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Kava And Nicotine

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August West

Kava Enthusiast
Some background info : I quit smoking and chewing tobacco over a year and a half ago, but still use spitless snus pouches. I go through about two cans a week. Since I quit dipping and switched to snus, my gums have returned to completely normal looking. I seriously think snus is a lifesaver.

Okay, when I drink kava, I have ZERO desire to use nicotine. I'm wondering how much of this is because of having an empty stomach. When I smoked, if I was starving, I had very little desire to smoke. Conversely, after I ate, I had a strong desire for nicotine. When I have kava, I tend to fast for the second half of the day, so the empty stomach might have something to do with lack of nicotine desire.

Secondly, I tend to use nicotine in times of stress, and kava tends to turn my reactionary process to "chill mode ."

Finally, could it actually be? That kava is somehow calming my nicotine receptor sites, or is it a mixture of everything previously mentioned? Does anyone else notice this phenomenon, or is just me? I seriously think Steve and his kava candy could be the final puzzle piece for me to quit.
 

kavadude

❦ॐ tanuki tamer
I think its probably anxiolysis. I doubt it is interacting with the nicotinic receptors, but I could be wrong.
 

nhoeg

Kava Manliness
I haven't experienced Kava to calm my nicotine-cravings. I think maybe, it's because of the kava's ease and calmness on your stress that makes your mind to stop thinking about that nicotine.

For me, kava has actually got me into smoking a bit of cigarettes again :) I have a bad habit of lightning one up, right after a shell - maybe it's because of the numb feeling im my mouth?
 
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verticity

I'm interested in things
I quit smoking a number of years ago (after going through a phase of being addicted to the patch for several years lol), and started using kava relatively recently, so my kava use has not overlapped with my nicotine use. But for me, the feeling I get from kava actually in some respect reminds me of a nicotine buzz. That kind of simultaneously stimulated and relaxed feeling. So I could see how it might be useful for people trying to quit, as it subjectively seems to sort of scratch some of the same itch. As far as I know, the pharmacologies of the two substances are completely different, but that doesn't rule out that they might have something in common, maybe at a higher level in the brain than just their direct action on neurotransmitter receptors. The brain is a complicated thing, far from well understood. Interestingly, I also find I have much less interest in coffee/caffeine with kava.
 
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