Are you "addicted" to e-cigarettes?

[guyvelella]

Whenever I ask people why they vape its never cause they are addicted and need the nicotine. Nobody wants to admit being an addict. Its always something else such as they like the flavors or think it looks cool.

 

[Flt Simulation]

I am 67 years old, so I could care less if I 'look cool' or not.

The fact is, I smoked 2 packs of Marlboro reds each day for about 40 years. I was in fact VERY addicted to nicotine (and whatever else was in those cigarettes)

Now, almost 2 years ago I threw the cigarettes away and started vaping. I haven't had a cigarette since.

I am still addicted to nicotine (that's why I still vape), but I can say that I don't cough my brains out every morning like I used to, and I have more stamina .... don't run out of breath when doing lawn work or walk up a bunch of steps anymore.

I gave up one habit for another, but I am convinced that my vaping habit is a hell of a lot safer than that nasty cigarette habit I used to have for 40 long years .... I still can't believe I am not dead from all those cigarettes I previously smoked!
__________________________________

Bottom line .... I believe replacing cigarettes for vaping was one of the best things I have ever done for my overall health.

That's my story ...

 

[zombienerd]

I am definitely addicted to nicotine. Vaping is the least harmful way for me to maintain and slowly reduce that habit. I started vaping in Early 2011. I started on 36mg juice. I am down to 1mg, and plan to be on 0.5mg next month. I hope to be off the nicotine completely by next July. It has been a long long trip, but it is nearly over. I will probably still vape after I'm off the nicotine. At least for a few months. Placebo and all that

 

[Drummel]

I am 67 years old, so I could care less if I 'look cool' or not.

The fact is, I smoked 2 packs of Marlboro reds each day for about 40 years. I was in fact VERY addicted to nicotine (and whatever else was in those cigarettes)

Now, almost 2 years ago I threw the cigarettes away and started vaping. I haven't had a cigarette since.

I am still addicted to nicotine (that's why I still vape), but I can say that I don't cough my brains out every morning like I used to, and I have more stamina .... don't run out of breath when doing lawn work or walk up a bunch of steps anymore.

I gave up one habit for another, but I am convinced that my vaping habit is a hell of a lot safer than that nasty cigarette habit I used to have for 40 long years .... I still can't believe I am not dead from all those cigarettes I previously smoked!
__________________________________

Bottom line .... I believe replacing cigarettes for vaping was one of the best things I have ever done for my overall health.

That's my story ...

I'm on the other end of the spectrum a bit. I am 38 years old. And looking cool was NEVER my thing.I smoked Marlboro Reds for over 20 years at about 2 packs a day, give or take. I will say I was addicted to SOMETHING, but I know now with full time vaping that nicotine wasn't my addiction. Vaping helped get over the hump, but it never satisfied some of my urges. So, as an educated guess it is definitely something in the cocktail of the 4,000+++ chemicals in cigarettes. I can vape 6mg or 0mg and I find as long as what ever I am vaping has a decent throat hit I am satisfied. No thump? No dice. My throat needs to feel a bit of a kick otherwise I feel I am missing something. I know that is not the "end all be all" to it, but it definitely helps me in my day to day vaping.

As far as coughing goes, I had bouts here and there in the morning, but usually only had it really bad if I had a real good night of drinking while smoking analog - I smoked a LOT when I drank. Usually ended up on the 3 pack margin on those nights.

Since I have quit smoking and moved to vaping, I have also curbed my heavy drinking. Heavy drinking lead to heavy smoking. By knocking one down I knocked the other down. Now I vape happily all the time and might only drink heavy 1 night a week and none the rest. One reason I drank was to smoke, and by eliminating the heavy smoking it just went hand in hand for me.

To clear one thing up, I do NOT drink at home at all. So I am dry 5-6 days a week from booze/beer. So vaping actually helped me fix two problems in my life.

 

[HauntedMyst]

I vape because I like it and because I do look cool! Much cooler than the non-vaping dad's. Yup, there is nothing cooler than a 52 year old man with a graying beard sucking on a metallic phallic shaped object....hang on, that doesn't look cool at all! No wonder I've never gotten any chics since I started vaping. Well, that and my wife saws I have the personality of a troll. Well crap. Ok, ok...deep breath....I can get through this.

I'm with Flt, I'm addicted to vaping and like it. Thrilled about it. My lungs are thrilled about it. But you know what? When I can't vape, I don't crawl the walls. I just don't vape. I'm thrilled about that too. Liquid nicotine may be addictive but it isn't anywhere on the level of cigarettes.

 

[Drummel]

@HauntedMyst You just keep rocking on. You are plenty cool in my vaper book!

 

[Vapntime]

Nothing wrong with being addicted to nicotine, caffeine or sleeping pills... If they have a positive effect on your life.

 

[Drummel]

Nothing wrong with being addicted to nicotine, caffeine or sleeping pills... If they have a positive effect on your life.

Can't argue that

 

[BigMattP13]

I would say i'm addicted to the nicotine and the form of vaping in the way of tinkering and what not as vaping becoming a hobby for me help me stay away from hard drugs as I used to be a bad off junkie. But switching to vaping and just having something to do when I'm sitting in my room it gives me something to do and cure my racing mind. But at the end of the day I think there was something more in analog smokes then nicotine that your addicted to because with me atleast even with a crucial throat hit there is still something I crave from analogs but that just my personal opinion on those things.

 

[Bunnykiller]

Im addicted to charging batteries and the best way I have found so far to run batteries down is thru vaping...
nevermind that I vape 36nic juice....

 

[K_Tech]

I am dependent on nicotine, and my dependence does not compare in the least to a real addiction. We've been taught (erroneously) by the medical community that dependence and addiction are interchangeable, but there really is a big divide between chemical dependence and a full-blown addiction.

I've lost people near and dear to me and seen lives destroyed because of addiction.

The day I wipe out my sister's checking account to buy nicotine, I'll call myself an addict. Until then, I'm just a semi-normal, well-adjusted person with a (decreasing) dependence on nicotine.

 

[umanbean]

......The day I wipe out my sister's checking account to buy nicotine, I'll call myself an addict. Until then, I'm just a semi-normal, well-adjusted person with a (decreasing) dependence on nicotine.

Amen Brudda! That's the most succinct-yet-effective way of saying it I've seen yet.

Over the past 2.5 years, I've incrementally decreased my nic % from 24mg/ml to 5... and can see halving that soon. I DIY my nicquid @ 50/50, and quit using flavors early this year. These days, it's easy to go for hours without vaping, or craving. When I was on the Reds, the only time I went for hours without - was when I was asleep!

 

[snork]

I can forget to vape. Can't say I ever forgot to smoke.

 

[Frenchfry1942]

I switched to vaping from smoking. When I smoked, I liked a pipe so I could have something to fidgit with in my hands and to relax, but I also liked the convenience of cigs.

I started vaping at 24mg and am now down to 3mg. I am comfortable being at 3mg, but may be just as comfortable at 0mg, I don't know.

I do like to vape and maintain my gear, etc. because it keeps my hands busy but my mind free to think. Some might equate it to knitting, etc.

It is a lot healthier than smoking, I feel it. It works for me.

I tootle and occasionally womp.

 

[glointhedark]

My daughter and I quit smoking almost 10 years ago, cold turkey, not because we were ready to quit but because we could not afford for both of us to continue smoking and neither of us wanted to be the one that kept smoking and tempting the other. We both enjoyed the act of smoking, and it did seem to help even out some of the stress and tension in our lives. We managed to battle through the cravings and temptations. There were many days when we deliberately stood downwind of smokers at bus stops just to get some of that second-hand smoke effect, but we managed not to cave.

Almost 4 years ago, after almost 6 years of not smoking, things were coming to a head. The stress and tension that we had been dealing with for years were still there, compounded by the fact that we were looking at moving our small family - me, my daughter and my grandson who has autism - across the country so that my daughter could complete her last year of Graduate School and become a Doctor of Audiology. I was practically begging my daughter to pick up some cigarettes for me, not realizing that she was having the same feelings. She had heard about ecigarettes somewhere. We researched and hemmed and hawed for a few months, while trying to put some money on the side for either cigarettes or ecigs. She finally caved, and got herself a Blu disposable just to see if vaping would possibly work for us. I had her get one for me, too. Neither of us has thought about smoking since that first day.

For us, I think it is a combination of nicotine dependence and the hand to mouth action that you get with smoking. My daughter is happy with her 18 mg nicotine and Evod setup. I have gone down to 12 mg nicotine with an Evod setup. At this point, neither of us is looking to change much. If I see credible research linking an "optimal" level of nicotine to ward off Alzheimer's, or at least keep it from progressing, I will go with that, since my Mom had Alzheimer's. I will also encourage my daughter to go with that "optimal" nicotine level. Unless and until that happens, we plan to continue to go with what feels right for us, and continue to be happy and content ex-smokers.

 

[DeAnna2112]

One thing vaping has taught me...it's was not soo much the physical addiction (nic) that was soo addicting with cigs like i thought it was..it was more of a psychological addiction. I still miss a cig hanging out of the corner of my mouth while doing something with my hands, flicking a lighter, or having my ashtray next to me on my desk for example..just odd things like that as crazy as it sounds. The whole ritual had far more importance on a psychological level then it ever did on physical one due to nic. If i completely wiped nic out of my juice..i would still have a psychological problem with breaking the addictive pattern and routine if i tried to quit vaping as well.

 

[Bozzlite]

After 40 years of smoking, I switched to vaping 5 years ago. Yes, I'm addicted. Not necessarily to e-cigs, but to nicotine.

 

[smacuser]

I feel I become less addicted as I drop my nic.

 

[93gc40]

NO, I am addicted to the act of SMOKING. The vape is just my chosen method. I choose to "smoke" vapor rather than cigarettes.

 

[DeAnna2112]

One thing vaping has taught me...it's was not soo much the physical addiction (nic) that was soo addicting with cigs like i thought it was..it was more of a psychological addiction. I still miss a cig hanging out of the corner of my mouth while doing something with my hands, flicking a lighter, or having my ashtray next to me on my desk for example..just odd things like that as crazy as it sounds. The whole ritual had far more importance on a psychological level then it ever did on physical one due to nic. If i completely wiped nic out of my juice..i would still have a psychological problem with breaking the addictive pattern and routine if i tried to quit vaping as well.

This is why i will not get into building my own coils and the more advanced stuff..i can already see how it's become psychologically addictive for some as a hobby and clearly it would become a problem for me as well given i have an addictive personality in that way. I eventually don't want to inhale anything in my lungs including vaping.