Sunday 9 January 2011

Experiment, day 1.

Still on nicotine-free Electrofag. I'm not sure the Smoky-Drinky was much of a challenge after all. I didn't smoke anything with nicotine in, but the air was full of smoke. Okay, only at second-hand smoke levels but even so, I can't claim to have been completely nicotine-free last night.

Today I have been nicotine-free. I feel tired, which I expected, and that started last night - on returning from Smoky-Drinky I can usually type but was far too knackered, and just went to bed. Stopping intake of a stimulant is bound to take a bit of adjusting to, as it did when I was decaffeinated in China. In the comments to Day 0, Captain Fatty suggested a link with noradrenaline production and I can't rule that out because I don't know. I also can't rule out that I feel tired purely because I convinced myself I would. Even the deepest cynic can't fully escape auto-suggestion.

Another thing that's started is that my lungs are taking the opportunity to have a bit of a spring clean. They'll be all fresh and pink and ready to go again by Friday.

I am not puffing the Electrofag as much as I thought I would. It's okay with a coffee but it's not the same as tobacco. So I am not desperately dragging on the thing, trying to extract a stimulant that isn't there. Because it's missing the whole ritual of rolling and lighting it's not a complete replacement, but it'll do.

No sign of irritability, cravings or fidgeting. Although I did read about the harpie McCarthy and her plan to DNA-test every man in Bristol, but that's not a fair test. There isn't enough tobacco on the planet to counteract the irritation that woman exudes. I don't think even Prozac could do it. Al-Jahom has worked out how long the idiot woman's plan would take and what it would cost. She wants to build a haystack, drop a needle in and keep the police busy looking for it for the next 20 years. That's assuming that the killer was a man, and that he/she is still in Bristol. Otherwise, they will be searching for the needle in the wrong haystack.

So far then, no sign of any of the standard nicotine withdrawal symptoms. The smoke withdrawal symptom (reawakening of the lung cilia) is a purely physical effect and the withdrawal of stimulant (tiredness) is as expected. I don't yet feel the need to attack that unopened pack of tobacco like a starved wolf who's come across a shrink-wrapped leg of lamb.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

6 comments:

The Filthy Engineer said...

I Hope it's not an Aaaaaargh by 10 O'clock day.

Frank Davis said...

I don't quite understand this experiment.

Isn't what you really need is nicotine-free cigarettes? Not nicotine-free e-cigs.

I read somewhere that the nicotine content of Gauloises had been reduced substantially over that past 50 years or so. So it seems they know how to take the nicotine out if they want to.

Leg-iron said...

Filthy Engineer - not yet. Six more days.

Frank - a nicotine-free cigarette would be the ideal but the only ones available are herbal. I don't like them. It would have to be nicotine-free tobacco which doesn't exist.

It could exist, just as decaffeinated coffee exists. Nicotine is water soluble so it would be an easy matter to extract it and produce nicotine-free tobacco.

Nobody has, and the seeds I have are yet to germinate. The nicotine-free Electrofag is the only serious option available.

As it is, I find I'm not using it very much.

Anonymous said...

Leggy

Just wondering if you can notice any kind of taste difference with the nico-free e-juice ?

Expat Brit living in Canada

Leg-iron said...

Expat Brit - I can't tell. It's the first time I've concentrated on nicotine-free.

The easy way is to load up another Electrofag with nicotine juice and alternate them but if I do that now I'll wreck the experiment.

Once this is done I'll try it.

Anonymous said...

Leggy

Thanks for taking the time to answer my question.

Your comments indicate that if a difference exists it is not something you can notice immediately like a bat across the head.

I intend to compare the Nic and Nic-free e-juices myself. It may take a while before I get it done as my supplies will be coming from China. I intend to use an identical flavour base for the comparison.

Expat Brit

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