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I used to smoke cigarettes for many years. Over a decade. In the last few years of smoking, I tried to quit numerous times, trying to replace it with vaping bec

I used to smoke cigarettes for many years. Over a decade. In the last few years of smoking, I tried to quit numerous times, trying to replace it with vaping because nicotine is what I'm addicted to, right? So I shouldn't have that hard a time, it's about breaking the physical habit not the drug addiction since I'm not quitting that. Often I would go a few months. The last failed attempt, withdrawals gave me panic attacks well into 3 months in. So I gave up, got some cigarettes, a year later I tried again and succeeded, I'm a few years smoke free. I'm still addicted to nicotine, I vape. But I wake up, where my vape is is not the first thing I think about. I dont plan my day by how much nicotine I have left. When I get under the weather I can give it up for a few days with no problem. This is not the same addiction I had when smoking cigarettes, this is a milder, more casual thing, I don't get cravings, I get these small little desires for a puff. Whatever is going on with cigarettes, nicotine is only a small part of that. Quitting cigarettes is one of the hardest things I've ever done, I could not vape for the rest of the day and only feel a mild annoyance. In my experience the article is correct, there's something more going on with cigarettes than just nicotine.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
api 3y ago
The obvious question is whether there are other addictive compounds in cigarettes. I’ve heard stories like yours before.
- friend_and_foe 3y ago
  They say there are MAOIs in tobacco that increase nicotine uptake, but I'm not entirely convinced that that's the sole culprit either. I could chew some tobacco right now, or smoke a pipe or cigar, I could even inhale it, and I wouldn't have a problem. If I were to smoke a single cigarette I'd be smoking a pack a day within a week and who knows how many months or years it would take me to rectify that. Whatever it is I suspect it's done deliberately in processing.
  - kallistisoft 3y ago
    Tobacco contains Harmaline which is an MAOI - it both increases the bioavailability of nicotine as well as adding an additional psychoactive effect; stimulant + anti-depressant I've recently started adding free base harmaline to my vape juice to create a proper tobacco substitute... I found that nicotine alone didn't provide the relaxation that I would get from smoking tobacco. After a fair amount of research I discovered that it was that lack of harmala compounds. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmala_alkaloid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmala_alkaloid
    - friend_and_foe 3y ago
      Well, I'm past that addiction now so I don't want to try it to stir it up, but I've had pipe tobacco and cigar tobacco, as well as chewing tobacco since I quit cigarettes and I've never had them rope me back in even a little bit. So I think cigarettes have something else going on. Maybe I'm wrong. I am curious though if this worked for you as a full substitute to sate cravings, and what amount you added.
- rapjr9 3y ago
  Do some web research on the additives in cigarettes. What I have heard from people who do research into cigarette addiction is that the additives suppress the bad effects of smoking (such as coughing, lungs feeling burnt, not being able to breath, etc.) When you stop smoking you also stop getting the additives and you suddenly feel all the damage smoking has been doing, which makes it much harder to quit. You literally feel like hell when you stop.
  - friend_and_foe 3y ago
    That wasn't my experience. One of the drivers that pushed me to quit was loss of stamina and lung capacity, I was beginning to feel the impact on my health. Within 48 hours of quitting I could feel my stamina double, which is common among people who quit cigarettes. The feeling that drove me back every time but the last one was the intense anxiety from quitting, definitely a drug withdrawal and not a physical feeling of malaise. I don't think physical malaise is a common withdrawal symptom when quitting cigarettes.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

api 3y ago

The obvious question is whether there are other addictive compounds in cigarettes. I’ve heard stories like yours before.

friend_and_foe 3y ago
They say there are MAOIs in tobacco that increase nicotine uptake, but I'm not entirely convinced that that's the sole culprit either. I could chew some tobacco right now, or smoke a pipe or cigar, I could even inhale it, and I wouldn't have a problem. If I were to smoke a single cigarette I'd be smoking a pack a day within a week and who knows how many months or years it would take me to rectify that. Whatever it is I suspect it's done deliberately in processing.
- kallistisoft 3y ago
  Tobacco contains Harmaline which is an MAOI - it both increases the bioavailability of nicotine as well as adding an additional psychoactive effect; stimulant + anti-depressant I've recently started adding free base harmaline to my vape juice to create a proper tobacco substitute... I found that nicotine alone didn't provide the relaxation that I would get from smoking tobacco. After a fair amount of research I discovered that it was that lack of harmala compounds. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmala_alkaloid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmala_alkaloid
  - friend_and_foe 3y ago
    Well, I'm past that addiction now so I don't want to try it to stir it up, but I've had pipe tobacco and cigar tobacco, as well as chewing tobacco since I quit cigarettes and I've never had them rope me back in even a little bit. So I think cigarettes have something else going on. Maybe I'm wrong. I am curious though if this worked for you as a full substitute to sate cravings, and what amount you added.
rapjr9 3y ago
Do some web research on the additives in cigarettes. What I have heard from people who do research into cigarette addiction is that the additives suppress the bad effects of smoking (such as coughing, lungs feeling burnt, not being able to breath, etc.) When you stop smoking you also stop getting the additives and you suddenly feel all the damage smoking has been doing, which makes it much harder to quit. You literally feel like hell when you stop.
- friend_and_foe 3y ago
  That wasn't my experience. One of the drivers that pushed me to quit was loss of stamina and lung capacity, I was beginning to feel the impact on my health. Within 48 hours of quitting I could feel my stamina double, which is common among people who quit cigarettes. The feeling that drove me back every time but the last one was the intense anxiety from quitting, definitely a drug withdrawal and not a physical feeling of malaise. I don't think physical malaise is a common withdrawal symptom when quitting cigarettes.