You don't REALLY want to switch

[Katattack]

I find it frustrating and hypocritical that we vapers as a whole don't like the "just quit smoking. If you really want to you don't need to vape" attitude of the non-smokers and ex-smokers. At the same time I see some people who easily switched with a similar attitude towards those of us who haven't switched so easily "If you really wanted off analogs you'd just vape..that easy". I love that some people switched easily and I'm grateful that it's not a struggle for everyone but for some of us it's harder than that.
It kinda gets my goat and I had to vent.

 

[firechick]

I'm with ya. My better half quit "cold turkey" but now uses Skoal. I can no longer smoke in the house, his car, or anywhere else he used to. I hear "I did it, you don't want to" all the time. What I really don't want is to be as miserable all the time as he is. If we were both that miserable, we couldn't live together. lol.
I hear about the money I spent on PV stuff, the Snus orders, all that. I have 3 jobs and buy all my own stuff but it bugs him. I have smoked since I was 12 years old. I'm now pushing 40. It's not gonna be easy.

 

[PaulB]

I'm lucky maybe, but I haven't experienced that in this forum yet. In fact, a couple times, when I've beaten myself up here a bit about my lingering diet of a few cigarettes, people have been very nice about reminding me about how much I'm not smoking.

Odd experience last night. Even after pretty much hooking myself up to my 510 through the evening, around 11:00 came a mighty urge to smoke. Hadn't had one since about 6:00 and had left my pack in the car. Went to grab it and COULDN'T find it! (I have gone from buying cartons to buying packs, so it wasn't the simple matter of opening a new one.) Freaked out a little bit about not being able to smoke my 5th or 6th of the day, and just felt sad. Then I found the pack on the passenger seat floor. I hate to admit how much I enjoyed lighting up after that.

So, I'm not there yet, but I keep reminding myself-- I'm about 80% quit, and noticing positive effects.

 

[thelook]

Kat, I hear ya, I did "quit" after a week of vaping, but I still struggle EVERYDAY!!!!
I have been at this 63 days and there are times I still want a cig so bad I could kill!!!!!

Oh and BTW I still have cigs on hand, I can not throw them away!!!!!

And anyone who doesn't understand can kiss my sweet little vaping ...!!!!

 

[HaploVoss]

Well I don't think it's a big deal. Although I had tried to quit dozens of times - and then for whatever reason, e-cigs just seemed to 'work' for me... my wife had a much more difficult time than I did transitioning over. Especially I think because she really loved(es) clove cigarettes.

I'd say it was a good 4 months before she hasn't had a single analog and I keep ordering clove juices here and there hoping to surprise her with the ultimate replacement to her Blacks of yore.

Keep at it, and kudos for keeping at it. Everyone is different. Otherwise I would not have low cholesterol on a diet consisting primarily of Biscuits and Gravy. My brother hates me.

 

[firechick]

I'm lucky maybe, but I haven't experienced that in this forum yet. In fact, a couple times, when I've beaten myself up here a bit about my lingering diet of a few cigarettes, people have been very nice about reminding me about how much I'm not smoking.

Odd experience last night. Even after pretty much hooking myself up to my 510 through the evening, around 11:00 came a mighty urge to smoke. Hadn't had one since about 6:00 and had left my pack in the car. Went to grab it and COULDN'T find it! (I have gone from buying cartons to buying packs, so it wasn't the simple matter of opening a new one.) Freaked out a little bit about not being able to smoke my 5th or 6th of the day, and just felt sad. Then I found the pack on the passenger seat floor. I hate to admit how much I enjoyed lighting up after that.

So, I'm not there yet, but I keep reminding myself-- I'm about 80% quit, and noticing positive effects.

I have only had a couple of people on the forum give me the "if you really want to, you will" speech. The majority of people have been very gracious to me.

Congrats on the 80% there......it's a victory even if it's not 100%. Every little step still move you toward the goal.

 

[Metstoo]

Now I don't feel so weird about not telling anyone.

Seriously, you just have to remember that opinions are like ... holes... everybody has one. There are reams of studies showing that quitting cigs is more than just the nicotine addiction and breaking a bad habit. There are loads of emotional associations and everyone has to deal with it in their own way.

 

[Katattack]

Thanks guys it really isn't too often I run into that opinion and I don't bear and hate/anger for people with that opinion I just gets a little frustrated sometimes.

 

[Tuesday]

I had this really bad dream, I was in a room full of people and I was smoking real cigarettes
I think I am ok so far with my e-cigs but terrified of actually smoking again.

 

[Katattack]

Oh Tuesday the mind is weird and dreams are weirder. I think you're spot on as to why the dream happened. It lets your mind face what it fears most in a safe way. Don't let it make you feel bad. It's your subconscious way of working thru it.

 

[Mary Kay]

Such good answers all around! It took me a week to quit..I didn't even mean to! But Hubby just can't quit..he really doesn't like vaping ..we have tried a few types of e-cigs and all the levels of nic, including no nic with a patch. that just made him dizzy.
Everyone does what they can. For anyone else to get holier then thou about your efforts shows how small minded they are.
You just do what you can and hang in there. Just think of how many analogs you have avoided and count that as your victory!
I can't have even one..not a puff to see if I hate analogs..I would slowly build back up again from 1 analog to 2 packs a day! I know that much about me. I just switched addictions. Now I have to talk myself into eases off vaping.

 

[Metstoo]

When I quit analogs before, I dreamed (after a few months into it) about buying a pack. For me that was always the danger sign because if I have a pack, I will smoke them all. I can have a dream about smoking a cig and it doesn't disturb me. I know now that if I have a dream about buying a whole pack I must be stressed!

Haven't had that dream yet... (My banner, were it still available, would show that I've been off the analogs for just over 32 days now.)

 

[shopgirl284]

I know that I am not ready to give up analogs yet.

I have been vaping 3 weeks and, though I am vaping constantly, I have cut down on analogs about 60%-70%. If I do not think about it, I can go all day and only really crave a cigarette or two at night. Half the time I smoke a cigarette, it is just out of habit and halfway through I am wishing I would have stuck with my ecig. And cigarette smoke is starting to smell really bad to me. But let me get low on cigarettes and smoking an analog is all I can think of. And even after I go out and buy them, I have to immediately smoke a few.

I understand logically that my cravings for analogs makes no sense, but there is still this emotional connection I am not ready to give up yet. And I am OK with that, because I am more than happy with my progress and hopefully at some point logic will overtake my habit and emotions.

 

[firechick]

I know that I am not ready to give up analogs yet.

I have been vaping 3 weeks and, though I am vaping constantly, I have cut down on analogs about 60%-70%. If I do not think about it, I can go all day and only really crave a cigarette or two at night. Half the time I smoke a cigarette, it is just out of habit and halfway through I am wishing I would have stuck with my ecig. And cigarette smoke is starting to smell really bad to me. But let me get low on cigarettes and smoking an analog is all I can think of. And even after I go out and buy them, I have to immediately smoke a few.

I understand logically that my cravings for analogs makes no sense, but there is still this emotional connection I am not ready to give up yet. And I am OK with that, because I am more than happy with my progress and hopefully at some point logic will overtake my habit and emotions.

Every cigarette you don't smoke is a win. Looks like you have a good handle on what is up with you and that's half the battle.

 

[CES]

Give it time, and don't beat yourself up.Likely the cravings will decrease as you settle in, though some people do need to supplement with smokeless tobacco. IMO feeling like you HAVE to quit and setting up feelings of deprivation will make it harder. I didn't plan or even really want to stop smoking- as time passed the number of cigs i smoked decreased and after 6 weeks i did completely change over. But, if I really wanted a cig I had one. It was still fewer that the 1 1/2+ packs i was smoking before. Stressing myself would not have worked. I still have my emergency pack (it's probably stale), because if i know that I can smoke if i want to I don't need it so much. Yeah, I'm a bit twisted. But, if you end up still smoking a couple of cigs a day- you're still doing better than you were.

 

[trukinlady]

I've tried everything on the market to quit smoking, without success. Especially since my cancer diagnosis several years ago. I've beat myself up for not being able to quit. I've discovered that, for me, its more than just physical addiction. Its psychological as well. I had actually given up on quitting smoking.
Then I found ECF, and I had hope again. I'm not completely off analogs yet, but daily I'm cutting down on them. I really like the taste of Ecopure, and I'm getting to dislike my analogs more and more!
I don't feel guilty anymore. Not even about my analogs. I know there will come a day when I don't want them. Until then, I'll just keep on vapin'!

 

[Mary Kay]

I had this really bad dream, I was in a room full of people and I was smoking real cigarettes
I think I am ok so far with my e-cigs but terrified of actually smoking again.

That's me too! I am too scared to even try a puff! I know I would just try a puff..then just one for fun and be back at 2 packs a day in a few days. Nope..not even a puff!

 

[Auntbeast]

I don't understand why thinking that you still want a cigarette means you might be failing. Ask a non-smoker/non-vaper how often they want a cigarette. If not wanting a cigarette was a hallmark of success, we would have all been winners. I'll light a cigarette and hate myself every single time.

After smoking for most of my life, I don't know that I'll ever not want a cigarette, whether or not I have the tools in place to resist that urge is the question. (One time I started back smoking, it was a deadly combination of cheap rum and handsome men)

At any rate, if there is anything most of us know as smokers/former smokers, is how to struggle.

 

[Xanax]

Took me a whole month and 2 week to quit and BELIEVE ME I wanted to quit SO badly the whole time. Coming from an addict (not just nicotine) the whole "if you wanted to quit you would" thing is a huge crock of so don't ever believe it. It's CRAP. The human brain does not work that way and it's rather insulting to be told how simple it is, when we're much too complicated beings to quit an addiction just because we want to. It takes more than wanting. WAY more, and I'd say 99% of all people don't HAVE that "more" to give right off the bat. It takes time as well. Thank god for e-cigs, they make this journey so much easier and less painful. So, hopefully someone with the mindset I mentioned above will read this and come to their senses and realize what I just said is true.

 

[sgtdisturbed47]

When I first started, I relapsed back to analogs a couple times. The hardest thing about staying with vaping (and I still struggle with this today) is having a variety of liquids. If I vape on only one or two flavors, it gets old fast and I look at an analog with desire. If I have a variety of liquids, then I don't even THINK about analogs.

What I do find interesting though is some ex-smokers and non-smokers' attitudes towards vaping, where they see it as "just a different thing to get hooked on". In fact, I was getting my hair cut and the woman doing my haircut asked me about e-cigs. I told her the basics, about the health, financial, and scent benefits that e-cigs offer. She simply said "yeah, but it's just as bad because you're still hooked". My response was "we are hooked anyway, not just by the nicotine but by the habit. If you do ANYTHING 20 times a day for 17+ years, it's hard to overcome the habit. Might as well switch to a healthier and more affordable alternative". She dropped the subject.

I think some don't understand that it's not just an addiction, it's a character trait after doing something multiple times a day for many years. It's more than a habit. It becomes our personality. For me, not having the nicotine, the smoke (or vapor, in this case), or the object producing/providing/delivering said elements, would be like changing a big part of my life. Smoking was there when other things weren't. It has been [at times] a crutch, or a companion. Being such a big part of my life, I am not yet willing to let it go.

That being said, I believe that the interpenetration of the role that e-cigs play in our lives is extremely subjective. For some, it's just an addiction. For others, it's a way of life.