How long does nicotine stay in your system


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Have and urine/blood test coming up on Wed for add life insurance and want to know how long nicotine stays in ones system? My last cigar was on Monday, so about 9 days without smoking a stogie when I get the test. I average about 2-3 cigars a week...Do you think that is long enough? I do cardio about 4 days a week for hour and 15 min as well. Heard that helps clear your system out quicker..Any input would be appreciated..

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May be cutting it close. I held off for 1 month before my blood test and passed. Make sure to drink 64-80 ounces of water a day and don't skip a workout.

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My honest advice would to be upfront about smoking cigars.

Second this opinion. It will increase the cost of the premium, but what's the point of having insurance if the company won't pay out? I think most allow a small number of cigars / cigarettes a year before you are considered a 'smoker' but 2 or 3 a week will definitely negate that...

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Did a quick search and found the half life of nicotine is roughly 2 hours. Nicotine is metabolised by the liver, and its metabolite has a half life of roughly 20 hours.

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Did a quick search and found the half life of nicotine is roughly 2 hours. Nicotine is metabolised by the liver, and its metabolite has a half life of roughly 20 hours.

The lab tests don't just look for nicotine, they also look for the metabolites. They can remain detectable in your system for a few weeks .

On the insurance question - all life policies have an "incontestable" provision that runs for a year or two. After that time, anything you've stated on your application is no longer contestable. Means once you've had your policy through that time period, the insurer has to pay out, no matter whether the cigars killed you or not!

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Tell them you usually don't smoke. But you did have a few cigars at a friends 50th birthday party last week or whatever........

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The lab tests don't just look for nicotine, they also look for the metabolites. They can remain detectable in your system for a few weeks .

On the insurance question - all life policies have an "incontestable" provision that runs for a year or two. After that time, anything you've stated on your application is no longer contestable. Means once you've had your policy through that time period, the insurer has to pay out, no matter whether the cigars killed you or not!

Interesting. I only did a cursory search, so I didn't read too in depth. I guess that just goes to show that honesty is the best policy.

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I have a good friend who did a great deal of research on this very topic for this same reason only a few short weeks ago. He smoked 2 or 3 cigars on a Saturday night and his insurance agent told him on Monday morning that he had to get a blood and urine analysis that very Thursday. My friend refuses to be lumped into the same category as someone who inhales 2 packs of cigarettes per day. It really pisses him off because the insurance companies view someone who smokes the occasional cigar as a dreaded "SMOKER". SO my buddy researches and sees that nicotine only last for a day or two max (usually only a few hours) but the metabolites that break down and process the nicotine are present much longer. My buddy doesn't have any more cigars until the blood test, drinks A LOT of water and fruit juices and his blood and urine come back so clean that he gets a discount from what he was previously quoted because he is now in a "Preferred Rate" classification. A true physical specimen whose body is perhaps the purest that this world has ever known due in no small part to his lifetime of good, clean living. The end.

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It will be 9 days since my last cigar and i think I will be OK. Guess I'll find out soon enough.,..Will post the results...Thanks for all the imput

I read in my health fund mag that nicotine leaves the body after 72-96 hours, but testable by-products can remain in your system for up to a year.

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My honest advice would to be upfront about smoking cigars.

X2 for me be upfront Insurance companies always look for loop holes to not pay.

Don't t give them any would be my advice

If I had to pay L/I I would be upfront and pay the extraî•

As far as to how long it stays in the system I personally have never given it a chance to leaveî…

Cheers OZ :party:

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X2 for me be upfront Insurance companies always look for loop holes to not pay.

Don't t give them any would be my advice

If I had to pay L/I I would be upfront and pay the extraî•

X3, I am with Colts and Oz's advise...

Why risk it? It may be even better not to pay for any...

if in the end the insurance co won't pay up on the basis of misleading info...

you won't be even alive to argue your case (or SLB)!

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Hi all

I might be wrong,but is having a medical for life insurance an American thing ,over here I never heard about having to have a medical and or Blood test

I wait to be corrected....... :wacko:

Cheers OZ :cigar:

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Hi all

I might be wrong,but is having a medical for life insurance an American thing ,over here I never heard about having to have a medical and or Blood test

I wait to be corrected....... :D

Cheers OZ :D

The underwriting (blood tests, med exam) is usually dependent on how much life insurance. If it's a small policy, they'll just ask questions. Once you get up to $100,000 or maybe higher, then the life companies look at you a lot more closely. My last insurance physical, they had me pee in a specimen cup, then checked the temperature to make sure it was at body temp and not something "clean" I had stashed away to cheat the test.

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That is strange...both my wife and I have 7-figure life insurance policies through a major U.S. insurance company and neither one of us had to take any medical tests. We did have to fill out questionaires though. She is a cigarette smoker and checked accordingly as a tobacco user. I smoke cigars, so I checked off that box as well. Outside of that they did not blood, urine, or any other type of exams.

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I had a life insurance blood test about 15 years ago. I didn't smoke for three weeks before the test. I'm not a heavy smoker, two cigars a week on average.

I was categorized as a smoker.

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