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spanishkarl

Lurker
Aug 24, 2015
43
0
Hi,
After 30 years of heavy cigarette smoking, I bought my first pipe 6 months ago. I like a lot about it, apart from the (for me) missing nicotine hit. However, I gave up smoking everything on a whim in the start of February, starting off with patches and spray, and am now on just a few sprays a day. I miss so much about smoking, but also don't want a heavy cigarette habit again. But it would be nice to have a pipe now and again. So I had a couple of bowls last night, which was great. Interestingly, I didn't get that feeling of nicotine going into every cell in my body as I have when taking up cigarettes again after a break on previous occasions. So hopefully it is really less addictive than cigarettes (or I am addicted to nicotine anyway since I am using the spray). I do find myself wanting another pipeful today though, but think that is more about the ritual than the nicotine hit. Also, I have a massive hangover which is one of my triggers for smoking lots :)

Hopefully I can keep it at a level where I just have a bowl on 'special occasions'!
Welcome to the Forum! Fixed thread title, please see rule number 9. Pertinent portion: Please capitalize words in the thread titles. Thank you, Robert.

 
mso489

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,454
spanish', sounds like you're struggling. I think moderate smoking, a bowl or two a day, is far better than cigarettes, but most medical people will just say no to any tobacco use. Some pipe tobacco has a fairly substantial nicotine hit, but you will probably have to go to full-strength non-aromatics like Five Brother or Semois (and many others) to get the effect, but then, as you say, it is back to an addictive relationship and it is harder to control moderation. Likewise, drinking to a hangover is another behavior to consider "controlling." Right now, I'd say, do anything reasonable to remain off cigarettes, and do pipe smoking and drinking in a way that lets you maintain real control. Otherwise you're just trading around one bad habit for another. Sorry to sound so avuncular (uncle-like). You're an adult and will do what you decide. I'm just hoping it turns out well for you in all respects. Welcome aboard. No more sermons from me.

 
drennan

drennan

Can't Leave
Mar 30, 2014
344
3
Normandy
I'd had enough of being addicted to nicotine so after 16 years of being a pack a day smoker I just quit cold turkey. Around two months later I realised I missed smoking so I took up the pipe, I love enjoying tobacco on my terms and being able to go several days without a smoke should I need to. I feel alot healthier too

 
mcitinner1

mcitinner1

Lifer
Apr 5, 2014
4,043
24
Missouri
I've been off cigarettes, and on pipes for 27 months now. I'm 62 and was a 42 year cigarette smoker. I never really craved nicotine, or had what I consider much of a nicotine hit from cigs. I certainly cannot say that about pipe tobacco. I still don't crave nicotine OR a pipe, either one. Sometimes I may smoke only one bowl in a day, (before bed). I've been playing around with big nicotine hit tobacco for several months now, and when I do that with some twist, the next day I won't even want a pipe until bedtime.

 
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spanishkarl

Lurker
Aug 24, 2015
43
0
I've decided to go with it and have a few bowls every other day. Now that I am off the cigarettes I am getting more pleasure out of weaker blends, and I don't seem to get much in the way of cravings in between. Hopefully I can keep it that way.
My partner who gave up smoking (although was only ever a social smoker) at the same time as me doesn't seem to mind too much. At least we've not had a 'chat' yet :) In any case spray and a few pipes has to be better than smoking cigarettes non-stop.

 
easterntraveler

easterntraveler

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 29, 2012
805
11
Hope it works out for you. If I was ever addicted to somthing and quit. I would avoid it at all cost.

 
ray47

ray47

Lifer
Jul 10, 2015
2,451
5,612
Dalzell, South Carolina
You may want to try the following blends which solve my cravings for cigarettes:
C&D's Old Joe Krantz

C&D's Big & Burley

G&H Dark Birdseye
To be honest there are times, very few, where I crave a cigarette so I just smoke one. I'm almost 70 yrs old so I have a right.

 
sallow

sallow

Lifer
Jun 30, 2013
1,531
3,771
The pipe will not provide a nic 'hit', not like a cigarette.
It is steady and slow.

 
deathmetal

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
So hopefully it is really less addictive than cigarettes (or I am addicted to nicotine anyway since I am using the spray).
Click to expand...
This is my experience, and sallow explains the method well: a pipe is a gentle lift, where a cigarette is a jolt. What goes up must come down, and it does at the same speed, which creates the depressive part of the addiction cycle. It's like the difference between a beer in the afternoon and pounding down whiskies at 2 AM on Sunset Strip.

 
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shutterbugg

Lifer
Nov 18, 2013
1,451
21
Switching to a pipe to quit cigarettes and saying you won't inhale makes as much sense as a drunk switching from booze to wine saying he'll just swish it around in his mouth and spit it out.

 
tinsel

tinsel

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 23, 2015
531
7
I didn't get that feeling of nicotine going into every cell in my body as I have when taking up cigarettes again after a break on previous occasions.
Click to expand...
Former cigarette smoker here ...
You won't get that same feeling, the nicotine rushing through your body, out of a pipe (most likely). This is because cigarettes:
1. Are inhaled. Nicotine absorbs into your bloodstream faster through the lungs than through the mouth/sinuses.
2. Have a chemical added to help the nicotine get into your bloodstream faster.
Smoking a pipe, even if you go with a nicotine-bomb like 5 brothers, gets the nicotine into your blood much slower. However, the trade-off is that the nicotine also stays in your system longer (in my opinion). So instead of a "shot in the arm" its more of a "time release capsule".
Of course, if you went with a nicotine heavy blend and inhaled you might get that same "rush", but I wouldn't recommend it.

 
S

shutterbugg

Lifer
Nov 18, 2013
1,451
21
Nicotine absorbs into your bloodstream faster through the lungs than through the mouth/sinuses.
Click to expand...
Actually that happens to be false, and the reverse is actually true. The reason inhaling causes that "hit" is because the smoke inhibits oxygenation of the blood in the lungs. Basically, inhaling is a form of suffocation.

 
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spanishkarl

Lurker
Aug 24, 2015
43
0
Thanks everyone! I'm not inhaling, to be honest I don't like the taste of inhaled pipe tobacco.
I agree it seems a lot more subtle and gentle than cigarettes, and am pleased that I now finally am 'getting it'.
I am too much of a chicken to get my pipe out in public, so that should limit how much I do it.

 
deathmetal

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
Smoking a pipe, even if you go with a nicotine-bomb like 5 brothers, gets the nicotine into your blood much slower. However, the trade-off is that the nicotine also stays in your system longer (in my opinion). So instead of a "shot in the arm" its more of a "time release capsule".
Click to expand...
Good metaphor. It also tastes good, smells good, and gives you an excuse to say nothing while people are saying stupid things around you (which, if you're on planet Earth, is 99% of the time anyway).

 
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