How often do you crave a cig?

[DC2]

All my "remoters" are in the office this week. One of 'em still smokes. I sometimes go outside with her when she takes a smoke break. I rather enjoy the smell of a freshly lit cig outdoors. There's a part of me that's tempted to bum one, but I never do.

The question of whether or not to "try one" is the subject of much debate.

Will it reinforce that you don't really want them anymore?
Will it make you want to start smoking again?

As for me, I have reached a point where I can have a smoke if I want.
It's just another choice, and doesn't have any hold over me anymore for whatever reason.

But every person is different, that's one thing I've learned quite well in my years here.
=)

Yep. Makes me wonder how the heck my never-smoker wife put up with me for the 30-some years we were together while I was smoking.

I loved smoking cigarettes.

I only smoked about 7 per day on average, but for around 27 years.
The ONLY reason I even thought about stopping was because of my wife.

She always complained that I stunk after I had a smoke.
I thought she was full of it.

Turns out she wasn't.

 

[Alaria13]

I was really surprised last night when I had an intense craving for a cig. It's been over 7 months that I've been vaping and I thought I was out of the woods. Am I alone here having these cravings so long after I've quit the stinkies?
How long have you been vaping and how often do you still crave cigs?

I have been vaping for almost 2 years now and honestly still haven't fully quit smoking. I can go at most a week and a half without a craving but normally smoke one every 3-4 days

 

[Pamawoman]

Luckily, I never crave a stinkie. But I also vaped and smoked for a few years before I put them down for good. 2 years and a few months with NONE!!!!

 

[ChelsB]

Luckily, I never crave a stinkie. But I also vaped and smoked for a few years before I put them down for good. 2 years and a few months with NONE!!!!

Congrats, that's a great achievement!


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[Topwater Elvis]

I still get intense cravings from time to time, Ive had 3 - 5 per day so far this week. They come & go, sometimes I don't have one for a month or more then outa nowhere...

The smell of cigarette smoke & being around smokers doesn't bother me at all, actually I enjoy it.

Haven't lit a single one since 12/26/12, I know better than to light one, I know what would happen.


Figure I smoked for 35+ years, if takes the same amount of time to stop getting cravings so be it.

 

[Rossum]

The question of whether or not to "try one" is the subject of much debate.

Will it reinforce that you don't really want them anymore?
Will it make you want to start smoking again?

I did try one, about 3 or 4 months after I quit smoking, so right around 3 years ago now. At first I quite enjoyed it, but when I got half way through it, it started bring back that irritated windpipe feeling I had been so glad to be rid of by switching to vaping, and I ended up putting it out before it was finished.

I loved smoking cigarettes.
I only smoked about 7 per day on average, but for around 27 years.

That's hardly smoking at all. I was going through 40 a day, sometimes more.

Interestingly enough, I started vaping without any intent to quit, I just wanted to try to use it as a means of cutting back. I would have considered it a success if I could have gotten down to 7 a day. But then a funny thing happened. The first full day I was vaping, I only had four real cigs. The second day two. The two days after that, one each. Then I got my first upgrade (to a 1300 mAh spinner and a Pro Tank 2) and that was end of me smoking (except for that one I mentioned above).

 

[EIHYPI]

The question of whether or not to "try one" is the subject of much debate.

Will it reinforce that you don't really want them anymore?
Will it make you want to start smoking again?

I think that if thinking just try one to reinforce that you really don't want them anymore is wrong. That is because we are successful at getting just the nicotine from the cigarette with electronic cigarettes, even though there are 3999 other chemicals in a cigarette that we managed to stay away from. Having that just one cigarette exposes us to all those other chemicals which so many of them cause the addiction to a cigarette too. Therefore I think it's a decent risk that one will want more of what a cigarette has to offer. I may be wrong but it seems like common sense to me.

 

[ChelsB]

Hub who has been vaping 2 weeks just had a severe craving and I guided him through it by having him do some chain vaping with a more advanced device


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[Sugar_and_Spice]

I think that if thinking just try one to reinforce that you really don't want them anymore is wrong. That is because we are successful at getting just the nicotine from the cigarette with electronic cigarettes, even though there are 3999 other chemicals in a cigarette that we managed to stay away from. Having that just one cigarette exposes us to all those other chemicals which so many of them cause the addiction to a cigarette too. Therefore I think it's a decent risk that one will want more of what a cigarette has to offer. I may be wrong but it seems like common sense to me.

This is exactly why the 'Nets' and the Whole tobacco alkaloids(WTA) were developed for ecgs. Derived from cigarettes they can give you some of those chemicals back without the tar. Some people use cigarettes to self medicate and become dependant on them and just plain vaping with nic was not enough for them to give up the smokes.

 

[ChelsB]

I think that if thinking just try one to reinforce that you really don't want them anymore is wrong. That is because we are successful at getting just the nicotine from the cigarette with electronic cigarettes, even though there are 3999 other chemicals in a cigarette that we managed to stay away from. Having that just one cigarette exposes us to all those other chemicals which so many of them cause the addiction to a cigarette too. Therefore I think it's a decent risk that one will want more of what a cigarette has to offer. I may be wrong but it seems like common sense to me.

Interesting perspective. For me, that one time I cheated reinforced hoe much I was glad I was vaping. I guess we're all different


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[Sugar_and_Spice]

Interesting perspective. For me, that one time I cheated reinforced hoe much I was glad I was vaping. I guess we're all different


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Me too. Now I have no cravings at all and haven't for a long time. Unfortunately, it not the same for all.

 

[EIHYPI]

Interesting perspective. For me, that one time I cheated reinforced hoe much I was glad I was vaping. I guess we're all different


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I agree with you also. Maybe the ones who are more in danger are the ones that have been vaping and but not off cigs for a long period of time. They are the ones craving a lot. I actually slipped up a year and a half ago because I has just one mod and couldn't charge it. I smoked a few cigs because I felt I had no choice and it did reinforce how disgusting they were. So yeah I was referring to the ones that haven't had a longer period of abstinence from cigarettes.

 

[mcclintock]

You could be more stressed out than normal and actually want one due to needing it more than usual. I can use them somewhat as medicine as the nicotine from one doesn't put me on the floor (quite) due to vaping nic still, but that they are something I don't normally have and stronger affecting. In fact my default urges/associations are now that I still want a vape right after smoking a cig. But I do still have some remaining mental association of cigs with something better than they actually are. One thing I used to sometimes experience is having an urge to light up a cig while already smoking one. This shows that mental association of smoking as something awesome aren't actually satisfied by smoking them.

I don't worry about becoming hooked by having another cig, as my transition was long and included many days of only 1 cig and many weeks of one every few days, etc. However, if I ever go over 6 months without having one, who knows, possibly should be careful.

This is exactly why the 'Nets' and the Whole tobacco alkaloids(WTA) were developed for ecgs. Derived from cigarettes they can give you some of those chemicals back without the tar. Some people use cigarettes to self medicate and become dependant on them and just plain vaping with nic was not enough for them to give up the smokes.

There is no relation between NETs and WTAs except being extracted from actual tobacco (and typically by small companies). WTA is extracting more of that active ingredients from the leaf, NETs are extracting the flavor and little else (and is very simple compared to any nic extraction).

 

[TJVapes]

After vaping for 3 years, I thought I could have one from time to time. Before long I was smoking and not vaping. I'm pretty confident to say I can't have just one. Gotta stay away from them. I'm now 100% just vaping again after smoking for nearly 3 years. It's a complicated love hate relationship. I want to smoke when driving and when with other smokers. I miss them but it's only been a few weeks. When I did start smoking again I never developed a taste for regular cigs. I started back on menthol which I had never smoked before, thaf was kind of odd for me.

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

You could be more stressed out than normal and actually want one due to needing it more than usual. I can use them somewhat as medicine as the nicotine from one doesn't put me on the floor (quite) due to vaping nic still, but that they are something I don't normally have and stronger affecting. In fact my default urges/associations are now that I still want a vape right after smoking a cig. But I do still have some remaining mental association of cigs with something better than they actually are. One thing I used to sometimes experience is having an urge to light up a cig while already smoking one. This shows that mental association of smoking as something awesome aren't actually satisfied by smoking them.

I don't worry about becoming hooked by having another cig, as my transition was long and included many days of only 1 cig and many weeks of one every few days, etc. However, if I ever go over 6 months without having one, who knows, possibly should be careful.



There is no relation between NETs and WTAs except being extracted from actual tobacco (and typically by small companies). WTA is extracting more of that active ingredients from the leaf, NETs are extracting the flavor and little else (and is very simple compared to any nic extraction).

Simply providing info for those reading that did not know they were available.

 

[Skold]

Well I must confess I've had three cigarettes today

 

[Letitia]

Honestly, I crave a cigarette when I am under a lot of stress. Typically at work. I can't vape at work and when a server goes down going outside for 10 minutes of vaping is not an option. Less than 2 minutes I can have a cigarette and get all the nicotine I NEED. at this point I am bumming when this happens and it usually only happens once a year or one every two. Usually an update that goes tragically wrong. For those of you who can't vape at work except for breaks if you are successful at vaping on a quick break under stress my hat is off to you. I also would love any suggestions anybody has.

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Have you. tried nic gum? Or patches?

 

[D133]

It's so true what you are saying. I was vaping for 3 years. About a year and a half in, I had a day with no way to charge my device and I smoked 7 cigarettes that day. Good thing it was only that day. I don't crave cigarettes but that was the only way I was able to get my nic fill. Now I have multiple devices so that kind of situation can't present itself again.

It just goes to show that there is still a nicotine addiction there, and that we have really just swapped one form of addiction for another, albeit a presumably healthier one.

The answer could be to reduce nicotine levels in the e-liquid eventually to 0%, but I have yet to get around to (or even consider) that. There's the enjoyment factor I would worry about losing, but who knows, maybe it is the 'ritual' part of it I need.

 

[D133]

You can always just vape unflavored. You can't mess that recipe up. You could also keep VG and PG around to lower the nic or thin down the flavoring on juices as needed.

As for the question: The only thing I've craved since I've started vaping is the simplicity, especially when I get frustrated with my equipment.

I used Ecopure until they suddenly stopped selling it (no warning, just disappeared from sale), so I started mixing my own unflavoured liquid - Nicotine base, VG and a small ratio of vodka to thin it. It has no flavour but then neither did the Ecopure that I liked, and I don't find it a problem.

I see people enthusiastically quitting smoking and taking up vaping then within a few weeks they're back on cigarettes, I think many don't realise the need to maintain their equipment and ensure they don't run out of supplies (like I did a couple of weeks ago ).

 

[Rossum]

It just goes to show that there is still a nicotine addiction there, and that we have really just swapped one form of addiction for another, albeit a presumably healthier one.

So what? I don't think an "addiction" that seems to cause no harm is much of a problem.