a true replacement? My journey so far...

[kaesecake]

I first heard about the e-cig a couple weeks ago (thanks to my ever concerned little brother) and I just want to throw out the process I've taken, and ask for a few true and honest answers.

I spent a couple days reading through the site and finally got registered. I'm seriously on a high and have that excited and euphoric feeling like this is the answer to my prayers.

Unfortunately, the logical side of my brain is telling me this is too good to be true, and it must be a pain, or nasty, or not an easy switch, or the products are all crap, or it's actually going to be way more costly in the long run.

I finally settled on a 3o dollar test from e-cigarette-sales (Jane, the woman there was very helpful and awesome). It was advertised as a two of everything and for the skeptics/newbies product. I figured, if I can stand the 30 dollar ones and find out if I can make the switch before I invest in a more expensive version.

Now for the questions:

Are the 30 dollar cheap test e-cigs going give me a good idea if I can make this switch or not), or will I have to spend all that start-up money (plus extra parts) to really get a good feel for it?

How easy was it for some of you to make that transition from smoking to e-cigs? Was it a slow bit by bit switchover or did you pick up the e-cig and never look back? I'm so hopeful, and I just need to know if I need to scale that hope back a bit.

As a slightly less than pack a day camel lights smoker for about 9 years, what would be about the equivalent in e-cigarettes a day?

Based on what you've read, are there any words of encouragement and advice out there about the way I'm going about this or anything really? I look forward to hearing from ya'll.

 

[dc2k08]

Are the 30 dollar cheap test e-cigs going give me a good idea if I can make this switch or not), or will I have to spend all that start-up money (plus extra parts) to really get a good feel for it?

deffo..its the best idea to ger your feet wet. some of the more expensive ones offer style and a longer warranty..as for smoke volume/taste they are much for much.

How easy was it for some of you to make that transition from smoking to e-cigs?

first day i got i was hooked, didnt smoke a realer for about 3 days..perhaps due to novelty and the fact that it really feeds your nicotine cravings. only smoke one to compare..rarely do i have one now, but i do have my days. dont forget to carry some spare atmzrs and batts for the times it will go caput!

As a slightly less than pack a day camel lights smoker for about 9 years, what would be about the equivalent in e-cigarettes a day?

depends on your model. i use a generic penstyle. go through 1-2 carts a day. was a 20/day guy.

with generic carts or dripping e-liquid, it will work out cheaper depending on where you live of course ($11/pack 4me), though you have to factor in how many extra batts/atmzrs you will buy. 1 of either a week is a good over estimate. big name brands sell expensive carts though you can avoid their cost if you either drip or find cheap carts that fit them.

you can also switch the polyster that is soaked in nicotene from cheaper carts to empty expensive carts. also if you go for a big name brand, the ats and batts will be expensive as extra parts though they will offer a year warranty..you have to decide whether you want to be always returning parts for replacements or will you just buy cheap geneic ones outright and have a bunch always ready for those times

Based on what you've read, are there any words of encouragement and advice out there about the way I'm going about this or anything really? I look forward to hearing from ya'll

as long as these things dont turn out to be a grave health hazard (unconcluded though recent posts suggest they might be benificial)..welcome to a cleaner, healthier, fitter, unsmellier you...also enjoy sneaking in a smoke at indoors or at public events where others rush outside to get that fix.

 

[BigBuxNoWhammy]

I went straight for the expensive ones after reading all the reviews and stuff on the forum. Also just so you know, you can buy one of the more expensive ones and try it for 30 days, they'll refund you if you don't like it.

I enjoyed it right from the start. To me it feels exactly like a cig. I get the same satisfaction, same hit.. only difference is it tastes much better. I havent had a real cig in about 2.5months, since the day I got my e-cig. I see no reason since the only difference I notice is taste. I prefer the fruity flavours to the nasty ashtray taste

Hopefully all goes well for you! good luck.

 

[Kate]

It's the best thing since sliced bread, better than smoking. The catch is that the devices are rubbish, all of them.

Good luck with it, I'm sure you'll like it. There's lots of good advice going around here, read up before you spend and you'll be fine.

The best advice I've seen again and again is to buy spares, you'll need them.

 

[kaesecake]

I can't wait! Like, seriously, OCD can't wait! It's kind of like needing a nic fix realllly bad, but I want to hug everyone instead of growl at them.

Now I just have decide whether to wait for the $30 ones to get here before I make a further investment, or if I should go ahead and order now.

If this will be as good as I hope, I want to make sure to have enough working parts for when I go on vacation August in about 10 days.

thanks again!

 

[DeviLFisH]

for me , I still smoke real cig despite take e cig for two weeks

yup the frustration part is , battery low , cart low ,

you don;t have much vapour ,

and u will always fear u got nothing ,

so everytime I now bring real cig also

 

[TheEmperorOfIceCream]

Hi KC, welcome to the forum.

I got into this so I could smoke down the pub. I wasn't trying to quit tobacco, or expecting e-cigs to be any use for that purpose. Within a week it had cut my hot smoking by about 90% (from a pack a day down to one or two). The hard ones were the kickstart morning cigarette and the after dinner digestif. I smoked my last hot cigarette on July 11th at 1.15pm. Got to the end of a pack and just didn't buy another one. Haven't even had a twinge.

You'll see stories like this all over the forum. Lifelong heavy smokers, many of whom have been through the whole array of useless NRT treatments, not quite able to believe how effortless giving up cigarettes was with an e-cig. The truth is simple but profound. We surrender none of the addictive elements of smoking. What you will be giving up is burning tobacco.

It isn't the solution for everybody, and it shouldn't be described as a cessation product (at least not by the vendors). It took me a while to get my head around how I managed to give up cigarettes with a product that everyone was very careful to describe as 'not a cessation product'. The reason everybody's careful about the description is our personal experience will have no weight at all when this comes before regulation. There is very little clinical data although we are fortunate to have Drs Loi and Laugesen working towards providing it.

Don't worry if you can't immediately give up hot cigs, and don't be terrified to have the odd one if you do go cold immediately. Lots of us have smoked a real one a week or so later just to see what they taste like (or if caught with a flat batt).

There is a very real and completely understandable anxiety about 'falling off the wagon'. Before this gadget came along, many of us had ended up back on the evil weed by thinking they could have 'just one'. The thinking is that it will be the same with e-cigs, but I don't believe this. My previous relapses were from a nicotine-free state and in that situation you really don't want to wake the monster. With e-cigs, however, you will still be using nicotine (perhaps in smaller doses) so that possibility is diminished. What I noticed chiefly, after a week of apple,cherry and vanilla carts, was how bad hot cigs taste.

This is not to say that everybody's experience is the same. One of our members recently clocked up a year without a cigarette. He won't touch one at any cost, because he knows himself well enough from previous slips to not give the little blighters a single foothold. Another is tying himself in knots because he still smokes real cigs after a week with the ecig. But of course we're all addicts here, with anxieties peculiar to the individual. Whatever gets us through the day is to be valued, and remember, each puff on an e-cig is one you're not taking from a hot cigarette.

I should also mention that e-smoking is not exactly like hot smoking. What I noticed chiefly was e-cigs don't hit in the same way. There is none of the head-swimming dizziness of the day's first cig. I believe it's because the dizziness is from carbon monoxide and dioxide starving your brain of oxygen. I don't really miss it. The back-throat bite and 'weight' of the vapour as opposed to cigarette smoke is also different and takes some getting used to. Takes about a week and it's another reason why some members run real cigs alongside the e-cigs.

As to the model, I think a generic DSE901 (usually called a mini cigarette) is probably the perfect starter. I didn't get one of these until I was about a month in, and I have to say it's a great little smoker.

Kaesecake, I really hope this works out for you. I see the hope in your tone and it isn't the first time I've seen it. I love following the posts of new members as they realise how great this little gizmo is. I look forward to reading yours. If you have any questions, bring 'em on. The forum is full of friendly people who will all be cheering you on, and happy to help.

All the best

Emp

 

[katink]

SmokeyJoe, I think Emp's post here deserves a place amongst the 'eternal stickies' for all new members to read.

 

[wdave]

I'm trying a number of ecigs and juices and not being very smart about it.

I haven't been patient. I've been frustrated with shipping times. And I think I'm getting too much nicotine.

So the best advice I can give, assuming you have the money to try different ecig/juice combos, is to AVOID switching to ecigs right away. Stay with analogs and try the ecig once in a while during the day. Switch over once you have found what you like, and you can space your vapes apart like you currently do for cigarettes.

My two cents.

Dave W.

 

[catlvr]

SmokeyJoe, I think Emp's post here deserves a place amongst the 'eternal stickies' for all new members to read.

Ditto!! Excellent post! I myself am new at this after making it analog free for alittle over a year. Have been using analogs and my e-cig. The e-cig is winning. Hopefully It will for you also. Lots of great info to be found here. I wish you well.

 

[JohnR]

On the transition period from tobacco to e-cigs: for me, gradual. The first two weeks, both, from a pack or so a day whe I started e-cigs, to a half a pack, a few, then a couple. Then none. I'm only a couple weeks into the "none" and only e-cig's, so I look at the process of transition as still underway, but I feel like I've made it past "Hump Day" and am on the downhill.

I still get the nicotine through the e-cig, so I'm not sure I'd call it "quitting" smoking. The change from tobacco to the liquid in e-cig and the method of delivery - major change though. MAJOR. For me it's pretty much "evreything or most of what you want, nothing you don't". Or not much of what I don't anyway.

 

[Jules22871]

As long as you don't expect a miracle overnight you will be fine. Before you know it you will be vaping and reaching for your ecig instead of a real one. That's when you know you've made it. Just be patient and don't push yourself. I started with the $30 kit and I'm still using it almost 3 months later. MY hubby and son are using the same model as I am and both are doing just as good with it I am.

 

[wezzie]

It took me a few days to totally quit analogs. I now cannot stand the smell of them! I like trying new flavors...and if I don't like them, I add either tobacco or menthol flavor. I feel so much better now. My allergies are better, teeth whiter, and my car...cleaner and no analog smell. I have been vaping for 5 weeks now and still (!!!) learning from this forum and will continue---yiks, now additive to this forum. Good luck

 

[telebofh]

I ordered my starter e-cig and havent looked back. Haven't had one craving for an analog yet! I ordered up my titan and it should be here today!

 

[jeffakamax]

Smoked for 25 years, about a pack and a half a day and only quit for a year when my daughter was born. Have not touched an analog in almost a month.

I have several models now (as you will to given a few weeks) but my 901 is by far my favorite hands down.

They DO work! The numbers on this forum alone are a testament to that.

 

[wdave]

I'm with you exactly Jeff. The 901 was my first ecig. I discarded it because of failing parts. But I like that 901 so much over FOUR others I tried, that I'm going back to it and will endure throwing $10 a piece parts in the trash until I get good ones. I'm also assuming I was overfilling in the beggining. Operator error

Dave

 

[jeffakamax]

They can be finicky. The reality is that they are for the most part a very cheaply produced item with little quality control. This will hopefully change as more manufacturing companies get on the bandwagon as popularity grows. Nonetheless I am perfectly content with replacing an atty every 2 weeks for $6. Batteries are not an issue as I have modded everything in site and get a nearly week out of an 18650.

I have tried quitting a dozen times and was never successful. Quite frankly I'd pay twice what analogs were costing me just to be able to quit. The fact that vaping saves me about $175 a month is just icing on the cake.

I think people here sometimes loose sight that they are using an item that cost under $20 (batt & atty) and it is in use non-stop for 18+ hours a day. It IS going to fail, you WILL get a defective one now and then, and they CAN be temprermental at times. This is a small price to pay to be able to stop smoking finally.

Ask yourself how much time and aggrivation cancer is worth... Anyone who has seen a loved one or friend go through it will be more than content fiddling with batteries and stuffing carts for the rest of their cancer-free lives.

 

[niczgreat]

I started e-cigarettes a month ago and had 3 cigarettes yesterday while I was waiting for my replacement Atomizers. I don't consider the cigarettes backsliding they were just a substitute for vaping. Instead of the other way around. BTW the cigarettes had a very tasteless taste to me.
When I have a craving for a cigarette almost never, I just do a mamoth vaping session.
At the beginning you might want to Vape a higher MG juice like 36mg because TO ME vaping simply doesn't absorb nicotine as well as cigarettes do. (Yes I know Debatable).
I guess I'm lucky because I find Vaping superior to smoking cigarettes.
Hey I can do it in my house while watching a movie. What bliss!!

 

[Tori]

I needed to quit for health reasons. At 39 and a smoker for about 25 yrs, a pack a day... I just switched, period. I ordered the device I thought was right for me at this time and just did it. No more 'real' cigs once I took my first hit off my vapor cig. Yea I miss my marlboros but I had no choice. And to be perfectly honest with you it really isnt all that much different... not so much that it's difficult or pain in the .... or nasty. I can now smoke in places I couldn't before like the movies or on a plane and I like that. I think that cost wise for me it's about the same as marlboros. I use the prefilled carts though so maybe when I get better at this I can do my own and figure things out so it doesn't. Much better for my breathing and lungs though so I'm sticking with it!

Good luck to you

 

[FL0OD]

I am also new, about 3 weeks in. When I first received my products and opened everything up I have to admit I thought to myself there was no way I was going to mess with filling carts, messing with bottles, cleaning the atomizers, but now, I would never look back. It was, and still is a little, a learning curve but as I am perfecting everything, its wonderful. I cant even be around people that smoke analogs any more. Just the smell makes me gag. Its well worth it for your health and enjoyment.