Another Nicotine Question

[OwlTellYa]

I’m a new pipe smoker (about 3 months or so) and still learning. I saw another thread about nicotine buzz, but I had an experience tonight that I am trying to make sense of.

I smoked a bowl of Mac Baren Mixture Modern after work today. Packed it the same as usual and I am working at keeping a slow pace to my smoking. Tonight I am physically ill from the smoke (clammy, dizzy, nauseated). I’m trying to figure out why.

I have had food and drink today as usual. I smoked a bowl of Mac Baren Mixture Modern this morning before work, and it was fine. I’ve been smoking that same tobacco for about a week with no trouble. What could have hit me differently tonight? I can’t figure it out. Any thoughts?

 

[Kobold]

Have you been sleeping less lately? Did you hydrate during your smoke? What were you eating and drinking and when did you consume them?
I use a spoonful of honey if and when I get nic sick. Either that or any sugary candy will do.

 

[warren]

My initial guess would be blood-sugar level. Simply a wild-ass guess though. Could be many reasons. But, the most obvious is your metabolism couldn't handle the nicotine. Why? I'd ask a doctor is the condition persists and you want an answer. You'll get all sorts of responses here though. And, quite possibly the nicotine had nothing to do with your problem.

 

[OwlTellYa]

I was not hydrating during the smoke, but I often don’t. I had eaten as usual today. The only difference I can note is that today was a particularly high-stress day at work.

The only other thing I can figure is maybe I am just starting to get ill independently of the nicotine, and this just brought it out.

 

[Sobrbiker]

Could be totally unrelated.
I’ve been using nicotine for decades prior to picking up a pipe, and only really strong tobaccos have had any effect, and when they have it’s been immediate and fleeting.

 

[proteus]

My guess and that's just what this is...your oxygen levels dipped. Concentrating so much on your cadence sometimes folks hold their breathe or take shallow breath because their main source of air is being used to suck in smoke which is at a different cadence and strength than breathing air. Perhaps you were not taking deep enough breaths to fill your lungs. Breathe normally and inhale as always with usually breathing cadence. Use your nose to breathe in and seal the stem. Venturi effect will bring in wisps of smoke to your air stream. Another option is to crack the seal around the stem and breathe in through mouth if you are used to breathing that way. Doing this will allow normal breathing and not overly stoke or overly smoke the pipe.

 

[TakeThisCobAndStuffIt]

Could be that you retrohaled intentionally or not and got a more direct hit of smoke and nicotine than usual...

 

[OverMountain]

Holding smoke in your mouth for any amount of time (I.e. for blowing rings, etc) is a sure fire way for nicotine to be absorbed into your bloodstream way more than just a sip and blow style of smoking.

Can any of you pros tell me what nicotine does to sugar levels of the blood?

 

[Call Me Late]

I can’t exactly tell from your post if you had anything to eat or drink with your smoke. If not, it might be a good idea to try next time. Or even try to have a little sugar now? Sometimes our bodies react more than our brain knows.

 

[didimauw]

I've never actually gotten sick from smoking a pipe. There were days id smoke ten to 12 bowls in a day. But I have gotten sick many times from smoking 2 cigarettes back to back. Weird how nicotine works.

 

[seanv]

I used to be able to chain smoke cigarettes and smoke strong cigars. One day out of the blue that changed. Even mild cigars made me feel sick. I never did get sick but just felt horrible. So far no issues with the pipe.

 

[warren]

Can any of you pros tell me what nicotine does to sugar levels of the blood?

If your "system" is out of balance ... little things, less oxygen in the blood and such may aggravate your system more. That's a non-medical opinion. Your immune system works hard to keep you safe. Strain it someway and you get incapacitated.

 

[ahouston]

What I would do to smoke nicotine-free tobacco! As the others have said, sleep well, stay hydrated, drink sugary drink while smoking, make sure you are on a full stomach.

 

[ADKPiper]

Sounds like nicotine hit. Over time your resistance increases. When it happens eat something sweet.

 

[OverMountain]

Why does eating something sweet fix it?

 

[Jbrewer2002]

Why does eating something sweet fix it?

It has to do with your blood sugar. I don’t know the science and why smoking lowers your blood sugar but it’s all relative.

 

[bullet08]

Yeah, probably low sugar due no empty stomach. How long have you had something to eat before smoke? There were good number of suggestions such as "have good meal before smoking this blend" and so on. Don't see those too often nowadays.

 

[Doctor Chopper]

Nicotine increases the cells resistance to insulin, same process as in type 2 diabetes. It can also increase your chances of developing diabetes, although the effect is minor. So your body requires higher levels of glucose (sugar) to operate normally. Unfortunately, this is not ‘normal’ and has significant health consequences.

Your story has a distinct change in how you react to nicotine. I would be concerned that you are developing diabetes. Have you gained weight? I would recommend you getting your glucose level or HgbA1C checked to determine if you are developing insulin resistance and therefore do not tolerate the nicotine any longer.

 

[jbfrady]

What could have hit me differently tonight? I can’t figure it out. Any thoughts?

Put simply: nicotine is a drug. All drugs, whether nicotine, caffeine, alcohol, cocaine, or psychedelics follow two rules - set and setting. That is, your mindset and physical setting. How you feel, what you're doing, what kind of day you're having... all these and more affect how it'll hit you.

That's why you feel it more some days than others. The drugs don't change; we do. One day I can smoke a bowl of Epiphany no problem, then the next day a half bowl of Vanners might kick my ass.

 

[RudyG]

Milky Way candy bars, once every 4 hours as needed. lol