Questions before becoming Snuser - then trying to become one

[snoosiphant]

Re: FIRST DAY ON SNUS!

[color=green]
So, all in all, I'm quite positive and hopeful. I've had 2 portions and 3 cigarettes instead of about 10 cigarettes, which is really good.

You know, if you are smoking as much as 20 cigs a day, and roll ups at that, you might as well just go for the strong regular protion. That way you would be getting enough nicotene to feel some satisfaction and would feel rewarded instead of deprived.

In my attempts to cut down with pipes and cigars (which worked by the way, down from a pack and a half to 2 or 3) people were always recommending what they thought a newbie pipe or cigar smoker should smoke. Their recommendations left me feeling nicotene starved and until I discovered that their were higher nic alternatives available, it just didnt work for me.

So get some strong portions and work down from there if you want. With the nicotene habit you have now those dainty little cutesy portions might not do anything and you may continue to smoke and that would be a shame because cigarettes kill people.

[Anti]

The Camel had more of an American tobacco taste...

You could taste tobacco in there? Camel's snus was just like candy to me. If it weren't for the nicotine I'd have never known it contained tobacco :^P

Tbh, if asvm were from the USA, Camel would be my recommendation for a try. I rather liked them for awhile, but the aspertame really started getting noticeable for me. I could live with a snus that tasted like candy for an occasional dessert snus, but that synthetic bitterness that appears after awhile really became off putting.

I could smell and faintly taste the tobacco on the "original" Camel snus, but not the other two flavors. It had that raisin-like smell, and faint taste to it.

[asvm]

You know, if you are smoking as much as 20 cigs a day, and roll ups at that, you might as well just go for the strong regular portion. That way you would be getting enough nicotine to feel some satisfaction and would feel rewarded instead of deprived.

You are probably right, snoosiphant. I have a mini can open which I quite like, but still want to smoke, and a regular original can open, which I'm not so keen on, but don't want to smoke.

I reckon I need to give myself till the end of the month to get used to the various tastes, sizes and whether original or white.

As yet, I am nowhere near converting. Smoking is still No 1 and snusing No 2. So I long for a puff (probably more out of habit) rather than a snus. It will be good if, by the end of the month, I am putting a tin of snus in my handbag when I go out, instead of my tin of tobacco. In the meantime, I'll keep at it with getting used to snus.

[darkwing]

ASVM, just be persistent. Remember starting to smoke, back in the day? You had to train yourself to cope with the cigs! It is the same with snus, it takes patience and you need to find your brand and your own usage pattern. Snus is a gentle and relatively safe way to get the nicotine and the tobacco, and it can free you from the horrible indignities that a smoker is eto these days. Think of it this way: you are not quitting smoking, you are taking the tobacco underground!

[chainsnuser]

ASVM, like Zero already suggested, order yourself some strong brands, (Skruf Stark, Nick & Johnny, Offroad Strong). Also try some lössnus. Almost every brand of lös gives a nice kick (depending on the size of the pris).

It's not that the miniportions or 'weak' regular portions are worthless, but at least I was lucky that I had some Skruf Stark Portions, Probe Lös and Ettan Lös in my first order. My very first portion (Skruf Stark) already made me think "goodbye cigarettes". I doubt that this would have happened that fast with minportions.

Once your off the cigarettes, you can easily go back to miniportions, if you like so. BTW, 2 of them used at once also give a pleasing nicotine-kick.

Apart from that, after 3 days it wasn't clear for me, if I really could use snus in the long run, because the burning on my gums really was terrible for about a full week. I guess your overall-experience until now maybe is even better than mine was.

Don't give up too soon. It takes one or two months till you feel fully comfortable with snus.

Cheers!

[asvm]

I'm taking on board what you are saying darkwing, chainsnuser and everyone else. I've opened another can of large which I like a bit better than the other large I had open. I think I'm getting there bit by bit.

Yes it took a while to get to like cigarettes (though wish I hadn't bothered trying so hard with them!) and it seems I'm not alone in struggling a bit with starting snus; I was beginning to wonder if I was just being a right girl about it.

I've noticed that, even though I'm not having lots of portions, I seem to be getting a whole lot hungrier since I started and even after I've had a big meal, I'm getting hungry again not long after. Then I noticed last night somewhere else in the forum lxskllr wrote something about snus and being more hungry.

Anyone else get this?? I'd better watch I don't end up becoming a snusing, non-smoking fattie.

I'm very grateful for everybody's encouragement etc - I might have given up were it not for that.

Many thanks!

[lxskllr]

I've noticed that, even though I'm not having lots of portions, I seem to be getting a whole lot hungrier since I started and even after I've had a big meal, I'm getting hungry again not long after. Then I noticed last night somewhere else in the forum lxskllr wrote something about snus and being more hungry.

Anyone else get this?? I'd better watch I don't end up becoming a snusing, non-smoking fattie.

Wow, I haven't thought of that in awhile. I guess that feeling goes away, because I don't get that anymore :^/ I'm not sure when I stopped feeling hungry after snus, but I can now snus all day, not eat, and still feel fine. I guess it has something to do with the stomach not being used to the tobacco, and mis-interpreting the unfamiliar sensation with hunger.

[Mariner]

Heroic effort, asvm, and a pretty interesting cronicle too. I hope you keep on updating the thread.

As a recent convert, I'm concerned about the dreaded bloating myself, but I am not quite sure how I have fared in the "more hungry" department. On one hand, I am already starting to taste more, so food is more interesting, so to speak. On the other hand, I notice that a pris seems to kill the urge for a snack just as much as (or even more than) a cigarette would do. I believe I do see some signs of an increased craving for food when I don't have a pris loaded.

As far as I know, nicotine is what causes the slightly heightened metabolism in smokers, so that should work for snus users as well.

Not sure I should ruin anything for you by making recommendations, seeing as the last thing I (co-)recommended (trying the General portions) was - uhm - not a big success. :wink:

:shock: Can't... stop it... Must... spout... opinions...

Nick & Johnny and Skruf Stark portions are very good for the kick (and the taste). In the flavour department, I think Göteborgs Rapé No. 2 portions taste unbelievably smooth, if you are at all into berry flavours (Four Red Fruits tea, cranberry drinks and such).

[Zero]

Yeah, a portion of Skruf or N&J after dinner is better than a cigarette, imo - just a wash of bliss, and I guarantee you that it will kill any post-dinner food cravings :lol:

[Kadett]

I can only post my experiences to trying to quit smoking using snus. Hopefully they may be useful to you. I attempted to stop smoking in January using snus small mini portions which are sold by DuMaurier here in Canada. I cut out the ciggies abruptly and completely from day one and just used snus. I have smoked 15-20 a day for about 14 years.

I was fine for about 10 days and then I started to have these days where I had really bad cravings to smoke and it didn't matter if I took snus it was almost like cold turkey. I don't know what other people experience but for me when I stop smoking I would go into depression and also bizarrely get these really intense episodes where I feel like I can't breathe (does anyone else get this bizarre symptom, its like my chest has locked down tight?). Now it should be said that the snus they are selling in Canada is most likely low nicotine, but that was all I had available, I'm not sure if I had stronger portions if that would have eased things somewhat. What happened was I basically smoked again and was considering forgetting the whole thing. But I was aware that what was different this time quitting by using the snus was that I was not depressed, sure, I had some other withdrawl problems but this time I was at least able to think and so did not return to full on smoking.

What happened was that I've taken a more gradual approach. So from the pack of 20 I bought in early February I smoked one as needed and used snus as usual. As of today I have 5 cigarettes still in the pack. So in other words I have not smoking daily and when I do have some its a couple or so. I have found that gradually I reach for the snus more and more often rather than the cigarettes, like today during stressful phone calls I actually wanted snus not cigarettes, which is a major psychological change. I think the key advice I can give here is to keep using the snus and don't get so beaten up about quitting smoking right from the get go. I think that for some people the cigarette reduction needs to be gradual. What you should not do is get discouraged and give up on the snus completely.

My conclusions are firstly I believe that there are other chemicals in cigarettes or roll-up tobacco aside from the nicotine that addict or cause physical dependence for some long-term users which the snus cannot replace. Thus stopping smoking immediately for some people can cause withdrawl-type symptoms.

Secondly, I think people underestimate the psychological element to smoking. Cigarettes have always been there for me in good and bad times (the poor mans holiday as my grandfather used to say). Indeed I started smoking in the worst of times. In this situation a long -term smoker needs to "unlearn" the habit in some ways so that they need to reach for the fags less and less. Snus allows me to do this by maintaining my mental state enough so that the longer I use snus the more I enjoy it over cigarettes and also to have the clarity of mind to analyse the mental aspects of my cigarette smoking over the years and try to adjust how I perceive and react to things so that hopefully eventually I wont feel the need to smoke period.

My two cents

[asvm]

After almost 1 week!

I guess it has something to do with the stomach not being used to the tobacco, and mis-interpreting the unfamiliar sensation with hunger.

Thanks lxskllr for your thoughts re snusing and hunger. You may have something there. Anyway it's re-assuring to know that the hunger may eventually go away.

Heroic effort, asvm, and a pretty interesting chronicle too. I hope you keep on updating the thread.

Thanks for this kind statement Mariner. I have actually deliberately kept away from the forum for the last few days thinking you must all be getting bored of reading about my feeble efforts to become a proper snuser and failing rather.

Anyway, to "chronicle" further, I let myself down today by smoking all day till now due to being kinda depressed.

On the brighter side though, in the last coupla days I've actually noticed that bit by bit I'm getting to like snus more and like smoking less, which is certainly a surprise to me. Even the General that you recommended I try, Mariner, and which I did not like in the least, I actually quite like now.

With cigs I'm getting less impressed as they only last a couple of minutes and the new experience of snus can last a couple of hours. I think I'm slowly getting converted! Some of you have said it can take a while. It is quite an adjustment of habits and tastes. Decades of doing it the one way cannot be altered overnight, at least not for me.

Anyway, thanks for "spouting" your opinions, Mariner. However, it's best I don't tell you what I think of most of them!!!

Thanks for your portion flavour recommendations, Zero. Come next weekend I will read through everything in this post here and write down all the flavours that have been recommended to me then make my second order next Monday. I don't think I'm ready to try the loose stuff yet though; maybe get that on the following order.

And a special thanks to the Kadett and your two cents' worth. Your "essay" made good and interesting reading. I haven't had hard to breath episodes since I haven't stopped smoking. But with just cutting down from 20 - 10, my lungs felt like I'd doubled my smoking instead of halved.

Re still smoking, it is good that you're at the point where you turned to the snus during your stressful phone calls instead of cigarettes. I'm still the other way around yet. Unlike you, the psychological change has not happened for me yet and I am, indeed, beating myself up about still smoking.

I think that for some people the cigarette reduction needs to be gradual. What you should not do is get discouraged and give up on the snus completely.

This is sound advice for me. I guess what's more important just now is to get familiar with using snus. That's a big enough endeavour in itself. To include the even bigger endeavour of quitting smoking is too much to do all at once. So if I smoke after my meals still, then so be it. I'm starting to like having a portion under my lip now and then during the day - I don't need to push myself to do this all day.

In this situation a long-term smoker needs to "unlearn" the habit in some ways so that they need to reach for the fags less and less

Yes, this is true. I have been snusing for almost a week. My old smoking habit still prevails - but my new snusing habit is slowly becoming a welcome addition to my life. Hopefully one day it will be that that will prevail....

Another question:

As yet I have not had a portion in front of other people. For example, I was with my Mum and brother yesterday and did not even tell them about it so just smoked as usual. For some reason I feel hesitant about telling them. How long did it take you all before you used snus in front of other people?

Thank you all for your continued support, encouragement, advice and just being there.

Cheers!

[lxskllr]

Re: After almost 1 week!

Another question:

As yet I have not had a portion in front of other people. For example, I was with my Mum and brother yesterday and did not even tell them about it so just smoked as usual. For some reason I feel hesitant about telling them. How long did it take you all before you used snus in front of other people?

I used snus in front of people right away. I have the advantage of being male, and 39 years old though. Oral tobacco is expected more from males, and being 39, I'm too old to care what people think :^P

[snoosiphant]

Re: After almost 1 week!

I used snus in front of people right away. I have the advantage of being male, and 39 years old though. Oral tobacco is expected more from males, and being 39, I'm too old to care what people think :^P

That echos my experience, except that I'm 52. I also had most of my aquaintances used to me using nasal snuff. That said, I still cant work up to using lös in public.

[lxskllr]

Re: After almost 1 week!

That said, I still cant work up to using lös in public.

I use lös in public if I won't have to ditch the pris, or at least have a discrete way of getting rid of it. I can control the lös pretty well, so I don't think anybody even knows it's there. My pris' are on the small side also. I use 2 ticks on the 3ml IceTool, so it isn't outrageously big.

[yummi4tunekookie]

asvm, I'm also a female and a snus-newbie who is attempting to replace her smoking with snusing. I was slightly disappointed the first time I tried snus in that the nicotine delivery is so completely different from that of cigarettes. I enjoyed the snus, though, and kept using it, and before I knew it, I cut back from 10-20 cigs a day to only 3-10 a day. I still haven't completely quit, but the fact that I've cut back so drastically makes me happy anyway--and as I've only been snusing for a few weeks and have yet to make my second order, I'm not too worried.

I completely understand your hesitation about letting others know about your snusing. Oral tobacco is pretty stigmatized, and even though snus is defintely the better route, the few people I told about snus were pretty harsh about it. Screw them, though. I'm still sticking with it and keeping it more discreet by using mini portions while in public and regular portions while at home.

I understand that you're a bit let down right now, but I advise you to stick with it, and don't try so hard to quit cigs completely yet. The more you focus on only trying to quit, the more frustrated you'll be, and this will only take away from your snusing enjoyment! Like I said, I just stuck with the snus and cut back on smoking without even realizing it.

I'm excited to know that we're more or less on the same boat, though! *hugs* Doesn't this forum rock?!