Well it’s been a month since I quit smoking so I thought I’d take some time and share how it has gone so far. Perhaps this will help with any of you that are considering vaping as a way to quit and are wondering what it is like.
First a little background; I’ve been smoking for 35 years and generally hovered around 1-2 packs a day depending on circumstances. Over the past 10 years or so I’ve switched to “lighter” brands and smoked less, rarely smoking more than a pack in a day. I’ve also gotten in the habit of using nicotine lozenges or gum during the day when, due to work constraints, I’ve found it increasingly difficult to smoke. So, given the above, how much nicotine was I used to? Supposedly a smoker actually gets 1-2 mg (milligrams) of nicotine per cigarette and the lozenges I preferred were the 4 mg variety. Adding it up I think I was accustomed to around 40 mg of nicotine a day, give or take.
When I started looking into vaping it was tough at first dealing with all the new terminology, technology and the many different opinions. I even went to the local mall because I heard that there was an e-cig kiosk there and you could try out an e-cig if you were willing to listen to the pushy sales pitch. Those few minutes at the mall convinced me that it was worth a try so after a couple of more weeks of reading and watching YouTube I decided to start with a Joye 510 kit that came with two 5 milliliter (ml) juice samples and a 15ml “rich tobacco” juice for $80. The small juice samples were 18 mg nicotine per ml and the “rich tobacco” juice was 10mg nicotine per ml. All the juice was VG (as opposed to PG) based juice. By the way, the mall kiosk wanted $199 for a starter kit with fewer items and no juice.
Alright, now to the good part, my order arrived on October 29th and that was the last day I smoked an analog cigarette. Rather than it being hard to switch to vaping, I found it was very easy and satisfying. Starting with a “standard” 510 battery/atomizer worked well for me as the device is very similar in size and feel to an analog cigarette. Over time I have settled in to using about 3-4ml of juice a day and that roughly equates to about the same amount of nicotine I was getting before. Vaping has so many advantages over burning, rather than having to fit smoking into my day now I can vape almost anywhere and anytime. Vaping is on-demand, always ready for a pull or two, no ashes, no smell and in public it is actually fun, “No, it is not a cigarette and that’s not smoke, it’s vapor.” Also for me there was also a definite psychological up side, it just feels great not to be smoking after all these years.
Ok that’s the good news, there are a few downsides. Well, it has been 35 years so no surprise that for the first couple of weeks I had a good bit of coughing stuff up and a bit of a sore throat at times but nothing that annoying. A quick search of the net or this forum will turn up a list of the side-effects common when you stop smoking and I seem to be pretty typical. Again it wasn’t that bad and now after a month I’m feeling fine with little coughing or throat problems and I can tell a difference in my breathing.
Another minor downside was the battery problem, the 510 standard batteries that I started with are slender and nice looking but they just don’t last that long. For me I was lucky to get four hours from one charge. Not a big deal but having to keep up with keeping one in the charger at all times quickly got old. After a week, and knowing that this was working out for me, I went back to cignot and bought an eGo USB passthrough to use when sitting at a computer (about 75% of my day). I also got a couple of 900 milliamp hour (mAH) eGo batteries and that took take of the rest of the day. The eGo batteries are bigger (larger diameter and longer) and have a standard 510 atomizer connection so they worked with the stuff I already bought. Over the holidays I could easily make it all day on one 900mAH eGo battery and I have gotten over not having a cigarette shaped PV easily.
Then there is the slightly messy issue with keeping the 510 cartridges (carts) topped off. It’s not a big deal and I’ve found I’d rather use one cart and keep topping it off from a small bottle of juice kept in my pocket rather than carry around a few prefilled carts as they always seem to leak a bit. Again, it is not really that big a deal especially when compared to the mess and inconvenience of analogs.
I’ve also bought an assortment of small sample flavors which has been very hit and miss, some I like and some I tossed in a box and doubt I’ll every try again. But they are pretty cheap, each one about the cost of a pack of cigs. The last couple of weeks I’ve been taking a small 5 ml bottle, mixing 20-30 drops of a flavored juice with the “rich” tobacco flavored juice that I’ve bought in larger quantities and that’s been a good compromise for me. I can see how given a few more weeks I won’t care if the juice has any tobacco flavor at all. As to the VG verses PG based juice, I’m still trying to find the right balance. VG is too smooth but I like the vapor production while PG seems a little harsh. I’m guessing but I think perhaps a 50/50 mix is going to be my favorite.
Oh yeah, the cost. I have roughly spent about $50 more than I would have on analogs and that is with “start-up” costs and trying out some options (I have a PCC that I don’t use and I tried an eGo Mega Cylinder atomizer which I don’t like). But I really don’t care about the cost, I didn’t start this to save money and I expect I’ll keep trying new PVs and juices so I’m not looking for any savings over time either. As a side note, being over 50, a smoker and a business owner means I get screwed big time on health insurance and life insurance. I’m looking into it but I am hoping that perhaps I may have significant savings if I can get non-smoker policies. I am betting that is going to be an interesting conversation as I know that in at least one case they did check for nicotine in my blood work.
Looking to the future I expect to slow down on the vaping even more, at first I was vaping all the time but I’m starting to slow down a bit. I asked about this in a post after my first week and the general opinion seems to be that this is normal and I figured if it helped me transition off analogs then so what. Someday I might even start reducing the nic level slowly over time and get to the point where I am vaping just for the vape’s sake. I’ll have to search the forum to see what other folks have tried.
So there you go, I hope this long post helps you give up the burners and start vaping!
First a little background; I’ve been smoking for 35 years and generally hovered around 1-2 packs a day depending on circumstances. Over the past 10 years or so I’ve switched to “lighter” brands and smoked less, rarely smoking more than a pack in a day. I’ve also gotten in the habit of using nicotine lozenges or gum during the day when, due to work constraints, I’ve found it increasingly difficult to smoke. So, given the above, how much nicotine was I used to? Supposedly a smoker actually gets 1-2 mg (milligrams) of nicotine per cigarette and the lozenges I preferred were the 4 mg variety. Adding it up I think I was accustomed to around 40 mg of nicotine a day, give or take.
When I started looking into vaping it was tough at first dealing with all the new terminology, technology and the many different opinions. I even went to the local mall because I heard that there was an e-cig kiosk there and you could try out an e-cig if you were willing to listen to the pushy sales pitch. Those few minutes at the mall convinced me that it was worth a try so after a couple of more weeks of reading and watching YouTube I decided to start with a Joye 510 kit that came with two 5 milliliter (ml) juice samples and a 15ml “rich tobacco” juice for $80. The small juice samples were 18 mg nicotine per ml and the “rich tobacco” juice was 10mg nicotine per ml. All the juice was VG (as opposed to PG) based juice. By the way, the mall kiosk wanted $199 for a starter kit with fewer items and no juice.
Alright, now to the good part, my order arrived on October 29th and that was the last day I smoked an analog cigarette. Rather than it being hard to switch to vaping, I found it was very easy and satisfying. Starting with a “standard” 510 battery/atomizer worked well for me as the device is very similar in size and feel to an analog cigarette. Over time I have settled in to using about 3-4ml of juice a day and that roughly equates to about the same amount of nicotine I was getting before. Vaping has so many advantages over burning, rather than having to fit smoking into my day now I can vape almost anywhere and anytime. Vaping is on-demand, always ready for a pull or two, no ashes, no smell and in public it is actually fun, “No, it is not a cigarette and that’s not smoke, it’s vapor.” Also for me there was also a definite psychological up side, it just feels great not to be smoking after all these years.
Ok that’s the good news, there are a few downsides. Well, it has been 35 years so no surprise that for the first couple of weeks I had a good bit of coughing stuff up and a bit of a sore throat at times but nothing that annoying. A quick search of the net or this forum will turn up a list of the side-effects common when you stop smoking and I seem to be pretty typical. Again it wasn’t that bad and now after a month I’m feeling fine with little coughing or throat problems and I can tell a difference in my breathing.
Another minor downside was the battery problem, the 510 standard batteries that I started with are slender and nice looking but they just don’t last that long. For me I was lucky to get four hours from one charge. Not a big deal but having to keep up with keeping one in the charger at all times quickly got old. After a week, and knowing that this was working out for me, I went back to cignot and bought an eGo USB passthrough to use when sitting at a computer (about 75% of my day). I also got a couple of 900 milliamp hour (mAH) eGo batteries and that took take of the rest of the day. The eGo batteries are bigger (larger diameter and longer) and have a standard 510 atomizer connection so they worked with the stuff I already bought. Over the holidays I could easily make it all day on one 900mAH eGo battery and I have gotten over not having a cigarette shaped PV easily.
Then there is the slightly messy issue with keeping the 510 cartridges (carts) topped off. It’s not a big deal and I’ve found I’d rather use one cart and keep topping it off from a small bottle of juice kept in my pocket rather than carry around a few prefilled carts as they always seem to leak a bit. Again, it is not really that big a deal especially when compared to the mess and inconvenience of analogs.
I’ve also bought an assortment of small sample flavors which has been very hit and miss, some I like and some I tossed in a box and doubt I’ll every try again. But they are pretty cheap, each one about the cost of a pack of cigs. The last couple of weeks I’ve been taking a small 5 ml bottle, mixing 20-30 drops of a flavored juice with the “rich” tobacco flavored juice that I’ve bought in larger quantities and that’s been a good compromise for me. I can see how given a few more weeks I won’t care if the juice has any tobacco flavor at all. As to the VG verses PG based juice, I’m still trying to find the right balance. VG is too smooth but I like the vapor production while PG seems a little harsh. I’m guessing but I think perhaps a 50/50 mix is going to be my favorite.
Oh yeah, the cost. I have roughly spent about $50 more than I would have on analogs and that is with “start-up” costs and trying out some options (I have a PCC that I don’t use and I tried an eGo Mega Cylinder atomizer which I don’t like). But I really don’t care about the cost, I didn’t start this to save money and I expect I’ll keep trying new PVs and juices so I’m not looking for any savings over time either. As a side note, being over 50, a smoker and a business owner means I get screwed big time on health insurance and life insurance. I’m looking into it but I am hoping that perhaps I may have significant savings if I can get non-smoker policies. I am betting that is going to be an interesting conversation as I know that in at least one case they did check for nicotine in my blood work.
Looking to the future I expect to slow down on the vaping even more, at first I was vaping all the time but I’m starting to slow down a bit. I asked about this in a post after my first week and the general opinion seems to be that this is normal and I figured if it helped me transition off analogs then so what. Someday I might even start reducing the nic level slowly over time and get to the point where I am vaping just for the vape’s sake. I’ll have to search the forum to see what other folks have tried.
So there you go, I hope this long post helps you give up the burners and start vaping!
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