4 ms·

Snus is an awesome alternative to smoking. I've tried chew and nicotine lozenges, but snus is a happy medium. I've come up with a way to get off nicotine, which

Snus is an awesome alternative to smoking. I've tried chew and nicotine lozenges, but snus is a happy medium. I've come up with a way to get off nicotine, which I do from time to time: dissolve about 8 nicotine lozenges in a bottle of water. Take a sip when craving hits. The craving goes away immediately. ymmv.

glibgil 13y ago
So, you get off nicotine by going on nicotine?
- michaelwww 13y ago
  I believe it's called "tapering off" The cravings go away as the dosage goes down, since a sip isn't enough to increase or maintain tolerance.
  - spion 13y ago
    Actually, nicotine has a rather short half-life of about 2 hours [1], which means even smaller doses quickly restore it close to previous levels. So in essence, tapering off is like going through many shorter withdrawals (doesn't sound scary but its actually a bit of a torture compared to quitting cold turkey). [1]: http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/documentStore/m/a/u/mau01c00/Smau01c00.pdf http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/documentStore/m/a/u/mau01c00/...
    - michaelwww 13y ago
      My withdrawal symptoms don't become noticeable until the 4 hour mark. Quitting cold-turkey from a high daily intake level can be quite difficult for some people, who have intense emotional reactions. This doesn't happen for everyone, so those that say "quit cold turkey, I did" don't know how bad it gets for some. If I understand right, it's about how fast normal dopamine production recovers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine Edit: > which means even smaller doses quickly restore it close to previous levels Not for me it doesn't. I'm quite aware of how much nicotine I have in my system and what effect it's having.
- PeterisP 13y ago
  Smoking addiction combines both chemical addiction and a very peculiar habit. It is hard to break both at the same time; so best practice for quitting is to first drop smoking as a habit (while not touching nicotine addiction, replacing it with another nicotine source) and only afterwards working on the actual stuff.
deleted 13y ago
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racecar789 13y ago
Thunder Extra Strong is a snus with no flavor and a high nicotine count. Just passing it along since I tried 5-10 brands before settling on Thunder. To each their own.
derleth 13y ago
> Snus is an awesome alternative to smoking. Doesn't it cause oral cancer?
- michaelwww 13y ago
  The package has a warning that it can cause gum disease and tooth loss. It's not as bad as smoking in my opinion.

glibgil 13y ago

So, you get off nicotine by going on nicotine?

michaelwww 13y ago
I believe it's called "tapering off" The cravings go away as the dosage goes down, since a sip isn't enough to increase or maintain tolerance.
- spion 13y ago
  Actually, nicotine has a rather short half-life of about 2 hours [1], which means even smaller doses quickly restore it close to previous levels. So in essence, tapering off is like going through many shorter withdrawals (doesn't sound scary but its actually a bit of a torture compared to quitting cold turkey). [1]: http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/documentStore/m/a/u/mau01c00/Smau01c00.pdf http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/documentStore/m/a/u/mau01c00/...
  - michaelwww 13y ago
    My withdrawal symptoms don't become noticeable until the 4 hour mark. Quitting cold-turkey from a high daily intake level can be quite difficult for some people, who have intense emotional reactions. This doesn't happen for everyone, so those that say "quit cold turkey, I did" don't know how bad it gets for some. If I understand right, it's about how fast normal dopamine production recovers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine Edit: > which means even smaller doses quickly restore it close to previous levels Not for me it doesn't. I'm quite aware of how much nicotine I have in my system and what effect it's having.
PeterisP 13y ago
Smoking addiction combines both chemical addiction and a very peculiar habit. It is hard to break both at the same time; so best practice for quitting is to first drop smoking as a habit (while not touching nicotine addiction, replacing it with another nicotine source) and only afterwards working on the actual stuff.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

racecar789 13y ago

Thunder Extra Strong is a snus with no flavor and a high nicotine count. Just passing it along since I tried 5-10 brands before settling on Thunder. To each their own.

derleth 13y ago

> Snus is an awesome alternative to smoking. Doesn't it cause oral cancer?

michaelwww 13y ago
The package has a warning that it can cause gum disease and tooth loss. It's not as bad as smoking in my opinion.