I could not find an earlier thread on this topic in Snuffhouse so here goes… I have been curious as to how nicotine affects individual snuff takers. I am NOT talking about overdoses, side effects, addiction, or negative reactions so much as how does the nicotine actually announce its presence in the snuff user. I am also NOT talking about the effects of menthol. And of course, I am not interested in nicotine from smoke or snus or any other source or delivery system other than nasal snuff. I am specifically referring to high nic snuffs such as Taxi Red, Dholakia White, Toque Quit, and many others that are often discussed in Snuffhouse. In other words, I am interested in knowing how you know the nicotine is there. When you take a high nicotine snuff how do you actually come to know or perceive that that particular snuff has a high nicotine content? What are the effects that high nicotine has on you? For example, Paul Shallbetter, in his many snuff oriented YouTube videos, talks about a snuff with a high nicotine content as causing a “throbbing” sensation in his nostrils. When @basement_shaman does his reviews of a high nic snuff, he will sometimes mention that it causes a sensation in the back of his head, although he has not really described it in detail, at least as far as I know. Here and there, of course, others have mentioned the effects of nicotine in passing but I thought it might be interesting for us to compare notes in a single thread. In my own case, when I snuff a high nicotine snuff, it makes the muscles in the back of my head tighten causing a sensation of my hair standing on end (kind of like what @basement_shaman describes). It also seems to quite literally open my eyes and seems to clear my vision as well, I also become more alert and more aware. I tend to stop thinking and start experiencing–if only for a short time. After all that, my head soon returns to its normally muddled state. But the moment of clarity is quite intense but, like I said, only for a short time. But that’s just me. I would be very interested in your experience of how nicotine makes its presence known during your snuff adventures.

@lunecat Thank you for your comments. Actually, I read the Snuff Side Effects thread and did not think it was the same as that was mostly concerned with negative reactions and effects. I am simply asking for effects related to the effects of high nicotine. Seems different to me but as they say, your mileage may vary. Thanks in any case.

I experience an ecstatic rush sensation of presence and clarity.

It depends on the grind. A strong coarse snuff will get me into a clear, but relaxed (verging on the lethargic if if I take too much) state of being, while a strong white or scotch will indeed give me an “ecstatic rush of presence and clarity” as Mario84 so eloquently put it.

The scotches are on the whole problematic for me to take, and I’ve found I don’t like the scent of the plain/natural scotches much either. There’s something sickly about them, and this gets in the way of the other enjoyment. Maybe that will change in time. Rustica gives me an alertness that I wasn’t aware I didn’t have before - hard to explain, but I’m sure those who have experienced similar will relate to that. You think you are alert before, but then after the Rustica pinch you know you are alert - for a while anyway As a long term smoker the first thing I notice with nicotine from general snuffs, is a contentment. That probably just comes from being a nic addict, and having all chemical cravings alleviated - however, that’s only if my body isn’t craving other things and not all those cravings are clear. Being hungry, tired and or needing fluids is often interpreted as a need for nic by my brain. If nicotine “isn’t enough” I know to look “elsewhere” as to what my body is demanding. Still craving, but having an elevated heart rate is a key indicator for me. With all other needs satisfied, the contentment is not just with the nicotine, but also the scent and nose feel of the snuff. There’s more to snuff than just nicotine. Being an addict, the nicotine gives me a normality, whilst the scent and nose feel are pleasurable extras that are unique to snuff, and give the self a warming glow. I hope in time to be able to lower my nic threshold, so that a medium nic snuff gives me the normality and contentment, and higher nic snuffs give me a genuine boost without lethargy. Sometimes I get it, sometimes I don’t, but after 20+ years smoking and only 9 months part time snuffing, I still have a long way to go in the transition

i feel perkier, experience more clarity and a general sense of wellbeing, but sometimes need the toilet with a little more. then when it goes further it can give me the sweats and i need a drink, but ive never had that from snuff except when i absolutely loaded my nose with abraxas premium.

My nicotine threshold has gone down a lot since I started snuff and face up my 7 pipe a day smoking habit. I used to need dhokakia white or toque quit to feel the presence of any nic at all. I still never get a real high off any of them the way I could from, say, a pipe of tambolaka. I notice it in the morning, though. A switch goes on in my brain and thoughts flow more easily.

It doesn’t!

Nicotine is supposed to be a nootropic. I typically don’t notice nicotine in my system until I get too much. In that case, I feel a little light headed from snuff. If I’m smoking, I will get a little sick at my stomach for a little while. I think I’ve noticed the higher nicotine snuffs have a distinctive type of burn. When I first started using, Toque Quit burned like a b***h. I haven’t used it in a while, so I can’t tell you if that goes away with experience. Typically it isn’t a painful burn, only a noticeable yet pleasant sensation.

I can tell that people on snuff list talk about them too much. Actually the only way I notice high nic snuffs is that I take slightly fewer pinches.

The only time I really notice high nicotine is from Toque Rustica, Quit and snus extra stark. When I first got the Rustica I loaded up on it and within 5 minutes had to have a sit down. Wazy head feeling, sweating, bit of a blood rush to the face and raised heartbeat. It wasn’t entirely unpleasant however. As they used to say in the 90’s, feel the rush …, too much, too much, too much is never enough of the hardcore snuff!

I stop being nervous for a while.

I get a warming sensation, almost a fuzzy hug, starting at the top of my head and working down. I can feel this sensation move down my face and then into my neck and shoulders. It’s not often I get this, but when I do, I make sure to stop everything else and enjoy the ride on the dragon for a few seconds.

face flush then “nic-ups”…

Thank you all. These are the responses I was hoping for. It is completely fascinating to me how nicotine makes itself known and how we experience it in different but also very similar ways. And of course, some of us do not notice it at all. Interesting no? I appreciate your taking the time to post. Thanks again.

“some of us do not notice it at all” They don’t notice anything, but they’d surely notice if they stopped snuffin’.

Hah!

“some of us do not notice it at all” They don’t notice anything, but they’d surely notice if they stopped snuffin’.

And after thinking about it more, I think almost all of us would notice what would happen if we stopped!

Great thread; I think it varies with the snuff. A white just brings everything into focus. It’s like the psychological equivalent of a nearsighted person putting on glasses. This “rush” subsides after about five minutes and I’m left with a sort of content slightly dazed feeling. Something like viking dark makes the inside of my nose throb if I get a good hit, and I feel a physical buzz radiating out of my nose around my face (whites sometimes do this too). The heavy-hitting South Africans make my heart race and make me want to pace around or tap my feet.

@horus92 It is interesting that the South African affect you differently than the whites. But I am curious, do you get the same nose throbbing sensation from the South Africans as well or is it a mostly different sensation.

Sometimes but not as consistently as with British snuffs.

Being clueless myself, do you have any idea why this would be @horus92?

High nicotine snuffs always seem to burn more for me. After that it’s just a countdown to a flushed feeling working its way down my face and neck and a mild woosey sensation.

Your neck as well? Interesting. I will watch for a trace of that in myself from now on.

A lot depends on the grind/moisture, and also how long its been since my last pinch or other nic fix. With your average snuff, a quick gentle lift followed by what feels like 1000 miniature light bulbs lighting up at once in the front of my brain, followed by a feeling of euphoria. With a fine snuff such as a white or a scotch, an intense brief rush, like taking a drag on a cigarette, but then its gone very soon and does not follow on with the euphoric sense much. With a very coarse snuff like a gwayi Taxi, where I like to pack my nose as full as I can of it, there is no rush or euphoria, its more of an elevated state but at the same time feeling kind of zoned out or detached for a few minutes like an intoxication. Some call it a buzz, some a glow.

Thanks @Xander. Those are good and important differentiations.

I think it’s important to note the strong possibility that nicotine is not one of the main chemicals involved in tobacco psychoactivity and addiction. Some likely culprits are the beta-carbolines harman and norharman found in tobacco and tobacco smoke, both of which are MAO inhibitors and affect brain dopamine levels. So, unlikely though it seems, it could well be that no-one on this Forum is addicted to nicotine, or has ever experienced nicotine psychoactivity. In other words the snuff “nic hit” could well be either: a). a misdiagnosed ammonium carbonate (“smelling salts”) additive hit of short duration, especially from a fresh commercial batch of snuff; or b). a longer-lasting relaxing “glow” originating from the beta-carbolines harman and norharman, both of which mess with your dopamine levels and get you addicted. Either way, nicotine could well have little (if anything) to do with it…

I had a large pris of ettan loose in the upper deck, did some white elephant while smoking a bowl of SG XX black. My blood pressure hit a new plateau beyond the usual off the charts reading. Kind of scary; I could see my blood pulsating in my vision. And felt my heart jumping. Not something I will be repeating anytime soon. @-) 8-| b-(

When I’m in a dirty trench at work setting steel and sweating and fumbling around and pinching and cutting my finger and just all in all losing my temper and patience I just stop what I am doing reach into my bibs and grab my box and take a big hooter of snuff. It instantly burns so good and clears all the anger and impatience while giving me the eye of the tiger…Its a weird emotion. Its something like the urge to punch a hole through my enemies face and of flying. Then it subsides into a mellow burn and hyper relaxation.

True that… It’s difficult to explain, but just as with dip or pipe, when it comes on (rather quickly for me-- always has and I’ve been using tobacco for 25 years now in one form or another, daily) I can think, aggravation subsides, speeds up my day as does caffeine for some of you, and I get a slight quiver in my nose/upper lip (with snuff) which is quite nice and wakeful. I’m also able to write at a mile a minute and in my job, that’s tops! Nicotine (as with caffeine) is way underrated and much stronger than what most people think/believe… and let’s just face it lads, without it, we’d all be really pissed off

First time posting but I’ve been very rarely using snuff lately much more though and experimenting with different ones I have personally never noticed a nic high but maybe I’m just not using high nic snuff as latelyi just grind dried rolling tobacco mostly as I’m broke.

If I get way too much captain vitamin N I get the hiccups.

I am addicted to nicotine, having been a heavy smoker for 15 years. It announces its presence soley in the fact that I am not an irritable jerk when my nic levels are maintained in the required high saturation.

I doubt I have a high Nic tolerance. Almost all snuff announces its Nic content to me. Usually it’s what others have described here: clarity of vision and focus. My eyes feel sharp. If I take too much I feel it in the back of my head (as previously described), relaxation hits, and I may grow a bit lethargic.

I wonder if it might actually improve visual acuity? I’ve noticed that it sharpens my vision and focus, especially the high Nic stuff like NB Madras.

I used to smoke a lot and I’ve been also on some harsh snus (stuff like Odens Extreme, etc.). The effects are similar as with snus for me. I just feel “content”. I can agree that it sharpens my senses a little bit - in a similar way coffee does, but by far the biggest impact is on my mood. I’ve noted that I always have this slight smile after taking a pinch and my mood becomes bit more positive. It also makes me more bearable for the people that surround me.

I know the nicotine is present when I look around the room I am in and there are other people there. Nobody seems to want to be around me when I am in need. Go figure…no problems getting volunteers to go to the store for me!

Sweaty palms is how I know I’m getting too close to too much.

A “high nicotine” snuff will do for me throughout the day the same thing that first cup of coffee does for me in the morning… out of the fog and ready to go! I’ve never really experienced a snuff with what I felt was “too much” nicotine, but then again i was a smoker and chewer for 20 years before switching to snuff.

The only snuff I’ve tried which lets me know about its nicotine is Toque rustica. The effect from the first nostril-ful come on before I can get the second one in! I get a very sudden shimmering and brightening of my vision, a whole-body warming and a feeling of euphoria followed by a sensation I imagine a balloon must feel as it slowly deflates! This is accompanied by me wearing a Cheshire cat grin and a need to sit down. Great stuff but I must admit to never having tried the other notable powerful snuffs.

786  @OleFactoryHugh, at one time certain snuffs were thought to improve the eyesight, well into the nineteenth century.  Grimstone’s Eye Snuff was one which was specifically formulated–or at least “marketed”–to improve the eyesight.  

I hate to bring up something which was, a few years ago, mentioned regularly on this forum (seriously, like: oh it must be Thursday, somepony mentioned Grimstone’s), but with this “new” (to me) crowd I don’t know who knows what. 

RE: the topic at hand, echo what others have said about the warm “glow;” for me it spreads from my head downward into my torso and from thence outward through my limbs.  With NTSU black I would sometimes laugh as it was happening, so pleasant did I find it.  I still sometimes smile or chuckle as it’s happening.

I also feel smarter and like, “let’s go!  let’s do this!”

Oh, and the monkey stops scratching its *ss and putting its hand in my mouth.

General sense of well being and if I do it just before bed time I get the most vivid dreams.

Heart palpitations. No, seriously, it’s just that my craving goes away. I don’t get the “pulsing in your ears” or whatever people often talk about. Just I want nicotine, then I don’t.

If I have abstained a while, my vision seems to go from well used VHS quality to DVD quality, and there is a wave of relief washes over me. If I’m just topping up, I don’t always notice. If I have been consuming a lot, I can get a little light headed and I become aware of my heartbeat. That said, different products can present in different ways - some seem to get the heart racing, whilst other seem to be more focussed on the head, either in alertness and feeling of readiness, or in a fuzzy headed state of relaxation

i really notice vitamin N in the morning after my first cig. Brain fog goes away and im more alert and creep back to life; otherwise, its an elimination of cravings and staving off the jitters. Very infrequently if i take alot of scotch snuff(we garrett), my heart will get going, but nothing too wild. There is a sense of well being and marked improved mood, but the nicotine buzz is very elusive cuz of my tolerance.i suppose if i shoveled in tons of scotch or toast id get a nic high,but snuff is just too good to use like that and i enjoy it for the pleasure.