After 44 years I'm tobacco free!!

[Acher1]

So inspiring... I've been smoking "only" 20 years, with a 3 year break when my daughter was born, but in the past couple years I have found smoking more and more unpleasant, and I have more and more reasons to quit it seems: I had a pre-cancerous thing on my lip removed, my daughter is now 9 and wants me to stop, I found a new doctor who is a friend from 20 yrs ago who smoked when I first knew him and supports me... it goes on.

Using other quit methods, I was able to cut my consumption down to 3-5 light 100s per day, sometimes even less, but I haven't been able to kick those last few it seems, at least not while my wife still smokes. I really hope that vaping will give me the edge to finally finish, and stories like yours make me believe that will happen. Thanks for sharing Jerry!

 

[DevilWoman]

Congratulations to me!

Indeed, congratulations to you!!

I will be two weeks on Sunday. Had my last cigarette on Mother's Day. My birthday is one week from Sunday. One more week after that I will be calling my daughter the nurse to tell her Mom hasn't had a cigarette in four weeks. She's going to be thrilled!

 

[JerryB]

Good luck Deb! I hope that you've been successful since last night! Even if you might have 'fallen off the horse', just take a breath, and get right back on! You've already made the decision to rid your life of that nasty habit. It's just a matter of patience and determination. Keep at it!!!!

 

[JerryB]

Thank you YoureFired!

 

[JerryB]

Thank you Acher1 for sharing with us! What helped me so very much during my initial research were all of the success stories I'd read here and elsewhere. No other approach seemed to achieve such levels of success. That gave me so very much confidence. You're already down to only a few cigarettes, and ready more than you ever were to quit entirely! DO IT! vape as much as you need to - but just stop! Visualize the look on your face and on your childs when you can count yourself amongst those who are liberated from tobacco! Good luck to you my friend! I'm rooting for you!

 

[Debadoo]

Good luck Deb! I hope that you've been successful since last night! Even if you might have 'fallen off the horse', just take a breath, and get right back on! You've already made the decision to rid your life of that nasty habit. It's just a matter of patience and determination. Keep at it!!!!

Thanks Jerry. A few rough times, but fixin to round the bend of 24 hours!! Probably thanks to the free bottle I got from vapedudes. The sampler I'd ordered only came in 80/20, and I found that 70/30 seems to do something for me that 80/20 doesn't. So when huge cravings hit, I'd jump on the carto loaded with the 70/30 that I got from vape dudes.

 

[JerryB]

Congratulations DevilWoman!!!! What a wonderful birthday gift to yourself and your loved ones! I can only imagine how happy your daughter will be!!!

 

[YoureFired]

Thank you, JerryB. I hope you can hang around ECF and continue to be an inspiration for people who would like to become tobacco free but think they can't do it. 44 years certainly puts my twenty some odd years into perspective.

 

[JerryB]

Thanks Jerry. A few rough times, but fixin to round the bend of 24 hours!! Probably thanks to the free bottle I got from vapedudes. The sampler I'd ordered only came in 80/20, and I found that 70/30 seems to do something for me that 80/20 doesn't. So when huge cravings hit, I'd jump on the carto loaded with the 70/30 that I got from vape dudes.

Pat yourself on the back Deb - it's over!!!! - and your new and happier life has begun!!!

 

[Debadoo]

Acher1, good luck to you! I can imagine how difficult it would be to stop completely with another smoker in the house. Hopefully she'll decide to start vaping also. But wow, you're a hero! You've gone down to only 3-5 a day even without vaping!! I could never do that. Give me one and I'd smoke the whole pack. Hope vaping can get you off of those, but even if not, just think how successful you've already been!! You've done something that so many people just cannot do!! And each one that you don't smoke is a health benefit! So great job so far!! And good luck with the rest!

 

[Debadoo]

That is awesome devil woman!! What a great phone call that will be! So happy for you!

Thanks Jerry, hoping this will be the thing I can stick with. Many years ago I quit cold turkey with no help for 7.5 months. But wanted one every single day of that 7.5 months and finally went back. Hopefully this will do it for me.

 

[nansc]

Congratulations and welcome to the forum.

 

[JerryB]

Thank you, JerryB. I hope you can hang around ECF and continue to be an inspiration for people who would like to become tobacco free but think they can't do it. 44 years certainly puts my twenty some odd years into perspective.

Thank you again YoureFired. I have ever intention of being an active member on ECF, as well as getting up on a soap-box and shouting to every smoker I ever encounter that there IS a solution that WORKS!!!! It isn't enough for me to be grateful for the 'miracle' of vaping - I want to share my 'discovery' with anyone who feels (as I once did) that there's no hope. It's all I've been thinking about for the past 3 weeks. Despite the massive number of videos on Youtube, I'm planning on preparing one myself to offer a simple step by step approach (listing the names of specific products and retailer links) to those ready to make the change. My concern is that most smokers won't invest the time to do the research as many of us have. Many are also put off by the endless videos that address matters that are only of interest to veteran vapors (fancy mods, drip shields, etc.) I also want to reach out to those who might have tried an ineffective product and (wrongly) decided that vaping wasn't the answer. Smokers need to be taken by the hand and offered clear, concise and specific information so as to ensure success. It isn't necessary to produce an epic video by the likes of a Francis Coppola. But there has to be more basic and specific information and guides that will serve to effectively instruct anyone who desires a better and healthier life.

 

[JerryB]

Thank you Nansc! I appreciate the welcome!

 

[DevilWoman]

Thank you, JerryB. I hope you can hang around ECF and continue to be an inspiration for people who would like to become tobacco free but think they can't do it. 44 years certainly puts my twenty some odd years into perspective.

I second that! JerryB has me beat by ten years; I smoked for 34. Someone who can find the courage and motivation to quit after 44 years is most certainly a wonderful inspiration for anyone who doubts themselves!

 

[JerryB]

Deb - forget about whatever happened in the past - especially with regard to quitting cold turkey. I personally don't know anyone who quit cold turkey, and managed to stop smoking for the rest of their lives. Just my opinion, but I don't believe it works. Methodically weaning yourself from smoking is the start. I'm convinced that anyone can quit (even without vaping) if they slowly and continually reduce the amount that they smoke - for however long it takes. I'm also convinced that vaping CAN effectively assist anyone who desires to end their smoking habit. For some (like me) the result is almost instantaneous. For others, it'll take a little longer. Time isn't the issue - and impatience is a detriment for many - and can only result in a sense of failure. It's desire, persistence, determination and VAPING that will make a non-smoker of anyone. I KNOW that you WILL SUCCEED!!!

 

[Debadoo]

Thank you again YoureFired. I have ever intention of being an active member on ECF, as well as getting up on a soap-box and shouting to every smoker I ever encounter that there IS a solution that WORKS!!!! It isn't enough for me to be grateful for the 'miracle' of vaping - I want to share my 'discovery' with anyone who feels (as I once did) that there's no hope. It's all I've been thinking about for the past 3 weeks. Despite the massive number of videos on Youtube, I'm planning on preparing one myself to offer a simple step by step approach (listing the names of specific products and retailer links) to those ready to make the change. My concern is that most smokers won't invest the time to do the research as many of us have. Many are also put off by the endless videos that address matters that are only of interest to veteran vapors (fancy mods, drip shields, etc.) I also want to reach out to those who might have tried an ineffective product and (wrongly) decided that vaping wasn't the answer. Smokers need to be taken by the hand and offered clear, concise and specific information so as to ensure success. It isn't necessary to produce an epic video by the likes of a Francis Coppola. But there has to be more basic and specific information and guides that will serve to effectively instruct anyone who desires a better and healthier life.

this would be wonderful!! I can tell you that I would never have made it this far without Phil Busardo and his help. And even at that, I was still so overwhelmed. I finally found him on FB, and was able to message him and ask him some specific questions which he was happy to answer that got me sort of understanding what all this was. His getting started section was so very helpful. So many people want to use abbreviations (which I understand), but it makes a newbie's head spin. They talk about equipment and since not everyone uses the same word to mean the same thing (mod for example), or some things have more than one word for them (I'm still confused about if a mod and battery are sometimes the same thing), it just makes it incredibly confusing and overwhelming. I was thinking the other day that there should be something like that on this site even. (If there is I haven't found it). Where there is no chatter, but abbreviations are explained, equipment is explained, what goes with what, how each thing works, what's a volt, what's an ohm, and more importantly, how do more or less of these things affect you in vaping. All of this info and so much more is here, scattered throughout the threads, but it would be great to have a no chatter place that a new person can look through all of it in simple words. So I think what you want to do would be wonderful!! Or even a blog where you can interact with folks, they can ask questions etc. I don't know enough and I'm not tech-y enough to even think of doing anything like that, but if I can help you at all feel free to PM me. I totally agree that this is something that is soooooooooo needed!!

 

[DevilWoman]

That is awesome devil woman!! What a great phone call that will be! So happy for you!

Thanks Jerry, hoping this will be the thing I can stick with. Many years ago I quit cold turkey with no help for 7.5 months. But wanted one every single day of that 7.5 months and finally went back. Hopefully this will do it for me.

Thanks, Deb! BTW, I'm Deb, too (Debra). I'm going to keep my fingers crossed for you and send you all the positive energy I can! Believe in yourself and keep telling yourself you CAN do this, and I have no doubt you will succeed. Once you have the right equipment and a liquid that satisfies you both in terms of taste and nicotine, it will be easier than you imagine.

Last Monday, at which point I was just one week and one day without analogs, I got to work and found I'd forgotten to put my spare batteries in my purse. I knew the battery I had was not going to last all day. I did the best I could to keep my vaping as sparing as I could, but, sure enough, the battery quit by early afternoon. On the bus on my way home I was talking to a fellow rider whom I know and explained that the first thing I was going to do when I got home was get a nicotine fix. We get off the bus at the same stop, I to catch another that gets me home, he to walk the rest of his way home. As we got off he offered me a cigarette. I still have just over an hour before I would be home. I thought about his offer for about a half second and declined. I thought about why I'd decided to give them up and the sweet taste of the cafe mocha flavored liquid and decided I could easily wait one more hour.

When you feel tempted just remind yourself of your reasons, whatever they may be, that you've decided to quit and tell yourself you can do this! I believe in you!

 

[JerryB]

Deb - forget about whatever happened in the past - especially with regard to quitting cold turkey. I personally don't know anyone who quit cold turkey, and managed to stop smoking for the rest of their lives. Just my opinion, but I don't believe it works. Methodically weaning yourself from smoking is the start. I'm convinced that anyone can quit (even without vaping) if they slowly and continually reduce the amount that they smoke - for however long it takes. I'm also convinced that vaping CAN effectively assist anyone who desires to end their smoking habit. For some (like me) the result is almost instantaneous. For others, it'll take a little longer. Time isn't the issue - and impatience is a detriment for many - and can only result in a sense of failure. It's desire, persistence, determination and VAPING that will make a non-smoker of anyone. I KNOW that you WILL SUCCEED!!!

 

[Debadoo]

Thanks y'all. Yeah, I know exactly why I didn't succeed before. I didn't want to quit. I felt pressured into it. Now I see that I NEED to quit. Still not exactly the same thing as wanting to. But at least it does give me some motivation. But I am pretty excited about vaping. I think it can give me what I need/want to be able to say no and mean it. Devil woman, that's wonderful!! Good for you for sticking to your guns and saying no.