snus and cig withdrawl symptoms

[Mr. Snuffleupagus]

Welcome to SnusOn, omgahedgehog! For what it's worth, there are many here including myself that had trouble quitting with e-cigs but were able to quit with snus. There are things missing with both compared to smoking and inhaling tobacco. The main problem I had and have read about e-cigs, is that they don't deliver nicotine very well. So you might still be getting nicotine withdrawal issues. You really should try snus IMO. It worked much better for me than e-cigs. It does take a while to get used to the different nicotine delivery system, but stick it out and you'll be set. Good Luck!

[danielan]

so my assumption was that it'd deliver most or all of the same stuff, just in a less damaging way.

I had no _physical_ withdrawl symptoms. (I've been quit for about 35+ days)

A lot of those chemicals are products of combustion - you won't get that from snus. But I didn't notice they were gone.

Mentally - I had a couple cravings when I do something I used to smoke while doing. And I had one dream that I smoked. But that's it.

[bipolarbear1968]

I haven't had snus for 4 days now.

I been doing 4 pinches of snuff per hour and doing good.

[omgahedgehog]

Thanks guys for the responses. I'm pretty sure nicotine wasn't my problem with the e-cigs - point well taken that they're not the most reliable delivery mechanism, but I was vaping pretty strong juice and often could really feel the nic kick, often to the point of nausea etc, but was still craving cigarettes.

Do we know which psychoactive compounds in tobacco are products of combustion and which aren't? I feel like someone must have studied this at some point but a few hours on google and I haven't been able to dig anything up. I guess it's mostly MAOIs I'm concerned about - has anyone ever determined whether these are available from snus?

[Owens187]

I don't know about the chest and stomach discomfort, but when I quit smoking I had a dry cough and some throat irritation for a week or two. I think it was the first stage in my body recovering.

We've (should) have all experienced this. Its the Celia(small hairs) in your throat repairing and regenerating.

[NorSnuser]

Do we know which psychoactive compounds in tobacco are products of combustion and which aren't? I feel like someone must have studied this at some point but a few hours on google and I haven't been able to dig anything up. I guess it's mostly MAOIs I'm concerned about - has anyone ever determined whether these are available from snus?

There doesn't seem to have been any mainstream research done on the MAOI content assimilated in oral tobacco, but many have attested from personal use that using oral tobacco is more similar to smoking in effects (and seems to contain MAOIs) than using pure pharmaceutical nicotine. Cigar and pipe smokers will also attest to this, and these are also oral delivery methods.

I've heard that combustion actually increases the amount of harmala alkaloids in tobacco. Cured tobacco really has a pretty small amount of harmala alkaloids in the leaf itself. Native Americans often used uncured tobacco which has a higher content. MAOI discontinuation symptoms strongly contribute to the withdrawal symptoms of nicotine when quitting cigarettes. Some have even suggested that nicotine is basically non-addictive and that the MAOIs in combination with nicotine are causing the major withdrawal symptoms. Here is an interesting quote:

“A large portion of the research on tobacco studies is done on nicotine. But the research has not been very reinforcing,” Killeen said. “Nicotine in itself is not very rewarding. You can go to any drugstore and buy a packet of Nicorette chewing gum.”

But people don’t overdose on Nicorette chewing gum, he said.

“Studies have shown that none of the nicotine replacement therapies — chewing gum, inhalers, patches — none of those are addictive,” he said. “Nicotine is not addictive. So what’s going on?”

The cause of addiction is the release of monoamine oxidase inhibitors, or MAOIs, along with nicotine, Killeen said.

While nicotine affects the release of dopamine, or the “reward hormone” that affects emotions and movement, MAOIs help regulate dopamine levels, Killeen said.

“When you put together something that directly releases dopamine and another thing that helps the brain clean up excess dopamine, you’ve got a one-two punch,” he said. “It is my hypothesis that it’s a combination of nicotine with some of these other chemicals that causes the powerful addiction.”

http://www.statepress.com/archive/node/7194

Since snus seems to be much more effective for cessation than pharmaceutical nicotine products then it seems likely that it contains MAOIs. However, it may be less than cigarettes and possibly a different profile of harmala alkaloids than cigarettes deliver. I wish someone would do the research, but I doubt it's on the top of anyone's priority list. If anyone has any research on this subject I think everyone would be very interested.

[omgahedgehog]

Thanks very much for taking the time to write that, Norsnusser. It's more or less in keeping with what I've been able to figure out. I also wish that someone would do some research on this.

I've heard that combustion actually increases the amount of harmala alkaloids in tobacco.

I'm very curious about this, do you happen to remember where you read this? Initially I was wondering if snus might have a higher MAOI content than cigarettes - I'm a chemistry idiot, so I was following the basic line of thinking that combustion is generally destructive.

You've also got me curious about role of the curing process. If it's true that uncured tobacco has a higher MAOI content than cured, perhaps the steam curing process used for snus is gentler/less destructive than methods used for cigarettes and other tobacco products? From reading some of these threads it sounds like a lot of people who got into snus only intending dual use ended up preferring the snus, and I thought perhaps a better MAOI profile might be a possible explanation for that - but naturally I'm basing that on nothing other than complete guesswork.

[sgreger1]

I haven't had a snus since Friday and it's now monday, I feel fine. I dunno I just don't think snus is as addicted as smoking or dipping. After about a week i'm sure you'd be craving one but really snus "withdrawl" isn't that bad. Try going 3 days without smoking and see how you feel.

[tom502]

I think alot can be habit too, I always have a snus with my morning coffee, and while I could not be addicted, it would seem odd now to not have this.

[sgreger1]

I think alot can be habit too, I always have a snus with my morning coffee, and while I could not be addicted, it would seem odd now to not have this.

Yah it's the same with me. I am a creature of habit rather than a creature of addiction.

[bipolarbear1968]

Day 8 w/out snus and still going....

I figured on Friday, I might have me a big ol' pris of Skruf Stark just for kicks (literally).

[shag1952]

Yes it's true, there are 4000 or so different chemicals in cigarettes, and most of them are bad for you. I tried the e-cigs too and basically got nothing out of them. There isn't enough nicotine to hold off the cravings. Not so with snus, it takes the smoking cravings away and I smoked for 40 years. I'm still working on getting rid of those last few smokes, Friday will be the last day for me.