I’ve never smoked, but I’ve been around people that do. What do people feel during/after smoking? It doesn’t seem to make people high or hallucinate or anything. It maybe mildly relaxes them?
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Former heavy smoker here, quit two decades ago. It creates a strong craving, which briefly supplies pleasure when you appease it. It provides (or at least used to) social connection with other smokers, particularly at “smoking breaks”.
And it gives you something recognizable to do while waiting for something. Rather than sitting there, staring out with a stupid look on your face, you instead sit there smoking a cigarette.
It’s an incredibly difficult addiction to break, it’s expensive, and these days identifies you as either very old or more or less a loser. Avoid, avoid.
Initially you get pretty buzzed.
But that wears off. It becomes nothing but jonesing for the next one.’
The moment you are done you want another, and the anxiety builds until you feed the craving.
You’re not getting anything but a very temporary relief from the need.
Source: Quit 2 years ago after over 25 years.
There’s a mild light-headed “high” when you start.
It surpresses appetite (at first).
It can help make “going to the bathroom” easier.
It pairs well with coffee, marijuana, and alcohol.
In social or work situations, it’s a way to get 5 minutes to yourself, or at least break off to a smaller group with just the smokers.
Due to the addiction it’s a constant vicious cycle of cravings -> appeasement. It’s terrible for you and costs a fortune. Prices have doubled in the last 10 years in my area. Besides the cost of your health which has always been high.
I would get a slight buzz if it had been a while since my last cigarette, but otherwise it was a satisfying of cravings. It’s been about 10 years and I still miss being able to smoke a cigarette during or after stressful situations, such as watching sports.
It’s kind of like sleep. If you get enough sleep, you don’t necessarily feel good, just normal. If you don’t get enough sleep, you feel bad. If you regularly don’t get enough sleep, you might think getting enough sleep feels good, because you’re so used to feeling bad and you have something to compare it to. If you’re currently in a state of being tired, it feels good to lie down and go to sleep.
The act of smoking is like waking up and snoozing your alarm and going back to sleep. It feels good to go back to sleep, but only because you’re tired and you’re satisfying that need. Someone who sets their alarm early on purpose in order to get that “go back to sleep” feeling when they snooze might seem crazy to people who just get enough sleep. And, like smoking, it might piss off the people around you because they have to listen to your alarm go off constantly.
The “high” is about as noticable as caffeine.
Mostly it just gives you a sort of proverbial itch for the rest of your life that’s nice to scratch.
The two things I actually gained from it are that I appreciated the weather more, and I understand a smoking addiction.
It’s not worth carrying around the craving for a decade after you quit. And waking up with cigarette smoke in your sinuses was the absolute worst.
This is a great description of nicotine addiction (I’m a vaper, but have smoked). I’d highly recommend anyone who’s considering it to not bother even if you’re impulsive and having a stressful time. Imagine adding another biological need like sleeping to your plate when after a few months all it’ll do for you is allow you to stop thinking about it for a bit. No more buzz. Just cravings and knowing where the exits are.
When you first start it can relieve stress and be relaxing, but that is a trap. Those effects will fade and what will be left is a habit. A habit that your brain will do some pretty large mental gymnastics to justify.
Being a stimulant, I used it for many years to self-treat my ADHD. I did the same with caffeine. Coffee and cigarettes got me through highschool.
Edit: The reason you see people in movies smoke after sex is because it combats the post bang sleepies. It also contributes to the high.
It also contributes to the high.
When I was smoking I found that they enhanced the effects of other drugs. Since it’s a stimulant it keeps you from getting sleepy when you’re drinking or smoking weed. With coffee I found it smoothed out the jitters and let me work a lot longer without needing food.
That being said, the constant stink on my clothes and the huge price of cigarettes got me to switch to vaping, and I’m reducing the nicotine concentration to help me kick it entirely.
From experience, once you’re genuinely ready to stop and you’re already down to 0mg, at some point you’ll just randomly get too lazy to change your coil and that’ll be it.
Thanks! It’s always encouraging to hear people who’ve made the journey
I haven’t smoked in years, but in the off chance I go out for a beer, I will usually bum at least one from somebody.
It is both a stimulant AND a relaxant, depending on dosage. AFAIK, unique in that regard.
It reduces anxiety and suppresses appetite. It satisfied both oral and digital fixations. It looks and feels cool as hell.
Now, all that is more than overcome by the significant downsides, mind.
I have an RDA mod that I hit on occasion, although it seems like everybody just uses disposables now
may feel cool as hell, definitely doesn’t look it though. Looks like poor self control and dumbness.
Nothing good.
Source: was a smoker for 35 years. Quit last year.
Hey, congrats. I’ve been a smoker for 20 years, and I’m getting sick of it. I hope I can quit soon.
You absolutely can! What helped me immensely was Wellbutrin. Was on it for about 2 months. NO cravings at all. That shit is like magic!
Interesting. I’ve been on Wellbutrin before with no results; maybe I’ll look into it again. Thanks for the vote of confidence.
There is also Chantix/Champex depending on your country. I found it to be extremely effective in turning me off of cigarettes. It made me nauseous and I think it changed how my brain felt about cigarettes until they disgusted me.
I have heard a couple people say the same thing about Chantix. Sounds like it kinda Pavlovs you into hating cigarettes. I’d be down for it.
It works as an appetite suppressants
It’s a little bump of energy and a calming ritual that’s all too intoxicating. Perfect for when you wanna sip a cup of coffee and/or do yoga or something to decompress but only have like 3 minutes to spare or else your boss will yell at you. I’ve found cannabis to be far more effective and safer-feeling.
Nicotine is an awesome drug. Increases your focus and provides a mild euphoric effect. Of course it’s not good for you, and if you’ve got to do it, it’s better to get it in some other way than to smoke cigarettes.
Edit: lots of people are suggesting that you don’t get any benefit once you’re addicted, except satisfying the cravings. That’s not true. Nicotine feels good even after you’ve been using it for a long time.
I think people saying that think the “feel good” only comes from satisfying the craving. And that is a big part of it.
Nicotine is a shit drug, it just happens to be one of the few that are legal.
I never smoked but know smokers who could not sleep through the night. They would wake up ever couple of hours to smoke. That is miserable.
Everyone here is forgetting one of the main things: It gives you an escape from work and awkward socaial situations
It also gives you a way to interact with social situations where you feel awkward. Or if you’re like me and you are awkward it gives you positive learning social situations. Makes it much harder to quit when you get suicidal interactions that you’re craving and don’t otherwise get.
Yeah, I’ve definitely met interesting people at work or outside of a bar that I never would have said two words to otherwise.
I guess cell phones can substitute for that now to an extent.
It’s very satisfying, kinda like how you feel after you just finished eating a big meal. A significant portion of that satisfying feeling is caused by the chemical dependence that the nicotine addiction itself caused in the first place, but that doesn’t change the fact that the feeling is very satisfying.
What does cigarette smoking do for people?
Gives them an assortment of cancers with a side of breathing and cardio issues.
