Alright so I started using snuff little over a month ago and I have started to assemble a small collection of various snuffs of different grinds, flavors, ect. I really enjoy F&T Bordeaux, Old Paris, Toque Quit, and occasionally McChrystal’s Clove or O&G but lately my nose has been going crazy. As soon as I take a sniff of whatever, I start sneezing and the runny nose continues for a good hour. What is going on here, I figured after a few weeks of using snuff periodically through the day I would get use to it and not have these problems. Any comments or suggestions?
From what I have gathered by reading many peoples’ experiences with snuff on this site is that it affects everyone’s nose differently. Some seem to be able to take pinch after pinch without any kind of run or need to blow. Not me. The burn, run, and blow is all part of the snuff experience. I generally have the same experience regardless of the type of snuff; be it a toast, schmalzler, floral, american scotch, menthol, etc. While the timeline is different for each type of snuff, the effect is the same: Snuff goes in the nose, burn, and 5-10 min later the run is sufficient enough that I must blow or risk throat drip. Repeat. I don’t mind that my nose runs at all - I find that it is effective at keeping itself from getting congested. If you are getting congestion problems, I would recommend a strong menthol to “open” up the taps. Be careful though, many here swear that although temporarily clearing, menthols may exacerbate your congestion. This is not the case with me - a good toot of O&G (McC’s JIP is really good too) will open me right up. I am sure you will get into a “groove” eventually. Just keep at it!!
This may sound strange, but maybe you aren’t using ENOUGH snuff during the day. My first in the morning always seems to be the ‘harshest’, no matter what type of snuff I choose. Something to be said for alternating through the day if you begin to get clogged up, as well. During the Winter here, I stopped using the Neti-Pot EVERYDAY and switched to every other or every third. I don’t know if it’s the frigid cold and being outside all day but every hit of Quit I had was hitting my throat and brain . I know it wasn’t my technique because that’s the type I’m most comfortable with. I thought, maybe I’m TOO cleaned out with no buffer in my nose?. Since it’s obvious every person reacts differently, you have to be aware of how YOU react and WHAT changes it. BTW, I could smoke all day long, never bothered me. When I was quitting, I cut way down to a couple cigs a day and those seemed to cause me more discomfort- the smoke seemed real acrid, nasty tasting, I coughed more, etc. Kind of strange, really. A person’s body is searching for a very CLOSE companion in tobacco, and until you stop denying it of this daily, it will continue to revolt.
Glaag …Your condition is due to allergies. Your snuff use has simply brought this to your attention.I suggest the 24hr non drowsy over the counter medication Loratadine. I am not a doctor so go figure. Peace!
Juxtaposer Yeah I do indeed have allergies but mostly hay fever so the fall and spring are the worst for me. I usually take Zyrtek but during the winter it dries me out way too much to be using snuff. I have used Loratadine too which is basically the same thing as Claritin.
Don’t worry, all the “symptoms” are part of snuffing more or less. For myself, found out that German schmalzers never let you down, I’ll always take a runny nose instead of a clogged one.
I love SPs, but they cause some allergies for me,including a faucet nose. I changed to snuffs with no bergamot and it eliminated most of my problems. If you can figure out what your body objects to you can always find snuffs that will work.
Lately I’m finding that ANY snuff is making my nose run and causing sneezing fits, not quite sure why this is happening. Have decided to lay off for a little while.
I had a similar problem, and really my snuff usage is very low these days. When I 1st took to snuff, I love it, and was like a fiend on the menthols, and I never had any issue, then I got totally stopped up one day, and it lasted like a whole day, maybe more, and I didn’t do any snuff at all till that cleared up. Then it seemed no matter what I snuffed I’d get stopped up. I did find if I did a very small amout, with a long time between snuffs, it was ok, and I have since found dry toast and scotch types don’t stop me up. I have a Toque Whiskey & Honey in my drawer here at work. But for whatever reason, Toque SP Extra would stop me up. I’ve also been avoiding menthols. So, my conclusion, is it’s probably a combination of things, allergies, which I have read can be chronic, and usually food related, menthols, maybe parrafin oil, and then just certain snuffs. So, when I find a snuff that doesn’t seem to negatively affect me, like this Toque Whiskey & Honey, I make a mental note of that. And if a snuff does affect me, like that SP Extra, I sit it aside(actually I gave it away).
I’m a light snuffer too, meaning I don’t take pinches continuously. But I do find larger pinches irritate less, for some reason. The pinch method works best for me. I can take large pinches of finely ground snuff, but every time I try back of hand or spoon, it goes too far up, and will cause more side effects. When I first started snuffing, I loved Tom Buck, but every time I took it, it would cause me grief. I remember sneezing uncontrollably for 5 minutes. The pinch and bunny-sniff(sniffing without lung power) method helped immensely. I find the Toque fruit flavors to be the easiest on my nose. I can take them all day without ill effect; less nose blowing. In winter, the dryness tends to cause me problems too. If I have problems, I just take a day or two off, maybe a netti pot cleaning, then all is well again. Hope that helps.
I think the climate does play a part - also, for me, technique. I just took a couple of hits of F&T HDT off the back of my hand and so far I haven’t had the runny nose & sneezing that I have had when taking a pinch. EDIT: I have had a little bit of a sneeze, but nowhere near as bad as before.
for me a few tiny bumps off a spoon seems good. My nose runs more and I have to blow it sooner but I don’t get cloged as easily then.
I was sneezing with anything and everything when I first started but, the sneezing has now almost stopped with everything I’ve got. I’m also finding that congestion isn’t an issue now. The main thing which I do get is a runny nose which only seems to happen mostly with moist snuffs. Having said that, doing a LOT of F&T HDT i get the runs. Interestingly, moist WoS snuffs are less of an issue than Taxi Red for example. I’ve started wondering if it’s tobacco strength/type that plays a part but, I’ve not tried enough of anything yet. Back on the subject of Taxi, my nose drips like a tap after 5mins, so i’ll put it in, after the nic-hit blow it out, and put more in.
Alright so now after that bout of runny nose and sneezing I’ve been hit with the stuffed up nose. This morning I literally couldn’t blow or suck air in and out of my nose. I’ve decided to take the day off but is snuff just not for me? If thats the case Im going to be really pissed because I love the different smells/tastes and the history of this whole hobby. I really don’t wanna quit. Especially since I just got my order of 7 new snuffs which are all taunting me to try all day!
Take a few days to a week totally off, then pick a more plain dry non menthol and try that.
@giaach What snuffs do you have, do you have a enough of a mixture so you can isolate what’s good and bad?
I really and truly feel sorry for anyone who has got problems with snuff. So far I’ve had no problems what so ever, touch wood. Some snuffs do make my nose run like crazy but I don’t see that as a problem. When my nose feels a bit stuffed, I take a pinch or two of O&G and I’m on my way again. I was wondering if the fact that I’ve smoked a lot of cigars before I started snuffing did anything to my nose? I used to inhale and blow the smoke through my nose.
@ giaach: I find toasts and American Scotches are less likely to clog you up. When you go back to snuff, stick to one at a time (a few days at least for each). A plain scotch like Navy Plain would be a good start, or a mild toast like Toque Whiskey and Honey if you have one of those. Lavage your nose before you go to bed. I use one of those rubber bulbs that come in an Ear wax removal kit. Breath out through the nostril you are lavaging and use luke warm water.
“Lavage your nose before you go to bed” good call, i always clean my nose out with luke warm water last thing at night… then a little F&T HDT - stick to one at a time is a good point made by Nachman, i made that mistake, you just can’t tell what’s going on… i’m sure you’ll suss it out 
Well I have a few snuffs now so I’ll go down the list. Toque - Quit Toque - Absinthe Toque - Coke F&T- Bordeaux, Morlaix, Princes Special, Old Paris, HDT, Seville, Dr J R Justice Rooster McChrystal - O&G, Clove Wilsons of Sharrow - Best SP Gawith - Apricot