Nicotine / repeated - unexpected withdrawal or: how to torture yourself with an e-cig

[atara]

Back in 2016 my girlfriend quit cigarettes and switched to a vape. I had already quit buying tobacco for myself (I only ever hand-rolled) and just smoked hers sometimes, so when she got the e-cigarette we both smoked it (I pay for other things don't come at me bro). Over the years this progressed to me hitting the vape pretty regularly when she was around.

Anyway that means I was inhaling nicotine a lot when I was with my girlfriend and not at all when she wasn't around. For the last several months I have been feeling pretty severely anxious/depressed when we were apart. (I'm not much of a texter so there was never an issue with me being clingy, I guess.) We have a kinky-ish relationship with her as the dom and me the sub and for a while I was afraid I was becoming too attached or losing my self-worth.

The weekend before last I visited my family and some of my brother's friends talked me into trying dip. It was like walking into a warm room when I hadn't even realized I was cold. For the first time in forever I was able to hold a conversation without feeling the least bit anxious. I didn't quite realize what had happened until last Thursday when I thought about it for a while and then bought some nicotine gum. Friday was good again. I got more work done on Friday afternoon than every other day of the week put together. I'm not exaggerating. That gum was the best purchase I've made in months.

Truth be told I should have seen this coming. I know the neurochemistry, and I also should know what it means that the e-cigarette is one of the first things I reach for in the morning (fun fact: this is a telltale sign of dependence). I guess I had managed to not abuse cigarettes for so long (I never smoked more than two per day regularly) that I convinced myself I was somehow immune. Of course, that probably worked out because I was always extremely careful, and I was not careful with the e-cig because, look Ma, no lung cancer!

The moral, I think, is be very careful about using someone else's electric cigarette. I'm not sure what I'm going to do from here, aside from buying shitloads of gum. I guess it's not the worst addiction.

Tagged by Xorkoth
substancecode_nicotine
substancecode_stimulants
explevel_experienced
exptype_negative
exptype_addiction
roacode_vaporized
roacode_inhaled

 

[Xorkoth]

Hmm, nicotine withdrawal should only last a few days, it's odd that you would feel off for months.

My friend gets really bad withdrawal from nicotine to the point of shakes and anger and feeling like his brain doesn't work, but it goes away after a few days (but he rarely makes it that long). For some reason I have never once experienced withdrawal from nicotine, even when I was vaping constantly while awake for years (which is the most consistent I've ever had it - about as consistent as it's possible to have it in fact, I'd go through 2 entire tanks a day). I get big-time cravings when I stop when I'm doing it often, for sure, but I feel fine, just can't get the thought out of my mind. I guess I'm really lucky because other people tell me they can be quite bad.

I actually quit vaping with cigarettes... it was kinda stupid but I was starting to get some really weird symptoms in my lungs after vaping so much for years. Plus I found it much more compulsive than cigarettes... you can do it anytime, anywhere. So I started smoking cigs because I still wanted nicotine. I only started vaping when I quit opiates, to give myself "something" when I had cravings. For a while I was dipping whenever I wasn't smoking. These days I quit dipping entirely and only smoke when I go out or go to band practice, but I smoke a lot of them at those times, 2-3 nights a week. I've gotten to where I don't have cravings except during those times.

 

[atara]

I think you misinterpreted a little. I would have only been in withdrawal for a few days if I had just quit once. The problem was that I was quitting every day when we went to work in the morning and I started vaping again in the evenings. So I never went back to baseline.

 

[Xorkoth]

Ah okay gotcha, I did misinterpret that.

 

[dragonix]

It is a scary addiction for me I feel it destroy my tooth enamel and in less than a year of near daily use I already experience worrying physical ailments when I start amping up my usage it goes away when I get away from them or lessen it which I am unable to moderate drugs like this ailments like chest pain and weakend spinal column I know ecigs are not my ally now

 

[Shinji Ikari]

Vapes are sneaky things. I quit smoking/nicotine a handful of times over a 15 year or so period, usually cold turkey and sometimes with gum for a few days beforehand. After quitting cigarettes for good (I hope) I found myself using a vape as my sole source of nicotine for around 2 years, puffing on it all day every day.

Let me tell you, by the time I quit for good I thought I had a fairly strong grasp of what to expect from nicotine withdrawal, having been through it a dozen times over the course of a decade, but the cravings after getting rid of my vape lingered for months whereas they would last no more than a week back when I smoked.

Moral of the story, vapes might help you quit cigarettes but they’ll get you waaaaaaaaaaaaay more addicted to nicotine.

 

[izo]

i quit smoking with my e-cig without problems some month ago but its just another trading one addiction for another.

 

[hardtack]

I stopped vaping for 3 years and felt that worse than any drug ever done in my life. Nicotine has got to be the fastest acting chemical I ever did and I can understand why it's so incredibly addictive. Makes you feel both instantly stimulated but relaxed at same time. Plus today there are so many, many tasty flavors of E juices so that is even more of a plus to the luxury of Nicotine. Gotta say I feel like it's like and adult pacifier and with all the high tech electronics in pens and inhalers even more to the feeling like this is advanced. Yeah it's a bitch to stop for long time. Not really hard if you vape as hard as I did and still do from time to time. Get too much and it will make you nauseous; no question. However gotta be happy with the Vaping because I would never ever go back to traditional smoking and cigarettes. Nasty loads of bad shit and the nasty smell is now something to forget forever!