New Guy Here....Any reliable info about Snus, MAOI's and Post Smoking Depression?

[richs10]

New guy here. I posted this in another thread in the health section, but I was afraid I wouldn't get seen much. Hope that's ok. I also ran some searches here but didn't find much on the issue.

I have been vaping e-cigs for about 5 months now and just started mixing in Snus. The reason is I still seem to be missing something that I must have been getting from the burning effect of Tobacco. I have read very vague references to the thought that burning tobacco may create MAOI's and alkoloids (?), neither of which I know much about, which combat the depression and anxiety, but nothing with substantial authority.

After years of smoking regular cigarettes, the e-cig completely removed any desire for smoking and fully satisfied my nicotine cravings, but it always seems that about 3 to 4 weeks after stopping regular cigarettes, I get terribly depressed and anxious. I have switched back to cigs and it goes away in a week or so (which infuriates me because I DON'T WANT TO SMOKE).

I'm now trying out Snus (General White) to see if I can get these added benefits without the cigs. (still love my vaping, though). I have done some searches here and on the net, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of reliable research into the MAOI/Alkoloid benefits of smoking tobacco or whether this "benefit" still works with Snus. I am hopeful that it might.

I am slowing becoming convinced that I am one of those people who have multiple demons to conquer in quitting tobacco cigarettes completely. It's very disheartening, since I love being able to actually breath and not "cough up a lung" every morning!

If anyone has any info on this issue (MAOI's and Snus), I would appreciate a link!

Thanks,
Rich

[raptor]

Rich,

You are correct that there could be some benefit to using a tobacco product rather than nicotine dissolved in PG as in e-cigarettes. You won't find much research praising tobacco smoking because of the sheer amount of harmful chemical byproducts produced when burning tobacco.

Alkaloids are fragile at combustion temperatures, so even if you experience some benefit from inhalation of those not combusted, you're still inhaling tons of PAHs from incomplete carbon combustion.

My guess is that if you're sensitive to these other tobacco alkaloids which provide you the same anti-anxiety effect, you'll experience the same from using snus.

[c.nash]

Rich, I don't know much about all that stuff but I do know that a lot more people have success with snus over e-cigs. I hope snus helps keep you off those terrible things.
Wish the best, an hope someone can answer your question with the exact answer, I am now curious to know as well.

[PipenSnus]

I read scientific and medical research journals daily as part of my job, but I don't recall seeing anything about MAO inhibitors and nicotine. Of course, that doesn't mean there's not a connection, only that no one has looked into it yet.

Nicotine seems to act primarily as a cognitive stimulant. Are your depressive symptoms related to being unable to think clearly? I know that was the case with me.

[Mr. Snuffleupagus]

Welcome to SnusOn! I don't have any specific info for you. I did quit with e-cigs only for a couple months and my anxiety got way out of hand. I relasped to ciggs for a while and then quit with snus. I'm in much better shape now and have been using snus instead of smoking for almost 2 years now. So I hope it works out for you.

[muddyfunkstar]

I mentioned this in the other thread about nicotine and depression, my own long term depression (which came on while I was smoke/nicotine free) has been helped immeasurably since I started snussing. I can't comment on e-cigs or other nicotine replacement therapies as I've never used them, but for me it just seems like the nicotine is what's made the change.

Good luck with it, I hope the snus works for you.

[snusgetter]

I mentioned this in the other thread about nicotine and depression, my own long term depression (which came on while I was smoke/nicotine free) has been helped immeasurably since I started snussing. I can't comment on e-cigs or other nicotine replacement therapies as I've never used them, but for me it just seems like the nicotine is what's made the change.

Good luck with it, I hope the snus works for you.

Then again, it could be a combination of nicotine and some of the
other components in the actual tobacco that work synergistically,
unlike e-cigs which have no tobacky.

[muddyfunkstar]

Then again, it could be a combination of nicotine and some of the
other components in the actual tobacco that work synergistically,
unlike e-cigs which have no tobacky.

This is very true.

[dEFinitionofEPIC]

but it always seems that about 3 to 4 weeks after stopping regular cigarettes, I get terribly depressed and anxious. I have switched back to cigs and it goes away in a week or so (which infuriates me because I DON'T WANT TO SMOKE).

Weird...same thing happened to me. And from what I've read from other people on the internet, it seems to happen to a lot of people. The e-cig never really satisfied me at all, though. And I ended up really anxious to boot.

Honestly, I am convinced that there's something wrong with those e-cigs.... I tried for several months but once I found snus I never went back. The e-cig left me feeling anxious and "strange" - don't really know how to describe it. There's just something about real genuine tobacco vs. pg mixed with nicotine in a vapor form.... There's something very fake and synthetic about e-cigs and I just don't like them...besides no one really knows what the long term effects are of inhaling all that pg vapor.

I can't really speak with any expertise about MAOIS, but I've read a little about it...and I'm convinced that whatever MAOI affect you got with smoking cigarettes...you will also get from snus.... but not from e-cigs.

As far as nicotine satisfaction goes here's my hierarchy.

Snus > Cigs > Snuff > E-cig

Good luck and hope the snus works out for ya...

[texastorm]

I quit smoking cold turkey, I never tried ecigs, after about a month I was about to lose my mind and I went to the store and got some nicotine lozenges, and that lead me to snus.

Soon after snusing I started to feel like my old self again. I feel like if I hadn't found snus, I would either be in the loony bin or worse yet back to smoking. I still have the occasional urge to smoke but I pop in a snus and wait 15 minutes and I am ok.

I actually do believe that nicotine has something to do with my general state of mind.

I never tried e cigs, but no other nicotine replacement (patch, gum, lozenge etc) besides snus has ever satisfied my needs other than snus.

[chainsnuser]

I have done some searches here and on the net, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of reliable research into the MAOI/Alkoloid benefits of smoking tobacco or whether this "benefit" still works with Snus. I am hopeful that it might.

Just trust your body. This MAOI talk could be esoteric nonsense or it could be true. I don't know. What I know is, that snus is better than cigarettes to feed my demon.

I used my first snus-portion after a long day of chewing Nicorette gums (the so called high nicotine variety, 1 gum supposedly equals 4 cigarettes, LOL), feeling crappy and half dead. Only 5 minutes into the first portion I felt normal again and knew that snus works. 30 minutes later I knew that it works even pretty heavily in the nicotine department and that I could really use it to say goodbye to the cigarettes for good (if I had stayed with Nicorette I would probably chew that crap all the time and smoke on occasion till today).

After some time you will probably ask yourself why cigarettes ever became so popular and why smokeless tobacco became such a niche product and if your not fooling yourself or depriving yourself from the "smoking pleasure". So you will probably smoke some cigarettes on occasion only to find that you really don't need them anymore and most probably don't like them any longer, after a few weeks of snusing.

After some months of snus-use you will probably venture into the world of traditional chewing tobacco and nasal snuff with their lower (in case of nasal snuff even very low), but much faster nicotine delivery to get some change of pace, but at that point you probably will have forgotten the cigarettes.

It may take a year to get the cigarettes out of your head for good, but with snus it's no pain or torture at all. You will be happy to have found something better than smoking. Your lungs, your stamina and overall health also will become better, slowly but steadily.

BTW, I have never tried e-cigs. When I first heard about them, I already was a snuser and not interested to inhale some obscure Chinese "vapor" with reportedly rather low nicotine delivery. I'd rather smoke a real cigarette than this stuff, if I had to choose between the two.

Some tips: don't use snus just after you smoked a(n) (e-)cigarette. Wait a little till you really crave the nicotine (and the MAOIs maybe). Also, use the snus for at least a little more than half an hour. Try lössnus as well and as soon as possible. The effect of lössnus (even the 8mg/g brands) is somewhat more immediate and stronger than with portions. This way the impression of snus will be much more convincing.

Cheers!

[truthwolf1]

The one thing I miss about smoking is the quick burst of a nicotine "rush" that went away just as quickly as it came.

With snus, I sometimes feel like the nicotine comes on too slow and then stays too long.

My system still craves nicotine but definately not like that first year after smokes.

[GUTTERMOUTH]

The anxiety and depression is what led the wife and i to snus as well.We both quit with the e-cig (it was almost scary how easy the e-cig made quitting) and were doing great for about 3 weeks or so. at that point,the anxiety continued to worsen and we both got really,really depressed.the wife was having uncontrollable crying fits and i was bordering on suicidal.

i started using a couple of portions of camel snus a day as sort of a last resort test. neither of us had the desire to smoke but then again,neither of us was functional in any real sense of the word and were both pretty well at the end of our ropes.3 days in to regular snus use the depression got better and the anxiety started to lessen as well.i stopped the e-cig almost completely when our first order of real snus was delivered and in the last couple of weeks,we've both been back to normal.

i don't want to sound like i'm panning e-cigs either.they were a godsend for us to be able to break apart the different facets of the addiction and beat them one at a time.i still think they are one of the greatest inventions ever.But after beating the hand to mouth thing, snus delivers all the great things from tobacco for us with almost none of the risk and keeps us sane and productive.I still don't know exactly what it is in tobacco that makes us function normally but whatever it is is not in e-cigarettes.

[raptor]

Congrats on finding snus, Guttermouth! Also, welcome to the forums!

I agree e-cigs should be seen as more of the first step away from cigarettes, followed by snus for those who cannot quit outright.

[GUTTERMOUTH]

Congrats on finding snus, Guttermouth! Also, welcome to the forums!

I agree e-cigs should be seen as more of the first step away from cigarettes, followed by snus for those who cannot quit outright.

thanks raptor.
like i said i think the e-cig is a great tool but, i have noticed alot of people have suggested that they make them feel weird or strange or whatever and i'm not convinced that it's a pg/vg thing. for the wife and i - smoking was always a relaxing thing and we didn't get any kind of buzz from it at all.At this point, it seems like there are certain people that just don't function well on synthesized nicotine without all the other "stuff" we get from tobacco.I'd love to see a study on the subject and see someone figure it out.the amount of lives that a cigarette replacement e-juice would save would be staggering.
or we could just convert them all to snus and spend the research money on more booze :P