and can't vape (which is quite frequent). When I get out of the meeting, I am almost in a nic panic and always turn to an analog because hitting an ecig just isn't working fast enough. I thought maybe using the snus during the meetings might help since it works over a period of time. Is the Frost like a menthol?

Anyhoo, my only concern is that it says something about damaging teeth/gums. Is this something I should worry about?

Lu

 

[TropicalBob]

Lu: Frost is rather like a menthol, yes. I loved it. Can't wait for it to become available in my area.

I keep a snus in place most of the day. After meals, I use a tablet of Stonewall Java dissolvable tobacco. When I'm home, I use snus and my e-cig. When I'm out, the e-cig is used only privately.

Glad you're going to try snusing. There's no "rule" that says we can ONLY e-smoke or do snus or dissolve Stonewall. Use what seems right and appropriate for time and place.

BTW: I might have had some gum recession from snusing. Not sure. Smoking also causes gum problems -- and I did that for 50 years.

 

[ZambucaLu]

Thanks Bob. I never heard of snus til you mentioned it. I know now that to really get away from the analogs, I need something else for those periods I can't vape. Going a long period of time without any nic (when I'm forced to) then vaping isn't working for me. I need that "constant stream" so I won't feel so overwhelmed during those times.

Funny that I am not a menthol smoker but I love Cash's menthol...so I figure what the heck...might as well try it. Don't think I have anything to lose. I'm also going to mention it to my son. He smokes less than half a pack of menthols a day....isn't really interested in the ecig....but might be the snus. He's a teacher....used to chew but couldn't while in class so he got away from it. This might be a better answer for him.

Well, will let you know how it goes once they get it in stock here. Dang...seems like I'm always waiting for something to come in!

Lu

 

[TropicalBob]

I know that waiting feeling. I'm waiting for new nasal snuff with high nic content, called Quit. Nasal snuffs aren't regular daily things for me, but if Quit calms cravings, I'll find a place for it in my rotation.

Speaking of sons ... my son shrugs at e-cigs. Not interested in making vapor.

He accepted some Stonewall Java I gave him for a long flight. Hated it Didn't complete even one tablet. I can't get him into snus, either. Maybe some day.

We all have to find our own way out of tobacco addiction, don't we? There's no one magic route, not even our beloved e-smoking.

 

[cucurucho]

Just in case any of you snus users are interested, I saw a swedish film last night called 'Miss Sweden' (Fröken Sverige). The main character was constantly using snus. While I don't think snus would be for me, I was totally happy to see them taking the stage in this excellent film.

 

[Frankie]

I have a question concerning this. Does the use of snus increase your tolerance so that you have to vape more to feel it? I think Bob said he did not really had any highs from e-cigs and that is why I am sort of afraid to use this stuff, even though it might be better than e-cigs and their chemicals. I would not want to destroy a low tolerance I built by couple of not-really-that-pleasant years of smoking only 10 a day and now mixing weak juices.

 

[TropicalBob]

Stay as clean as you can, Frankie. It's not anti's propaganda when authorities say there is no safe use of tobacco. That's true .. snus is just "safer" than inhaling cigarettes. It's harm reduction.

The nicotine content varies from "none" to 17mg per packet or pouch. I once went off cigarettes by using snus and eventually got to "none". As always, a crisis triggered a return to cigarettes.

But, yes, using snus can increase your nicotine dependence. Many users also become as hooked on them as users here are on e-cigs. I personally won't give up anything I use to stay off cigarettes. Do I think my nic tolerance has increased or decreased since I quit the 30-a-day cig habit? INCREASED. I'm getting more nic from snus and Stonewall and e-cigs and four pipes a day and Oliver Twist tobacco bits than I ever got smoking a cigarette.

None of this is cause for worry to me. If I worry, I'll no doubt return to the reliable, predictable hit of smoking cigarettes.

 

[Frankie]

Thank you very much for the answer, Bob. Things are that I think I am not really feeling well with e-cigs, so I was trying to find some other ways to stay off cigarettes, but I would like to avoid increasing my nic tolerance because if I return then to e-cigs, I would have to vape more and might feel actually worse. My plan was to give it a year or so and then stop altogether, so that if I relapse, I would relapse to e-smoking and not analogs. Now I am sort of looking for other alternatives that would replace e-cigs, not analogs, for me.

I am very glad to have a possibility to speak with experts before plunging into something.

 

[BiscuitSlayer]

TB - If you want to try some Camel Mellow, shoot me a PM. I just picked up a can of it and a can of Frost at my local gas station this evening.

 

[Frankie]

I found this (http://gothiatek.com/templates/start.aspx?page_id=73) on the snuson forum, which might be a rather positive thing, stating that one portion of snus should be somewhere around two cigarettes.
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A recent pharmacokinetic study comprising 12 snus-using men found the following nicotine contents in four different portion-packed snus products: General 1 g, the most popular product, contained 8.8 mg of nicotine; Catch Licorice 1 g, 7.0 mg of nicotine; Catch Mini 0.5 g, 4.5 mg of nicotine; and Catch Dry Mini 0.3g, 4.8 mg of nicotine. The mean amounts of nicotine extracted from General, Catch Licorice, Catch Mini, and Catch Dry Mini were 2.7,
1.6, 2.0, and 1.1 mg, respectively. With an assumption of 55% bioavailability for buccal nicotine products (which has been found repeatedly), the bioavailable dose should be 1.5 mg for General, 0.9 mg for Catch Licorice, 1.1 mg for Catch Mini, and 0.6 for Catch Dry Mini (Lunell, 2005). The bioavailability of nicotine per gram of snus is, hence, approximately 1.5 mg for General, 1.2 mg for Catch Licorice, 2.2 mg for Catch Mini, and 2.0 mg for
Catch Dry Mini. Results from these two studies NICOTINE & TOBACCO RESEARCH 345
(Andersson et al., 1994; Lunell, 2005) suggest that the actual nicotine intake from a gram of snus varies between 1.2 and 2.2 mg. The absorption may be somewhat higher from the less common loose snus; however, it is argued here that the estimate of nicotine intake should be based on the more commonly used portion bags. The most popular portion-packed brand, General, is supposed to give an uptake of 1.5 mg/gram, and this figure is used here as the estimate of nicotine intake from snus.

 

[BiscuitSlayer]

Has anyone tried the Offroad Apple or Coffee Vanilla?

I am really enjoying both the Camel Frost and Mellow. I can pop one of those in my mouth and then not even really want the e-cig.