I'm lost, can you tell me where I am?

[jamie]

When my first ordered ecig arrived I finished my pack of ciggies and decided not to buy the next pack. After a couple days I noticed one of my ashtrays had 3/4 of a ciggie left. Previously I'd read a cessation article that said the known presence of cigarettes can create or increase cravings. I considered that, went to toss the ciggie in the trash, then considered I might visualize it being there. We've all done it, usually at 3am! So I smoked it instead and was pleased to find it seemed just okay, nothing special. Finished it and didn't give it another thought.

Fast forward a few weeks and a few more orders. Tonight none of my ecigs are working. I've been struggling with them for days, too much time, too many wasted carts, too much rinsing juice out of my mouth and too much sticky liquid odor. Used some NRT, however I need to work on something for hours. It's dark, and I have to FOCUS after several days of ecig fumbling. I'm fully confident that when I've got a reasonably working ecig again all will be right with the world, so I finally decide to pick up one pack of the real thing until - I hope - a replacement arrives tomorrow. Is my confidence misplaced? Am I just rationalizing?

What a difference a few weeks makes. I'm 5 cigs into the pack now and where is that mindless enjoyable bliss I recall getting from my dear ciggies? The smoke is harsh in my mouth and tastes of truck exhaust. The filter is spongy... too soft, too soggy - I might be holding a damp wool sock between my lips and it's repellent. I've got a hint of a headache, am on the edge of dizzy. My fingers smell of charred wood. When I breath there is a heaviness in my chest I don't recollect ever noticing before.

So, here I am. I didn't notice the trip.

[leaford]

Isn't it some kind of rule that every recovering addict needs a relapse. Needs that final look at the dark side, as it were.

[TropicalBob]

Frankly, I'm getting lost too. I've stopped counting specific days off cigarettes and my calendar is now a countdown to one year. It reads -23 days. But I'm very frustrated and oh so close to returning to cigarettes. Frustration and stress take a toll, I know, and that's what e-smoking is to me.

Atomizers. Batteries. Questionable e-liquid. Inconsistent performance. Inadequate nicotine dose. Frustrations.

Unlike you, Jamie, I think if I smoke even one cigarette -- ever-- then I'm back to being a slave to the habit/addiction. I liked the smoking experience, with the singular exception of a persistant cough that disappeared almost a year ago ... I liked the smell (still do) of burning tobacco. I liked a break taken outside with peers. I liked to "reward" myself for tasks successfully completed. I liked to contemplate tasks lying just ahead. All were reasons (excuses) to smoke a cigarette.

I get only a placebo effect with e-smoking. That's good, mind you, but hardly satisfying.

I'm just not sure I can wait until a reliable device is marketed. In this year, however, I've learned what works so I can be smokefree in forced environments -- like flying or hospital stays. (1) Stonewall tobacco bits, my personal favorite; (2) snus, non-stop using Wise 6mg tasteless pouches; (3) Oliver Twist bits, when a strong nic hit is needed. I'm hanging tough today, with two declining atomizers in use, but I'm not a happy e-smoker.

[dnakr]

I tend to agree with TB - I don't think any of us are truly a happy e-smoker - at least not until the perfect e-cig is made... It does get frustrating when an atomizer breaks or the batteries do not last long. Always having to replace parts and the cost of doing so are enough to make anyone say "that’s enough"...

However, the other day, my hubby was driving and asked me to light him a cigarette. When I did, I about gagged... Now I know what “licking an ashtray” means. It was truly disgusting to me.

So I will continue to fight with my e-cigs. I will continue to buy new atomizers and batteries. I will continue to buy new e-cigs just coming out on the market, in hope of one day finding the perfect e-cig, the perfect smoking device for myself....

[MNZ]

Right now as I'm writing this there is a marlboro light between my fingers and I'm smoking it. God I wish there wasn't...
All day and all night I've been really really good and used my e-products.
What is it that continues to draw us back to the dark side ?
There doesn't seem to be an answer to that !
For me even after extensive use of an e-product I still want the craving that the familiar cigarette gives me. And yes, I hate the taste of them now, and yes, not that I really like e-smoke either. And yes, I hate the feeling of smoke gets in your eyes, and yes, I know I smell like ****, and yes I know I'm going to wake up with bird cage mouth, but I still do it ... WHY ?

[Mr.Darcy]

well im a pretty happy esmoker...im a former 20 a day man,and i loved them..but maybe some people are more susceptible to the siren song of cigarettes than others...

the way i look at it,theres no such thing as an everlasting pack of smokes either.things get used and need to be replaced.
you smoke a pack of 20,then buy another pack.same thing for these devices-they get used,reach the end of their life,then need replaced.
get real folks-nothing lasts forever.i can buy an atomiser from my supplier for the price of a 20 pack,and its gonna last longer than they would.

thats the way it is at the moment,like it or lump it.keep lots of spares,thats all you can do right now to avoid frustration if you want to continue to do this.

[BananaDoc]

Wow.. what a difference a few weeks make...

When i came on board in mid May this was a pretty optimistic group. Myself included. The decided lack of E-reliability seems to be ebbing for all of us. Even us nonicks are getting a bit sick and tired of the battery/atomizer shuffle these days. SmartFixx has sent me 2 free atomizers and 3 free batteries so far and i can only cobble together one penstyle that sort-of works today... I spent Monday just holding and gesturing with a dead PS all day. What the hell-- i don't need the nicotine.... it's just a prop. who cares if I'm not making fake smoke... I care. The ability to make vapor MATTERS! I wanted a cigarette on Monday. Today I can make vapor and today i couldn't care less about cigarettes.

Not sure who i am more annoyed with: the device or myself. :?

[jasondavis48108]

sounds like some folks are having a rough go of things, I guess I count myself lucky in that I found e-smokes by accident and bought one only to cut down my smoking, and then just didn't want to smoke real cigs after having smoked an e-cig. I never thought i'd quit smoking even after watching a few of my relatives die rather slowly and painfuly from smoking related illness. I for one can't believe that I havent had a real cgg in six days and don't have the slightest desire for one. I've spent $600.00 in the last six days on e-cigs carts and juice and I don't think I've ever been so happy to part with my money, I too am scared of failing atomizersd and the battery issue can be a bit annoying but so is carting an oxygen tank and 20 feet of hose around all day or at least my grandfather seeme pretty annoyed at this until he dies of emphazema, I don't care if I have to make sure that I have twenty spare atomizers and 50 spare batterys just to insure that i have one working e-cig, its worth it in the long run. And I can't tell ya how wonderful it is to have this forum with all it's information and helpful folks like yourself when getting started with this e-cig stuff so a big thanx to everyone on this board and I hope that something really wonderful happens to each and every one of you that will make you smile.

[NerdyCinderella]

Gee I overlooked this thread by accident until now. Rather touching I thought. I’ll just add my 2 cents.

The only thing I haven’t liked about e-smoking is that I’ve become totally obsessed with it and it has taken up much of my time and money. I wanted to ensure I had all the paraphernalia to make the e-cigs work so I have a substitute to going out and buying a pack of regular cigarettes. It’s time for me to move on from this obsession and I think I have a plan that I hope works out.

Today I received my 2nd NJoy. I started ordering low or no nicotine. Each of my NJoys is a different color. One I’ll use the low or no nicotine with and the other all the high nicotine I have ordered up until now. I also hope by having 2 e-cigs to alternate throughout the day, they won’t break down so easily as I’m a heavy smoker. So I’m a little pleased with my plan and hope it will work and release me from my obsession and let me move on to my next project or stage, making e-smoking a more tangential part of my life. And if I need 3 e-cigs, I’ll get 3.

Now TropicalBob don’t let me hear you talk like that again! You keep counting those days to the end of your year. You are our Grand Master! You can’t fail us!

[TheEmperorOfIceCream]

I think a lot of this is just change in the tactile part of the habit. When I was smoking tobacco full time, the 'business' of it was pretty locked down. Buy cigs, buy lighter, spark up, inhale, toss butt. I never freaked out when a disposable lighter died, just bought another one.

There is enough difference in preparing an e-cig to cause vague unease (to me at least)

The part that really bugs me is the variable level of nicotine as a cart empties. There is no equivalent in tobacco smoking so it comes across as less satisfying then the real thing. (I haven't started dripping yet, but I'm hoping that topping up the carts will sort this out)

We haven't acclimitised to the limits of the tech yet, that's all.

Emp