Twokinds ARCHIVE Forums

While overseas I found out a few things, and one was that you can get drunk or high off of about anything. Pepto Bismal, NyQuil, etc. And if you're that desperate, and can stomach it, most of them work.

And while we occasionally get alcohol, either from shipments from home or local nationals, it was few and far between. Not to mention expensive. While someone told me that drinking 3 bottles of antacids is the new in thing, i just had to shake my head.

What I did find out is that for all of us non smokers out there, the first time you smoke or start smoking, it gives you a nice light headed buzz from the nicotine. I hate smoking myself personally, so i figured I mind as well try the patches.

Before i get all the comments of "All our forces are druggies!" It's a hard place to relax in, so thus we do what we do in order to stay mentally sound.

So anywho, i try these patches, and they do give you a relaxed feeling for a while until you get used to it. But what I did notice is that I slept extremely well and had vivid dreams, where I never used to dream before, or at least remember them.

I did a bit of research and discovered its a popular "side effect" among people who use the patch. While I dont wear them for the little buzz anymore, I still use them in order to help me sleep.

I've talked with others and have gotten mixed results, such as they couldn't sleep at all and had to take it off before they went to bed, or two, they would get nightmares. And while I mean vivid, i mean vivid, to where you could actually start to smell and even comprehend to the point where you felt what was going on and made decisions based upon that, Instead of the usual watching a movie feel.

Has anyone else had similar experiences with these things? I get them for free, +1 to government health care, but there expensive little buggers, at two dollars a patch apiece.

That's a new one for me ~ I never really knew you could get all that oddball stuff from using a patch. Makes you wonder, though, if first-time smokers get the same thing only stronger, since they're taking in larger doses? I'll have to stalk around the Health & Body aisle at the grocer today and pester anyone I see picking up a pack of patches, XD

I'm just a wee virgin to anything drug-related myself, though I don't know how long that would last if I were enlisted. I figure if I could get a hold of a coke & rum (more coke than rum, ^^) that would probably ease off any stress I might have. Then again, I've no idea how much stress you guys are really under.

Graham will probably pop in and educate my civvie arse on it if he sees this thread, XD

Yeah relaxing is horribly important, I haven't been over there myself but I work at an Army hospital where we have folks coming through constantly and it's not too hard to pick out the ones who didn't try to unwind. Eh yeah a lot of those methods work though they'll still land ya in ASAP (Army Substance Abuse Program) if folks find out you've been doing it, have been doing a lot of work with those folks lately, actually I think I have to head over there this week...kinda curious as to what kind of other effects can come from it. Though yes, definitely agreed that you need to find a way to release stress.

Speaking of side effects, do you have an idea of how it affects physical performance? Smoking certainly has an effect, but do the patches?

This is just a hunch, but I think it relaxes muscle tension (similar to the side effects of Pentazemin). Anyone heard of this before?

I wouldn't be surprised if you'd find yourself with a nicotine addiction from using the patch. No matter how you slice it, your brain is going to start craving the chemical whether you inhale it or take it via patch. Whether or not that would affect your performance, I wouldn't say it would do anything severe. So far they haven't been able to show that nicotine, on its own, is a carcinogen, but it can be lethal if you take more than a half of a gram of it into your system at once.

All in all, it's just plain not good for you, but it's definitely not as devastating as smoking. I think if you absolutely have to relax, which I can easily see being a must when you're on active duty, you're going to do whatever you can to wind down. At least this way, Nanaki isn't hurting anybody else by smoking.

Nah; I just worry about how many of our forces are furries. =^.^=

I'm only jokin', mate...

Actually, in my company..theres 2 o.o; and we ended up going to AC together.

Anywho, I did a bit more research and found that Nicotine causes a surge in neuro transmission in the brain witch cause the dreams.

Nicotine. The reason why all navy ships, even the nuclear ones, leave a cloud of smoke behind them.
Yes, nicotine and other mild drugs are a vital part of the armed forces. Drugs that don't make you temporarily useless in emergencies are good. Pot is bad. Ever try and get a pothead who's buzzed up to get his rump in gear? Bad news.

Nicotine's the drug of choice, really.

Oh, and the patch shouldn't really have much of a physical affect. The main reason smoking is bad for you is the 'smoke' part. Inhaling hot smoke is bad. Smoke in general is bad for your lungs and throat. Add in all the disgusting junk they mix into commercial tobacco... Bad news.

(Not to turn this into an anti-drugs thread completely)

My grandfather died from smoking, so I never got to meet him, but I'm told I'm a lot like him. I miss him without ever meeting him, in a way.
So, I'm never going to smoke. 8)

'Tis a nonbeliever! Burn 'im at th' stake!!!

No, but really, smoking's pointless, and I hate my parents for it. So, I'm going to be sure to do it as often as I can, once I'm of age, just to annoy the hell out of them.

I'm sure willpower isn't very useful when facing a chemical addiction, but I feel confident that I, personally, could overcome one, if I were ever in that position. See, I have a very large archive of 'happy images'...

And we all know what chemical is REALLY in control of a guy's body... =^.^=

What was the point? Ahh, yes. Nicotine is, like, so 80's... :P

Bah! Only thing that I'd probably ever be addicted to would be video games, computers, and food. XD

My parents are big on anti tobacco. My step grand dad died from it to.

I get 500 bucks if I don't smoke before my 18 birthday =3 More from my 20th. It's FREE MONEY.

I smoked, for a while. I quit. Personally, it wasn't nearly as hard as the caffeine habit I can't seem to kick. I only ever smoked at work on the boat, mostly because smokers got regular, fairly long breaks, and nonsmokers just got, to put it mildly, shafted.

It did provide me with a few uniquely satisfying opportunities. Nothing will make a fresh little boot camp nublet freak out like putting a cigarette out in a cup of jet fuel.