Blue, I managed to work through your entire thread and can certainly empathize with your battle. About three years ago I was a 43 year 2-3 PAD confirmed smoker when my gf wanted us to try E Cigs. I laughed at the idea but went along with it because of the coughing and wheezing that I experienced after fire suppressants were added to smokes.
The first thing you should do is figure how much you're spending a week on smokes, for me it was appalling. I'll take a guess you're going through a carton a week (I'm perhaps being conservative) in NY state so you're talking $100 a week. I was at $150 way back when and at a lot cheaper per pack cost. You need to track what you've saved after buying E Cig stuff. The reason that's important is those first six months are important. Experiment with equipment till you find what gives you the best experience. Your 900 mah batteries should be a good start, certainly better than the 510 cig type stuff I started out with. Being a lady has it's disadvantages if you're looking for style in your experience. My gf finally after all this time is retrying E cigs and she got the Ego as I decided to buy a Variable Voltage unit just to see what the talk was about. I think the VV would have been better for her battle but I don't think she likes the size of the unit.
What I would suggest is getting a bit braver with the attomizers, there is a lot of improvement from the "old days". The clearomizers are nice as well as the various tanks. Don't be shy! Ask and spend a little time on You tube. My personal favorite tank right now is from
Tanks - Mom and Pop Vapor Shop. I'm using the mini 3.0 ohm Boge on my VV, but I think the 2.0 Ohm mini would work great on your new kit. They made two variations in their tank. There's a side screw to open for refilling ease and they's punched three holes in the Boge that free flows the liquid. I think they even have a video of the tanks on their site (or I saw it on You tube).
Now I'd suggest not beating yourself up on that cigarette you had. Just try to avoid the next one. My gf is much like you and much like I was. No matter how much we tried, we "needed" a cigarette from time to time. She's still smoking about 3 a day, a little at a time. I went six months having 6 a day and not being able to totally quit. Everyone is different and you just need to find what works for you. The one thing you're breaking down over the months is not so much the addiction, but the habit. For us longer term, higher PPD smokers, that really becomes ingrained in your psyche. Like you, I loved the smell of cigarettes for a long, long time. Today I still like a slight scent of it but I've actually left places that over powered me.
I'm going to end up writing a book if I don't rap up here, but I want to make one final point. At the six month mark, I realized that E Cigs were not going to be enough, something was missing for me as it is for a lot of people. Everyone has brought up the nicotine addiction that is supposed to be the reason people smoke and it is a factor. However, for many, the smoking "ritual/habit" plays a significant part. Other than these two factors there is a third, that after close self examination I was able to define as my issue- self medication.
Those other 5 minor alkaloids in conjunction with nicotine are a very effective self medication method of treating depression in your physiology for a lot of people. I know, I was one. I never smoked until I was 19 and I know where I was mentally when I started and why it was so hard for me to finally quit. I did a lot of research and with the help of fellow ECFers, I found Swedish snus. From my first portion, I never had another cigarette. That's now over two years ago.
If you find that nothing works to completely keep you off cigarettes using traditional nicquid products, look to the other various smokeless alternatives- snus, snuff, Stonewalls, Ariva, Orbs, Stix, WTA. They all give you the alkaloids from natural tobacco that your body might need.
I know you mentioned WTA earlier as something you wanted to avoid because of the added chemicals. You should just keep in mind that those same alkaloids are in every cigarette you smoke as well as all those chemical reactions created by setting organic material on fire.
Good luck on your journey. BTW, and getting back to tracking your expenditures and savings. Last year I spent all my savings from not smoking. I have a 650cc Scoot sitting in my garage, paid off with what I would have spent on cigarettes and in December my savings started up again. Now I have something else to kill myself with.
