Nicotine Tolerance

[Starcadia]

As a snuser, do you find your nicotine tolerance goes up, down, stays the same or fluctuates? It's a question that's been on my mind lately, because it's really hard to tell. Sometimes I think my tolerance increases, which has been making my desire for stronger snus, er, stronger; which made me wonder if maybe the ability to snus almost anywhere might in a way be a bad thing. You can (and many of us do) have a virtually non-stop IV drip of nicotine all day long. Other times I feel I plateaued with nicotine tolerance a long time ago, with cigarettes, and that my body simply has a limit. And I've had the rare time when I felt like my tolerance was going down, and that I was very slowly getting off nicotine altogether, which wasn't a scary idea. What's scary to me at times is wondering whether snus - which I LOVE - may be taking me further into the depths of nicotine addiction, making it harder to escape if I ever wanted or needed to.

[Jason]

I think it depends on the person. I couldn't really handle the strong ones when I first started, and now, over a year later, I still can't. I can say that I use MORE than I used to, but I don't leave portions in as long as I used to, either. Funny thing is, I was a 2 pack-a-day smoker.....and I could have probably smoked even more than that if I didn't have people telling me all day that I smoked too much.

I would have to say that tolerance is generally going up, otherwise there wouldn't be such a demand for all of these super-sterk snus that the manufacturers are putting out these days.

[sagedil]

It really is hard to say. On the one hand, I don't usually crave cigarettes any more. On the other hand, I seem to be needing a bit more nicotine these days. Probably close to 50% of my snus lately has been strong. And my recent embrace of snuff was driven by a need for stronger nicotine hits.

Or it could just all be in my head. :wink:

[ShaulWolf]

I used to get a nice rush from Skruf Sterk and General Sterk, but lately when I've tried it I just haven't felt it. Oddly, I got a good buzz from Ettan a couple days ago when I tried that out for the first time, though it's got less nicotine than the Skruf or General I started with. Then again, I also had a much smaller meal earlier. I have noticed that I snus more often and usually have a portion in for an hour at least. Whether it's for the nicotine or because it's something I've grown used to and I enjoy the taste is up for debate.

[Mr. Snuffleupagus]

I've read that increased tolerance does not mean increased dependence. So it should not make it harder to quit.

http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/cgi/co...full/296/3/849

[chainsnuser]

The nicotine-tolerance goes up for sure. As a new snuser I got really heavy nicotine kicks, up to the point of spitting a prilla or portion out, because of an overdose-fear, and as an ex-chainsmoker I don't think I'm too fearful in this regard.

Well, not that the feeling of (possibly) getting an overdose is pleasurable, it's certainly not, but I guess it was the right feeling to make me kick the cigarettes immediately, 2 years ago.

Lately I don't get the same feeling anymore. Maybe once in a month a big prilla of lössnus or chainsnusing Skruf Stark and/or General Exstra Sterk in a row gives me a feeling like "too much is too much", but the feeling of being close to an overdose (while objectively being far away from it, of course, no brand of snus really is life-threatening) has not returned since my first month of using snus.

At the same time, the dose of nicotine that I need to not get any cravings hasn't upped. I'm still absolutely happy with normal strength brands and I've even come to appreciate Mocca + (tobacco flavor) with only 6mg. The first mini with a real kick, so to say.

Overall, it's certainly a very personal thing, but I assume that nobody disagrees that the nicotine-tolerance somehow goes up, when using snus.

Cheers!

[Xobeloot]

Mine actually tends to fluctuate. Typically I use a crapload of los every day. Other days I load up my usual pris and my brain feels like it is about to blow out my ears and I can't use but small pinches.

[bearcat87]

I agree with Xobe. Some days I can snus general sterk all day and get little satisfaction, others I can put in a N&J and be fine for a few hours. For me it mostly depends on whether or not I got enough sleep. Not enough sleep and I don't crave as much, enough or too much sleep and I cannot get enough.

My tolerance has gone up since snusing. I honestly think I am more addicted to snus than I ever was to cigs. When I started snusing I used the normal strength snus. Now I exclusively use strong portions and maybe a few prillas a week, on top of snuff use. When I smoked cigs I could wake up in the middle of the night and have a ignorable craving for a cig. Now when I wake up mid night I crave snus horribly. In the morning the first thing I do is go and put a general extra in and hop in the shower.

All I can say is that now I can breath, run, and pick up any chick I want. Cigs seemed to limit the ammount/type of girls that would date or hook up with me. With snus I can turn around and pop a portion in without anyone knowing what I am doing.

[sagedil]

Cigs seemed to limit the ammount/type of girls that would date or hook up with me.

The ONLY reason I gave up smoking.

[texasmade]

Cigs seemed to limit the ammount/type of girls that would date or hook up with me.

The ONLY reason I gave up smoking.

quite...and i mostly did it out of boredom and when drinking....

[BMasiak]

Nicotine is an enigma for me... I've gotten the head rush from cigaretes as a kid when I got started, but never again. And I've never gotten it with snus... From the start I've been using predominantly strong portions, and all los I've tried doesn't seem to have any effect as far as feeling any physical effects. Except for when I fell asleep with some extra sterk, I woke up an hour later not feeling to well lol.

Yet I love snusing! lol It might be a placebo effect, mouth fixation or something else. I honestly don't know if I could tell the difference if someone gave me a non-nicotine snus :lol:

[texasmade]

I honestly don't know if I could tell the difference if someone gave me a non-nicotine snus :lol:

friend did that to me...bastard...i could tell the difference because i wasn't feeling the way snus usually makes me feel...calm..lol..i was very irritable for no reason(i get like that sometimes..snus has helped alot)

[PennySD]

definitely goes up.

i'm up to strong portions now (13mg or more) and i can barely catch a buzz these days.

[harpdog]

make the most of it while you can

I used to roll cigs a 50g pouch of amber leaf lasted about a week. I recall chaining rollies. I would cough up a 3 or 4 of big brown phelgms every morning followed by more coughs and wheezes.

Downstairs for a Coffee and three smokes with the first coffee.

I gave up cigs for Pipes. 6 bowls a day is enough for my habit. however who has the time for 6 x 45 min pipe sessions every day.

Then last week I got some snus. for about 4 days I felt a definite kick from it. Then I just feel straight. The reason behind this is when you smoke you get an immediate hit and with a pipe its more if tiny sips over 45mins. Then you stop and you immediately start to withdraw.

then when the craving is really strong you smoke again you get a hit and then you immediately start to withdraw.

With snus you get a constant steady delivery of nicotine so after a while you dont feel highs n lows anymore.

The other day I did an experiment I did not use any after I got up. I waited 4 hours. Then I was spaced out anyway from nicotine withdrawal. Took some snus and felt the nicotine hit once again.

[sagedil]

Welcome to Snuson harpdog. I'm glad you found you way to snus.