When I got Covid, I abruptly stopped smoking. There was not a trace of craving or any physical sign of withdrawal that I could detect. So how addictive is nicotine anyway?
Nicotine and Addiction
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As a matter of pharmacology, nicotine can’t be detected in the bloodstream for more than a few days. And unlike other drugs, nicotine withdrawal isn’t life threatening and is in theory supposed to subside after a few days.
I’ve known many social cigar and pipe smokers, that didn’t inhale. I even have seen a few social cigarette smokers who did inhale.
But for about five centuries most users of tobacco, whether by pipe, cigar, cigarette, snuff, chew, or these days by vape, are nicotine slaves.
It’s strange that the nicotine addict can sleep all night and not crave his fix.
But when he wakes up~~~ .
When I’m just smoking a pipe for a good length of time (months), I don’t notice much of a craving when I go a day or 2 without it, but when I get into dipping or snuff in the winter, stopping those is brutal. Irritable and fatigued for a solid week.
You were physically ill, how would you tell the symptoms apart, nicotine from the Covid? I'm not sure on could differentiate between two sets of symptoms.
There are several components to addiction, two of which are physical and psychological. For years, I was a heavy cigarette smoker, two packs a day, Gauloises, Chaliapin, Shermans, and American crap. Couldn't let go of it for more than a week or two, something would always pull me back.
Then, one day in the fall of 1983, I'm leaving the Disney lot and as I finish the last cigarette in the pack I think, "I won't buy another cigarette until I really want one". I didn't think, "This is the day I'm going to quit."
It's just that I haven't felt like buying or smoking another cigarette since that day in 1983.
Then, one day in the fall of 1983, I'm leaving the Disney lot and as I finish the last cigarette in the pack I think, "I won't buy another cigarette until I really want one". I didn't think, "This is the day I'm going to quit."
It's just that I haven't felt like buying or smoking another cigarette since that day in 1983.
Is nicotine addictive, yes, very. Will it make you addicted? Maybe, maybe not. You will barely now if you are addicted until you stop either way.
What's the old phrase," it's not working for me anymore, but I'm working for it".
I personally find no real adverse affects if I don’t smoke a pipe for a few days or even a week.
Addiction itself is funny thing. Of all things I've tried growing up, nic is the only thing I'm addicted to. Yes, I can go weeks without it, but the craving is strong enough I'll come back to it. But people get addicted to strangest things.
Maybe the physical component varies a lot from individual to individual. I think the non-physical component is underestimated.
I suspect the situation with cigarettes is much different- much more of a physical component.
I suspect the situation with cigarettes is much different- much more of a physical component.
My dad smoked for 20+ years until he got out of the Navy. That day he quit and never smoked another cigarette in his life. I smoked for a few weeks and decided it wasn't for me and quit. No problems. From what I gather only a fourth of all people get nicotine addiction so it is not the scourge of all who smoke just those who get addicted.
Nicotine is my friend. It keeps me from killing some people that aggravate me ?.
Being a cigarette and pipe smoker, I crave both differently, at different times. Cigs I feel like I can't breathe till I have one, and pipes I get that mouth feel, similar to chewing tobacco.
12 yrs ago i went on vacation, spent many 1000s going to Disney World, i grew up here and had been away for 20 yrs, i did it up, first class plane tickets, stayed at a property in the park on the monorail line, brought 2 cartons of American spirit cigarettes because i was a 2+ pack a day smoker back then, i was all set.
a few days before my trip a true piece of shit i worked with showed up to an offsite with the flu, i kept telling him to get away from me and he kept sitting next to me in the conference room like it was a big joke telling me he wasn’t contagious anymore ?. After 1/2 a day of that i left, told my boss i wasn’t going to sit in a little hotel conference room with this asshole.
The punch line is while at the airport waiting for my flight i started to feel warm, by the time we landed 5 hours later i had a raging fever. I spent the next 6 days passed out in my hotel room, i had a 10 day park hoper pass, by day 9 i felt a little better and went into the park at night for fireworks over the caste, i left the next day.
i didn’t smoke one cigarette, i actually left them for the maid, zero cravings and never smoked another cigarette, of course a month later i discovered cigars while shooting craps at the casino but hey you don’t inhale those!!
I spent $8200 to quit smoking the hard way. When i got back to work i almost got fired and arrested for assault, literally. Thankfully he quit a couple weeks later or i might have been. Shit now i forget what the point was … see over a decade later it still pisses me off ? Oh yah when it’s out of your system it’s just out of your system, i used to get big time cravings for a cigarette after a meal though, for years, that part didn’t go away till i picked up cigars.
how’s that for a frigging ramble ?
I think I am mildly addicted to smoking a pipe. I do it way more than any nicotine cravings warrant. Mostly I do it because I like it, not because I feel any need.
In situations where I can't smoke, I just don't and it is not a problem.
When I smoked cigarettes it was a very different experience. It was nicotine addiction for sure, but even stronger was the habit, like my hands were on autopilot and I just lit a cigarette whenever I could.
In situations where I can't smoke, I just don't and it is not a problem.
When I smoked cigarettes it was a very different experience. It was nicotine addiction for sure, but even stronger was the habit, like my hands were on autopilot and I just lit a cigarette whenever I could.
Trust me, even if you don't feel the nicotine your brain thoroughly enjoys it. So much so that, no matter how subtly, it will say, "More please."
As a matter of pharmacology, nicotine can’t be detected in the bloodstream for more than a few days. And unlike other drugs, nicotine withdrawal isn’t life threatening and is in theory supposed to subside after a few days.
I’ve known many social cigar and pipe smokers, that didn’t inhale. I even have seen a few social cigarette smokers who did inhale.
But for about five centuries most users of tobacco, whether by pipe, cigar, cigarette, snuff, chew, or these days by vape, are nicotine slaves.
It’s strange that the nicotine addict can sleep all night and not crave his fix.
But when he wakes up~~~ .
Yes I think about your last point often. After I wake up I don't feel any serious withdraw for a good hour.
And some of us, can't get that voice to stop. Gets louder and louder untill you feed it.
I don't experience nicotine withdrawal. If I get sick or busy and go without smoking a pipe, I don't experience any cravings or change in mood. Contrast that with coffee, where I had to go to decaf to compensate for several symptoms -- heart, tremor, and mood. And I had to cease tea, which I love, because of kidney stones.
I think nicotine response and addiction is genetic. My mom liked cigarettes for social props, gesturing dramatically and lighting up with a flourish, but she never owned a pack that didn't go stale. She just didn't get hooked.
I think nicotine response and addiction is genetic. My mom liked cigarettes for social props, gesturing dramatically and lighting up with a flourish, but she never owned a pack that didn't go stale. She just didn't get hooked.
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