Vaping is not a complete substitute for tobacco smoking

[Halfzipp]

./rantOn

I didnt read all of these posts in this thread but I read enough and I have to add my 2 cents, if you will. I think this is a complete load of you know what.. Nicotine IS in fact Highly addictive and this has been proven many times. Where ever the info in this thread came from, it is obviously from someone who knows nothing of what they are talking. The biggest issue people have when trying to quit smoking, and the reason all those gums and patches dont work, is trying to get over that oral fixation, the mental addiction. Nicotine is Very addictive, but the physical addiction goes away very fast, with some it can be gone after just a good night sleep. After that it is ALL in your head. This is not just speculation or bs, it is 100% proven fact. This post is nothing more than extremely misleading and is really hurting e-cigs. The best thing about the e-cigs is that you get your nicotine fix AND you get your oral fix. Those of you who say that the e-cig does not help your craving are Making yourselves believe this. You have told yourself that this is Not a cigarette and so it will Not help.. Again, this is ALL in your head. It really is amazing how powerful the mind is and what you can do to yourself Physically with just a thought. You may think what Im saying is wrong or whatever, thats fine, but it doesnt change the fact that it is 100% true. Tell yourself that the e-cig isnt going to help, and it wont. Plain and simple. Im sorry for the rant but it really pisses me off when I see threads like this.

./rantOff

EDIT:

From reading some of the other posts on this thread it seems that some of you Are getting it.. You LIKE to smoke, you like the idea of smoking, the feeling of smoking. Therefor a patch or gum will NEVER help. It is a MENTAL addiction, and if you realize this, and that the e-cig is more or less exactly the same as an analog smoke, minus all the harmful crap, it WILL help. So, if you keep telling yourself that the e-cig is not a real cigarette and wont help, then it WONT. Mind over matter people, thats really what it comes down to.

Thanks,

EDIT2:

I have to add this because I do think these forums are helpful.. There really is a ton of very good information on this forum, But there is also so much contradicting information that it almost negates the good stuff. Its sad but very true. You CANNOT believe everything that you read or hear, especially on the internet. People can say whatever they like and it does Not mean that it is true. Go talk to an actual medical professional, a psychologist or a psychiatrist, dont just believe some article youve read online. I know its a lot to ask but people really need to start properly educating themselves.

[paladinx]

"Nicotine IS in fact Highly addictive and this has been proven many times."

But a lot of the new studies are saying that vaping is only giving 1/10 the nicotine hit as a cigarette. If this carries any truth, well assume it is true, can that be a major reason why some find the e-cigarette not as fulfilling? Or why some have to have a snus in their mouth like bob.

But i agree, its probably a lot to do with it being mental. and if u really believe in something or very positive about something it will work much better than having a negative attitude.

[blueeydsusan]

First time posting and have to put in my two cents. I've been smoking since I was 12 and I am now 50. My Mom killed herself, she also was a smoker. I run from the tag that mental illness runs in families or that mental illness causes suicide. My mother had problems but she also lived in a time when men could put their wives in a mental institution with a single Dr's (always a male) signature. Misogyny at it's finest. She killed herself d/t not seeing a way out, they left her go home on passes for weekends but told her she would not be released. Long story short I FEAR loss of control.
I was raised by my Aunt, a woman that was to everyone very very strong, she drank at one point, before her oldest daughter died in a car accident. She quit drinking except for very occasional lapses. She believed mind over matter. She still had moments but they were hidden. She raised so many of us who had lost our parents. She worked hard and canned and cooked and loved us by doing.
My Aunt smoked, she had emphysema. She denied that. Eventually she got very sick and went to the hospital and one day she could no longer metabolize the carbon dioxide and her blood went acidic very slightly, she threw her carotid bodies and she went brain dead and was put on a ventilator. She eventually was allowed to die and I was there. The day before she went brain dead, she was coughing and she cried out to me "you need to promise you'll quit smoking"
I now am 50 years old and I smoke yet and I have mild emphysema. I quit for a year once and ballooned my weight and craved every minute. I have bought the e-cigs and I know now I probably will never stop wanting a cigarette. I hate all the things that all of you hate, the wanting one, the smell, that fact that the cigarette manufacturers play with our brains. I hate those who say it's easy.
I tried chantix, every damn funeral I ever attended came to me in my dreams and I was MEAN. I felt angry, it was like a ghost trying to get a fix, I smoked but it didn't make me feel better because chantix blocked those receptors.
I tried everything to quit.
It is good to have this group, because I went ahead and bought higher nic liquid with thinking maybe that would help. Now I know I am seeking the "hit" that a cigarette gives.
I do kind of think the seeing vapor helps, kind of like an amputee with phantom leg or arm pain, if they replicate the missing appendage in a mirror the pain goes away to a point.
We are the smart ones here and I think we think outside the box so anything I read here gives me pause for thought.
I, like you am trying to find the answers. It IS chemistry and my biggest fear is I have to live like this and cannot be "fixed" and that my hard wiring is permanently damaged.
Let me rephrase that, I want, even if my hard wiring is damaged to live without a craving for cigarettes and to be able to do that without smoking.

[msfatty]

So is it safe to assume that if you stick with e-cigs (and ONLY e-cigs) for long enough, your addiction to the other drugs in analogs will pass? I'm hoping this is the case - the article mentioned something about your "natural protection" returning after a couple months. I have been vaping for a couple weeks now, and while I still occasionally get the urge for an analog, the craving seems to be fading and I can easily ignore it. This has also been the longest I have gone without a smoke since I started in the first place. I'm still somewhat worried about having drinks and wanting an analog (I've only had a couple drinks here and there since I've started) - but going out and getting a good buzz on makes me worried. That was what always tripped me up before when I was using nicotine gum and lozenges - smokes and booze just go together - and it's hard to chew gum and drink!

I have to report to you that I spent an entire night drinking with friends and using the e-cig in place of analogs and i was very satisfied while drinking.

of course i "chain vaped" the entire time, and direct dripped to get super big throat hits, and use a 510 manual.

chain vaping, dripping, big throat hits... all of these things quell my desire during drinking for analogs.

[Stric9]

Interesting thread...
I have been smoking for 29 years and have tried many times to quit. Even the sight of someone lighting up would send me over the edge. Tried the cold turkey, gum and patch routes with no success whatsoever.
Anywho - Been using a 510 now for approx 1 month and have not smoked a STANDARD cigarette. Oddly I've had no such cravings for one until YESTERDAY that is.. Was at a biker oriented event (chain smoking a 510) and suddenly from nowhere I got the urge to smoke. But it was only for a split second and then vanished as quickly as it appeared. (There was a heavy amount of smoking and drinking at the event)
I've also noticed (and am wondering if anyone else has) that my craving for coffee has also fallen waaayyyy off. I have a wicked coffee habit (8 ~ 10 espresso shots per day). Someone else here stated that the e-cig doesn't taste as good with coffee as a standard cigarette does and I would have to agree. Could the coffee & cigarette craving be connected?

[sta11mom]

...But it was only for a split second and then vanished as quickly as it appeared. (There was a heavy amount of smoking and drinking at the event)
I've also noticed (and am wondering if anyone else has) that my craving for coffee has also fallen waaayyyy off. I have a wicked coffee habit (8 ~ 10 espresso shots per day). Someone else here stated that the e-cig doesn't taste as good with coffee as a standard cigarette does and I would have to agree. Could the coffee & cigarette craving be connected?

Amen to both. I find that if I smell someone's exhaled smoke, I want an analog BAD. Yet I find it distasteful to smell the smoke from the burning end.

My coffee consumption is way down also. The coffee doesn't trigger vaping the way it used to trigger smoking, and I don't need the 3rd or 4th cups since I started vaping. Curious.

[rengic]

This thread is way old and probably should be put out to pasture.
I do, however, want to make clear and express my disappointment that Satire's liquid plus inhibitor experiment has appeared to have never reached fruition. He has not posted on the ecig forum since commenting in January that he planned to report his findings in a week. Perhaps a new thread is in order with a new juice maker who would be willing to expand on these insights.

[breno]

Seems to me if you went to a psycharatrists medicine cupboards took out all the medicines, anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, pain killers, amphetamine, anti-anxieties,
the whole frigging lot then mixed them all up and put them in a little white tube you would basicaly have a cigarette.

[lxor]

I wonder if a 5-HTP supplement would help. Although those are extremely expensive.

5-HTP is not expensive at all. I dont know where you live or where you get your 5-HTP. I can get a monthly supply for $12-$15 retail. Check online, I just checked Vitacost and you can get it there for 50%. This dirt cheap compared to pharmaceuticals. Maybe you were thinking of SAMe which is more expensive.

[lxor]

I take Celexa...

I actually quit smoking while taking Celexa(Citalopram). The problem occurred when I tried to quit Celexa. I had dreadful withdrawal side effects for weeks and started smoking again to deal with them. Thereafter when I would try to quit smoking, Celexa withdrawal side effects would return but at a reduced intensity. This lasted for 3 years after stopping Celexa. Needles to say I will not be taking Celexa again. Quitting smoking on Celexa was somewhat easier than without it, but by no means pleasant.

I have also in the past taken Zoloft and later 5-HTP, however without much impact on my smoking. There has been a general benefit to my well-being - especially with 5-HTP, but not enough to dent my smoking habit.