Help me find a portable vape for loose tobacco

[Tomacco]

My wife has started using nicotine to treat her migraines. She has tried everything traditional medicine has to offer, and so far the only thing that helps consistenly is cigarettes. We’d like to avoid that long term for obvious reasons. And yes, she’s tried cannabis, but for her it’s highly strain dependent and the medical system is really still in it’s infancy here in my state. She really doesn’t want to mess with concentrates / e-cigarettes, etc. I offered to buy some loose tobacco and put it in my Flowermate Slick. It helped with the migraine, which is great, but she doesn’t love using the thing so I thought I‘d look for some advice.

Problems she has with the Flowermate:

• Too complicated - 5 button presses for on & off, 3 for temp changes is more than she really wants to deal with. She basically wants to turn it on, pull a hit or two, and turn in off.
• No visible vapor created - the biggest problem here is that she has a hard time telling when the tank is “done” and needs to be replaced.
  • Looks like tobacco generally doesn’t generate much in the way of visible vapor, so this may be something we can’t really fix, but I figured I’d include it.

So, what I’m looking for (AKA requirements, such as they are).

• Electric (she has no interest in a butane solution).
• Portable
• As simple as possible

These are really the only hard requirements. If at all possible she would also like

• Draw activated
• large chamber so she doesn’t have to reload it frequently

She claims that a friend she visited had a draw activated dry herb vape, with a huge chamber so big she didn’t even grind the bud, that she could just hit once and put away. Of course, I can find no evidence of such a thing existing and she has lost touch with this friend in the intervening time. That is what she really wants me to find, but I don’t really think it exists, so I am trying to get as close as I can.

Cost isn’t really a factor here, though less is always better of course.

I was actually thinking today that the MFLB might be good for her. Dead simple, large chamber, battery operated. I know years ago they were very popular, but it looks like reviews may be mixed now?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Mr. Me2]

How about the Neo? Here’s a link to the thread: https://fuckcombustion.com/threads/the-neo-by-prrl-labs.50326/page-21#post-1557323

The Neo is a battery powered external heater you use with a pipe. I use a pipe made by @CDXX Pipes just for the Neo. Large bowl so less frequent filling, but true convection so you can return to the same load and don’t have to finish what you start.

This probably isn’t what you were expecting, but I think it’s worth a look.

 

[Tomacco]

How about the Neo? Here’s a link to the thread: https://fuckcombustion.com/threads/the-neo-by-prrl-labs.50326/page-21#post-1557323

The Neo is a battery powered external heater you use with a pipe. I use a pipe made by @CDXX Pipes just for the Neo. Large bowl so less frequent filling, but true convection so you can return to the same load and don’t have to finish what you start.

This probably isn’t what you were expecting, but I think it’s worth a look.

Thanks, I‘ll check it out.

 

[Tomacco]

Well, I spoke to my wife about the MFLB and the Neo, and while she never stated this before, discretion is apparently important, so the MFLB and anything that looks like / or uses a pipe is out.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[Mr. Me2]

Okay. Does the tafee bowle work? I’m loving that vape and it’s super easy to use.

 

[Siebter]

She really doesn’t want to mess with concentrates / e-cigarettes, etc.

Not sure what you mean by „concentrates“, but have another look at e cigarettes. Vaping tobacco seems to be a bit of a hit or miss kinda thing, at least it needs quite a bit of tinkering.

The thing I also like to point out is that nicotine is actually a factor that *increases* the likelihood of a migraine attack (it causes constriction of blood vessels), so I personally would not use it as a agent to overcome pains. I suppose your wife has a nicotine addiction that causes her stress when not dealt with.

 

[Tomacco]

I don’t know the right word for what goes in an e-cigarette, I was just trying to cover all my bases. Primarly she wants to avoid vaping PG or VG or any other additives that might be in there.

She absolutely does not have a nicotine addiction. Until about a week ago when she finally gave in and tried cigarettes to help her migraine, she hadn’t had a cigarette in nearly 15 years. She was an occasional smoker when we met and gave it up when we got serious. I made it clear that this was a dealbreaker for me, as someone who only months beforehand had managed to quit.

I know what you’re saying about typical migraines and nicotine, but there have been recorded cases of other people for whom nicotine was the only thing that helped. She stumbled on a paper about one such patient, which is where we got the idea in the first place. Chronic/unending migraines are not well understood, frankly, and while I don’t love the idea of starting her down the path of an eventual nicotine addiction, if it actually helps I can‘t argue with it. It would take me literally all day to outline the number of things we’ve tried that didn’t work over the last seven years - seven years in which she has had nearly daily migraines - and given that you’re not our doctor I don’t think that’s worth the time.

I appreciate the condescension though.

Okay. Does the tafee bowle work? I’m loving that vape and it’s super easy to use.

Hmm. That one is so crazy it just might work. I’ll show it to her.

It’s also possible that I jumped the gun and she’ll be fine with the Flowermate once she gets used to it. I may have gotten overeager at the possibility of buying a new toy...

 

[Siebter]

She absolutely does not have a nicotine addiction.

Okay, but she will have one for sure when she will try to manage her migraine with tobacco. That's a fact.

And the combination of a nicotine / tobacco addiction and migraines is vicious: nicotine cravings are very stressful for both the body and psyche, on the other hand taking nicotine will constrict vessels and thus raise blood pressure which also stresses the body in a pain session.

Don't get me wrong: I am a huge fan of nicotine as a substance. And I am indeed not your doctor. But while migraine symptoms and causes are a very complicated subject, the effect of tobacco on migraine patients is pretty well understood.

The Relationship Between Smoking & Migraine

We all know smoking is bad for our health and greatly increases our risk of lung cancer. However, your lungs are not the only organs that suffer when you smoke. The nicotine in tobacco products has a wide range of negative effects on the body.

modernmigrainemd.com

 

[Farid]

If it's just the nicotine that helps, has she considered nicotine gum/patch/toothpicks? Tobacco is highly carcinogenic, even vaped. I would avoid it at all costs, and use pure nicotine products instead. Tobacco is also far more addictive than nicotine on it's own, due to the other alkaloids present.

Even e-cigs are likely safer than vaping tobacco, but if she doesnt want to inhale PG/VG I think nicotine replacement products like gum would be ideal.

 

[Siebter]

Tobacco is also far more addictove than nicotine on it's own, due to the other alkaloids present.

Good call – tobacco contains MAO inhibitors that increase the addictive qualities of nicotine by a huge factor. Nicotine in its pure form is considered to be only mildly addictive, about the same level as caffeine.

PG and VG are also present in tobacco btw, they're used as a moisturizer to prevent it from getting too dry. Both are also used in a ton of other products, food, cosmetics etc.

 

[justcametomind]

You are looking for help in the wrong place, this forum is devoted to cannabis vaporizers if ever plain tobacco leaf ones were a thing.
iQuos from Philip Morris seems to me the most effective tobacco leaf vape, but uses agents such as the ones you’d like to avoid, that’s how you get visible vapor out of tobacco. That would be my choice but she would have to drop her wish for no VG/PG (how someone who’s fine with carcinogenics from combustion can nitpick about VG/PG is beyond me btw).
Migraines is a serious problem deal with it with the help of your wife’s doctor.
Patches is a great advice, otherwise I’d think she just craves for going back to cigs.

 

[west-elec]

I know you may have already tried or discounted this but for me I had regular bad migraines until I started keeping myself steadily medicated with cannabis all day. I had a period after I first starting growing and had an abundance, where I indulged continuously from early in the morning til late at night. I realised it had been a few weeks straight with no migraines at all. I had a period away from home and didn't vape for a few days and WHAM, worst one in a long while. From then on I've kept up a regime and haven't suffered from one since and it has been many years.
1 off dose may not stop a migraine at time of extreme pain, once you already have side effects the damage is perhaps done (whether it be constriction or release of pressure). But maybe a steady supply helps avoid one starting in the first place.
Low dose edibles would be a good option to try. Not sure if just CBD would work but not as much fun. I know they are doing studies on thc for use on stroke victims so maybe some protection is offered by the constant vaso-dilation effect in the brain.

 

[Tomacco]

Okay, but she will have one for sure when she will try to manage her migraine with tobacco. That's a fact.

And the combination of a nicotine / tobacco addiction and migraines is vicious: nicotine cravings are very stressful for both the body and psyche, on the other hand taking nicotine will constrict vessels and thus raise blood pressure which also stresses the body in a pain session.

Don't get me wrong: I am a huge fan of nicotine as a substance. And I am indeed not your doctor. But while migraine symptoms and causes are a very complicated subject, the effect of tobacco on migraine patients is pretty well understood.

The Relationship Between Smoking & Migraine

We all know smoking is bad for our health and greatly increases our risk of lung cancer. However, your lungs are not the only organs that suffer when you smoke. The nicotine in tobacco products has a wide range of negative effects on the body.

modernmigrainemd.com

I’m aware that this is a path to a nicotine addiction.

 

[Tomacco]

If it's just the nicotine that helps, has she considered nicotine gum/patch/toothpicks? Tobacco is highly carcinogenic, even vaped. I would avoid it at all costs, and use pure nicotine products instead. Tobacco is also far more addictive than nicotine on it's own, due to the other alkaloids present.

Even e-cigs are likely safer than vaping tobacco, but if she doesnt want to inhale PG/VG I think nicotine replacement products like gum would be ideal.

I hear you. If it was me, I would just do e-cigs, but she doesn’t want that. She tried a nicotine lozenge, and she coulnd’t finish it as it made her throat numb. We may try others if she can‘t get this to work. I suggested patches, I don’t recall what she had against them.

 

[Tomacco]

You are looking for help in the wrong place, this forum is devoted to cannabis vaporizers if ever plain tobacco leaf ones were a thing.
iQuos from Philip Morris seems to me the most effective tobacco leaf vape, but uses agents such as the ones you’d like to avoid, that’s how you get visible vapor out of tobacco. That would be my choice but she would have to drop her wish for no VG/PG (how someone who’s fine with carcinogenics from combustion can nitpick about VG/PG is beyond me btw).
Migraines is a serious problem deal with it with the help of your wife’s doctor.
Patches is a great advice, otherwise I’d think she just craves for going back to cigs.

Believe me, we’ve been going to numerous doctors for 7 years. We have tried everything. Seriously, imagine how desperate one must be to think that cigarettes are a good answer. This is not us trying to shortcut the process.

I’m certainly open to other forums I should ask in. Feel free to point me in that direction. Sorry if this was the wrong place.

 

[Tomacco]

I know you may have already tried or discounted this but for me I had regular bad migraines until I started keeping myself steadily medicated with cannabis all day. I had a period after I first starting growing and had an abundance, where I indulged continuously from early in the morning til late at night. I realised it had been a few weeks straight with no migraines at all. I had a period away from home and didn't vape for a few days and WHAM, worst one in a long while. From then on I've kept up a regime and haven't suffered from one since and it has been many years.
1 off dose may not stop a migraine at time of extreme pain, once you already have side effects the damage is perhaps done (whether it be constriction or release of pressure). But maybe a steady supply helps avoid one starting in the first place.
Low dose edibles would be a good option to try. Not sure if just CBD would work but not as much fun. I know they are doing studies on thc for use on stroke victims so maybe some protection is offered by the constant vaso-dilation effect in the brain.

CBD helps a little, not a ton. Hadn’t really tried constant medication with cannabis. I will suggest it.

 

[Siebter]

I’m aware that this is a path to a nicotine addiction.

That also, but mainly it's the path to a wrong substance. In the long run it won't help her.

Seriously, imagine how desperate one must be to think that cigarettes are a good answer.

That still doesn't make them a good answer.

 

[sunyata]

I mean to be fair, just because tobacco is on average bad for you, individual differences exist and who are the various individual people preaching about the evils of nicotine here to say that this poor lady isn't getting a real (maybe also long-term sustainable) benefit from it. Also, yes, on average nicotine appears not to be too helpful for headaches, but chronic pain conditions are usually symptom-based diagnoses that can vary in their aetiologies, trajectories and viable treatment approaches, despite shared diagnostic labels. So how about everyone gets off their high horse for a quick sec and tries to truly uphold the mantra of harm reduction in substance use that this board is very much about. Accordingly, yes, lozenges and patches would be preferable. In the same way that edibles are preferable to vaping by the way. But if you seriously think your preachiness is the first time OP and his wife have heard about nicotine not being super great for you, go suck a lemon. Also, there's plenty of medications being used for headache treatments that likely rival the relative harm that vaping tobacco leafs may have (especially once we consider individual variability again). The common first-line medications, amitryptiline and beta blockers, can have fairly severe metabolic side effects which can ultimately increase risk of diabetes etc.

As for your question OP, I think you wanna try something like a vapcap with the low-temp cap, or something like an arizer portable. Not a huge investment, the vapcap may also be more satisfying in light of the tactile conditioning your wife usually gets from a cigarette, the arizer you have better temp control. With both these options try to start with super low doses though, vaping is much more efficient at extracting the various molecules of interest out of plant materials.

 

[purepotstill]

Not a doctor, so I won't judge if the solution is good or not. OP, you might want to read this thread : https://fuckcombustion.com/threads/vaporizing-tobacco-not-e-cigs.29/

Was looking at it because it might be a solution to help my wife quit smoking. Lots of info here, with suggestion. You might want to skip the 1st pages to find suggestions on currently produced vapes.

 

[Tomacco]

I mean to be fair, just because tobacco is on average bad for you, individual differences exist and who are the various individual people preaching about the evils of nicotine here to say that this poor lady isn't getting a real (maybe also long-term sustainable) benefit from it. Also, yes, on average nicotine appears not to be too helpful for headaches, but chronic pain conditions are usually symptom-based diagnoses that can vary in their aetiologies, trajectories and viable treatment approaches, despite shared diagnostic labels. So how about everyone gets off their high horse for a quick sec and tries to truly uphold the mantra of harm reduction in substance use that this board is very much about. Accordingly, yes, lozenges and patches would be preferable. In the same way that edibles are preferable to vaping by the way. But if you seriously think your preachiness is the first time OP and his wife have heard about nicotine not being super great for you, go suck a lemon. Also, there's plenty of medications being used for headache treatments that likely rival the relative harm that vaping tobacco leafs may have (especially once we consider individual variability again). The common first-line medications, amitryptiline and beta blockers, can have fairly severe metabolic side effects which can ultimately increase risk of diabetes etc.

Thank you for this.

As for your question OP, I think you wanna try something like a vapcap with the low-temp cap, or something like an arizer portable. Not a huge investment, the vapcap may also be more satisfying in light of the tactile conditioning your wife usually gets from a cigarette, the arizer you have better temp control. With both these options try to start with super low doses though, vaping is much more efficient at extracting the various molecules of interest out of plant materials.

Yes, she only takes a pull or two at a time from my Flowermate. A single tank will last her days. She wants an electric solution, not butane, so the vapcap is out. I’ll look at the airizer though, thanks.

 

[Tomacco]

Not a doctor, so I won't judge if the solution is good or not. OP, you might want to read this thread : https://fuckcombustion.com/threads/vaporizing-tobacco-not-e-cigs.29/

Was looking at it because it might be a solution to help my wife quit smoking. Lots of info here, with suggestion. You might want to skip the 1st pages to find suggestions on currently produced vapes.

Thanks for that. I did search before posting, I swear, I don’t know how I missed that.

 

[QF1994]

CBD helps a little, not a ton. Hadn’t really tried constant medication with cannabis. I will suggest it.

What about CBD flower? I've found the tinctures and oils weren't great for me but the flower gives me the full entourage effect without making me loopy like thc.

 

[Tomacco]

What about CBD flower? I've found the tinctures and oils weren't great for me but the flower gives me the full entourage effect without making me loopy like thc.

I honestly don’t know where I’d get that. Like I said, the medical system here is still in its infancy. But it’s a good idea, I’ll keep it in mind.

 

[gordontreeman]

I honestly don’t know where I’d get that. Like I said, the medical system here is still in its infancy. But it’s a good idea, I’ll keep it in mind.

There’s a thread somewhere around here with mail order options if you’re in the states. Hemp/cbd flower is legal under the...2014? Agriculture bill. I was looking at some offerings from Horn Creek Hemp.

 

[Krazy]

The thing I also like to point out is that nicotine is actually a factor that *increases* the likelihood of a migraine attack (it causes constriction of blood vessels), so I personally would not use it as a agent to overcome pains.

Some of the things that can be triggers for migraines and/or clusters are used by savvy sufferers to manage the same. I have both.

I have a rough tobacco dedicated vapecap.

Resources Library | American Migraine Foundation

Articles covering many migraine topics, from treatment options, to details on different migraine types, to lifestyle tips on managing migraine and more.

americanmigrainefoundation.org

Below included because they are an excellent cluster resource and the forums often give migrainers a directional suggestion.

Clusterbusters - The Cluster Headache Advocacy Group

We support research for better treatments and a cure while advocating to improve the lives of those struggling with cluster headaches.

clusterbusters.org

ClusterBusters

clusterbusters.org

Psilocybin helps a lot of people as well.