Nicotine in cig's compared to pipe tobacco?

[Savas]

Without going into the differences of which is worse for you (pipe v.s cigarette) I'm curious to ask;

How much nicotine equivalent is one "bowl" of pipe tobacco compared to a cigarette(s).

I switched over to a pipe prior to stopping totally. WAS smoking two-three packs a day and am  having one pipe full of tobacco a day right now, which means one bag of tobacco would last one and a half-two weeks...

I got a prescription patch but it was written based on my two and a half pack of cigarettes a day consumption and I'm concerned about whether the patch is too strong now when I start using it.

[Savas]

You're right...hypnosis is a great way to go. I used auto hypnosis last time. Don't know if it worked, but it's why I use the pipe. "Told myself" to reach for that instead. And since I don't care for a pipe as much...well, you see the idea. I've never gotten to the point where I just said "to heck with it" and went down and used a hypnotist. Or the patch. I got it this time "just in case". I had a professor who wrote a book on hypnosis, Roy Udolf, taught at Hofstra.
He hypnotised a student in class one time into believing she was at Fordham, not Hofstra. It was the damndest thing. She just sat there squirming and laughing nervously while we tried to convince her she was wrong. She finally realized it, but it was incredible to watch.

[NewLeaf]

Just thought I would jump in here a bit off subject, but about quitting smoking nevertheless. I posted about my experience with hypnosis and how it helped me to quit smoking last night.

I remember the quit smoking battle with myself and my husband 20 years ago. Not an easy one. To taper or not to taper. The kids always saying smoking is bad for your health and putting no smoking signs all over the place. The bathroom, the car, outside...... The only way we managed it was going to a hypnotist, named Elroy Schwartz, who actually was one of the writers for that sitcom from the 60's, Gilligan's Island. I guess when the series petered out he needed something else to do.

Guess what... it worked for me! I tried and tried to actually smoke but couldn't do it. I would pick one up, light it and try to take a drag and then YEEEEECHHHHHHH, I had to get rid of it immediately. It helped my husband for a time but he did go back to smoking a few a day until his heart attack. Hasn't had one since.

Funny thing about being hypnotized... I went in as a skeptic but then after talking to the guy for a bit he convinced me to just relax and surrender, let it happen. At first I thought this is screwey, look at the light, listen to my voice, crazy, but then he said something like, you came here to do this for yourself, because you love yourself and then I found myself saying to myself, yep, I do love myself. So I did let go, and surrendered. It wasn't until years afterwards I could bring back into my concious mind what he actually did during the session, let me say he wasn't just pussyfooting around. He ment it when he said he was really committed to making people stop smoking. He also said it would only take one visit, no coming back and back and back.

A hypnotist in your area that is committed to making people stop smoking, not helping, but making you quit is possibly the key.


Other issues - Managed to survive the week and now am back to normal somewhat. Husband dodged the bullet so to speak and is recovering nicely. My daughter & I are speaking and I know where she is. I actually met her dosing nurse (a man) on Friday.... that saga continues. Will keep that updated on different thread.

[NautyOne]

the gum is ehhh ,  try the lozenge, they are gross, but they work.  Don't buy the the strongest dose when first trying.  go for the 2mg or 1mg i forget the strengths but get the lowest first, if you feel you need more and can handle it then go to the 4mg i think it is. I think its ok to throw a tic tac or altoid mint in with it so its not so bad.  My husband used them and it didn't really bother him, but they made me sick.  good luck

[Calzy]

I have been looking into this before and after i quit 2 mos ago. Duke U Medical Center did a study with smokers wearing a patch two wks before their quit date and found that the patch partially disconnected the reward of smoking with a level of nicotine and reduced the effect of the cig so there was less craving and was easy for ppl to switch to a low tar-nicotine cig. After the two week period of both patch and cigs ppl received a smoking cessation drug called mecamylamine to block even more the rewarding effects to the brain receptors.  After 2 more wks with added drug, 1 month total about 50% of the ppl quit. The severity of the w/d's were much less this way as well.    

[Savas]

Yeah...unfortunately, I can't chew gum. Otherwise I would have gone right for it. It does seem like I'm suffering some nicotine withdrawal. I'm getting the classic "flare ups" you get from not having enough.

I try to smoke it more like you would a cigar, not "inhaling/puffing like a cigarette, just kind of letting it "dribble in"...you suck in this stuff to much, and you get nausea pretty quick!

And yeah, you can't use a pipe as much, why I'm trying it. Ever try walking down a street in NYC while smoking a pipe? Besides hard as hell to keep lit, there's getting stopped by every other cop who's convinced you're smoking something else!

[PromisedLand]

I'd go for the gum as well...I've known several people who wound up in the hospital on the patch (my wife being one).  I used to smoke a pipe many years ago and have thought of taking it up again..I smoke maybe 3/4 pack/day of cigs and always loved a pipe.  Problem was I got too relaxed with it while driving and it kept
falling out of my mouth.


bg

[GA Guy]

Do you inhale the pipe smoke? This is what I'd do..I bet the pipe equivalent is no where near the cigarettes. I'd get some of the nicotine gum..lowest amount possible..and just pop one when the cravings hit. You may have none at all. The patch may be doing more harm than good.