Are some people immune to the effects of nicotene ?

[UndertheOcean]

since college , I would go through periods of buying a pack every 3 or four months , finishing it within 3 weeks , rarely less than that. Then go on for almost a year without even touching the stuff .

It just never took off with me, never saw the appeal . Did not affect my mood in anyway , I may as well been puffing on spinach.

Does nicotine have no psychoactive effects at all on some people ?

[Inchworm]

1. Addiction is trixy

:hi:

[JimWis]

2. I think there maybe something to that. I have been thinking about

quiting and I don't feel it would be that hard. When I am in a situation where I can't smoke, it doesn't bother me at all. I can go all day without one and not even think about it. When I am in a situation where I can smoke, then I think about it and do it. So why don't I quit - good question.

My parents both quit cold turkey - this was years back. They never had the craving or anything. Never smoked again. Never bothered them to be around people who smoked. So it was possibly a habit, more than an addiction.

Whereas my kids who quit, had a hell of a time with withdrawal. And they couldn't go all day without a smoke like I could. They finally made it, but still think about smoking. So, I think it affects us all differently. And your post has helped me really think about stopping right now and see what happens. I am gonna test my theory.

[nuxvomica]

3. IIRC, 25% of the population doesn't become addicted

They have a genetic defect that prevents them from producing an enzyme that converts nicotine into some other substance that is usable by the brain. That's what I recall reading somewhere a while back.

edit: Link to an old story on this. It's a little different than I had remembered:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/119442.stm

[Tangerine LaBamba]

4. I think so ........

I dropped a three-pack-a-day habit overnight a lot of years ago and never had the slightest urge to smoke again. In fact, I love to smell cigarette smoke on someone, or walk into a place where smoking has been going on, but I don't miss it.

I'm like that with drugs, too. For a long time, I had to take a shitload of heavy-duty painkillers, and everyone - the medical people - were concerned about what would happen when I healed. Well, I stopped taking them - except for recreational purposes, of course - and nothing happened.

My father quit smoking the same way, I am told, before I was born, so I suspect there's a genetic factor at work here. I know how lucky I am, too .................

[Wapsie B]

5. I think so. In college I could have a cig with a beer and not have

any craving for more at all. I could go for a long time without even thinking about having another. In fact the bad taste left in my mouth after smoking turned me off for long periods of time. That's one reason why when restaurants allowed smoking I remember people having a nice meal finished off by a smoke. Remembering that awful taste in my mouth made me wonder why someone would ruin a good meal with a cig? I figured it had to be the nicotine addiction because smoking sure wouldn't make the food taste any better.

[DFW]

6. No idea. It always made me sick.

But one time, some friends fed me (and themselves) some brownies they claimed had been
full of hashish. Either they were putting on an act for my benefit, or else they were
all high as a kite shortly after eating them. I never felt a thing, and never got high
from pot either (although it did give me a sore throat when I finally tried it). I have
to believe that the effects of it are real, since so many people (for and against) make
such a big deal of it, but I guess my genetic makeup has permanently locked me out of
that party.

As for nicotine, I always hated the smell of tobacco. In school, I could never get serious
with girls who smoked, as their mouths always tasted like a toxic waste dump to me. I guess
most guys don't mind it. I do. More genetic oddity, I suppose. Better than having eight
fingers on each hand, anyway.

[applegrove]

7. I read somewhere that teens who start smoking were "primed" by older

people in their families who smoked. My parents never smoked but I had a friend whose parents both smoked. So I was primed. And as soon as I had my first cigarette I was hooked.

[Rhiannon12866]

8. I think so. Addiction is a strange thing.

Why do some people become alcoholics and others can have one drink a year and not think about alcohol any other time? I think it's the same with cigarettes. My grandmother told me she "tried" smoking, but never got hooked, said it did nothing for her. But her best friend got hooked and died of cancer... And all four of my Nana's kids (including my Dad) were both smokers and drinkers. At least two became alcoholics and three died of cancer. ;(

And then there's the guy who trained me at work. He could take or leave smoking. Once every few months, I'd notice my cigarettes were missing and I knew that Terry was off having his three-times-a-year cigarette. Me, I've tried quitting several times, One-Step-at-a-Time filters, SmokeEnders, a hypnotism class, but I still smoke. I've finally, after a couple of relapses, managed to give up alcohol, with the help of AA, *knock on wood*, but smoking is much harder for me. :-(

My friend, who "graduated" from SmokeEnders, quit for nine years and then started again. And my friend who was my "partner" in the SmokeEnders class didn't manage to quit until after she spent a week in the hospital, in an oxygen tent for pneumonia, and it still was tough for her and she still has relapses... :shrug:

From my experiences, I believe that people have a genetic predisposition for addiction. :-(

[old mark]

9. I believe that, too - having had to quit many hobbies that became habits.

I stopped using alcohol over 21 years ago, with AA after some time of just quitting on my own.
Quit cigs almost 20 years ago, and it was the hardest thing I ever did. But it was effective, and I am happy I did it every time I see someone smoking. Both my sweet mom and my sweet MIL died of smoking related illnesses.

mark

[Rhiannon12866]

10. Kudos to you! Sounds as if you're a stronger person than I am.

In AA they say that it's not willpower, but faith in a Higher Power that keeps you sober. But I just can't buy that. I'd give anything if someone or something would just reach down and remove all my bad habits, but I just can't see that happening. For me, it's a struggle. I went through detox last year and all I wanted the whole time was a cigarette, not a drink... x(

But then I went through some really painful times and started drinking again. That's happened more than once. I've just got to learn not to self medicate when I feel at my worst, and remember that, though it may help in the short term, in the long term it just makes things worse and I'll regret it. Just got my first AA coin two weeks ago... :-)

I guess I take after my Dad, who gave up drinking when it got to be a problem, but smoked until the day he died - of throat cancer. You'd think that living through that would be a powerful motivator, but that just goes to show how tough it is. ;(

I'm so sorry about your losses. I sure understand. I not only lost my Dad, but both my aunt and uncle (his siblings) to lung cancer. My uncle was only 47. I know that I have to quit that, too, but one thing at a time. Don't know why I started, since I hated when my parents smoked, and I was 23... :crazy:

Rhiannon :pals:

[NJmaverick]

11. People tend to react differently to drugs

that's why there are side affect warnings and the like. Consider yourself lucky

[jeff30997]

12. Yes but not that many.

Genetic link to smoking addiction

One percent of the population carry two deficient CYP2A6 genes, which gives them the most protection from tobacco.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/119442.stm

(Thanks for the link nuxvomica)

I guess that you're part of the lucky few. :)

[Richard Steele]

13. I've known some people who seem to be. I knew a guy who smoked...

...2 cigarettes a day, and only on weekdays, at work.

And another who'd go out to the bars one night a week
and smoke half a pack while drinking beer, but never
smoke the other six days.

Seems apparent to me that nicotene didn't have the same effect
on their systems as it does on mine.