had to switch to cigars last couple days due to "cotten tongue"

[KinnScience]

Thanks for all the help. I asked the wife to pick up some biotene. I do have some captain black .. since that doesn't have any taste .. maybe that is mild enough and I can try that for a while....

As far as quitting for a few days ... well, I'll have to wait till the next time I get the flu or something to do that. Not sure I can explain it .. but:

When I leave work ... soon as I get into my truck ... the pipe is filled and lit. It doesn't get put down until I turn off the lights except when the bowl is done and I need to get another pipe ... or I decide to smoke a cigar. Quitting for a day would mean I would have to stop smoking either after work .... or on the weekends. I look forward to leaving work cuz I know my tobacco is waiting. I look forward to the weekends because I know that I can smoke all day long .... except if I'm forced to go into a store or something. After leaving the post office ... I visited Don at the local B&M. Sat and smoked with him for about 4 hours... came home ... and I'm still blowing.

You are right though, it is not much fun due to the lack of taste ... and the "tangy/raw" taste in my mouth. But, I keep puffin ... cuz every once in a while ... I get a shadow of baccy flavor.....

Funny, I'm not the addicting type, I quite cigarettes in college... cold turkey ... didn't miss a single nights sleep (and I was a pack and 1/2 a day Marly man). But I have become, in a short time, a complete lover of the leaf. I'd sooner go a day without food than a day without tobacco. Maybe I'm nuts.... (ok, I know some of you are going to say "yup, but tobacco probably has nothing to do with that")....

ps. I just had a thought! Didn't the Indians used to smoke through their noses? ok... where can I get a "nose" fixture for all my pipes? ;-)

[Requiem]

Try smoking a Peterson with the p-lip, if you really have to keep smoking.
Maybe the p-lip will allow you to taste something out of the tobacco and spare your tongue a little.

[plexiprs]

Originally Posted by KinnScience

When I leave work ... soon as I get into my truck ... the pipe is filled and lit. It doesn't get put down until I turn off the lights except when the bowl is done and I need to get another pipe ... or I decide to smoke a cigar. Quitting for a day would mean I would have to stop smoking either after work .... or on the weekends. I look forward to leaving work cuz I know my tobacco is waiting. I look forward to the weekends because I know that I can smoke all day long .... except if I'm forced to go into a store or something. After leaving the post office ... I visited Don at the local B&M. Sat and smoked with him for about 4 hours... came home ... and I'm still blowing.

Funny, I'm not the addicting type, I quite cigarettes in college... cold turkey ... didn't miss a single nights sleep (and I was a pack and 1/2 a day Marly man). But I have become, in a short time, a complete lover of the leaf. I'd sooner go a day without food than a day without tobacco. Maybe I'm nuts....

Tobacco has the physical addictive component of the nicotine. When I smoked cigarettes, the Vitamin-N was NOT what addicted me. It was the ritual, routine and physical habit. That combined with those other habitual behaviors, i.e., first morning coffee, driving to work, settling in at work, made it seem normal. Many decades ago I chewed. That too was a routine, but I found that stopping brought havoc to my digestion. Then I learned that Vit-N was a digestive stimulant.

I don't find cigars or pipes too have much of a Vit-N impact on me, perhaps due to those many earlier years of chewing and smoking. My smoking schedule for a work day versus an off day would make you think their is no habit for ritual. But it is there if you carefully watch for it. The circumstances are different and so is the ritual.

You seem like one who is addicted to the rituals, rites and paraphernalia of the smoking of a pipe. Far more than one addicted to the Vitamin-N from the tobacco. Chew up a ball of Gawith Black XX rope, or Cob Plug for the morning and then set it to dry for smoking after dinner. That will kick your nicotine comprehension up a whole bunch of notches!! That's how some old timers learned to smoke our pipes!!

[KinnScience]

Originally Posted by plexiprs

Tobacco has the physical addictive component of the nicotine. When I smoked cigarettes, the Vitamin-N was NOT what addicted me. It was the ritual, routine and physical habit. That combined with those other habitual behaviors, i.e., first morning coffee, driving to work, settling in at work, made it seem normal. Many decades ago I chewed. That too was a routine, but I found that stopping brought havoc to my digestion. Then I learned that Vit-N was a digestive stimulant.

I don't find cigars or pipes too have much of a Vit-N impact on me, perhaps due to those many earlier years of chewing and smoking. My smoking schedule for a work day versus an off day would make you think their is no habit for ritual. But it is there if you carefully watch for it. The circumstances are different and so is the ritual.

You seem like one who is addicted to the rituals, rites and paraphernalia of the smoking of a pipe. Far more than one addicted to the Vitamin-N from the tobacco. Chew up a ball of Gawith Black XX rope, or Cob Plug for the morning and then set it to dry for smoking after dinner. That will kick your nicotine comprehension up a whole bunch of notches!! That's how some old timers learned to smoke our pipes!!

Sounds good to me!

I do like my vitamin N. especially in the evening .. where I go heavy. I smoke either Sliced Brown Twist, 1792, or FVF .. every eve. Try frenching that ... you'd be surprised how well your nasal membranes can absorb nic. I used to be a Skoal chewer in high school. Though not actually during school as I was a bit "girl crazy". Very little gives you as much nicotine as "days O Work" , copenhagen, or Skoal when you take a good amount and install it between the cheek and gum line. I also to smoke cigarettes .... my main squeeze was Marly reds, but I also like Pall Malls .. a lot. Later I had a brief but torrid affair with Newports.

I'm no stranger to nicotine ... we dated off and on for years . But I had given up on her for years. Now with the advent of the pipe into my life ... well, it has been a nice reunion, and she's as affectionate as ever.

[David M]

My tongue is still in various stages of Tongue Bite that started on the first day about 2 weeks ago. I am noticing it getting much better now. I have slowed down the puff rate and strength of inhale. Breath smoking is kinda cool. The heat on the bowl has dropped by 70%!! Overall though, its still there to some degree or another. Likely from the initial damage from the first few days. Still healing.

A few days ago when I was prepping some Cigar Bombs I had to try a few before my recommendation could be made and I was smoking a wonderful El Centurion Guerrero and although I could clearly taste it, the harshness associated with the smoke travelling over (what is it? damaged tastebuds on the tongue?) my tongue was literally painful.
I imagine that we are similar in that we ignore the pain or rather enjoy the positives (yum yummy) more than the negatives (prickly pain). Leading to more pain in fact But still, that smile is there when we finish, no matter what. For me at least.

Most of this is attributed to the undeniable extreme joy we are experiencing in finding something that has been under our noses for so long, we never tried it & now since we have, we feel like it needs to be used and enjoyed as often as possible. I am talking about it like I found the secret to turning rock into gold. Kinda silly but thats how I feel. I am amazed at how good it is and at the same time amazed at how I never tried it before.

My girlfriend has recently been recommending Baking Soda (a few big spoonfuls) in some above average Warm/Hot water and just swishing it around and gurgling it. Dont swallow obviously. And it does have a temporary Intense Relief effect. That works.

[KinnScience]

I am not liking this at all. Apparently the problem is "damaged taste buds" The theory from this particular physician is that "heat" is the variable.

Some of the exact processes and mechanisms involved in tasting remains elusive to science.

From several abstracts:
"Chemical synapses transmit gustatory signals from taste receptor cells to sensory afferent axons. Chemical (and electrical) synapses also provide a lateral pathway for cells within the taste bud to communicate."

""Taste bud cells communicate with sensory afferent fibers and may also exchange information with adjacent cells. Indeed, communication between taste cells via conventional and/or novel synaptic interactions may occur prior to signal output to primary afferent fibers........There is strong evidence that serotonin and ATP play a role in cell-to-cell signaling and sensory output in the gustatory end organs.""

""Synapses between taste receptor cells and primary sensory afferent fibers transmit the output signal from taste buds to the central nervous system. The synaptic vesicle cycle at the synapses involves vesicle docking, priming, fusion, endocytosis, and recycling. Many kinds of synaptic vesicle proteins participate in synaptic vesicle cycles.""


The point here is that mechanisms and function of taste has been studied extensively over the last 40 years. Science has conducted studies to identify the "neuroactive" substances acting at taste bud synapses. Most studies agree that serotonin plays a role in this ballet of interactions. One thing is certain, we don't know everything, and we tend to take the process for granted (as we do for most remarkable facets of our bodies) until something isn't working properly. I think most here will agree that "taste" is fascinating and something we depend upon for a great deal of fulfillment/enjoyment in our lives. Though I always liked good food, and fine wines, and brandy, the enjoyment of fine tobaccos is something I have not had the pleasure of experiencing until recently. It has allowed for yet another whole aspect of fulfillment of the senses. I cannot ever think of giving it up.

Two weeks. Well, I am now chewing tobacco ..... and dipping snuff. Thankfully, it helps as I wait out this process of healing. Yes, taste buds can heal over time. I suppose I need to be very careful about "puffing" too hard. While I have no problem with the "prickly" burning of a VA or vanilla arom, I never want to damage my taste buds from too much "steam" ever again. As a noob, I have perhaps underestimated the importance of not getting a "tongue burn" that comes from too much heat.

One other point: I think we've all burned our tongues on "hot food" at one time or another. I don't remember it taking "weeks" for it to heal. I wonder if there is some form of combination of damage that occurs when we experience "tongue burn". In other words, in contrast to the contention that it this type of injury comes from "heat/steam" I would expect that there is more to it.

I think tobacco companies should sponsor a study to uncover "exactly" what is happening, and offer some remedy. Heck, all the money we spend on their tobacco, we deserve some kind of answer aside from the "handed down" advice of the ages. Also, they could market a remedy... heck, I'd buy it.

[David M]

I hope your mouth is doing better Kinn.
Just an fyi for you. I was also having excessive tongue bite like you the past few days. Yesterday I focused on smoking cigars and although I couldn't stay away from pipe and I broke down and had 2 bowls of some Burley at night and already a half bowl this morning, my tongue, from even such a short mini vacation - is already doing much much better.

The Burley was also extremely mild so that helped a lot but the point is that if you treat the tongue well, it shouldn't take that long to heal.

Obviously this connects to the level of damage you may have done but just fyi for you and any other posters experiencing the same.
Take it easy on her, chill out with tabacky having astrong bite, go with the mellow stuff and in a few days you should be good to go.

[randerson07]

I'm new to the pipe. I had been smoking drug store stuff(CBW and PA) for a few weeks, until last Friday. I picked up some bulk stuff from a local store. Burnt the living heck out of my tongue, but it taste soooo good. My tongue still hasnt recovered. I didnt smoke at all Sat, a small bowl Sun, and maybe half a bowl today. My goodness I hope it gets better soon this stinks. Even food didnt taste good over the weekend, but it was much better today.