Will cigarette cravings (when nictotine levels are low) decrease soon?!

[EricHill78]

Simplesmoke, have you ever considered adding nasal snuff to the mix? Nasal snuff gives a quicker nic hit than snus so works great in a pinch (pardon the pun) I think I'm the only person on the board that does this but it works for me. Right after I pop a portion or pris I take a pinch of snuff. I find the snuff gives me the quick lift and by the time it starts wearing off the snus starts doing it's thing. I love it. Right now I just put in a pris of general los and took a pinch of mild lemon snuff. It's awesome. I understand about stress, so when I'm upset or stressed I take a pinch of an American Scotch which is high in nic.. Works great. Funny thing is with my story I never intended to quit cigs.. I just enjoy snus/snuff a hell of a lot better. The harm reduction is just a bonus

[simplesmoke]

Simplesmoke, have you ever considered adding nasal snuff to the mix? Nasal snuff gives a quicker nic hit than snus so works great in a pinch (pardon the pun) I think I'm the only person on the board that does this but it works for me. Right after I pop a portion or pris I take a pinch of snuff. I find the snuff gives me the quick lift and by the time it starts wearing off the snus starts doing it's thing. I love it. Right now I just put in a pris of general los and took a pinch of mild lemon snuff. It's awesome. I understand about stress, so when I'm upset or stressed I take a pinch of an American Scotch which is high in nic.. Works great. Funny thing is with my story I never intended to quit cigs.. I just enjoy snus/snuff a hell of a lot better. The harm reduction is just a bonus

I have read that there are users that enjoy both.

I am thinking that might not be a bad idea to try and see how I like it. I really never considered snuff since I assumed it had to be as bad or worse then smoking. (As I thought of snus before I actually read about it) I just checked where I order snus from it does not look like they ship to the US or they don't carry snuff. I do see some tobacco shops local to me do though.

Any recommendations on a low strength to start with?

I snus mini dry portions and get a GOOD nicotine buzz even after a month of using.

So I would probably want to start light.

The tobacco shop I can go to local has these which sound good, but none indicate nicotine strength:

Dean Swift Apricot
Dean Swift Raspberry
G and H Dry Orange
Lotzbeck Premium
Ozona Cherry
Toque Chocolate

Any out of the above for a first timer?

The Toque Chocolate is the only one that says a good snuff for beginners, but it does not indicate why.

Thanks

[saffron]

Almost all Toque is just "easy". Never very dry, which makes a big difference.

But honestly, right now. Focus on snus. I wad a few years into snus before I added snuf.

A recommendation. An hour between snus way too long, especially now. I would wait no longer than 20 minutes between. Or become like many and chain snus. My first year, almost never was without a snus in my mouth. And I put a snus in within minutes after waking up.

Are you using strong snus? You say you are using minis, why?? I used sterks exclusively my first few months (was before extra sterk wad invented). Now, I use maybe 25% extra sterk, another 25% syerk, the rest regular. Basically alternate every day. That is following my smoking escapades. In a few months, will probably be at 75% regular. But always a few sterks and extras throughout the day as my nicotine needs fluctuates

I couldn't imagine trying to quit ciggs with minis. Just not enough nicotine in them.

Focus on making sure you always have nicotine in your blood and ciggs won't come to mind.

I will always use nicotine. If your long term hope us to stop
Fine. But now is NOT the tine to limit yourself. Live a year without cigarettes, THEN start weaning from snus.

Now, just make sure your nicotine levels don't drop.

What is magical about snus now is I never even think about it. Nit like my days of sweatily waiting till my next cigarette break.

[simplesmoke]

A recommendation. An hour between snus way too long, especially now. I would wait no longer than 20 minutes between. Or become like many and chain snus. My first year, almost never was without a snus in my mouth. And I put a snus in within minutes after waking up.

Are you using strong snus? You say you are using minis, why?? I used sterks exclusively my first few months (was before extra sterk wad invented). Now, I use maybe 25% extra sterk, another 25% syerk, the rest regular. Basically alternate every day. That is following my smoking escapades. In a few months, will probably be at 75% regular. But always a few sterks and extras throughout the day as my nicotine needs fluctuates

I couldn't imagine trying to quit ciggs with minis. Just not enough nicotine in them.

Focus on making sure you always have nicotine in your blood and ciggs won't come to mind.

I will always use nicotine. If your long term hope us to stop
Fine. But now is NOT the tine to limit yourself. Live a year without cigarettes, THEN start weaning from snus.

Now, just make sure your nicotine levels don't drop.

What is magical about snus now is I never even think about it. Nit like my days of sweatily waiting till my next cigarette break.

I did try chain snussing, and my first portion that I tried after my introduction to snus through Marlboro was General regular portion. Even a Marlboro rich snus would give me too much nicotine after 1.5 hours in my mouth..

I found right off the bat that the General regular would make me feel sick after having it in too long.

The general mini mint that I settled on for my staple snus for now would almost get me to the point
of not wanting it in after an hour. (Which seemed to get better after a week in the begining)

I was getting rather bad headaches and was unable to sleep when I chained the minis.

My normal day at this point is this:

After waking (30-60 minutes later) I have a 3mg purified portion. By the time I get to work it has been in for 60+ minutes. I remove it, eat something then immediately I put a mini portion in, and keep it in for around 1.5 hours. Then I remove it and then aprox 60 minutes later put another mini in for 1.5 hours. Remove it, then it is almost lunch time. After lunch 2 more portions till it is time to go home. (60 minutes in between each) Then I don't have one until I get home and then it is like 3 -4 more till bedtime. At home I wait max probably 20 minutes between the portions. If I am up really late on the weekends it might be 5-6 before bedtime.

From what I have read so far and my own experience with different snus I have tried is that my body is sensitive to Nicotine. Yet I am addicted to it and if it gets too much (even just a little past a set point) it has an issue with it. (headaches, nausea, etc..) I do understand that it will adjust, which it has from the beginning. In the beginning I could be having a headache on my 3rd chained mini snus and I would still think I wanted a smoke occasionally.. Which has to be 100% mental, which thank god that has stopped.

Which all makes sense to me since I was a 1 - 1.5 pack a day ultra light smoker for 15+ years. My body was used to getting nicotine many times through the day in short lower strength bursts.

While I love snus and it gives me the feeling 99% of what it was like to smoke other then inhaling. I would rather not become more dependent on higher levels of nicotine in the process. Now if I did not feel sickish after chaining mini's believe me, I would simplify things and just chain all day! but that is not the case. So I am just adjusting to the point that things work and I don't get turned off of snus.

I now want to check out snuff since there seems to be many cool flavors, and since my sense of taste and smell are great now, I am guessing the taste would be awesome.

I don't care if I have to keep using snus.

[EricHill78]

The best place to start is www.toquesnuff.com with is the 10 tin sampler. Costs around 20 bucks shipped. It's where alot of us started with snuff. Toque is easy to take and if you end up not liking it 20 dollars isn't much of a loss. Make sure to read the beginner snuffers guide on here made by our very own snusdog before you take your first pinch. I never tried the ones you mentioned except for toque chocolate which is great. A good forum is snuffhouse.org. You'll see a few familiar faces from here there.

[simplesmoke]

The best place to start is www.toquesnuff.com with is the 10 tin sampler. Costs around 20 bucks shipped. It's where alot of us started with snuff. Toque is easy to take and if you end up not liking it 20 dollars isn't much of a loss. Make sure to read the beginner snuffers guide on here made by our very own snusdog before you take your first pinch. I never tried the ones you mentioned except for toque chocolate which is great. A good forum is snuffhouse.org. You'll see a few familiar faces from here there.

Thanks! Not bad, I get to try 10 different flavors for little more then 20.00.

I was able to get all the flavors I would like to try in the sampler.

[EricHill78]

That's great Like I said read the beginners guide and take your time. It's great once you get a hang of it. Roderick of Toque posts here and on Snuffhouse. Really great company to order from. One time I ordered and the bank blocked it cause it's international. I talked to Roderick on the phone and we worked it out. If you have any questions feel free to ask me or anyone here in the snuff section.

[saffron]

simplesmoke, most important, follow your own nicotine needs. My guess is you need less than many of us, and I am certainly NOT wanting you to overdo it. I am wanting to make sure you don't let your levels drop to the point you crave a cigarette. And it is not a matter of how long you keep it in. Swedes usually only keep the in 15 - 20 minutes. American usage is not normal. Most of the nicotine is absorbed that first 15 minutes.

It actually sounds like you are already doing very well. If you find a craving for a cigarette, think how long it has been since your last snus, and just adjust a bit till you find your perfect level.

First few months, you think about all this way too much. I can promise, over time, that stops and your snus usage becomes so second nature, you don't think much about it. But it really sounds like you are off to a great start. Congratulations on making that decision to put the smokes down.

[simplesmoke]

Got my 10 tins of snuff!

Not bad at all! I will have to get the feel for this but it definitely hits quicker then the snus I currently have. I started with tiny little pinches per nostril did not want to over due it and turn myself off.

The snus has a more relaxing hit to the nicotine so far, I am guessing as I get better at snuffing that will change. I read that more experienced snuffers normaly have much higher elevated levels of Nicotine then new users.

My cravings are definitely changing in my mind! Tonight after messing with the snuff for a few hours, a small pinch here and there when I started craving nicotine it was not for a smoke, it was for my goto snus.

Glad I have a neti pot also.

Thanks for the suggestions on Snuff, if it does not wind up killing my sinuses it will be a great addition and variety to my new habit.

And it looks like it could be the most cost effective substance to help feed a tobacco addiction! Talk about allot of snuff, with the 10 tin sampler I don't think I will get through this for a long time.

[EricHill78]

That's great news.. I'm glad you are enjoying it. You're coming along alot better than most people that just started with snuff. As long as you keep it in a dry dark airtight place when not in use it'll last a long long time. Some people do it daily like myself, others do it once or twice a week etc.. It's a nice pick me up when you need it. What's neat is it's as safe as snus.

[simplesmoke]

Over 2 months now (no smokes in the last month!) and it is great to see it getting easier and less and less thoughts of smoking. The hand to mouth habit goes away quickly. When I was asking last month if this will ever go away I am amazed at where I am now and how my mind has adjusted to where it feeds its addiction from.

The one last trigger I was having problems with occasionally (anger) I can make it through now and find I that snus feeds fine now, not a cigarette.

Still trying to get familiar with snuff though, had some sinus issues that I was afraid were due to to me experimenting with snuff but it could have been the weather changes we were having so I am going to try that again soon.

I have also passed on snus + information to two people (maybe 3 soon) I know in my life that will most likely be able to kick 30+ year smoking habits because of snus.

I give it away when anyone expresses interest.

[timoteo]

Good job dude. Congrats.. keep up the good work.. I still crave and puff a little bit of ciggs sometimes, but they taste pretty horrible to me now and id much rather snus a snus.

[fishmeat]

Congrats simplesmoke! You got a month on me but not smoking is always a great thing! I found that when I quit smoking I used mostly strong portions, now after a month I am starting to ween myself over to regular portions and using a strong portion when I really need it. Keep up the great work, your body is thankful!