Should I start smoking a pipe?

Enquiring Mind | 11/14/2001 | MississippiMan

[MississippiMan]

I haven't had a cigarette since January 23rd. Unfortunately, I still crave cigarettes constantly. Some of that is due to the fact that I've remained addicted to nicotene gum or patches or inhalers or whatever my nicotene du jour is. Another part of it is that a small majority of the time, smoking was actually a very pleasurable thing. Only a few cigarettes a day really felt good; the others were sheer, utter habit.

Contrary to all the assurances, I don't feel wondrously better. My breathing has not improved much at all. My sense of taste is the one big difference and that difference is indeed dramatic.

When all is said and done, however, the only factor that keeps me from starting back at this point is the smell. I had no idea I stank like that for 20+ years. Good grief! How rank! It's not so much the smell of the smoke itself, but the smell it leaves on you and anything it touches in an enclosed area.

With that in mind, I've smelled some WONDERFUL smelling pipe tobacco over the years and am wondering if maybe I oughta take up a pipe smoking session maybe once per night to take care of my craving. Any pipe smokers out there? What are those tobaccos that smell so wonderful?

Thanks...

MM

[MississippiMan]

Thanks for all the responses. After absorbing them all, I'm not going to take up the pipe habit. Ya'll have also inspired me to get serious about getting off nicotene altogether. Cost was never a factor in my smoking, but heck, the nicotene alternatives are costing me WAY more than the dang cigarettes did.

I've cut back on my coffee consumption from a couple pots per day to 3 cups per day, which is making the nicotene cravings less severe. I'm just such a creature of habit and it's hard to shake the psychological craving associated with certain activities. For example, when writing or doing intense computer work, a cigarette was an essential part of my toolkit and that's been really hard to shake.

Oh well, let me again sincerely thank you all for the responses. There's no topic I've yet found that I can't find help, knowledge, and support regarding here on FR.

MM

[vin-one]

as far as copenhagen goes, I am getting ready to quit again. I have heard that it is
harder to quit than heroin, and I can tell you I have quit 10 or 15 times.
My wife and kids usually hide for about a week. Then when I think I am over it, I have one dip of snuff and I'm Back.

[maxwell]

Dude, you need some weed or something. 'ere...

[fourdeuce82d]

very tough indeed- try the gum. It's not even remotely close to the amount of nicotine you'll get from cope, but it gives you something to do with your mouth (hey! none of the nasty humor here dammit) and the lowers the cancer risk. I hope...

good luck!

[BluH2o]

Although I'm not a regular smoker, I do have a variety of pipes I've smoked, off and on, for nearly twenty-five years. My favorite pipe tobacco shop is the Owl Shop in New Haven, CT ... just down the street from Yale University. Their X-4 tobacco blend is very smooth and aromatic ... it's their own private blend that goes back to the early 1930's.

[jdub]

You could ask your doctor to prescribe Wellbutrin for you. that is how I beat smoking. Take it for a couple of months and wean yourself off the nicotine by cutting down a bit every day. Its the best thing I ever did. I quit over 3 years ago, and have never craved another one, even when drinking.

[wardaddy]

I quit cigarettes when I embarked upon a 4 week voyage on a 44' Lafitte Sloop. I took none with me and just dealt with it at sea. Given the weather it wasn't too rough. Once we got close to land again we ran into a longliner and they offered us some smokes which I declined. For me cigarettes were a very compulsive habit. Taking up cigars on a whim some 6 years later was completely different. I enjoy almost every cigar I smoke and it is not compulsive. However one day I will perhaps give them up. Right now, I simply have no desire to quit them. Unlike cigarettes I don't feel any any bad side effects like hacking or high blood pressure. I do not inhale them...the ones I smoke would scorch your lungs anyhow...the few times I accidentally have inhaled have been followed by an extreme bout of coughing and feeling not too chipper.

In any event, it's best to leave it all alone in the first place. But I am human and cigars are my only vice left. I'm married, watch my weight, eat little fat, try not to stress out etc. but I do love cigars. Cancer of the mouth though is a very real concern and it is difficult to determine who will get a pass and who won't. As I grow well into middle age I may rethink all of this.

Best of luck.

[wardaddy]

That rascal Grant died from throat and mouth cancer just as he finished his memoirs which enriched his otherwise poverty stricken family. I think he was living on the east bank of the Hudson north of NYC at the time. He was known to smoke 15-20 stogies a day ...much like Twain. Of course Winston smoked the same amount and lived to 94 so who knows. BTW, Lee smoked a fair amount of stogies and the occasional pipe and died of cardiac disease in his early to mid 60s(?)....so who knows?

I suppose I am quite Hawkish when it is merited. I'm a right wing Southern Christian conservative to the near extreme. I don't imagine that takes much elaborating does it?

8>)

[MississippiMan]

You could ask your doctor to prescribe Wellbutrin for you. that is how I beat smoking.

Thx, J. I know Wellbutrin/Zyban works wonders for some people but I can't take it. Although it's an antidepressant it has the exact opposite effect on me; makes me so depressed I want to crawl off in a corner and never come out.

MM

[Max McGarrity]

The key to tobacco use other than abstaining is only to smoke at certain times and not on impulse which is impossible when addicted to ciggies.

Not at all. Or maybe for you, but blanket statements like this are seldom true for everyone. After 30 years of smoking cigarettes I quit cold turkey, no problem. Couple years later decided I had given up something I enjoyed against my will and started again with the promise, which I've kept, that I will never smoke a cigarette out of habit. Only when it will be truly appreciated. Some days I don't smoke at all, some days I do, but I enjoy every single one (which I make myself).

[wardaddy]

Clearly you're right..I'm speaking for myself....I did have a girlfriend once who only smoked at night. For me cigars are a much less intense addiction ...and I truly do not inhale....other than the cloud in the room.

[Mr. K]

I agree- I quit smoking pot this same way (20 years ago)

[Mr. K]

CaptainBlack smells HEAVENLY (taste does not match the smell though...) I sometimes burn some in an ashtray just because it smells so dam good

[Standing Wolf]

Pipes and cigars are better smokes than cigarettes, but pipes are more expensive and bothersome, and you'll soon find yourself inhaling pipe smoke just as you did cigarette smoke. How do I know? Experience.

[geege]

Pipes smell great.....how about a cigar also??????

[rebelyell]

I have a friend on another board that has your same handle. The high school we attended had the "war hawks" as the mascot. We are with you on your political leanings, brother! Deo vindice.

[Fiddlstix]

Go For It!

I've smoked a pipe for goin' on 40 years now.
Very enjoyable :)