How To Quit Smoking and Start Vaping!

cmccl;9642068 said:

I am starting this thread because it's what I looked for when I quit smoking a few months ago and made the switch to vaping. For some it is easy. They just start vaping and never look back. No struggles at all. For those of you who struggle, I was one of you! It was definitely hard for the first few weeks. I did like vaping but I felt deprived- it just wasn't the same as a cig. Here are a few tips that helped me:

• Get a decent vaping set-up.

I had tried the cigalike e-cigs in the past (Greensmoke, Safecigs, and Cig2o) and though they were fun, they weren't quite enough to get me to give up the real thing. A friend advised me to get some "ego 510" batteries and "clearomizers". She lived in another state and I had no idea what she was talking about. She introduced me to this forum and I read a bit but it all seemed very overwhelming and confusing. I couldn't figure out what to buy. I found the Volcano website and I could at least understand it (they have helpful videos) and I could get everything I needed to get started. I ordered an inferno starter kit and some juice.

The volcano inferno is basically an ego 510 900 maH battery (all of this was jibberish to me at the time). I'm not plugging volcano here- there a plenty of sites that sell a good starter kit for under $100 appropriate for those who need something better than cigalikes. Just ask! You'll get plenty of good advice from the people here!

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• Make sure the nicotine level in your juice is high enough to satisfy you!

I purchased mostly 24 mg juice. I smoked about a pack a day and wanted to make sure I wouldn't be going through nicotine withdrawal! I also ordered one 36 mg juice that I used only when I had strong cravings (with morning coffee and after meals).

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• Experiment with e-juice flavors and make it a fun adventure.

I read reviews on this forum and other sites and ordered about 20 different juices to try! The problem I had was that I only had a few tanks to fill and couldn't figure out how to try the other juices! I did two things to solve this issue.

First, I did some research (googling) to figure out what kind of batteries my old cigalikes used. I discovered they were 808D-1 for cig2o, 808-D2 for greensmoke, and RN4081 for safecig. I then purchased some refillable cartridges/blank cartomizers (from vapor kings) so I could put juice in them and still use all my old batteries for trying out all my new e-juice!

Second, I researched a bit and learned that I could try new flavors by "dripping". For this I purchased a low resistance atomizer for my inferno battery (from volcano).

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• Once you get your supplies- set a date and JUST DO IT!

​I played with my new stuff for a few weeks to learn how to use it and set a quit date (I have had many of these quit dates in the past LOL!). During this time I still smoked when I felt like it. With no effort at all I cut my smoking in half. I did not touch the 36 mg juice during that time since I wanted to keep it as my goto juice for strong cravings when I quit. Once I reached the date I stopped. I still had about 1/2 pack of American Spirits left which I left on top of my dresser (just in case).

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• Come here for support and help.

For the first week I came to the New Members Forum every day and mostly read other people's posts. I did reach out for help a few times and got plenty of reinforcement and support. It definitely helped to have an enthusiastic community to encourage me and offer tips and advice when I felt like giving up (and I did a few times!)

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• Don't worry about how much you vape!

In order to stop smoking I basically vaped non-stop. I mean literally all day I vaped (since I work from home I could do this). When I had to go out and couldn't vape (I had to go work at a customer site for a few days and couldn't very well walk in with my new e-cig) I used the old nicotine lozenges (they never did help me quit but they were enough to get me through the 8 hours of no vaping). At first I was worried that I was actually just increasing my nicotine addiction but I decided I would worry about that later -- now all I needed to do was not smoke!

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• Remember- that if you do give in and smoke it won't really satisfy you for long! It's just a temporary satisfaction and before long you'll want another, and another, and another...and before you know it you'll be smoking again.

This realization kept me strong somehow. I knew that smoking was not a real answer to satisfy my cravings. I did not smoke - but if you do decide to smoke while your trying to quit don't feel like you failed and give up- just keep vaping and know that you will succeed. And pay attention- did that cigarette really satisfy you? Was it more enjoyable then vaping? Really?

After I had gone about a month without smoking I did try a cig. Unlike what some people experience I kind of enjoyed it (some say it's awful after vaping for awhile). Nonetheless, I had no real desire to go back to smoking. Vaping really has become much more satisfying than smoking ever was!

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• Track your savings (or lack thereof if you're like me)

I loaded a little app on my iphone called Vapemate that tracks how many cigarettes you don't smoke, how much you save by not smoking, how much you spend on vaping and your net savings (in the currency of your choice).

Even with my extensive juice purchases I recently broke even, about 3 months after quitting (now I'm back in the red since I just ordered a Provari mini). I really didn't do this to save money but if that is your intent it's not hard to do if you keep track.

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• Help Others!

One of the first things I did was introduce my smoking family members and friends to e-cigs and vaping. I sent my father an inferno starter kit for Father's day and got one of my girl friends one for her birthday. Introducing others to vaping and helping them get started will help keep you strong. And you'll have built your own support system. Vaping is a journey and it's great to have friends and family members join you on the adventure.
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So, WELCOME to all of you who have recently discovered vaping and the e-cig forum. I hope your experience will be as good as mine has been so far. Please don't be afraid to ask questions. It's very confusing and hard to know what devices you need and what will work with what you have already purchased. Don't be intimidated by the acronyms and techie language. Just stick around- ask questions and you'll be a source of knowledge for others before you know it!

It would be great if others could share how they managed to quit or significantly cut back on smoking on this thread.

VAPE ON!

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