Baby steps

[CaptJay]

So..I got into the e-cig thing about a week ago - not really time yet is it for me to say its any kind of success?
I have the Joye510 and a couple of blank carts, pre-filleds, extra juice bottles (most with 0 nic and one with 24mg nic) and a PT which I've only jsut started to use.
I haven't found any major issues with the 510 itself - although Im not sure I'm filling the blank carts right (they have hte pyramid tbag things in, and I drip about 5 drops in there cos its so tiny and I dont want it leaking out).
I was smoking ultra light cigs before all this - I smoked around a pack a day - sometimes 2 packs. My nose felt stuffed all the time, I think i was keeping Kleenex in business with all the nose blowing I had to do daily. The morning cough/clear out had become the night waking cough, and the morning gasp/cough and I just didn't feel 'right'.
Since I came over to the US I've excercised a lot less, and at first I thought that was the reason - but I think it was only partly to blame and now I felt tired, ill, and like I had a permanent cold all the time. When i did get colds they were bad, sometimes included sinus infections, and stayed a while. Every day I had to clear my throat constantly because it felt like I was drowning.
But I never tried to give up smoking - I;m not an addictive person - Ive cut out all sorts of things from my life without too much issue and not gone back so why not smoking? It was my sole crutch is the answer - and I;d come to rely on it for every little stress-out I ever had.
Angry? have a smoke.
Hungry? Have a smoke.
Stressed out? Have a smoke.
Upset and emotional? well you can guess..

I got to the point, which I'm sure you all have, where smoking really was more a habit than a relaxing enjoyment. Half the cigarettes I smoked didn't even taste good, and I didn't actually WANT them, plus I was feeling more ill as each day passed and starting to worry that I might get a heart attack or lung issues as my wake up call.
Then I was in a mall one day and saw one of 'those' salepeople for 'that' brand of ecig. Intrigued I decided NOT to buy but come research on the Net.
Since I found you guys, and all the info here, things have been a little different.
I've gone from the 1-2 packs a day to between 2-8 analogues a day - I don't feel like I have a perma-cold any more. My chest feels a whole lot better, although i still cough and occasionally have hte throat clearing thing, its not CONSTANT. Its not so often I think I'm going to die.
There IS an alternative that involves blowing smoke and inhaling but although its long term dangers are still uknown they aren't giving me the side effects cigarettes did. They don't give me constant phlegm and chest tightness.
I've gone from 2 packs to LESS than half a pack per day and to me thats nothing short of a miracle. Wil I be able to give up the remaining 2 - 8 ciggies per day? I don't know but right now I don't actually care as much as the fact that I already HAVE given up more ciggies than that. I even try to vape with low low nic strengths (and Im finding my analogues now taste a bit strong for my liking) and concentrate more of flavors.
Honestly I can't manage to convey in words the whole 'this is me jumping up n down and yelling OMG can you BELIEVE this?' but I hope you get some sense of my amazement at how well this, using e-cigs, has/is working for a smoker who never thought they'd be considering life without cigs.
This is me, taking baby steps

 

[sherid]

So..I got into the e-cig thing about a week ago - not really time yet is it for me to say its any kind of success?
I have the Joye510 and a couple of blank carts, pre-filleds, extra juice bottles (most with 0 nic and one with 24mg nic) and a PT which I've only jsut started to use.
I haven't found any major issues with the 510 itself - although Im not sure I'm filling the blank carts right (they have hte pyramid tbag things in, and I drip about 5 drops in there cos its so tiny and I dont want it leaking out).
I was smoking ultra light cigs before all this - I smoked around a pack a day - sometimes 2 packs. My nose felt stuffed all the time, I think i was keeping Kleenex in business with all the nose blowing I had to do daily. The morning cough/clear out had become the night waking cough, and the morning gasp/cough and I just didn't feel 'right'.
Since I came over to the US I've excercised a lot less, and at first I thought that was the reason - but I think it was only partly to blame and now I felt tired, ill, and like I had a permanent cold all the time. When i did get colds they were bad, sometimes included sinus infections, and stayed a while. Every day I had to clear my throat constantly because it felt like I was drowning.
But I never tried to give up smoking - I;m not an addictive person - Ive cut out all sorts of things from my life without too much issue and not gone back so why not smoking? It was my sole crutch is the answer - and I;d come to rely on it for every little stress-out I ever had.
Angry? have a smoke.
Hungry? Have a smoke.
Stressed out? Have a smoke.
Upset and emotional? well you can guess..

I got to the point, which I'm sure you all have, where smoking really was more a habit than a relaxing enjoyment. Half the cigarettes I smoked didn't even taste good, and I didn't actually WANT them, plus I was feeling more ill as each day passed and starting to worry that I might get a heart attack or lung issues as my wake up call.
Then I was in a mall one day and saw one of 'those' salepeople for 'that' brand of ecig. Intrigued I decided NOT to buy but come research on the Net.
Since I found you guys, and all the info here, things have been a little different.
I've gone from the 1-2 packs a day to between 2-8 analogues a day - I don't feel like I have a perma-cold any more. My chest feels a whole lot better, although i still cough and occasionally have hte throat clearing thing, its not CONSTANT. Its not so often I think I'm going to die.
There IS an alternative that involves blowing smoke and inhaling but although its long term dangers are still uknown they aren't giving me the side effects cigarettes did. They don't give me constant phlegm and chest tightness.
I've gone from 2 packs to LESS than half a pack per day and to me thats nothing short of a miracle. Wil I be able to give up the remaining 2 - 8 ciggies per day? I don't know but right now I don't actually care as much as the fact that I already HAVE given up more ciggies than that. I even try to vape with low low nic strengths (and Im finding my analogues now taste a bit strong for my liking) and concentrate more of flavors.
Honestly I can't manage to convey in words the whole 'this is me jumping up n down and yelling OMG can you BELIEVE this?' but I hope you get some sense of my amazement at how well this, using e-cigs, has/is working for a smoker who never thought they'd be considering life without cigs.
This is me, taking baby steps

That was a lovely testimony.

 

[Sign-Man]

 

[eGeek]

Excellent, amazing story and there are so many of them. Really pleased for you.

 

[kjj]

I've gone from the 1-2 packs a day to between 2-8 analogues a day - I don't feel like I have a perma-cold any more. My chest feels a whole lot better, although i still cough and occasionally have hte throat clearing thing, its not CONSTANT. Its not so often I think I'm going to die.
There IS an alternative that involves blowing smoke and inhaling but although its long term dangers are still uknown they aren't giving me the side effects cigarettes did. They don't give me constant phlegm and chest tightness.
I've gone from 2 packs to LESS than half a pack per day and to me thats nothing short of a miracle. Wil I be able to give up the remaining 2 - 8 ciggies per day? I don't know but right now I don't actually care as much as the fact that I already HAVE given up more ciggies than that. I even try to vape with low low nic strengths (and Im finding my analogues now taste a bit strong for my liking) and concentrate more of flavors.
Honestly I can't manage to convey in words the whole 'this is me jumping up n down and yelling OMG can you BELIEVE this?' but I hope you get some sense of my amazement at how well this, using e-cigs, has/is working for a smoker who never thought they'd be considering life without cigs.
This is me, taking baby steps

Excellent start! Be proud of your progress so far and don't worry so much about quitting before you are ready.

My story was very similar. I went from two packs a day to less than a half pack in under a week, and it was so easy I barely noticed that it was happening. And then a few days later something came up that helped me finish quitting. The first day sucked. I spent several hours that day crazy with the need to get a real cigarette, but snus helped me get over that hurdle. You might want to look into it and be ready to get some if you need it when your day comes.

Concentrate on the 75% progress that you've made already, and let the rest happen when it happens. Don't despair if you aren't ready in a few days, or weeks, or months, you've still done more than you ever thought possible.

Thank you for posting this, and keep coming back to let everyone know how you are doing. These stories are the most important thing on these forums. New people come here all the time and read them, your story might be the one that makes someone sit up and say "Hey! This guy is just like me, and look what he did! Maybe I can do it too!".

 

[bettyboop]

I totally agree !!Yes e-cigs makes quitting suck less..LOL

 

[aschmidy]

I know how you feel. My ecig was first honest thought after 34 years of smoking that there was even a possibility that I maybe could one day not smoke and not die because of cigarettes. It took me 3 months to give up my last 10 cigs per day. I just had to be sure the ecig was going to be there for me like my cigs always had. Once I was totally off the smokes I was surprised how much less hooked, or dependent I felt on them. It is a great feeling.

 

[420GypsyGirl]

Congrats and keep going. VP's are life prolongers and it can work. You, I and many like us are walking proof that PV's can get people off smoking cancer causing regular cigarettes.

 

[tbl35]

I;d come to rely on it for every little stress-out I ever had.
Angry? have a smoke.
Hungry? Have a smoke.
Stressed out? Have a smoke.
Upset and emotional? well you can guess..

I got to the point, which I'm sure you all have, where smoking really was more a habit than a relaxing enjoyment. Half the cigarettes I smoked didn't even taste good, and I didn't actually WANT them, plus I was feeling more ill as each day passed and starting to worry that I might get a heart attack or lung issues as my wake up call.

Man does THIS ever sound like me. I was hating the cigarettes but kept on doing it anyway and any sign of stress made me run for one despite the breathing issues and generally feeling like crap most of the time.

Keep it up & thanks for sharing!

 

[CaptJay]

Still going with my little 510 - still not smoking more than 10 ultra lights a day - and most of those are late night ones, I try hard (and succeed 9 times out of 10) to make my first puff o'the day is PV and not analog.
Just thought I'd add: having the e-cig is really a LOT like having a baby's dummy (what you yanks call a pacifier, rather more apt) which I suspect is what many people use analogs for without realising it. I'm pretty sure I did. It's replacing THAT pacification habit with THIS one that takes some of us a little time (and theres evidence of some alkaloids present in tobacco smoke, over and above the nicotine, which are NOT present in ejuice, that can have an addictive nature, and make analogs harder to give up).
My surprise is how easy it was to cut out over half the anologs I smoked before (one and sometimes 2 packs a day) down to between 2 to 10 analogs. I'm also finding that analogs don't taste as good as they sued to and when I DO have one, its for the 'hit' (can't describe it better than that) and ceratinly not the taste (oh and after I smoke one my mouth and tongue taste horrid); it does require some willpower on my part as well because the craving for that hit comes more often than I give in to it (yay me) and I go suck on my PV instead.
I did have one little mishap that involved raspberry flavoring that I found in the supermarket; figured I'd share it with ya. It had PG in its list of ingredients so I thought yay - I can smoke it (yeah I'm sure some of you are chuckling right about now, it's ok, go ahead ) - so I added a drop or 2 to my cart and BOY what a wonderful flavor it was SO raspberry and nice - then i came here and see a post from sun vapor saying bascially 'oh and don't smoke those flavorings from the store that have COLORING IN THEM'
I panicked and stopped vaping it - threw the cart away but the taste lingers over pretty much everything in that atty I've tried cleaning it out (hot water, overnight dryout) but yeah..lesson learned..now what am i gonna do with all this raspberry flavoring....

 

[CaptJay]

So - its been about 3 or 4 weeks now - and I find I accidentally gave up smoking analogs altogether
I still have some in a drawer - maybe one day I'll decide to have one, but not today. Today is the day I got on my Little gazelle and worked out, while SINGING, and didn't get out of breath once. Today is the day I stopped becuase my muscles hurt and not because I was out of breath.
Today is also the day I noticed the clothes in my closest smelled funny..like..cigarettes. Maybe tomorrow is the day I wash my entire closet? lol
Today is the day I mixed a bunch of coffee juices and sat here happy as larry vaping on them and glad I don't have to go out in the SNOW (yuh we have snow).
So..that was my day today

 

[Riplea]

Congratulation CaptJay, hope I post back here with the same results in a few weeks. Your beginnings sound alot like mine are atm

I am totally surprised how quickely I cut out 2/3rds of the analogs I smoked and I am only beginning day 3 of the e-cig.

 

[rosesense]

That's the way to do it. I have been following your thread and hoping for an update like the one you posted. Yay for you!

 

[jj2]

Congrats CaptJay---tis a wonderful feeling.

Got a daughter who lives in N. C. How much snow did you get?

 

[CaptJay]

Lots of snow - 2nd time lots of snow too and I hear they say more is on the way. Oh joy *deadpan face*

 

[CaptJay]

So I just hit one month with no cigs. One month..holy jeeez...
Haven't been this free of cigs since I was a non smoker!

Still vapin' on my 510 original unit - got another one as well off cignot for the spares - cheaper than buying actual spares. Lots more liquid, my 3 fave places currently are Ms Ts, TV and DIYflavorshack, and I think I have enough to last me here fo ra while. Odd that doesn't seem to stop me buying new ones though lol. Keep thinking I'll try some Halo, the freedom or harley, that people rave over, I do like a couple of tobacco ones but mostly its non tobacco I prefer, but I'm still not sure 100% about buying it. One non tobacco flavor one of my fave suppliers makes I found rather unpleasantly fake tasting, yet its very popular I guess everyone is different.
Still get the weird tastebud thing occasionally - where I can't taste anything at all. At least it doesn't last that long, and when it strkes I just vape anything I can taste (usually something harsh). Ive even been thinking about trying those nettie pots but the thought of it is..um..yeah..lol I know its been used for many years and is quite safe but still..I may give it a go if I'm brave (foolhardy) enough.
I did try lighting up a cig the other week - for curiosity really - and the oddest thing happened. I was scared to put it near my face because - hello! - its ON FIRE!. I smoked for 20 years and never once thought about that. On that day though, that was the first thing that struck me; this thing is on fire and near my eyes.
I tried a couple of pulls, the first one was like Wimpy Wilma - I sort of pecked at it and tried to suck at the same time, just to keep it away from my eyes What little smoke I got was harsh as all get out and I coughed. How's that for wimpy?
The next go (yes I had another go lol) I closed the eye nearest the cigarette and took a draw. It tasted ok but harsh again and HEAD RUSH! And the TH was quite hard - really hit the back of my throat like a jackhammer. I felt my chest constrict almost immediately as well, a sort of sharp pinch right dead in the center and started coughing. My lungs weren't happy and expressed their disapproval by making me cough on and off for the next 20 minutes.
I put it out under a running tap, holding it far from me like it was a dirty diaper LOL
So going back to smokes right now seems pretty impossible - of course I'm not going to say ' I will never..' because I have no idea what the future holds but right now, I can't see it happening.
That's my newest news on the success stories - Im too lazy to do an actual blog so hopefully this will suffice
Vapin on a some Butter rum from TV as I type this btw, using my trusty PT - ahhhhh

 

[farrar01]

Sounds soo familiar... I tried one the other day to. Made it through 4 drags an it was awful tasting. I leave it in the ashtray in my cigarette snuffer to remind me of how bad it was. I never really quit smoking, I just stopped doing it after awhile of vaping.

 

[iamrobbie]

YES!! be very proud of your progress, as to that im on the same page as you as well. Im a newbie at all of this. Im still getting use to the slang, and im still developing my skills to mix my flavors. Ive been able to fight my urge for a real cigg but my e cigg is handy enough to get a quick fix when im in need!

congrats to all of you who have put that tar stick down

 

[CaptJay]

Back again - coming up on the 3 month mark it looks like. Wow - 3 months and no fags (apart from the ones I mentioned above that I had a pull or 2 on to try) seems really surreal still.
I haven't gone TOO crazy wth mods/devices still, I am trying to control my 'buy tons of stuff' urges - but that doesn't seem to stop me on the juices front. Oh I did get a 5v PT as well lol but I've not got other stuff - oh some more attys - and a 901 battery adapter and some 901 attys - ok never mind the whole 'controlling my urges' thing is now looking more lame by the minute. Obviously I suck at that part
The 901 atty thing has been an interesting experiment. I have found that my fruity type flavors really enjoy the 901's cooler vaping - and I can't use my 5v on it, the atty doesn't love it the way my 510 does, so I use my 3.7v PT for the 901 (and fruits). Its kinda cool because I've 're-discovered' some flavors this way. Getting the battery adapter (thank you madvapes) was definitely a good call.
Vaping currently: German chocolate cake from tasty vapor on my 510 + 5v PT - heavenly
Apple pie and fried spiced apples (DIYFlavorshack) on my 901 +3.7v PT, very sweet nice vapes.

I try to mix it up less (like I vape those 2 the whole of one day then another day I might sub butter rum from TV for the choc cake one) to avoid 'losing taste' issues that I (and others) have mentioned in another thread - and I went ahead and used the Neti pot!
Yes I took the plunge and I have to say I was impressed with the results.
It's certainly a weird thing to do, but it's made my nasal passages more hydrated and 'seems' to have improved my ability to taste (which would make sense as we actually taste with our noses, tongues can only pick up bitter, sour, sweet and salty).
The loss of taste thing was annoying so to find this little 'helper' was wonderful.
Another thing Im finsing is that I think, despite 20 years of smoking, that I'm more addicted to the habit itself than the nicotine or other drugs in cigs. I don't miss smoking - I don't miss it at all - I think mainly because my brain assume that if I put something in my mouth, inhale and blow out 'something', that IS smoking. Doesn't seem to matter WHAT it is (I'm even wondering if this was steam alone it might work).
I know I have a nicotine addiction - although how much of that is actual rather than psychological is hard to say - but it a lot less than I first assumed (or was led to believe by cigarette info). I even vape happily on zero nic stuff, grabbing a quick 'hit' every few hours if I feel I really must (and some days it seems more than others I do 'crave' it).
SO - there you have it - 3 months now, no signs of wanting to return to 'Ash country' and still enjoying the ride

 

[Rosa]

Congratulations to you