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Tobacco and Alcohol Rev-Up: Is Acetaldehyde the Culprit?


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Hey guys,

 

I'm curious about the way tobacco affects us in withdrawal. I've found a study that discusses tobacco consumption affecting GABAA neuroadaptations in alcohol withdrawal but I'm wondering how this might be happening based on the strange effects of tobacco. https://www.pnas.org/content/111/50/18031#:~:text=Our%20findings%20show%20that%20tobacco,cravings%2C%20possibly%20contributing%20to%20continued

 

When I tried to smoke a cigarette recently it calmed me, I felt more like myself for a few moments along with a certain sleepiness and relaxation that I haven't felt in a while, but at the same time it instantly revved me up, giving me slight DP/DR, tinnitus and that sheer terror feeling of anxiety that we mostly experience during acute. It faded within 2-3 days so I would consider it more of an adverse reaction than a setback. Although, I did only smoke a small cigarette so who knows if frequent smoking would cause a proper setback, based on the study, probably.

 

A simple guess would be that the calming side of things was the tobacco agonising the GABAA receptor, but in that case, what else is tobacco agonising/antagonising to produce a GABAA antagonist type effect that immediately starts overwhelming the agonist effect?

 

Or is it just simply agonising GABAA and our bodies don't know how to cope with this anymore? I don't feel this is quite the case as tobacco has always caused me a contradictory calming anxiety, except the positive effect would generally outweigh the negative.

 

I currently use Nicotine lozenges and they do not uncomfortably rev me up, although they definitely do cause a very slight internal vibration for a few minutes or so. Are the MAOI effects in tobacco enhancing the effects of nicotine causing the overstimulation and relaxation you don't achieve with nicotine alone? Or is something totally different happening due to the MAOI effects? It could even be one of the many chemicals in tobacco that rev us up.

 

Acetaldehyde seems like a possible culprit for the overstimulation rather than play on GABAA receptors after doing some more digging. Interestingly I saw another user compare smoking a cigar to drinking in terms of the 2-3day rev up that followed. Alcohol is metabolised into acetaldehyde. So it could be the acetaldehyde causing the rev rather than a full setback which would require some more continuous use and agonism of GABA receptors (depending on the individuals sensitivity of course).

"If alcohol is consumed, there is a build up of acetaldehyde, and this results in several unpleasant effects such as tachycardia, nausea, vomiting and hyperventilation, often accompanied by feelings of anxiety or panic." Wright C, Moore RD. Disulfiram treatment of alcoholism. Am J Med 1990;88(6):647-55. [PubMed]

 

Anyway, I may have answered my own question lol, but let me know what you think might be going on and if your experience with tobacco has been any different during/after withdrawal. Particularly those who have quit and started again or had the odd cigarette. I would like to be able to have the occasional cigarette again once I'm at least mostly healed, but at the moment it's been good to have that negative experience with tobacco because my subconscious has started to recognise it as more harmful than good in its effects so I'm not craving it on an addictive level as much. I just miss being able to sit outside and enjoy the scenery. Without a cigarette I get bored instantly and feel awkward just sitting there. :idiot:

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Tobacco helped me get through my horrific withdrawal.

 

Obviously alcohol was abstained from throughout as it is technically liquid benzodiazepine.

 

All this nicotine talk regards hindering one’s healing is just a lot of unfounded nonsense in my opinion... there is zero correlation studies between GABA receptor up-regulation anything and nicotine ingestion.

 

Years later I don’t smoke anymore now, and for other reasons... but back then, if my tobacco had been removed from me, that would’ve most definitely pushed me over the edge... it’s completely unproductive.

 

I fully-healed on month 26/27 off back in 2013... ✊🏻

 

I smoked thirty a day throughout... 👍🏻

 

For me, it absolutely assisted... 💯

 

 

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