Painful nicotine withdrawal

[bonesquirrel]

I was wondering if anyone could help me with revealing nicotine withdrawal, which is occurring as I am writing this, so sorry for any bad spelling or grammar.

The only symptoms I have is a moderate headache and lots of trouble concentrating. Which doesn't just mean I can't practice piano, I also can't do homework, that's due early next week.

I have no tobacco (obviously) or quitting aids (patch, gum ect.). I am without nicotine for 2 more days. The last time I smoked was yesterday, around 7pm, so about 21-22 hours approximately.

EXTRA NOTE: My daily tobacco intake is quite high. I smoke cigarettes, cigars, a pipe and do tobacco cones (smoke straight tobacco out of a bong). Yesterday, I had a cigarette in the morning, a tobacco cone in the afternoon, and a full bowel in my pipe late at night.

[j_menz]

Take an asprin and have a coffee.

[bonesquirrel]

Take an asprin and have a coffee.

I took two nurofen, I have no coffee, even if I did it would just worsen the insomnia that I will, without doubt, have tonight. By the way, you have to be 18 to buy Aspirin over the counter here, because of the whole 'Reye syndrome' thing.

[theholygideons]

watch some pornography to take your mind off of the gratification of nicotine.

[bonesquirrel]

watch some pornography to take your mind off of the gratification of nicotine.

Good thinking 

[diomedes]

Nah, what you want is caffeine + pornography. You'll forget about nicotine then.

And if you add alcohol to that equation, you probably won't even remember your name.

[cbreemer]

The one and only solution is staring you in the eye ! Have a fag

[iansinclair]

I presume that there is a very good reason you are laying off the nicotine?  At least I hope there is.  As you are discovering, it is a powerful pschoactive, and withdrawal is no fun at all (been there, tried it, gave it up as a bad job -- not the nicotine, the quitting).

If you are determined to quit for some very good reason, you may be able to.  You will be miserable in varying ways for a couple of months at least.  You will make those around you miserable, too.

If your aversion is to smoking, however, may I suggest you try vaping, with a nicotine containing juice.  You can, if you wish to quit the nicotine (which, of itself, does not cause any physical illness -- it's the smoke that does that) taper that off.  Otherwise, you can happily vape...

I used to smoke.  Perhaps not as heavily as you, but enough.  Switched to vaping.  All the cardio-respiratory problems have disappeared.  Try it.

[bonesquirrel]

I presume that there is a very good reason you are laying off the nicotine?  At least I hope there is.  As you are discovering, it is a powerful pschoactive, and withdrawal is no fun at all (been there, tried it, gave it up as a bad job -- not the nicotine, the quitting).

If you are determined to quit for some very good reason, you may be able to.  You will be miserable in varying ways for a couple of months at least.  You will make those around you miserable, too.

If your aversion is to smoking, however, may I suggest you try vaping, with a nicotine containing juice.  You can, if you wish to quit the nicotine (which, of itself, does not cause any physical illness -- it's the smoke that does that) taper that off.  Otherwise, you can happily vape...

I used to smoke.  Perhaps not as heavily as you, but enough.  Switched to vaping.  All the cardio-respiratory problems have disappeared.  Try it.

No. I enjoy smoking, I only plan to quit the cigarettes and the tobacco cones. The cones might be the hardest, I always use them at the end of most days to kick back and relax. I plan to continue pipe smoking (not inhaling) and the occasional, social cigar (also not inhaling, you are not supposed to anyway).

*see above*

I plan to try vaping, the same as I plan to try chewing tobacco.

*see above*

Thankyou for your reply.

[bonesquirrel]

The one and only solution is staring you in the eye ! Have a fag

That it is, you overlooked one thing, no tobacco.

[cwjalex]

don't have any experience with nicotine withdrawal since i've never tried to quit smoking but just be glad you aren't having bad opiate and/or benzo withdrawal.  it's the closest thing to hell i can think of and i'm not big on exaggeration. i've had part of my lung cut out and woke up without anesthesia cause of an incompetent surgeon and that was a walk in the park in comparison. 

out of curiosity how long have you been smoking?  i've been smoking cigarettes for a few years, maybe a pack every 2-3 days but when i go a day or two without a smoke i don't really experience withdrawals.  well i get withdrawals in the sense that i want to smoke but i don't get sick...maybe just irritable. 

[bonesquirrel]

don't have any experience with nicotine withdrawal since i've never tried to quit smoking but just be glad you aren't having bad opiate and/or benzo withdrawal.  it's the closest thing to hell i can think of and i'm not big on exaggeration. i've had part of my lung cut out and woke up without anesthesia cause of an incompetent surgeon and that was a walk in the park in comparison. 

out of curiosity how long have you been smoking?  i've been smoking cigarettes for a few years, maybe a pack every 2-3 days but when i go a day or two without a smoke i don't really experience withdrawals.  well i get withdrawals in the sense that i want to smoke but i don't get sick...maybe just irritable. 

I have only been smoking for 8-9 months. I started with 5 cigarettes a day (Dunhil Reds) , a lot for a beginner I know, I had pretty bad depression when I started. I built up to a regular pack (25) a day (about 2 months in), I smoked Winfield Reds, constantly. I decided I needed to cut back, so I cut down abruptly to just 10 a day. I started smoking cigars not long after, which I loved doing, but I still was smoking 10 cigarettes daily.

I know I shouldn't be saying this, but Modafinil (and 'other' drugs, not cocaine), really helped me cut down to the amount I have a day now. I have only 1-2 cigarettes a day, and a cigar every few. I only got my pipe about a month ago, and only began smoking cones about 3 weeks ago.

P.S - In case anyone was "wondering", I don't smoke, and never have smoked, Marijuana. My bong I use only for tobacco. My favorite cigarette tobacco is Champion Ruby. Still have not made up my mind on cigars or pipe tobacco.

[theholygideons]

I have only been smoking for 8-9 months. I started with 5 cigarettes a day (Dunhil Reds) , a lot for a beginner I know, I had pretty bad depression when I started. I built up to a regular pack (25) a day (about 2 months in), I smoked Winfield Reds, constantly. I decided I needed to cut back, so I cut down abruptly to just 10 a day. I started smoking cigars not long after, which I loved doing, but I still was smoking 10 cigarettes daily.

I know I shouldn't be saying this, but Modafinil (and 'other' drugs, not cocaine), really helped me cut down to the amount I have a day now. I have only 1-2 cigarettes a day, and a cigar every few. I only got my pipe about a month ago, and only began smoking cones about 3 weeks ago.

P.S - In case anyone was "wondering", I don't smoke, and never have smoked, Marijuana. My bong I use only for tobacco. My favorite cigarette tobacco is Champion Ruby. Still have not made up my mind on cigars or pipe tobacco.

what initially prompted you to smoke tobacco? was it for stylistic reasons whereby it became an acquired taste, or was it a result of you being a member of the aristocracy? If it is neither, then take that fag out of your filthy mouth for you have no reason to be consuming such rubbish unless for quality's sake.

[bonesquirrel]

what initially prompted you to smoke tobacco? was it for stylistic reasons whereby it became an acquired taste, or was it a result of you being a member of the aristocracy? If it is neither, then take that fag out of your filthy mouth for you have no reason to be consuming such rubbish unless for quality's sake.

1. I want to quit the "fags", which I hate referring to them using that term, they are cigarettes.

2. My mouth is not "filthy", you should have referred to the cigarettes as filthy. I maintain good oral hygiene. My bottom jaw is slightly out of line with the top one, which I was born with, that's the worse problem with my mouth. If it was "filthy", I doubt girls would kiss it for free.

3. How can you consume "rubbish" for "quality's sake". How does smoking cigarettes, make you achieve anything or please anyone else? Unless it's to socially fit in, which is not why I started.

4. I would call anyone who started and continued smoking for "stylistic reasons" only, a complete fool. Just like someone who continues to, or started, for "social" reasons alone.

Anyway... People start smoking from, social pressure/image, stress or to "just try it". People continue smoking because of social pressure/image, stress, addiction or they just enjoy it.

I started smoking because of stress and also "just to try it". I continue smoking because of stress, addiction and because I enjoy it. Not for social reasons, and not for stylistic reasons.

[j_menz]

not for stylistic reasons.

This is the only way to smoke for stylistic reasons.

[outin]

Nicotine withdrawal symptoms and the time they last are very individual. I smoked for about 15 years and quit twice. I never had much physical symptoms and they only lasted for a couple of days. But the habit was hard to get rid of, since I really enjoyed smoking.

[bonesquirrel]

This is the only way to smoke for stylistic reasons.

I think he mean't smoking to look good or cool, like wearing sunglasses when it isn't sunny, or wearing a cap backwards ect.

[theholygideons]

This is the only way to smoke for stylistic reasons.

lulz...

1. I want to quit the "fags", which I hate referring to them using that term, they are cigarettes.

2. My mouth is not "filthy", you should have referred to the cigarettes as filthy. I maintain good oral hygiene. My bottom jaw is slightly out of line with the top one, which I was born with, that's the worse problem with my mouth. If it was "filthy", I doubt girls would kiss it for free.

3. How can you consume "rubbish" for "quality's sake". How does smoking cigarettes, make you achieve anything or please anyone else? Unless it's to socially fit in, which is not why I started.

4. I would call anyone who started and continued smoking for "stylistic reasons" only, a complete fool. Just like someone who continues to, or started, for "social" reasons alone.

Anyway... People start smoking from, social pressure/image, stress or to "just try it". People continue smoking because of social pressure/image, stress, addiction or they just enjoy it.

I started smoking because of stress and also "just to try it". I continue smoking because of stress, addiction and because I enjoy it. Not for social reasons, and not for stylistic reasons.

I wasn't trying to sound intentionally condescending. I was just alluding to the fact that, since this is a music forum, there should be a higher order or artistic purpose for smoking, like some sort of neoclassical portrait of a human, other than just for the novelty or out of addiction.

[cwjalex]

"quitting smoking is easy, i know because i've done it a thousand times"
                                                                      -???-

[iansinclair]

The reality is that in 2015 smoking is socially unacceptable in most cultures.  A great deal of advertising has been devoted to making it so.

50 years ago, this was not the case.

And indeed, smoke -- whether from tobacco or wood fires or whatever -- is bad for you if it is inhaled.  I have no argument with that.  Further, I am very happy that my children never took up smoking.

OK.  So far so good.  However, it must also be recognised, if one is going to be honest about it (which the filthy fag people are not) that nicotine is a drug which has definite and fairly well understood medical effects.  There are some people who, through no fault of their own, have relatively low dopamine levels in the brain.  Nicotine is one of a class of drugs which can enhance those dopamine levels, which can be very helpful to these people.  It also happens to have remarkably few side effects, unlike some of the other dopamine enhancing drugs, and is relatively easy to self-regulate.  It also does not yet cost a small fortune per pill.

[Bob]

Tough it out.

Doesn't it take about 21 days?  To form the habit of something and by then the body will be done with withdrawal, right?

[cwjalex]

Tough it out.

Doesn't it take about 21 days?  To form the habit of something and by then the body will be done with withdrawal, right?

maybe for nicotine but a bad opiate habit can have withdrawal symptoms lasting a year.  a bad benzo habit can have withdrawal symptoms lasting several years.  it ruins your life. 

[arensky]

Hopefully you are still off the stuff bonesquirrel. This webpage is all I needed to quit. Knowledge is power. In 72 hours the crap is out of your body and it's all psychological, even though that can be powerful too. Don't vape, patch or chew nicotine gum. Keep it all on the outside. There is a Facebook page called "Turkeyville" hosted by the folks who put this site online. Hang in there!

https://whyquit.com/whyquit/LinksAAddiction.html

[chopinlover01]

I find it interesting that you said that you've never smoked pot like it was a huge deal and that marijuana is so bad for you, when the reality is that it's not very harmful, aside from smoke inhalation. Medical marijuana, as you know, is a thing. Medical tobacco? Never heard of such a thing.
The only drug I'm even slightly dependant on would be caffiene. But really that's streching the imagination by now. I used to be dependant on it (around the time I wrote the "what food/drink fuels your practice?" thread), but I was (involuntarily) put into circumstances where I didn't have access to it for roughly four weeks (21 days is the rough amount of time most things takes to get past the stage of cognitive dissonance and become a habit), and I'm no longer dependant, though i enjoy having a coke now and then.
A quote from Psychology Today (https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-teenage-mind/201012/is-marijuana-addictive): "between 10 to 30% of regular users will develop dependency. Only about 9% will have a serious addiction . . . Unlike other substances, pot has very few severe withdrawal symptoms and most people can quit rather easily . . . Compared to other substances, marijuana is not very addicting. It is estimated that 32% of tobacco users will become addicted, 23% of heroin users, 17% of cocaine users, and 15% of alcohol users. Cocaine and heroin are more physically harmful and nicotine is much more addictive. It is much harder to quit smoking cigarettes than it is to quit smoking pot."

[j_menz]

Medical tobacco? Never heard of such a thing.

Before the 1960s, it was often recommended by doctors for all manner of ailments.

[chopinlover01]

When we had artificial hearts that lasted 90 minutes, yes

[pianoplunker]

"quitting smoking is easy, i know because i've done it a thousand times"
                                                                      -???-

Mark Twain - American author

[cwjalex]

Mark Twain - American author

oh thanks, i've been using the quote for years but i never knew who said it.  loL i like how you gave a description of mark twain, just in case you have been living under a rock your entire life and had no idea who he was.

[pianoplunker]

oh thanks, i've been using the quote for years but i never knew who said it.  loL i like how you gave a description of mark twain, just in case you have been living under a rock your entire life and had no idea who he was.

well, at first I was proud of myself for knowing that without even googling it. but then when I did google it am not so sure now. https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/09/19/easy-quit-smoking/

[iansinclair]

...and it's all psychological, even though that can be powerful too.

Sorry.  Not true in all cases, though it may be in many.  Nicotine is a dopamine enhancer.  That means that it has a specific physiological effect on one of the neurotransmitters (dopamine), mostly in the brain.  There are a number of other drugs which are also dopamine enhancers -- all of which have a number of side effects which nicotine does not have, and which cost a fortune.

For many people I will grant that most of the addictive effect of nicotine (which is real) is psychological.  Not, however, for all people.  For those of us who -- as I said in an earlier post -- have low dopamine levels, nicotine can be a valuable method to increase the effect of the dopamine one does have.  This has application in a surprisingly wide range of neurologic conditions, and should not be overlooked.

To say that "it is all psychological" does a serious disservice to all those who have chemical imbalances causing psychiatric problems -- whether it is Parkinson's, manic/depressive illness, schizophrenia, or something as benign as restless legs syndrome.  All of which are helped by nicotine.

[Bob]

Did bonesquirrel make it?

[j_menz]

something as benign as restless legs syndrome. 

Curiously, that seems to be a condition that only exists in the US. Completely absent here.

[iansinclair]

Curiously, that seems to be a condition that only exists in the US. Completely absent here.

Interesting.  I wonder why?  It's quite real, and no fun at all if you have it. 

[outin]

Interesting.  I wonder why?  It's quite real, and no fun at all if you have it. 

We have that too. Must be related to the climate. When it's always warm, the legs get lazy too...

[cwjalex]

We have that too. Must be related to the climate. When it's always warm, the legs get lazy too...

it's associated with an iron deficiency i believe

[bonesquirrel]

I find it interesting that you said that you've never smoked pot like it was a huge deal and that marijuana is so bad for you

I never said it was bad for you, and I didn't make a big deal about it either. I was just verifying that I only use my bong for tobacco.

Besides, I am only 15. Marijuana has been shown to decrease IQ in young people with heavy use. Me, being me, would use pot everyday if I was using it, and I would go hard on it.

I'm not the guy that does cocaine a few times, then stops, I'm the guy that does cocaine, then years later I'm just f*cked.

[chopinlover01]

Besides, I am only 15. Marijuana has been shown to decrease IQ in young people with heavy use.

Nope, the study was deemed false, both for flawed methodology and for a small sample size.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/10/22/no-marijuana-use-doesnt-lower-your-iq/

[cwjalex]

weed is the most harmless thing out there.  coffee is probably worse for you.

[chopinlover01]

I wouldn't say that. Smoke inhalation is inherently not healthy for your lungs (though edibles/ pot tea get around that), so coffee is probably safer.
It is worth noting, however, that 12/1000 people who take an aspirin are at high risk of cerebreal hemmorhaging.

[cwjalex]

I wouldn't say that. Smoke inhalation is inherently not healthy for your lungs (though edibles/ pot tea get around that), so coffee is probably safer.
It is worth noting, however, that 12/1000 people who take an aspirin are at high risk of cerebreal hemmorhaging.

caffeine is far more addicting than weed though

[chopinlover01]

But the method of intaking said caffiene isn't harmful to you. Also, caffiene isn't really addicting, whereas weed can actually be somewhat psychologically/socially addictive.

[cwjalex]

But the method of intaking said caffiene isn't harmful to you. Also, caffiene isn't really addicting, whereas weed can actually be somewhat psychologically/socially addictive.

there are plenty of legitimate studies that do indicate that caffeine is addicting. In its fifth and most recent  edition, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), which the American Psychiatric Association publishes, has added "caffeine withdrawal" for the first time. Caffeine intoxication is also listed as a mental disorder in the DSM-5.

the studies i've read about marijuana indicate that only about 9-10% become 'addicted'. i personally smoked marijuana daily for about 7-8 years and when i quit i experienced no withdrawal symptoms.

[outin]

But the method of intaking said caffiene isn't harmful to you.

Oh, but it can be. I had to stop drinking that stuff due to all kinds of stomach issues. Now I just drink decaf and take my caffiene occasionally as a pill

[outin]

there are plenty of legitimate studies that do indicate that caffeine is addicting. In its fifth and most recent  edition, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), which the American Psychiatric Association publishes, has added "caffeine withdrawal" for the first time. Caffeine intoxication is also listed as a mental disorder in the DSM-5.

I can say from experience that the caffeine overdose can cause really horrible symptoms.

the studies i've read about marijuana indicate that only about 9-10% become 'addicted'. i personally smoked marijuana daily for about 7-8 years and when i quit i experienced no withdrawal symptoms.

It seems that the effects of pot are highly individual as well...either I've always had bad luck with the products or that stuff simply doesn't do anything for me except giving a slightly relaxed feeling. And I am usually quite sensitive to drugs, I've got bad hallusinations from "harmless" prescription drugs.

[fftransform]

The reality is that in 2015 smoking is socially unacceptable in most cultures.  A great deal of advertising has been devoted to making it so.

50 years ago, this was not the case.

And indeed, smoke -- whether from tobacco or wood fires or whatever -- is bad for you if it is inhaled.  I have no argument with that.  Further, I am very happy that my children never took up smoking.

OK.  So far so good.  However, it must also be recognised, if one is going to be honest about it (which the filthy fag people are not) that nicotine is a drug which has definite and fairly well understood medical effects.  There are some people who, through no fault of their own, have relatively low dopamine levels in the brain.  Nicotine is one of a class of drugs which can enhance those dopamine levels, which can be very helpful to these people.  It also happens to have remarkably few side effects, unlike some of the other dopamine enhancing drugs, and is relatively easy to self-regulate.  It also does not yet cost a small fortune per pill.

You're retarded.  Totally retarded.


Sincerely,
Smoker