The biggest thing I can't get over

[BadSeed]

Definitely less. I have one real cigarette left in the current pack I've got. I bought that pack on Friday! Considering I was a 20 a day smoker before getting my first e-cig it must be doing something for me.

I'll see whether I bother to buy another pack tomorrow. I'll probably have that last one tomorrow morning when I get up.

 

[jigtg]

I would give a thumbs up for pipes.
Reasoning:
-pipe smoking is heathier than cigarettes(around half of the loss in life expectancy I figure)
-since you dont inhale pipe smoke, you get more kick from e-cigs if you dual use
-you get to cut down the e-cig symptoms(no inhaling) in more sane manner

So pipe and e-cigs dual used would still be 4 times heathier than cigs assuming
e-cigs are safe so to speak. Well there is actually some supposed evidence
that less than 5 pipe bowls per day is actually healthier than non-smoking but
I'm not exactly buying that. I'd still call that a pretty good compromise.

Pipe smoking takes more time which can be a good or bad thing. Perhaps the
biggest obstacle to overcome is the tongue bite. I figure it takes several weeks
of casual puffing to get adjusted.

 

[TropicalBob]

Jigtg, I do just that (but many women will not consider a pipe!). I smoke 3 to 4 pipefuls a day, and use the e-cig when I'm at the computer. I do not inhale the pipe, or the less frequent cigar.

Reader's Digest had a blockbuster story many years ago about pipe smokers outliving even non-smokers. Calmer heads figured out it's the personality of the pipe smoker that contributes to longer life, not anything in the smoke. Ever seen a stressed-out pipe smoker? NO. Emphatically no. Cigarette smokers are stressed -- shivering and sucking furiously in cold air. They light up at every stressful moment. They view smoking as a stress reliever -- precisely because they have stressful personalities. And stress kills. As surely as smoke, stress subtracts years from a life and worsens the years of life left.

Pipe smokers have rituals. Calming rituals. Packing a pipe is an art. Keeping it lit but not blisteringly hot takes time to learn. And finding the right pipe tobacco can take a lifetime. A serious pipe smoker often becomes a collector, picking representative pipes of an era. It soon becomes a hobby to share with others of like mind. Visit an old time tobacco shop (they're being lost, sadly) and talk pipe tobacco with the owner.

It's the taste and feel of pipe smoke that I covet, as well as the relaxation. No vapor can duplicate that taste and mouth feel. I like e-smoking, but it can't duplicate the pleasure a good pipe brings.

 

[bghouse]

So is the trigger to go for a real cig different for everyone then? I really want to figure out what makes me crave that real smoke. I thought I had made it today - no cravings in the morning, none after meals - but sitting here tonight watching tv I just couldn't make it and had to smoke 1 real cig.

Tasted awful while I was doing it, but I smoked it to the bone. I had my e-cig, and was trying to get through it - but there was this anxiety I couldn't shake until I lit a cig.

I know that I should concentrate on the fact that I'd normally have smoke 40 cigs today and only smoked 1 - but I still wish I knew what my body thinks it's missing.... sigh...

 

[Kimmiegrif]

I miss the burning tabacco sometimes, but there is no way, that I would smoke in my house, living with a hubby that detests burning tabacco smell, so I figure, go outside and smoke the sinky yucky cigs and feel guilty for doing it, or sit in front of my tv and vap away...

 

[Kate]

There is an intake of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide when inhaling smoke that doesn't happen with vapour. This reduces oxygen in the blood and is what gives the dizzy feeling when you smoke a cig quickly. So what you might be missing is the feeling that lack of oxygen to your brain gives?

 

[TropicalBob]

There is a thread somewhere here noting that burning tobacco produces a chemical called harmine, which holds the euphoric kick of dopamine and seratonin (the "feel good" chemicals) that are produced when nicotine reaches the brain. Our vapor does NOT contain harmine and that might explain the unique pleasure derived from inhaling tobacco smoke. For those addicted to the pleasures of smoking, the missing harmine might explain why e-vapor fails to completely satisfy, even when lots of nicotine is inhaled. For sure, SOMETHING is missing. Seems to me that a top-notch chemist could figure a way to add just the right amount of harmine to e-liquid.

Like others here, I want my euphoria back but I don't want to have to inhale carcinogenic tars to get it!

 

[Vocalek]

Phildo, you live in Iowa so you should have no problem obtaining Stonewall tobacco bits. I love the Java flavor, personally. When I wake up each morning, the first thing I think is: I want a cigarette. Can't have one -- and haven't smoked one now for 15 months. So I reach for the Stonewall and pop a dissolvable tablet in my mouth. That's 4mg of nicotine that will be absorbed (none blown away as second-hand smoke) in about 30 minutes. Equal to four cigarettes. And that gets me going. I also reach for the e-cig, which is NOT like a cig really. I understand your problem.

It takes a combination to get me jump-started without returning to real cigarettes. I really understand your frustration, Naz. I'm the same way. I am not a totally happy e-camper and don't understand people who just sing praises of how wonderful and better it is than smoking. It's an alternative. An incomplete alternative for me.

Phildo, I do encourage you to try a combination of alternatives. Wear Big Pharma's patch overnight if you have to, then start your own morning ritual to prevent reaching for a real pack.

If Senate File 154 is passed, everyone in Iowa will have a problem getting dissolvables. This bill would make it illegal to sell dissolvables in any venue where people under age 18 can access. They don't see the irony in the fact that cigarettes can be purhased at 7-11 or the local gas station, but if you want the safer product, you will have to go to a tobacco shop or a bar that checks ID.

 

[W Axl Rose]

Actually, that's pretty much how all logic works in my lovely state of Iowa.