This is my goal

[DaBrat]

Ok my goal in the end is to be both smoke and vape free. I know this won;t be a magic bullet and am working on a strategy. Anyone else who has great results, please post suggestions. (2 pack a dayer)

I have ordered several strengths of juice. This is my rough plan.....

1. Start the day off with the highest strength (18ml) was afraid of anything higher for fear of nic poisoning and being new to vaping,

2. I am free lance so I work from home (both a plus and a minus) while working switch to a low or no nic cart. Seems really easy to lose count of cigs when I am concentrating on work.

3. Cross every appendage that I don't pick up an analog and pray. If I do don't beat myself up over it.

Just a basic sketch and any suggestions would be most welcome.

I quit once with Nicotrol inhalers unfortunately from the posts here, I see you can just drag on an empty cart. With the nicotrol I would drag long after the nic was gone aslong as it had a bit of taste to it.

[Instinct]

I realize it's been nearly 3 weeks since this was posted, but thought I'd respond anyway, even if it's only for someone that might just be browsing. I hope you've had some luck though!

Of course our bodies and our smoking habits are all different, I'm only going to post what worked for me. Others may disagree strongly. I'm approaching 4 weeks of no analogs as I write this.

First of all - Don't take this the wrong way but saying things like this isn't your magic bullet etc will only harm you. Much of smoking is mental, if you want to use an e-cig to quit you should believe that it will do it. Don't set yourself up for failure, all you have to do is look at all the success stories.

1. If you smoke 2pk a day, 18mg is most likely not going to cut it for you. At least start with some 24mg. 36mg would not be a bad idea to have around for an extra blast now and then. There will be time to taper off the nic content later if your priority is getting off analogs.

2. Great idea on multiple flavors, I think this is key. Try to think of flavors you like... ie: what kind of gum or candy you prefer and use that as a guide. It doesn't need to taste like tobacco for you to enjoy it.

3. You should have no reason to pick up an analog. Start vaping when you have at most half a pack left, knowing that you are not going to be buying anymore. This actually kind of helps because when you have one you will be disappointed and things will start to seem easier.

Be prepared to change some habits. Vaping is not the same as smoking a cigarette. I quit once before using the the X method (think that's what it's called) and lasted about 3 months before I made that bad decision to bum one during a night out. As I slowly started to develop a habit again I realized one thing I loved about smoking - just being able to get up, sit by myself for 5-7 minutes and think... was like a mind reset.

I've been unable to do that with an e-cig, it's just "different"... so I've tried to be different and maybe lay back on the couch and vape for 5 minutes or so. Anyway that's just me, just saying that certain associations will have to be broken... just have to make new ones.

Don't focus too much on being vape free.. the pacifier effect does seem to dwindle and then the e-cig just becomes a fall-back.

One last point, research and pick good equipment. And get enough of it. Never leave yourself in a position when you might not have a charged battery, or you only have one atomizer left etc. Equipment failure will create a panic and might have you headed for the stop-and-rob.

Hope this wasn't too preachy... I'm not much of a forum poster. But I did have to share my thoughts on behalf of what this device has done for me.. if only it had been around when I picked up that analog after I quit the first time, would have saved a few extra years of damage to my lungs (and wallet).

Best Wishes...

[MaryKay]

This is also my plan. So far I have quit smoking and seem to have no need to pick up an analog. I am afraid if I let myself have one I would fall back down the rabbit hole.
I gave myself 6 months to get off analogs and then get off P.V.'s. It's been 2 and one half months so far. I won't beat myself up if getting off P.V.'s seems to be bit harder then I hoped, even with getting down to 0nic. I am at 6mg to 0nic now with an 11mg vape now and again.
I hope the plan works..then I won't have to worry about sin taxes or the FDA.
Of course there is always my hubby's P.V. and quitting to worry about if i get bored.

[emsmom]

Excellent post Instinct! Totally agree with all you said. As a 1.5ppd 35+ year smoker, I have been able to stop the analogs with very little grief using an ecig and it has been over 3 months now without an analog. I do not miss it and rarely do I even think of an analog now. I tend to agree, that 18mg may be a bit low, especially first thing in the am or after something stressful. Good idea to have some different strengths around, they can always be cut down in strength, can't go up however I still like to vape 24 or 36mg in the morning. When I began this, I gave myself permission to smoke whenever I wanted to, just wanted to see if I could maybe cut back some. Each day, I found myself smoking less and vaping more. After a couple of weeks, I was down to that last pack of analogs. Decided I would try smoking only 2 a day until I ran out. This worked for me. By the time those last cigarettes were to be used, I found they tasted pretty nasty and couldn't even smoke an entire one. I know for me, not putting a bunch of pressure on myself with a quit date or an "in stone plan", let me relax enough to learn the ins and outs of esmoking without really thinking about losing my "best friend". The transition became natural without a lot of thought. I still consider myself to be one of those who quit by accident. Finding the right flavor is a real surprise to many. I hated menthol analogs, but my primary vape now is a mint or menthol juice. I found I was able to get the throat hit easily with this flavor and that was something that was very important to me. Like all newbies, I purchased a ton of tobacco flavored juice, thinking that this was the way to go. Needless to say, I have most of those still sitting in storage. This whole esmoking thing takes a lot of experimentation and trial and error to get it down and find what will work for you. I tend to agree with the not focusing on being vape free right away. That will come in time. First thing is to get off the analogs. I firmly believe that by giving vaping a chance, in time, the natural thing is to convert to the ecig, it just tastes better and cleaner. Also, you will start to feel the difference pretty quickly once you put the analogs down. Smell and taste improve dramatically very quickly. Exercise tolerance gets better by the day. Your hardware suggestions were spot on! Pick a good model, after reading lots of posts and watching lots of videos. Keep enough back up supplies on hand! These are disposable items! Life can vary greatly with these things! A good batch can last months, whereas another batch will only last days, it is a crap shoot! The last thing that I found really helpful was getting involved in the forum, great encouragement here and lots of wonderful people! Best of luck!

[Instinct]

MaryKay:
Hope you will keep us posted on the no-vape thing. 6mg already seems pretty low, and I know we lack a lot of real data on this but I just don't think we absorb that much nicotine from these. I love my e-cig but I don't run for it when I first wake up in the morning like I did with analogs. At least you know you have something to fall back on instead of the burnt leaves.

emsmom:
Thanks! Sounds like we had similar experiences. I started vaping with 4 analogs left and they lasted 2 days... I never could get more than halfway through one even though I'd light it up expecting to enjoy it. Good thing too, I noticed today with the last tax increase my brand was up to $6.79/pk! (or 5.79/pk when you buy 2, what a deal!)

As you said getting higher nic levels is a good idea. If for any reason you feel it's too much it can always be cut. Funny you should mention mint, I ordered some last week.. it's lost in shipping though somewhere. Throat hit seems to be the most satisfying aspect to me as well, will probably try that PG/VG/151 mix that was posted in the DIY forum to see what it's like with no nic.

Congrats to your success of quitting analogs btw!

[Wlfwo]

Originally Posted by DaBrat

Ok my goal in the end is to be both smoke and vape free. I know this won;t be a magic bullet and am working on a strategy. Anyone else who has great results, please post suggestions. (2 pack a dayer)

I have ordered several strengths of juice. This is my rough plan.....

1. Start the day off with the highest strength (18ml) was afraid of anything higher for fear of nic poisoning and being new to vaping,

2. I am free lance so I work from home (both a plus and a minus) while working switch to a low or no nic cart. Seems really easy to lose count of cigs when I am concentrating on work.

3. Cross every appendage that I don't pick up an analog and pray. If I do don't beat myself up over it.

Just a basic sketch and any suggestions would be most welcome.

I quit once with Nicotrol inhalers unfortunately from the posts here, I see you can just drag on an empty cart. With the nicotrol I would drag long after the nic was gone aslong as it had a bit of taste to it.

My goal was to be smoke free, I didn't worry much about being vape free and won't for a while yet. I managed my goal in 2 weeks. Going by my experience (might not be yours) you really won't want to pick up an analog in a few weeks, it's going to taste really NASTY. I don't even want to walk by someone smoking it smells so bad.

My suggestion is to pick up a stronger juice for the bad times though, I started with 36mg, which was too much since I had only been a 1-1.5 pack a day smoker, but a little mixing of VG to dilute it solved that problem.

The best part? Is when my 17 year old son hauls his friends in to see this neat device Mom used to quit smoking, she just stopped he says, no B----h from H--l or anything. LOL Of course now he wants me off the nicotine, but don't care if I keep vaping.

[emsmom]

Instinct
It's pretty nice not having that monkey on your back as the states keep raising the prices! We have had two increases since I switched over. Almost 7 bucks a pack now! I know I am thrilled not to be wasting all that money. A lot more fun to get a new ecig or try a new juice and it still is less! Sorry to hear of your missing juice! Hope it shows up soon. I absolutely hated menthol analogs! Surprisingly enough, menthol was what enabled me to put down the analogs. My breath always feels nice and fresh now and the throat hit is just the best, haven't found anything that can compare. Hope you enjoy it when it finally shows up! Congrats on the quitting to you too!

[DaBrat]

Thanks for all the responses.

OK no prob so far not picking up an analog (well except when my batts were both discharged...yuck). Two weeks almost so far.... gonna stay on this strength for at least six weeks (believe it is 24) and then back off to 18 and so on....

I think its pretty good seeing I was smoking the strongest cigs on the market.

[MaryKay]

I will keep you posted, I am already dreading it! I love vaping! But since I am mostly down to 6mg, with no problem, it just seems silly to continue.

One of my favorite suppliers only has 11mg, that's why I have it. But I add P.G. and Glycerine to it and a drop of LorAnn's. I really never know what nic I am vaping! I know it gets lower and lower the more plain P.G. and lorann's I add to top the bottle up with. I make some of my own too. That I don't put Nic in..I treat it like a dry martini and wave the 36 nic over it!
I think it's better not to know the nic level when you are down this low..kind of like stepping on a scale every two minutes when you are dieting.

It's the hand to mouth thing!

All you who have just quit analogs and are in the process..Good for you! It's a real bear isn't it?

[dark]

quit analogs almost instantly when i got my ecig in the mail. (went from almost 2packs a day) loving caping and currently smoking 24mg. my plan is to slowly ween myself down in dosage i just ordered a bunch of 18mg to try that out and after that god down to like 12 etc... hopefully it works if not ill be happy with vaping as long as i just never go back to analogs which at this point i doubt will happen. i stopped and havent looked back