Does using nicotine (tobacco/ ciggarettes, etc) enhance similar feelings or offer any benefits outside feeding an addiction (or the physical enjoyment of smoking as an action unrelated to substance)?

longest.question.ever.

I’d say the biggest benefit of cigarettes is that it tells you what person not to date. or how they’ll taste when you kiss them.

Huh?

@eponymoushipster you know, its funny,right after reading “your longest question” comment, the newborn column shows an even longer question about smoking. =p

Doh! Do I feel stupid. Same question.

My son is bi-polar and went wacko when he tried to quit. His psychiatrist said that nicotine had a therapeutic effect for people with mental illness and they should never try to quit unless under the direct supervision of a doctor. The doctor adjusted his meds and he was able to cut down a lot. Still hasn’t quit though :-(

@Judi it’s weird, some things work in the opposite way sometimes. for example, coffee tends to calm me down (unless i drink a massive amount of it).

According to wikipedia:

Nicotine’s mood-altering effects are different by report. First causing a release of glucose from the liver and epinephrine (adrenaline) from the adrenal medulla, it causes stimulation. Users report feelings of relaxation, sharpness, calmness, and alertness.

I think the subjective effects of nicotine are pretty mild. I remember feeling somewhat calmed down, but it was easier to stay awake on long drives or when studying. That’s about it.

@eponymoushipster Coffee calms you down, because caffeine is a drug with similar effects. Once the body is used to it, it’s a dependency. Therefore, you calm down because your body has received the substance it was craving, whether subconsciously or consciously. The calm felt from nicotine is a similar effect, whereby the body had received the substance it felt lacking, and calms down, causing a sense of feeling better. The first time a person smokes a cigarette, they do not get calmer, if anything their heart rate increases. It is only over time, these reactions evolve.

@Judi

Same thing happened to me, although it was first hand, with being both the smoker and the bipolar. He (my doctor) explained something about it bonding to your neurotransmitters. The mentally ill brain has some weird circuitry that adheres to the nicotine, or the other way around.

Well, anyway, about 4 months after I quit I became quite depressed. I saw him; we adjusted some meds. Then around five and a half months, I started developing a mild psychosis. It got progressively worse. He suggested the electronic cigarette… he’s my psychiatrist, but of course, an M.D. as well; he doesn’t want me to do die from lung cancer. Well, I started smoking again shortly thereafter my mood balanced. I suppose I opted for decent quality of living now, and death later than going on some psychotic flip and dying, but now…. Sad, interesting and just plain dumbfounding, but bottom line: I do feel better.

From what I have heard, the first few weeks on cigaretts, a few a day, gives the user a high similar to when you run a race, or ride a roller coaster. After you become addicted the effect disappears, and you are left with a simple craving.

At low doses, nicotine potently enhances the actions of norepinephrine and dopamine in the brain, causing a drug effect typical of those of psychostimulants. At higher doses, nicotine enhances the effect of serotonin and opiate activity, producing a calming, pain-killing effect. Nicotine is unique in comparison to most drugs, as its profile changes from stimulant to sedative/pain killer in increasing dosages and use.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine

However, the risks outweigh the benefits by far.

@YARNLADY – that is exactly it. After you become addicted you no longer have the little high, but you must have the weed. It’s not even an honest drug: the more you take, the less you feel. for the first time in my life, I am thinking that the people who sued the cigarette companies had a valid point