Blatant appeal for encouragement

[KathyB]

AIEEEEEEEEE8-o

My hubby, Steven.rn on the forums, quit smoking and started vaping- and went off analogs a couple of months ago.

When I met him, I had been off cigarettes for 16 years... guessed who kinda made it easier to relapse

Anyway, I've been casually vaping along with him (as he keeps getting me one of everything he's using) and it's .... ok... kinda likable, but oh my word is it ever tough to put down that last analog. I've been kinda happy smoking/vaping (5-6 analogs a day) and yesterday I had my morning analog- and now it's 24 hours since I had an analog... I put on a patch and vaped all day yesterday to boot just to keep the craving down- mostly, it's a craving for that "real hit" analogs give (or I think they give).

I'm filled with a mix of sadness (like the death of a friend) and fear (oh my god what if I never have another analog.... aieeeeeee) and gosh knows how many other things.

It's funny how smoking analogs is kinda like drinking- I don't drink, but damn.... you have one analog and you can "fall off the wagon".

Hubby encouraged me to post and ask for encouragement- I don't know if that will help, but mostly he has decent ideas (except for the crackpot ones). Tips, tricks, lifelines, whatever.... help!



Krumbling Kathy

 

[Rusty]

I had major smoke withdrawal at first. I found that holding my drags on the PV helped - increasing CO to the brain, replicating one of the other properties of tobacco smoke.

Hope that helps you


Rusty

 

[RenaissancePuffer]

My girl has the same thing, and I've tried to brainstorm with her to pinpoint what exactly is missing (I've quit smoking completely, haven't had an analog since I got my PV), but she still smokes 2-3 packs a week plus vaping. She can't say what's missing, but it's "something". For now, I'm happy with her reduction in analogs, but am hopeful that one day she'll be able to switch completely.

It could be a throat hit that you miss, or could be the level of nicotine in your liquid. Hopefully not the flavor that you miss tho!

 

[RazorNribbonz]

Gosh I felt your pain in that post lol....My suggestion would be to stop thinking in long term..Trick your brain..Use goals- I'm going to vape for one whole week if it kills me...After that week try real hard to go for two. (and know, most who stick to vaping even with a slip or two) find that after 2 full weeks of vaping..The taste of analogs seriously declines fast..Along with your breathing improving,your teeth being whiter, and not smelling like an ashtray..Are all really strong incentives...

Glad to see you on the forum..Reading this forum is kind of like therapy..You get encouragement ( there is a "quitting" analogs forum too) and learn so much...Wrap your brain completely around it lol.. Like your husband, totally get into the hobby..Find a supplier that has a ton of samples/flavors..Then YOU introduce hubby to that excellent new flavor..( finding the perfect flavor that is your go to, all day vape) Is really key in my opinion

Last but not least...If you are truely just not ready to quit and only doing it for hubbys sake..It may just not be your time yet (although I would strongly suggest trying all the steps above first) do the two week goal thing, you might honestly surprise the h*ll out of yourself (smile)..
And if you do decide it's just not the time..I would still continue collecting everything and vaping...That way when your ready..It's all right there at your fingertips...I wish you good luck Kathy and welcome..

edit> actually rennaissance, what's missing is the numerous amount of added chemicals that you are also withdrawing from that are not found in e-cigs.. ie: rat poisoning/amonia blah blah
All these are highly addicting.. It's the one thing an e-cig isn't going to replace and the withdrawl you DO have to fight :: sigh

 

[bubbleoffplumb]

out of curiosity, which device(s) are you using?
and what mg nic juice are you using?

cigarette addiction is a wild thing. it plays with your mind - at least it did with me.
I always considered it part of that "junkie" mentality.
and it certainly kicks into high gear when it's being threatened, doesn't it?

I cut down tremendously as soon as I got my first pv, didn't put any pressure on myself. after a weeks time I was down to 1 - 3 tobacco cigs a day.

I think what helped most to get me over that last hump was using the pv at the standard cigarette times. morning after meals etc. telling myself if I still wanted a cig after that I could have one. I never did.

...until of course the first days when I didn't have any tobacco at all (there's that junkie mentality rearing it's ugly head again).

what helped me at that point was - I've gone this long, why stop now?

pv's made it so much easier than anything else. I'm very much still addicted to the hand mouth inhale exhale thing, but I've been tobacco free for about 5 weeks now.

I like Rusty's suggestion of holding drags.
I would also suggest having a special cart of higher nicotine available to help calm you if it gets stressful.

Be conscious of how great your hair and clothes smell now
good luck to you!

 

[malyden]

Welcome to the forum KathyB! Don't feel discouraged somethings do not happen as easily for some people (myself included). Remember there is more to an analog than just nicotine so you're addicted to not only the nicotine but also to any number of chemical combinations. I have been using PVs since december and I still use analogs, granted I am not happy with this fact but I know that eventually I will get where I want to - it just might take me a little longer.
Some of the things that I have found to help me are:
While smoking an analog have your PV in the other hand and alternate one drag from the cig one drag from your PV - I find myself hitting the PV more than the cig.
Instead of grabbing that first analog cig force yourself to grab your PV
If you find yourself still craving a analog after you've used your PV try a slightly higher nic content and use alternate it with the lower nic.

Slow and steady will get you where your headed it'll just take u a little longer!

 

[Narcissus]

I feel your pain, Kathy. As a 20+ year smoker, I have had my share of 'quit attempts'. I was never successful (I'm hoping the e-cig will work when it gets here), but I can offer as much moral and emotional support as you are willing to take.

If you like, I can give you my cell number and I can talk with you (night or day) when you are having a terrible moment. There isn't much more that I can offer, but I do know the pain and stress can be overwhelming from trying to quit and sometimes talking to a stranger about those things is better than a loved one (fear of admitting failure or the chance of it to them can just add to the stress).

Good luck and I wish you the very best ...

Eli

 

[steven.rn]

AIEEEEEEEEE8-o

My hubby, Steven.rn on the forums, quit smoking and started vaping- and went off analogs a couple of months ago.

When I met him, I had been off cigarettes for 16 years... guessed who kinda made it easier to relapse

...



Krumbling Kathy

Wow moopy,

I'm glad to see you did post this and even gladder to see so many helping hands chime in to pass along stuff-- there's stuff here I wouldn't necessarily think of saying about getting off analogs- I just got the head down bull your way through it mentality trying to toss off the analog monkey off my back so that come september, I wouldn't actually hit that "40 years of analogs" mark

 

[KathyB]

out of curiosity, which device(s) are you using?
and what mg nic juice are you using?

cigarette addiction is a wild thing. it plays with your mind - at least it did with me.
I always considered it part of that "junkie" mentality.
and it certainly kicks into high gear when it's being threatened, doesn't it?

I cut down tremendously as soon as I got my first pv, didn't put any pressure on myself. after a weeks time I was down to 1 - 3 tobacco cigs a day.

I think what helped most to get me over that last hump was using the pv at the standard cigarette times. morning after meals etc. telling myself if I still wanted a cig after that I could have one. I never did.

...until of course the first days when I didn't have any tobacco at all (there's that junkie mentality rearing it's ugly head again).

what helped me at that point was - I've gone this long, why stop now?

pv's made it so much easier than anything else. I'm very much still addicted to the hand mouth inhale exhale thing, but I've been tobacco free for about 5 weeks now.

I like Rusty's suggestion of holding drags.
I would also suggest having a special cart of higher nicotine available to help calm you if it gets stressful.

Be conscious of how great your hair and clothes smell now
good luck to you!

Hi Verdana! Thank you for your input! We are using the "510" with 24mg liquid. It is the funniest thing, but my first 24 hours off analogs, I sat on the couch all day popping bubble wrap and vaping with my 510. In between, I was on the computer. These got me through, and I'm now finishing up my second day - analog free! I'm so proud of myself. I was going back & forth between analogs (6/day) & the PV before. I finally decided to just "cold turkey" it and I'm already starting to feel better. I still have some "tugs" in my brain thinking I want an analog, but I'm going to see how long I go without one. Thanks for the encouragement! -KathyB

 

[KathyB]

woops - read the "font" name and thought it was your log-in name BubbleOffPlumb. Talk about being a newby

 

[KathyB]

Gosh I felt your pain in that post lol....My suggestion would be to stop thinking in long term..Trick your brain..Use goals- I'm going to vape for one whole week if it kills me...After that week try real hard to go for two. (and know, most who stick to vaping even with a slip or two) find that after 2 full weeks of vaping..The taste of analogs seriously declines fast..Along with your breathing improving,your teeth being whiter, and not smelling like an ashtray..Are all really strong incentives...

Glad to see you on the forum..Reading this forum is kind of like therapy..You get encouragement ( there is a "quitting" analogs forum too) and learn so much...Wrap your brain completely around it lol.. Like your husband, totally get into the hobby..Find a supplier that has a ton of samples/flavors..Then YOU introduce hubby to that excellent new flavor..( finding the perfect flavor that is your go to, all day vape) Is really key in my opinion

Last but not least...If you are truely just not ready to quit and only doing it for hubbys sake..It may just not be your time yet (although I would strongly suggest trying all the steps above first) do the two week goal thing, you might honestly surprise the h*ll out of yourself (smile)..
And if you do decide it's just not the time..I would still continue collecting everything and vaping...That way when your ready..It's all right there at your fingertips...I wish you good luck Kathy and welcome..

edit> actually rennaissance, what's missing is the numerous amount of added chemicals that you are also withdrawing from that are not found in e-cigs.. ie: rat poisoning/amonia blah blah
All these are highly addicting.. It's the one thing an e-cig isn't going to replace and the withdrawl you DO have to fight :: sigh

Hi RazorNRibbonz! Thank you so much for your message of encouragement. Yes indeed, this forum is very helpful, I'm finding out. It is the funniest thing, but yesterday I decided to just go analog-free and spent the whole day on the couch popping bubble wrap and vaping my 510, in between running to the computer every few minutes. These got me through and I'm now finishing up my second day without tobacco! I think I'm on my way. The hardest times (morning, after meals, etc.) is when I "treat" myself to a real vaping session and it seems to help. Thanx again for chatting about it with me. KathyB

 

[Boredoftheworld]

moopy

Good grief, that's so cute I may just go into a sugar coma.

Meanwhile, I have some advice, no, wait, I just can't do it... MOOPY?!

How the heck am I supposed to give vaping advice to someone who was just called Moopy in front of God and everybody?

Well, I'll try, but it's not going to be easy.

Try as many different juice flavors as you can get your hands on. Something is bound to eventually just click into place, with me it was chocolate. Luckily chocolate was the second or third flavor I tried. I've gone through around 35 other flavors since then and I always go back to the chocolate, I just realized I've gone through 70ml of it since I started vaping.

My point, such as it is, is that if I had a choice between some of the "flavors" that are out there and an analog there's a slight chance that I might go for the analog but if it was chocolate vs an analog there's no contest.

Of course, now that I think about it I don't know what I was laughing about earlier, I'm almost 42 years old and I have a freaking bunny as an avatar.

 

[KathyB]

I feel your pain, Kathy. As a 20+ year smoker, I have had my share of 'quit attempts'. I was never successful (I'm hoping the e-cig will work when it gets here), but I can offer as much moral and emotional support as you are willing to take.

If you like, I can give you my cell number and I can talk with you (night or day) when you are having a terrible moment. There isn't much more that I can offer, but I do know the pain and stress can be overwhelming from trying to quit and sometimes talking to a stranger about those things is better than a loved one (fear of admitting failure or the chance of it to them can just add to the stress).

Good luck and I wish you the very best ...

Eli

Hi Eli! Thank you so much for your kind words of encouragement. Sure..I'd love to have a personal chat sometime. I am now finishing up my 2nd day totally off analogs and already feel better. I had been going back & forth between the tobacco (5-6 cigarettes/day) and the e-cigs for over a month now. Just decided to try the cold-turkey route and I'm so happy I made it this far already. Thx again for caring! KathyB

 

[KathyB]

Good grief, that's so cute I may just go into a sugar coma.

Meanwhile, I have some advice, no, wait, I just can't do it... MOOPY?!

How the heck am I supposed to give vaping advice to someone who was just called Moopy in front of God and everybody?

Well, I'll try, but it's not going to be easy.

Try as many different juice flavors as you can get your hands on. Something is bound to eventually just click into place, with me it was chocolate. Luckily chocolate was the second or third flavor I tried. I've gone through around 35 other flavors since then and I always go back to the chocolate, I just realized I've gone through 70ml of it since I started vaping.

My point, such as it is, is that if I had a choice between some of the "flavors" that are out there and an analog there's a slight chance that I might go for the analog but if it was chocolate vs an analog there's no contest.

Of course, now that I think about it I don't know what I was laughing about earlier, I'm almost 42 years old and I have a freaking bunny as an avatar.

Hi BoredoftheWorld! You are just too funny! I almost peed my pants reading your message! It's a long story, but my hubby & I started calling each other "Moopy" long ago when we were dating in order to get our teenagers (from previous marriages) ticked off and to leave us alone. Moopy is short for "Schmoopy" - from an old "Seinfeld" episode. At any rate, I was glad to hear you like the chocolate - I've never tried it. But you are right about switching around with different flavors--some I've hated and some are pretty good. I think I'm getting there, slowly. Right now, I'm finishing up my second day analog free! WooHoo for me! Thx again. - KathyB

 

[maryjo]

Kathy - hang in there - it will get better. I bought my first e-cig last year and kinda played with it. Lost an atty early and didn't have a replacement so I smoked while I was waiting on the new atty. I finally decided to take the plunge and quit analogs. My husband got sick and ended up spending just over a week in the hospital. I picked the analogs up again while he was there.

After he got out of the hospital I was coming home from one of the kids softball games that went way late, and I ran out of cigarettes. My first thought was - what if all the stores are closed and I can't find a cigarette. I started getting nervous. Then I decided that if I didn't pass a store that was opened I would just quit tonight. Well I did not pass a store that was open. Long story short - I still haven't bought another pack of cigs and that was about 12 weeks ago.

About a month ago I was digging around in my pantry and OMG there was a pack of cigarettes - my brand - my cigs. Must have fallen out of a carton at some point. I cannot tell you what a feeling of euphoria that gave me. It defies logic. I just stared at them for a few minutes. Then the internal battle began.

That pack of cigarettes are still in my pantry. I still see them everytime I open that door. Common sense says to throw them in the trash, but by golly those are MY cigs.

I feel pretty sure that I am not going to smoke those cigarettes, and to be honest, at this point I do not get the cravings that I once had. But you know what? If someone told me that the world was comming to an end or I was gonna die soon I would grab that pack of cigs and smoke every last one of them.

My point is that we can do this. I wish you the best of luck.

MJ

 

[KathyB]

Kathy - hang in there - it will get better. I bought my first e-cig last year and kinda played with it. Lost an atty early and didn't have a replacement so I smoked while I was waiting on the new atty. I finally decided to take the plunge and quit analogs. My husband got sick and ended up spending just over a week in the hospital. I picked the analogs up again while he was there.

After he got out of the hospital I was coming home from one of the kids softball games that went way late, and I ran out of cigarettes. My first thought was - what if all the stores are closed and I can't find a cigarette. I started getting nervous. Then I decided that if I didn't pass a store that was opened I would just quit tonight. Well I did not pass a store that was open. Long story short - I still haven't bought another pack of cigs and that was about 12 weeks ago.

About a month ago I was digging around in my pantry and OMG there was a pack of cigarettes - my brand - my cigs. Must have fallen out of a carton at some point. I cannot tell you what a feeling of euphoria that gave me. It defies logic. I just stared at them for a few minutes. Then the internal battle began.

That pack of cigarettes are still in my pantry. I still see them everytime I open that door. Common sense says to throw them in the trash, but by golly those are MY cigs.

I feel pretty sure that I am not going to smoke those cigarettes, and to be honest, at this point I do not get the cravings that I once had. But you know what? If someone told me that the world was comming to an end or I was gonna die soon I would grab that pack of cigs and smoke every last one of them.

My point is that we can do this. I wish you the best of luck.

MJ

Hi MaryJo - Wow - i loved your story - thanks for sharing it. As of right now, I am finishing up my 2nd day analog free!! Yesterday morning I just decided to go "cold turkey". I spent the whole day on the couch popping bubble wrap, vaping my e-cig, and running to the computer every few minutes. It got me through. I tell my mind that I'm going to "treat" myself (mornings, after meals, etc.--the hardest times) to an e-cig and then I have one heck of a vaping session. Hey, it's helped. I still have 1/2 a pack of MY tobacco smokes out in the garage, and like you said, if something super tragic happened, I'd be out there smoking them. So far, I'm on my way and I already FEEL better - I'm actually surprised. I had been wheezing/coughing to the point it was scaring me. So...thanks again for your words of encouragement....and I'll keep hanging in there! KathyB

 

[Ryle]

Hi Kathy.. I know your pain.. I was backed into a corner and basically forced to give up analogs and I felt the same way your origional post seemed to be feeling.. I was in panic mode for like two days (I've got a good sized thread around here somewhere on it.. lots of encouraging words there from a lot of people if you want to take the time to find it) It took me 3 days to fully calm down 8-o But now... as my ticker says, it's been a while and I don't regret toughing it out. This forum is a great place filled with wonderful people and we're here to hold your hand when/if you need it.

BTW starting a ticker seems to help as a silent form of encouragment too.. I see other people's tickers up to hundreds of days smoke free and I keep thinking to myself "I want mine to look like that!" so I watch it and wait and know that if I smoke 1 analog I have to restart the ticker.. and we can't have any of that now can we??

 

[Vapinginmyboots]

Hey there! I had a lot of trouble letting go of the analogs also since my 1st e-cig in march. I was a 2 pack + a day smoker for many years (wow I really love to use the word "was" ). Keep trying at it, youll eventually come to like the flavors and such, and even the clean feeling of the throat hit, more than any analog could ever provide. Its just a matter of getting used to it. The further away from that last analog you get, the more out-of-mind (and disgusting) that last analog becomes. The e-cig broke the back of my hopeless addiction, as it could do for you. One more thing, ive found that feeling of dryness in the mouth and throat most not likely caused by the PG IMO, but the cig chemicals leaving the body. It only lasted me about a week, just drink plenty of fluids!

PS: If you happen to slip up (congrads on quitting btw!), the worst thing that could happen is a smokefree banner reset lol. Dont beat yourself up if u do slip up, temptation WILL come, but get as far away timewise from those nasty analogs and try not to slip up. Then the temptations just dissapear! trust me on that

 

[Porphy]

I got my PV and haven't had an analog since. That's not to say the craving wasn't there the first few days but I set my mind to the fact that every time I had an analog craving I would vape it away, and it worked. The craving does go away. You're fulfilling the psychological part of the craving just going through the motions of vaping. At that point all you have to do is maintain it long enough to counter the chemical need.

Make it an attainable goal that you know you can accomplish in your mind. If your good at playing cards then visualize getting a flush and taking the pot as you vape. If you like cooking imagine setting out the perfect turkey for T-day. Don't make the goal "not smoking the analog" make it something you can or do, do everyday.

If it helps manage it like an OCD (that's my schtick) control your breathing, increase your O2 or CO2 whatever works for you, and make sure you're inhaling it to meet your needs.

Just some random thoughts. I hope they help.

 

[Vince1]

Hi Kathy, Welcome to ECF.

The trick to using vaping to quit analogs is to make sure your e-cig is giving you as much nicotine as you were getting before.
This is why people fail with the NRTs (patches and gum,etc). These don't have near enough nic for a real smoker to stop cravings at first then taper down (thanks FDA). It's the same with the e-cig, start high then taper down.
How many cigs did you smoke each day and what strength juice are you using?
I found using the vaporizer is different then a cig. I just kind of puff a few puffs at a time but more often then I would have a smoke.

(Hang in there smoopy woopy) hahaha