runninlater

Agga40s,

I AM A HEAVY SMOKER - so this will be straight from the "horse's mouth" for you! I smoke 40 to 50 cigarettes a day. Been smoking for 34 years non-stop. Tried every smoking cessation product known to man - nothing worked.

I am on day 4 of e-cigs. Fresh out of the gate this is my experience.

First - some advice.

#1. Take the time and watch the videos posted at the top of the New Members forum. These videos are EXTREMELY helpful. Follow their advice - it's priceless!

#2. Everyone is different. I see so many people say "I quit the first day my e-cig arrived." Well maybe they did, but that doesn't mean you will. I am on day 4 and I have not quit smoking regular cigarettes yet. (See below for more personal info.)

#3. I can guarantee you - without a doubt - that you will crave a real cigarette while smoking your e-cig. There's something about sucking in those 4000 chemicals, carbon monoxide and heavy tar that cannot be replaced by ANYTHING. (Short of a heavy IV morphine drip.)

#4. Keep the liquid topped off in your cartridge and the battery fresh. You will be able to tell when either gets low because it feels like you cannot get a sufficient drag from the e-cig. Keeping it vaping really well is an important key to decreasing the desire for a real cigarette.

#5. Get good liquid. I'm not pushing any specific products - use the Liquid Review forum to get information - but I did not get the best stuff for the first 3 days and thank god I got some new stuff today!!! Much better!

#6. Don't try and smoke the e-cig like you would a regular cig. Experiment with it to find the best draw/drag. (I was dragging way too hard on the poor thing - tried to suck the fiber out of the cartridge - didn't work so good.)

#7. E-cigs do sound complicated but they really aren't. Once you get yours you'll see it's pretty simple.

Now for the good news.
My first day I cut my smoking to 17 cigs. That's a 60% reduction. It just happened. I wasn't really trying. It's just that this e-cig was such a good replacement that I wasn't missing smoking.
Day 2 - smoked 12 cigs. Day 3 - smoked 7 cigs. So far today - 2 cigs.
I can tell you that it wasn't really painful to go to 7 cigs yesterday. You do crave the the real thing but I just go do something else or forget about it and the next thing I know another hour went by and I didn't smoke.

So far this experience has been truly amazing. I have never given up so many cigarettes so easily.
It's not automatic - you do have to work at it a little - but it's the closest thing to replacing smoking that I have ever experienced.

I am truly thrilled and very thankful to all the help and advice from this forum.

Good luck Agga40s!