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Wondertwin

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Apr 4, 2012
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Started smoking at 17, had a few hits/cigs before then but for some reason at 17 it stuck. It was the nineties, and I was a pretty hardcore ballet program where everyone around me smoked. Smoked and .....ed about food basically. It was a strange duality. Smoking, yet being completely .... about the quality and quantity of food I ate. Even as I got older and would "high horse" about bad food, my friends and family would mock the cigs, and rightfully so. Luckily I have 4 brothers, so smack talk is old news to these ears, plus they were right!

My husband smoked too when I met him. When I got pregnant with our daughter 9 years ago I was violently ill. I didn't know I was pregnant at the time, and cigs were a barf trigger. Like all day long one. Started at about 3 weeks in that I couldn't keep food down if I smoked. It was easy to quit for that reason! Once I found out for sure I had a major duh moment, massive guilt at the doctor, etc. He said it's incredibly hard to "screw up a baby." Maybe he was trying to make me feel better, but he said as far as ingesting things, you gotta do it with a serious purpose. Drugs and alcoholism basically. I didn't fact check him, I took it for what it was and layed off. Our daughter is none the worse for wear though which I'm thankful for.

We tried to quit with patches various times. Failed. Tried to quit cold turkey, developed withdrawal angst that made us vicious toward each other and everyone around us.

Got pregnant again, same thing happened. Figured it out sooner this time, I'd like to say it was intuition but it wasn't. Crazies and boobs gave it away. This time even smelling it on John made me dry heave. He spent a lot of time in the shower. I remember it was harder not to start again after having him. With our daughter I think I was high strung and crazy about trying to be "perfect." She'd have crying fits and after feeding, checking diapers, burping, and holding her forever my husband would actually have to say "babies cry sometimes...you've ruled it all out, put her in her crib and let her work it out for 15 min or so!" I'd get all mad, but in the end he was right and she'd usually fall asleep and wake up with a gerber smile. Digressing here, sorry. Anyway with Richard, I breastfed like I did with Ashley but I swear I wanted to dig out the nicotine from beneath John's nails and lick it all off. Disgusting! I'd go out with friends, drink, smoke, and then do the pump and dump ritual after making sure the freezer was stocked.

John and I tried chantix/zyban after Richard was about one and a half to two years old. Ashley was old enough to ask questions, and going to school where she was taught smoking BAD. Can't refute it. Her judgment was rough, you could see her working out in her mind that she wanted to scold us but knew it wasn't appropriate, and trying to decide if us agreeing it was bad was a green light to throw in her .02.

Meds made us nuts. Bad dreams, no sleep, snippy and generally useless. We'd do our best with the kids and take out our angst on each other in subtle mean ways. It was not a happy time. When they went to bed the effort to be stable went down the drain. I can honestly say (and this my experience, if meds worked for you then I'm sincerely happy) that though things never got beyond psychological, I can see how meds could devolve a living situation into a domestic violence special on "COPS." Got to a point that we decided we'd rather be happy and smoke our PAD then hate everything and everyone.

We'd pretty much accepted this by the time the ecig came along. John had ordered a crappy trial one like 2 years ago that was so unremarkable I totally forgot about it. Then his sister and her husband showed us their Janty sticks and WOW. We were really impressed. This was about 3 weeks ago. They were super happy with it, and John and I could see why immediately even as current smokers. It tasted really good too! We kept hitting their Janty's in amazement haha.

Then we went on vacation with the kids. It was hard with their age difference. Harder having to divide "smoke time" out front of the hotel. It was a water park hotel, and the parents out front were hotboxing trying to get back to enjoying their family time. It was kinda pathetic, and we all avoided eye contact and didn't talk because that was strictly about getting a fix.

4 days after that, John and I went to the local shop and got our ego-t's. It's been SO much better. It fet good to explain to my daughter what it is. She was always polite about the smoking (we didn't do it around her) and is too innately polite to have said anything mean about it, but she took the opportunity to be happy for us with the egos. She can't get over that it's just water vapor. Also she's very interested in the vg/pg thing. A bit of a science nerd my kid, which is great. We keep our liquids in a cheap safe we got from walmart so no accidents happen, especially since we know she's curious and they smell good.

No crazies, and happy kids. I didn't think it was possible and had resigned myself to smoking to preserve sanity. I'm extremely grateful for the technology!
 
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Vapoor eyes er

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Sep 13, 2011
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Toronto, Ont.
Great thread.
Am 60 yrs young:D Started smoking at 16, maybe a pack a week. At 18 was a fully fledged smoker= 1 PAD. About 10 yrs ago tried various patches, gums, etc and did quit for 6 months but was not happy and was white knuckling it all the way. In the Fall of 2011 a friend at the cottage showed me his Ecig and told me how great he felt and how impressed his Dr. was with the result...if he hadn't quit he'd possibly be deceased right now because of serious health issues. So I went on the net and researched for about 200+ hrs before I bought my first PV. After the first 4 hrs of vaping I tried an analog and absolutely hated it. This coming from someone who doesn't drink and, at the time, had no sense of taste or smell due to a sinus/ polyps operation.
I LOVED SMOKING
As to my sense of taste and smell since quitting analogs I'm at about 25% and the only adjustment I've made is to double my flavorings when I DIY.
Everything has been great. I began at 40 ml X 36 mg and am now down to day vape= 10 mg and night vape= 8 mg. I plan to quit vaping by the Fall of 2012 BUT there's no pressure and if it doesn't happen it's all good.
Happy Vaping and thanks for all the heartfelt stories.
 

Wondertwin

Super Member
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Apr 4, 2012
335
480
Texas
I read every post here, and the thing that sticks out are our "revelation" moments. Had we not met those people or had the nerve to say "what is that?" at their ecigs we could still be coffin nailing.

I was a closet smoker. Only smoked openly with not work related friends, family too, and sometimes when I drank with coworkers but that was rare. They usually blamed it on drinking and I was happy to let them. I'm type "A" and very much want to project that I have it "together" and that just simply will not do when it comes to vaping. Previously I had my ego-t visible to a segment of friends and family on fb, but not everyone. I'm going to go ahead and make that public.

After retelling the story of our bad, crazy, trying to quit times, I should *HOPE* to be asked questions. Especially knowing how trying it was on the marriage to try and quit, and how hard it is to look your kid in the eye when they see that gas station bag of smokes in the car and restrain themselves from talking about it. Also the vacation...should've not marred it with smoking.

I can say wholeheartedly that vaping is a life saver on so many levels. Will be public about it, hope to spare anyone else worry and tribulation.
 

Bamboo

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Mar 8, 2011
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Northern California
I started smoking at the age of 14 went from a pack a day to sometimes two packs a day. I tried several times to quit from cold turkey to patches to pills nothing worked. Both my girls have seen me in the hospital several times and a few times the doctors didn't even know if I was going to make it. My girls would beg me to stop smoking and for a while I was a closet smoker then my youngest seen me smoking one day she was heart broken and I cried for a long time thinking I was a failure. My girls did not want me to die and they told me this a lot but still I was weak. I seen ads on tv about this "electronic e cig" I went on google and searched and ordered my first e cig kit, the safe cig and I knew when I took my first inhale I was done smoking. My girls now tell everyone who smoke to try vaping and how it saved my life. I will never go back to analogs again.
 

tamarahvt

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Feb 25, 2012
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Springfield, VT
Congrats on the baby and the quitting smoking!

I started smoking steadily at the age of 11. Smoked pretty much a PAD for 28 years (cut way down when I was pregnant but still couldn't manage to quit).

A little over 7 weeks ago we received a letter from our property manager that the complex was enacting a smoking ban. When I mentioned this to my 14 year old son he told me about a gamer he watches on youtube who uses an e-cig and suggested I try that.

I ordered a 510-T and loved it. A few days later management told us that they changed their mind about the ban. :laugh: My husband thought I would be cranky but I loved vaping so much that I didn't care. I have since added an eGo-C to my collection and have converted several family members and friends to my new love.
 

uncoated

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Mar 29, 2012
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I started smoking when i was 15, Just a innocent " i wanna try it" phase,
started off with just asking my friends for a cig every now and then until it came to a point where i kinda wanted
to smoke more so of coarse I started to buy my own packs.

Then as the time passed i gradually got more addicted to it and was smoking a pack a day and on weekends nearly 2-5 decks between the whole weekend. With a teenager allowance and working at 9$ an hour.. you can probably tell where 60-% of my money went to :p

so its been about 5 years i smoked, and then it hit me, I used to be able to run or even walk up stairs until i smoked. now every time i walked up a flight of stairs id be short of breath, and my taste buds were non existent :p
and who can forget the awefull smell it leaves on your body. as a smoker im sure everyone here tried to put some axe body spray or chew gum to hopefully get rid of the taste before you get home ( if your parents didn't know you smoked)
and for years i though i got rid of the smell.... BOY I WAS WRONG LOL

its been a month I Vape now and I can breath again, my sense of taste and smell is back, and Now I can really smell the smoke form my friends clothes after we go outside for a smoke ( I bring my PV ;) ) and i never realized how strong the smell was.

so how did i start vaping..
3-4 months ago a friend of mine at work showed me his E-cig ( a regular 510) and i took a couple puffs, and to my surprise I liked it and asked where he got his, because at that point of made multiple attempts to stop :p
it took me about 2-3 months to say to myself and really push to say, OK its time to really stop with analogs and quit.
then POOF got me my EV TORCH and haven't looked back :)

anyways that's my story lol... not so exciting but whatever, I'm off analogs :D
 
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MikeK0416

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Jan 8, 2012
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Mount Dora FL
this is what I posted in January.

I am 54 and started smoking at 16. I have tried just about every known method to quit smoking over and over since I was 18. On New Years day I put on a 21mg patch and tried using a medium nic level basic ecig. The more I used it the more I did not need an analog. I stumbled on this site and became incredibly relieved to find so many people have switched. I upgraded to an ego-t and a couple of other mods and am so happy to have found something that allows me to replace the habit. I always believed it would be so much better to be addicted to a healthier nicotine and now I find others have too. I have reduced the patch to 14mg and am using a med nic ejuice. I will get off of the patch in a couple of weeks and strictly vape.

Update 4/15/12
Shortly after the post I actually forgot to wear the patch one day and never went back to them. I am a VAPER!!
 

Slideonmyguitar

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Apr 15, 2012
234
267
Connecticut
I'm 27. I started smoking at 8 years old. I've tried using the patch to quit, the gum, and have quit cold turkey. However, I always ended up smoking again one way or another. I found e-cigs almost 3 years ago and was on and off smoking up until maybe 9 months ago when I found a great e-cig support group and quit smoking for good. I have been smoke free 8-9 months now and couldn't be happier or feel healthier. If it wasn't for e-cigs I would probably still be smoking cigarettes!
 

CloudChaser

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Mar 30, 2012
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Michigan
30 year PAD smoker and my story is like many others. Tried everything and more. Even the cheapo kit sold at the local stores. Which was nothing but charging battery and adding juice all day long. So I bought a Riva 1100 mha with a 3 ml tank which lasts me all day long and haven't looked back. Smoke free for 3 weeks. I still get the urge to smoke a analog but when I do, I reach for the PV and vape like crazy till it passes.
 

sandscards

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Feb 6, 2012
236
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Broken Arrow, OK
Smoked cigarettes for 35 years heavily and didn't really think I could quit. I would quit on my own cold turkey but everyone could tell by how grumpy I was that I wasn't smoking. Saw a utube video about ecigs and decided to try it. What did I have to lose but a few bucks. I had spent more than that on patches, gum and drugs, all with no long term successes. I still can't believe it but the first day vaping I quit analogs and haven't really missed them all that much. I don't know if it the nicotine, the flavor, no real smell, or fiddling with all the gadgets but looking back I am kind of shocked at how successful the vaping experience has been. It has only been a little over two months but I think it will break the cycle. I have gone from 24 mgs of nicotine to 18 and am at 12 now. I plan on going a little lower on my next order to try it. I enjoy it enough that I really believe I will continue vaping even at 0 for quite a while. Good to hear everyones success stories and good luck to all!
 

ponytail girl

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May 22, 2011
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Hawaii
Aloha friends,
Here's my story..I got sober when I was 25 I'm 47 now..I said to myself I will give all these other's things up which aren't good for me and I will keep my cigs..but after awhile I wanted to give those up too..I tried everything everyone else has..Fast forward...My partner and I became foster parents to two little boys and in 2009 we adopted them..I never smoked in the house but out on the Lanai and out of sight..One evening while I was out there my little boy came out..I hide my cigarette..He was only 3 yrs old and said " Mama my turn" I said your turn what? My turn to try that smoking thing..I felt Shame like never before..and knew I had to quit..I went to the doctor to get Chantix and the RN had a Blu e cig she told me about it..I got the info and bought it..have now move onto bigger and better Mods..These Boys saved my life and This ECF website has help me stay quit...Thanks everyone and Congrats on your new baby girl
 

Maile

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Mar 21, 2012
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Social smoker until I started hanging with my college boyfriend and his buds and before I new it I was smoking a pack a day... Quit more or less during pregnancies and kept telling myself I would quit soon... Never got around to it. It's so freaking hard!!! My kids have wanted me to quit and my son asked me one day if i wanted to die since smoking kills you.. Ouch! Tried all the gimmicks but don't know if I ever would or could quit until I found vaping. My brother was looking to buy a e-cig and I said YUCK! I had tried one from a convenience store over a year ago and thought it tasted like crap but he said it was different now and he loved his friends... So we are calling every store in town looking for a starter kit and I finally find a place that carries a little cig size 510-T and bought us each a kit... Neither of us has picked up a smoke since! (have two kgo kits and a e-power now) Tomorrow marks my 4 week vapor anniversary... Yay!
 
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