Anyone else already a reformed smoker before they started vaping?

[JudgeVape]

I am wondering how unusual I am. Before I started vaping last week, I had not smoked in more than 2 years. And while it had been a very long time since I had any real craving for a cigarette specifically, I always missed smoking itself.

What I later came to realize was that I just missed being a nicotine addict. However, no smokeless tobacco product ever did anything for me and, while I never actually tried it, I was pretty confident that Snus wasn't going to be to my liking either.

I had heard of "e-cigarettes" quite some time ago but I was reluctant to start using them with all the clamoring from the FDA about possibly banning them. However, when I saw the decision from the DC Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that basically told the FDA to go screw themselves it was all the encouragement I needed.

I must say I have been enjoying myself tremendously in the past week with my new Riva. In addition to being able to "smoke" again, the PV offers such enhanced freedom about where and when I feed my habit that analog smokers no longer enjoy.

I only hope that vaping doesn't effect my cardiovascular system much, if at all. The primary reason I stopped smoking is that my job requires a certain amount of physical fitness and 20 years of smoking had made it pretty much impossible for me to run without passing out.

 

[Jobu]

I'm with ya.

I had quit for a year or so, smoked/dipped for about 2 weeks before heading off to spend 8 months in a primitive wilderness living school and then smoked for 2 weeks when I got out. Switched over to dip for another 2 weeks after that and started vaping.

I missed the taste mostly along with the social interaction of puffing a .... with a friend. My other love was that I never smoked inside so a cigarette meant stepping out in the day or night and enjoying nature for a few minutes. I know most of the night sky from standing out there puffing away in the olden days. I haven't started vaping outside yet, but I hope I do.

Crazy you came from 2 years though. I'm also sucking on a Riva and I can already tell this whole flavor thing is going to become very addictive.

 

[Uma]

You missed being a Nicotine Addict?

I don't get it.

I can understand missing the action of smoking. Many do that. Many start smoking again because they miss it so bad, even after 6 yrs of abstinece. Picking up an eCig instead of an analog is a new option that many prefer once they discover the option exists.

Some people never recover from the oral fixation. Take my hubby for instance. He used to chain smoke, quit cold turkey and started popping grapes, cheerios, sunflower seeds, gummi bears, red hots,popcorn, berries, .... he was in a constant state of popping something into his mouth... for over 30 years! Needless to say, he has had many battles with weight gains and he's a very active person. He started vaping ZERO NICOTINE during his most intense popping times and it's helped him tremendously. He's a runner and it hasn't affected his lungs or energy or anything in any negative way. No doubt his few vaping sessions is keeping his weight controllable and is helping to alleviate possible heart disease and other obese maladies.

He's never missed being a Nicotine Addict. Far from it!!

I don't understand why anyone would miss being a Nic Addict. That just doesn't add up to me. Or other ex smokers I know.

 

[JudgeVape]

You missed being a Nicotine Addict?

I don't get it.

I can understand missing the action of smoking. Many do that. Many start smoking again because they miss it so bad, even after 6 yrs of abstinece. Picking up an eCig instead of an analog is a new option that many prefer once they discover the option exists.

I guess I am confused at your confusion. What seems more plausible, that someone would miss having at their beck and call a chemical that automatically provides pleasure and makes them feel better (i.e. nicotine) or that someone would miss the physical act of placing a small cylinder between their lips and sucking on it?

While I have no doubt that there are some out there that suffer from a very strong oral fixation that they must continue to address even after they quit smoking, I do doubt that these folks constitute more than a pretty modest minority of current and ex-smokers and vapers.

Yes, the pleasure that I or anyone else derives from nicotine only works from self-induced deprivation from nicotine. But to me, it is another level of control, of sorts, that I can implement over myself. It is something that I can always look forward to throughout my day.

What has been very painful for smokers in recent years is the plethora of additional societal controls that prevent them from managing their own nicotine habits. Smoke-free workplaces, airports and airplanes, hospitals, social ostracization, and so on (and I tend to favor the vast majority of these social controls for obvious public health reasons). Vaping eliminates most of these controls, at least for the time being.

 

[SecondChance]

I was off cigs for about three months before I got an ecig..but was missing it alot, If not for my PV I would have ended up going back to them I am sure! I got off of them for health concerns..and really can't allow my self to go back if I want to stay around for a while.

 

[ChaosAffect]

More or less. I was smoking a clove or two a day, down from a pack a day a year ago. I really missed smoking, glad I found eCigs.

 

[spipasucci]

Same here... Off analogs for 2.5 months before vaping. I was getting sick of the nicotine gum and thankfully this alternative presented itself before I went back to analogs. I'm hoping to slowly ween myself from the nicotine part, but I fall in that group that really loves the physical "act" of smoking...

 

[oldjoe]

My wife, avid smoker for about 20 yrs., quit analogs with no substitutions for about 8 weeks before I decided to quit using an e-cig. She has some medical issues and smoking always "seemed" to alleviate some of her discomforts. She decided to try an e-cig and has felt noticeably better than she has for a very long time. Her general attitude is better and that makes my life better as well.

 

[MarcQue]

Within a few months of quitting analogs, I'm able to work out and run just as well as any of my friends now (it's nice to finally be part of a gym!)... So it most likely won't affect you in that area as much as analogs would. I notice however that if I go to exercise immediately after I vape it's a bit harder to run and I get tired faster.

To each his own, I guess? Some people it will affect more and others not at all. Let us know how you fare :]

 

[br0kn]

Jfoof, I'm sure you've heard the old saying: "Once an addict, always an addict."

I believe this to be so true about humans. We are a creature of habbit. If you do something for a chunk of your life, and it was ALWAYS there for you through good and bad, then you are naturally going to want it back.

I understand the need for chemicals. Heh, 8 years ago I kicked soda. I was drinking upwards of 2 6-packs a day of soda just for the sugar and caff they provided.

That one was fairly easy to kick once I realized how fast I was losing weight by just not drinking soda.

I also understand the fact that you CHOSE to start vaping, since I find it VERY more satisfying than smoking. I can do it for longer stretches of time, in more places, with more flavors.

Oh, and since I'm a tech junkie too, I get this new gadget that not many people have encountered.

I can't say I've met anyone else who quit who started vaping again after so long, but I really understand the draw that it might have.

 

[Zod]

My best friend of a decade and a half is one of those that quits for 6 months then back on the cancer sticks once he's drinking around analog users. He's in that "off" stage right now and this is when I shoved a Riva kit into his hands and told him "you want to smoke but know it's horrible and getting old. Time to start smoking the right way so you don't have the urge to pick it back up."