So - are we getting it or are we not - nicotine

[a2dcovert]

I have to agree with that statement TV. I have found myself somewhat shamefacedly admitting that I have not yet quit all analogs. I really want to do so, but..........

Yep I know what you are going through. I am thinking that maybe a couple of cigs a day won't hurt but I'm afraid that if I do I will lose too much ground. There's also that " shamefacedly admitting that I have not yet quit " to deal with. Failure is a devistating event. but I'm sure most of you know exactly what I mean.

Brain chemistry is not something to play around with. I'm going to try one more doctor to see if I can find one who might have a clue as to what is going on. One of my symptoms of cigarette withdrawal is a hair trigger temper. I'm afraid that if I am put into a situation of confrontation I might not be able to maintain control. I'm normally very slow to anger. This almost happened to me in 1986 on another failed attempt to quit. No one objected to me returning to smoking then.

 

[BushPilot]

For these health organizations to state that electronic cigs are not a viable alternative to the smoking they have spent millions demonizing just shows the threat posed to their careers by the very good alternative represented by Esigs....... Hell is sure going to be crowded... lol

 

[BushPilot]

For these health organizations to state that electronic cigs are not a viable alternative to the smoking they have spent millions demonizing just shows the threat posed to their careers by the very good alternative represented by Esigs....... Hell is sure going to be crowded... lol

 

[TWISTED VICTOR]

Yep I know what you are going through. I am thinking that maybe a couple of cigs a day won't hurt but I'm afraid that if I do I will lose too much ground. There's also that " shamefacedly admitting that I have not yet quit " to deal with. Failure is a devistating event. but I'm sure most of you know exactly what I mean.

.

I understand going so long, then lighting up seems such a failure. More so, I think, for a man as we are creatures driven by performance. But in a case such as this, for some of us every day gets to feeling more like undergoing Chinese water torture. Like a trapped rat, any way out gets more tempting by the hour. If you continue to vape and have a smoke occasionally to restore your sanity you'll need to weigh the health risk vs life quality. I think many use this method successfully. I don't know that I could, so I keep the thought buried, but I also know it may be an option in the long run. Maybe you've covered this, but have you given thought to snus? It appears to be a growing trend and with what little experience I have with it, a worthy one. It doesn't hit me like a smoke, but it does have the ability to keep me in a normal state of mind. And the nic vape seems to hit the spot better, too. Tropical Bob is famous on this forum for his snus exploration, but what drives him is the same quest for satisfaction you and I are on. In the end failure is what we personally make of it. Me, well, I don't imagine I'd think myself very successful if I quit smoking and spiraled into a mental puddle of goo. And I don't believe you'd feel successful if you broke a cashiers nose after receiving the wrong change at a drive-thru .

 

[a2dcovert]

I think I will try to do something. I think that there is info here on using loose tobacco. I have several pounds of RYO cogarette tobacco. Maybe I can whip up something. i'll try to research and give it a try.

 

[frankie1]

My internist told me that the average person tries to quit 19 times before he/she is successful! At least he is willing to look at the real problem! I think he must have done a little research on ecigs since I first told him I was using them. When I spoke with him this week and told him I had slipped and was smoking more again, he didn't jump down my throat! He seemed aware of the fact that there is something missing in ecigs. Wonder if he found this thread?? LOL

 

[Vaporer]

frankie1,
The only one here upset with you not being able to stop the analogs altogether is you. We dont judge each other. That would be like pointing a finger while looking in a mirror.
I know it must be tough to hear people being able to stop them and you cant. Its not a weakness or failure on your part.
Lets think of people as individuals with different phisiology, needs, addictated to different things abt smoking. Some need the nic, some the MAOI's, flavor, seeing the vapor, hand gestures etc......
For yrs this has been a ritual ingrained in our brains for what drives us to keep smoking. Each "thing" has a value of importance, different for each person.
Many , myself includied find WTA or snus very satisfying. In my case I can increase the nic and only feel a bit better. I use the snus (dissolveables dont work the same for me) and I vape abt 50% and feel pretty darn good.
Previously I referred to each having a toolkit and no 2 may be alike. Not one solution that solves everyones problem. (WTA might now though, but its not readily available).
A good strong Swedish snus seems to be the closest substitute for WTA.
So..............if we look at ourselves as combination locks, it becomes a matter of finding the right combination to release the "itch".
With everything we've found out here with everyones help and input, I'd suggest making a list of all the things you do when you smoke. Add nic and MAOI to the list.
Then go through and make sure each thing on the list is being satisfied.
Try upping you nic and see the results. If its better , keep it there. Dont remove it when moving on or you may be removing an important part of your combination. It can be reduced later. Make sure you use a flavor you like and can vape regularly. Many try all the "candy" flavors but usually come back to a tobacco type because that is what is embedded in our brains and it expects that. Try a good mini portion strong snus. I prefer "ice or mint" since I was a menthol smoker. Other flavored snus do work though, for me.

The fact you havent given up and you are upset with yourself shows you arent a quitter and want to stop. You just havent found the right combination to "pop" the lock and you are getting frustrated. A honest human response when you hear of others doing well or better than you are.

I hope this explains something I'm trying to say in a way it means something to someone other than myself.

 

[TropicalBob]

Ad2dcovert, please don't play with loose tobacco. The stuff is just not healthy to put in your mouth. Get thee to the Internet, to a place like buysnus.com, and order some Peach and Strawberry Discreet snus. $1 for 10 portions. Tasty.

Unfortunately, a bad first experience with snus or nasal snuff or dissolvables can turn a person off to ever trying again. Another failure is chalked up. Start slow, with something that tastes good, and then expand to stronger, less tasty stuff.

Snus and nasal snuff are so cheap that even total failure costs only a few bucks. You can buy six months' worth of nasal snuff for the price of a single pack of cigarettes today. Try the alternatives, but don't start with loose tobacco. Don't start with anything you presently have. Research your wants, and order online.

 

[Vaporer]

TBob,

Just a thanks for all the answers you took time to help me with when reaching the snus/nasal snuff questions.
They have been an immense help and you are another great asset to this group.

 

[a2dcovert]

Ad2dcovert, please don't play with loose tobacco. The stuff is just not healthy to put in your mouth. Get thee to the Internet, to a place like buysnus.com, and order some Peach and Strawberry Discreet snus. $1 for 10 portions. Tasty.

Unfortunately, a bad first experience with snus or nasal snuff or dissolvables can turn a person off to ever trying again. Another failure is chalked up. Start slow, with something that tastes good, and then expand to stronger, less tasty stuff.

Snus and nasal snuff are so cheap that even total failure costs only a few bucks. You can buy six months' worth of nasal snuff for the price of a single pack of cigarettes today. Try the alternatives, but don't start with loose tobacco. Don't start with anything you presently have. Research your wants, and order online.

TB, I was think about soaking tobacco in VG to extract the components. Is that not a good either?

I will get some snus to try. I think I can buy some here local to try, if not I will order, thanks for the link to your source.

 

[TropicalBob]

Soaking is fine. That way, you do get all the alkaloids that tobacco contains, in addition to an unknown amount of nicotine.

My current favored method is soaking a mini snus portion in vegetable glycerine, inserting it into a cartridge after the core is removed, and vaping that. This works best with a penstyle, 801, unit.

 

[Vaporer]

A2D,
Might be a good question for DVap on the soaking.
How much tobacco, ml of VG, does VG get the alkaloids or is PG better.
Then what is the best time for extraction before you start to get the gunk forming "extras"?

 

[TropicalBob]

Let me correct that it's getsnus.com that has the Discreet. I order regularly from all three big sources: getsnus, buysnus and northerner. The link to the getsnus Discreet is:

Original Portion Snus - GetSnus.com

 

[Mordred]

Ad2dcovert, please don't play with loose tobacco. The stuff is just not healthy to put in your mouth. Get thee to the Internet, to a place like buysnus.com

This.

But also, realize one thing: No matter what you use as a cigarette substitute, it will NEVER do everything a cigarette does. Some products come close, like snus worked for me, but I'd be lying if I said I never wanted a cigarette in the past month. I smoked 2 packs a day for 17 years, you don't kick that kind of habit in a few weeks.

So yeah, don't be too hard on yourself. Don't pressure yourself into thinking that you absolutely have to quit right now, you don't, you have plenty of time to figure out what works best for you. In short, don't obsess over it.

 

[a2dcovert]

My internist told me that the average person tries to quit 19 times before he/she is successful! At least he is willing to look at the real problem! I think he must have done a little research on ecigs since I first told him I was using them. When I spoke with him this week and told him I had slipped and was smoking more again, he didn't jump down my throat! He seemed aware of the fact that there is something missing in ecigs. Wonder if he found this thread?? LOL

Boy, that's eve opening! He must have done some research. Might be someone to keep intouch with.

I wonder why some can quit cold turkey. When I was 21 and my wife got pregnent with our son I decided to quit. I put the pack of cigs and lighter on my dresser top and never touched them again. I stayed off smoking for 6 years and really hadn't any cravings.

Then I was sent to Saudi Arabia for 3 months in 1979, right after the coup in Iran. Needless to say we were nervous and I was working with a lot of guys from the UK. Those folks were too polite, as everytime one of them wanted a cigarette they passed their pack around the room befoer taking one and lighting up. After 2 weeks of passing that pack on to the next guy I took one out and lit it. That's all it took to get me back to full time smoking again. Thinking that quiting was easy and I would be able to quit anytime I wanted. Boy was I wrong! Here I am 30 years later and many failed attempts under my belt wondering why it was so easy the first time.

 

[olderthandirt]

Morning all
A2d, Helen posted this in the quitting forum earlier
This is your brain on nicotine
Speaks to subjects Kin has gone over in some detail but in language I was able to understand.
Kinda boils down to length of exposure has a lot to do with ease, or lack of ease, in the quitting.

Take a look at it bud.

 

[a2dcovert]

Soaking is fine. That way, you do get all the alkaloids that tobacco contains, in addition to an unknown amount of nicotine.

Looks like I need to do a lot of thread reading.

My current favored method is soaking a mini snus portion in vegetable glycerine, inserting it into a cartridge after the core is removed, and vaping that. This works best with a penstyle, 801, unit.

Thanks.

A2D,
Might be a good question for DVap on the soaking.
How much tobacco, ml of VG, does VG get the alkaloids or is PG better.
Then what is the best time for extraction before you start to get the gunk forming "extras"?

Yes, I will do some more reading before attempting.

Morning all
A2d, Helen posted this in the quitting forum earlier
This is your brain on nicotine
Speaks to subjects Kin has gone over in some detail but in language I was able to understand.
Kinda boils down to length of exposure has a lot to do with ease, or lack of ease, in the quitting.

Take a look at it bud.

Thanks OTD, will check it out.

Just got distracted by blowing a week old atty on my Prodigy. I hate it when that happens. No warning, just silence.

 

[Chem101]

a2d -

Good question; my first go around was easy...I decided, on a whim, to just quit and was fine for over a year or so. At a bar, a friend offered me one and I, like you, assumed just one would be fine since I'd be able to simply quit again. I was wrong.

That being said, have any of you tried the Rx medications out there that are supposed to assist with quitting? I always wonder exactly how that works in the brain. Wellbutrin, for example, is an anti-depressant but also has smoking cessation properties. Who knows.

What I do realize is that a cigarette, for whatever reason, does it for me way better than anything else. It makes me think that there's way more than nicotine in a cigarette that keeps us hooked. It's funny, isn't it? That the government can regulate and tax the crap out of a cigarette that is harder to kick than almost any other substance of which I'm aware...

 

[DVap]

What I do realize is that a cigarette, for whatever reason, does it for me way better than anything else. It makes me think that there's way more than nicotine in a cigarette that keeps us hooked. It's funny, isn't it? That the government can regulate and tax the crap out of a cigarette that is harder to kick than almost any other substance of which I'm aware...

There is way more than nicotine in a cigarette that keeps us hooked. In some cases, this "way more than nicotine" represents a very effective antidepressant/antianxiety treatment, such that, for some, smoking is as much a treatment for depression as it is an addiction.

Unfortunately, in the eyes of medical community and the anti-tobacco forces, we blaspheme to suggest such a thing.

 

[a2dcovert]

a2d -

Good question; my first go around was easy...I decided, on a whim, to just quit and was fine for over a year or so. At a bar, a friend offered me one and I, like you, assumed just one would be fine since I'd be able to simply quit again. I was wrong.

That being said, have any of you tried the Rx medications out there that are supposed to assist with quitting? I always wonder exactly how that works in the brain. Wellbutrin, for example, is an anti-depressant but also has smoking cessation properties. Who knows.

What I do realize is that a cigarette, for whatever reason, does it for me way better than anything else. It makes me think that there's way more than nicotine in a cigarette that keeps us hooked. It's funny, isn't it? That the government can regulate and tax the crap out of a cigarette that is harder to kick than almost any other substance of which I'm aware...

After my 5 line heart bypass surgery in 2004 "everyone" decided that I needed to quit smoking. The doctors convinced my wife that Wellbutrin was the real solution to help me quit. Not so. After 1 week in a coma in ICU and 4 additional weeks in recovery and rehab my cravings were still overwhelming. I tried to sneak out of the hospital in my wheel chair, I couldn't even walk yet, and get a cigarette. I made it 3 months without a cigarette but gave up the struggle finally. At the time I knew exactly what I was doing. I made a quality of life decission over quantity. I knew my life would be cut short if I smoked. My heart doctor told me that I wouldn't live beyond 10 years if I chose to smoke.

So, until I discovered the e-cig I was resigned to that fate. When I started vaping I started tapering off my cigarette smoking slowly until I was convinced that this solution was viable. I didn't want to start the process just to fail again. So in May I made the decission to quit. I never thought that it would soon become a struggle that has lasted now 7 months.

But I'm preaching to the choir.