this post was submitted on 08 Feb 2025
669 points (98.5% liked)
Greentext
5090 readers
782 users here now
This is a place to share greentexts and witness the confounding life of Anon. If you're new to the Greentext community, think of it as a sort of zoo with Anon as the main attraction.
Be warned:
- Anon is often crazy.
- Anon is often depressed.
- Anon frequently shares thoughts that are immature, offensive, or incomprehensible.
If you find yourself getting angry (or god forbid, agreeing) with something Anon has said, you might be doing it wrong.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Oh, nicotine is way worse. It may not harm your health directly, but addictiveness is exponentially worse.
Wikipedia: Caffeine - Dependence and Withdrawal: Moderately physical dependence and withdrawal symptoms may occur upon abstinence, with greater than 100 mg caffeine per day, although these symptoms last no longer than a day
Wikipedia: Nicotine withdrawal: Symptoms are usually strongest for the first few days and then dissipate over 2–4 weeks (...) In a minority of smokers, cravings may persist for years.
Edit: Left out the "Caffeine" in "Caffeine - Dependance and Withdrawal"
Edit to add: Caffeine withdrawal causes you to be annoyed for a day. Nicotine causes real, actual cravings (you know you need nicotine, whereas for caffeine you're just generally "moody" - most people don't feel "i need caffeine, now", and even if you do, chances are, if you run out of coffee and can't get it within less than a day, the "craving" just stops).
For some, many of whom I know, quitting nicotine is downright impossible due to the cravings. For quitting, toning down is key. Those that quit either relapse momentarily in times of stress (usually for about a week or so), or complain of very strong cravings every few weeks/months.
Additionally, nicotine isn't the only addictive compound in cigarettes, and from what I've heard, vaping, gum, etc. just isn't it for some - people also get addicted to cigatettes themselves.
Not to mention, vaping causes pneumothorax and all the other alternatives cause some harm as well, although much less than cigarettes proper.
I smoked cigarettes for four years, then quit for a decade. I was incredibly stressed out and had 2-3 cigarettes for a couple days in a row and now I’m addicted again. I hope I will be able to quit soon, I just have to stop working where I am first, because I need the five minute breaks and don’t get them otherwise.
Is switching to vaping an option? You'd still be getting the nicotine, but not the smoke/tar
It is, but I feel like the additional harm to myself is worth not getting a vape with all of the environmental drawbacks to the casing and battery, especially because I really think it’ll only be another few weeks. I already have a new job lined up, and I won’t be able to smoke during that really at all.
As a long time daily coffee drinker, that is definitely not accurate about caffeine withdrawal. Every time I try to quit caffeine I go through multiple weeks of depression and physical weakness symptoms.
And as a former smoker, nicotine is still significantly worse. Never touch the stuff, not even once. For a lot of people, there just is no going back from it. It claims you.
I've smoked cigars occasionally, maybe as many as 2-3 per week for 2 weeks in a row and then just stopped with no signs of addiction. Nicotine is often described as one of the most addictive drugs and I sometimes wonder if I just never took enough to get addicted in the first place or my experience is a result of lower than average susceptibility to nicotine addiction.
Probably both. They're not mutually exclusive