PTSD and Pipe Smoking

[GilGalad65]

Yes, taking up pipe smoking has been good for me in terms of bad dreams and inappropriate anger.
It's weird, when I was in I didn't smoke or chew, and rarely drank more than my 2 drinks (except for at grogs and hail and farewells).
Now I smoke a pipe and keep a bottle of the good stuff convenient for a nightcap. It's funny how the world turns! With the handle GilGalad, I've got to ask, have you tried a tin of capstan yet? Professor Tolkien's writing has been a part of my life long since before I went off to be a soldier, and is the main reason I decided to give the pipe a try.

I just finished reading for the who knows how many times all four books plus silmarilian. It is a part of the whole "pipe weed" kinda thing. Country squire has great selection. Have read some on what Tolkien smoked, but have not tried enough yet

 

[anotherbob]

Hello,

I was never a smoker and I am in my 50's. I have been struggling with PTSD since I got sick about 10 years ago. I am a 2 time combat vet so I got issues I have found smoking a pipe or cleaning, researching, etc about pipes. Am I alone in that smoking a pipe calms me down from various triggers (not all of them), my VA doctors are exploding that after 50+ years I started smoking. Am I alone in this?

hell no. That's like one of the big selling points of pipes. Seriously they help keep me calm with my issues and traumas too. I swear a lot of it isn't just nicotine but nicotine and doing a focused but relaxed activity that just does something very positive to the consciousness. It allows you to take a half step back from everything and not get hit in the face so to speak. I have read a lot about the more recent research into how nicotine effects people and it's an incredible substance that has a lot of very positive results on the nervous system. One of the big ones is with schizophrenia it allows for the patient to adapt to stimuli better. Example if there is a loud noise outside like a jackhammer most people will not be shocked by it except when it starts. It becomes less and less intrusive. People who are schizophrenic or also traumatized in some way won't do that. Each time their brain reacts like it's the first time unless the person is using nicotine. Honestly it's a wonderful gift and as far as your health goes it's a lot better to smoke a pipe then it is to smoke cigs.

 

[02Knight]

Thanks for your Service and yes smoking a Pipe does have a calming tone to it which I also experience. Nothing like going outside and firing up a good bowl of your favorite blend and contemplating Life, The Universe and Everything! Welcome from TEXAS

 

[Reggie]

Thank you for your service. After 27 years as an LEO in a large municipality, I guess I got into it for the calming aspects also. There is no doubt that many of us began this journey for the same purpose. God Bless You Sir in your journey.

 

[mso489]

Definitely. I quit pipe smoking for a long time, then came back to it when my wife had a series of hip surgeries and complications. It was a way to come home and center myself, better than alcohol so I could get up and get back to her rehab center. I think the ritual and sensory input amounts to more than the nicotine, at least for me. Best wishes to you from another vet.

 

[GilGalad65]

hell no. That's like one of the big selling points of pipes. Seriously they help keep me calm with my issues and traumas too. I swear a lot of it isn't just nicotine but nicotine and doing a focused but relaxed activity that just does something very positive to the consciousness. It allows you to take a half step back from everything and not get hit in the face so to speak. I have read a lot about the more recent research into how nicotine effects people and it's an incredible substance that has a lot of very positive results on the nervous system. One of the big ones is with schizophrenia it allows for the patient to adapt to stimuli better. Example if there is a loud noise outside like a jackhammer most people will not be shocked by it except when it starts. It becomes less and less intrusive. People who are schizophrenic or also traumatized in some way won't do that. Each time their brain reacts like it's the first time unless the person is using nicotine. Honestly it's a wonderful gift and as far as your health goes it's a lot better to smoke a pipe then it is to smoke cigs.

Thanks. I have severe neurological issues along with the PTSD so maybe you are right as less thing "jump at me" when smoking. I have been sticking with light nicotine so far, but have 3-4 with mild to full. Great info, thank you again

 

[mortonbriar]

I would certainly assume it helps with trauma, far down on the relaxed end of the 'spectrum of stress' where most of my life resides I use it on the daily to avoid things like road rage...

 

[J.GANDY]

Welcome from Savannah,Georgia!

Thank you for your service, doing what you enjoy and what makes you happy is all that matters. If you want to talk about pipes, tobacco, cleaning pipes or anything else pipe related all day, every day, you won't get any complaints around here.

 

[jmg81]

From a fellow service member, thank you for your service. And welcome to the forums. Glad to see that this is helping you with your situation. It is definitely a way to relax.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Welcome to The Forums Sir, and thank You for your service to Your Country and Nation

 

[anotherbob]

I bet if we surveyed us pipe smokers about our backgrounds there would be a lot of service members and a lot of people who have a reason to need to relax deeper then just plopping down in front of the t.v.. Not oh if they smoke a pipe they must have trauma but more wait a second that's weird how many of you guys fit that description.

 

[cigrmaster]

Thank you for your service, I am sorry to hear you have to deal with this issue. I would tell you what I would do but that could get me in trouble. If the pipe is working then continue.

 

[Mr.Mike]

Sounds like you found a great (and tasty) way to cope. I would say its a bigger benefit to your health then a hazard. Thank you for your service.

 

[indoeuro]

100%. The pipe and everything that goes with it have calmed me, kept me centered, grounded me, for the last 20 years. I'm retiring right now, and I say with all sincerity that I don't know where I'd be mentally and emotionally if it hadn't been for this peculiar hobby.

 

[indoeuro]

Speaking from my experience, 11B with CIB and Purple Heart spent 15 months in Iraq with 1st Armored Division in 2003-2004... you are not alone in that this hobby is very therapeutic. I feel you about VA doctors, mine felt the same way but they no longer know I smoke at all.

I was attached to 3ID for the invasion. You guys got hosed.

 

[musicman]

Welcome to the forums, and thank you for your service! There have not been very many studies that have specifically focused on pipe smokers exclusively, but as I recall, one from a while back showed that pipe smokers tend to live longer than non-smokers, something the study at least partially attributed to the relaxing, blood pressure reducing effects of the smoking process. I dunno about PTSD, but I can say for sure that smoking a pipe helps reduce my anxiety and helps with my depression. I have a buddy who served in Iraq and deals with pretty serious PTSD from his experiences, and his VA docs have given him a permanent subscription for Lorazepam, from which he has developed a pretty serious addiction. It seems like a lot of addictions in the Vet world start from prescriptions from a VA doc (opiates, benzos, etc.), so I sometimes wonder if the VA medical system as a whole could use a more holistic approach, relying a little less on pharmaceuticals.