FWIW I'm still struggling. started vaping April 9th. i love my gear & found some good juices but the analogs still have me in a stranglehold. i'm not beating myself up i know that one day i'll get there...
Cant Quit the Damned Analogs
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Disagree, and I'll tell you why (and yes, I've done my "Google research.") The fact you were looking for is that American Spirit cigarettes, being made with natural tobacco, do not contain any fillers, additives, or sheet tobacco and therefore are packed with FOUR times more TOBACCO. This translates to more nicotine, yes, so if someone were to smoke just as many of them as a person who smoked analogs with additives, I could maybe see the nicotine addiction being "stronger", persay. But even if that were true, nicotine addiction has little to do with the ability to stop smoking analogs. If all we needed was a nic fix, no one would think about going back to analogs once after vaping, using snus, etc.
The sad fact is (and here's where research comes in) thar American Spirits -are- "additive free." The Sante Fe Natural Tobacco Company maintains that this does not necessarily mean a safer cigarette, however common scientific research shows that several of the approximately 4,999 chemicals and/or additives added to other smokes are not only carcinogenic, but many are also addictive.
Small example for you. 15 of my friends/co-workers/family members made a pact to quit smoking by the end of the summer. No pressure, no winners, just a good support group. Of the 15, 5 of us have successfully quit smoking and of those 5, 4 smoked, and were the only members of the group who smoked, American Spirits. The other had been weening herself off for the year previous and was, at the time, smoking less than half a PAD of ultra lights.
I'm not saying they're safer, in any way, or better for you (if they were, I never would have quit!
), but I am saying it's a good idea to do a fair amount of research to support your claim. I have seen absolutely no evidence, personal experience, scientific fact, or otherwise, to see that they are more addictive, let alone nine times more addictive, than any other analog.
I quit cold turkey 10 years ago for seven whole years but started up again (stupid) about three years ago.
I have been off the cigs for only two weeks by starting the e-cigs about a month ago. There was definitely some overlap for me as there is with many people. Quitting both ways is something I don't think that many of people have experience with. Cold turkey was damn hard and I know I can't go that route again. It just won't happen.
Switching to E-cigs completely though now has given me a little perspective and I have a theory about regular cigs. I know the nicotine is very addictive but I really think that some of those other chemicals in regular cigs make it WAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY more addictive.
When I quit the analogs day three and four were hell. Just like when I quit cold turkey. They weren't nearly as bad as cold turkey I'd say a 6 out of 10 with 10 being my previous experience. I've bumped up the nicotine and fiended out up through day six and then found that I wasn't in a total damn panic when my battery or atomizer went out. Sure I wanted the nicotine but it wasn't an absolute drama. I could wait, it was ok.
Just hang in there to about day five or six, it does get much easier. You will do it when you're ready, don't get down on yourself if you fall back. Starting the clock again with the e-cigs is the easiest thing I've ever tried. Nothing else even compares.
Later, when I'm ready, I'll try to cut down and quit the E-cigs. I'm curious to see how that will compare to quitting analogs. My feeling is that it'll be hard but won't entail the white-knuckled panic I went through in 2001. I may be wrong about that but I'll find out when I'm ready.
If you ask me what kept me hitting the analogs was something in those other 4000 chemicals that you aren't getting with the e-cigs. Just keep the nicotine coming and it'll help with that.
Good Luck!!
I have been off the cigs for only two weeks by starting the e-cigs about a month ago. There was definitely some overlap for me as there is with many people. Quitting both ways is something I don't think that many of people have experience with. Cold turkey was damn hard and I know I can't go that route again. It just won't happen.
Switching to E-cigs completely though now has given me a little perspective and I have a theory about regular cigs. I know the nicotine is very addictive but I really think that some of those other chemicals in regular cigs make it WAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY more addictive.
When I quit the analogs day three and four were hell. Just like when I quit cold turkey. They weren't nearly as bad as cold turkey I'd say a 6 out of 10 with 10 being my previous experience. I've bumped up the nicotine and fiended out up through day six and then found that I wasn't in a total damn panic when my battery or atomizer went out. Sure I wanted the nicotine but it wasn't an absolute drama. I could wait, it was ok.
Just hang in there to about day five or six, it does get much easier. You will do it when you're ready, don't get down on yourself if you fall back. Starting the clock again with the e-cigs is the easiest thing I've ever tried. Nothing else even compares.
Later, when I'm ready, I'll try to cut down and quit the E-cigs. I'm curious to see how that will compare to quitting analogs. My feeling is that it'll be hard but won't entail the white-knuckled panic I went through in 2001. I may be wrong about that but I'll find out when I'm ready.
If you ask me what kept me hitting the analogs was something in those other 4000 chemicals that you aren't getting with the e-cigs. Just keep the nicotine coming and it'll help with that.
Good Luck!!
I started vaping nearly 2 months now... I used to smoke 30 cigarettes a day. Now, I'm down to 3. I credit vaping and this forum as my support group. I've tried so many times to quit and it only lasted a short time, I'd always go back to it. This time around, I decided to quit gradually, where my stress level was at a minimum and kept to a comfort level that I was good with. And because of vaping, I was able to reduce my analog intake bit by bit.
I still have an analog, that wake-up cig is my biggest hurdle right now, but I don't feel bad- I'm only consuming 3 a day now. I think that's great progress in a short amount of time and I don't feel I've denied myself anything. I don't have any feelings of desperation or anxiety- if the urge hits me, I vape. Eventually I'll phase out the analogs completely-- but I'm taking my time. I figure it took me a while to get hooked on cigs- I've been smoking for nearly 30 years. That's a long time. I decided to slowly reduce my cigarette intake at a level that I felt comfortable with and it's been working.
Bottom line is-- I don't feel guilt for still having my morning analogs because I know that eventually I'll complete the transition to vaping 100%. In fact, I've reduced the nic level in my juice already.
If it weren't for the wonderful folks here at ECF, I'd still be struggling and smoking a pack a day or relying on gums and lozenges which I feel are merely a temporary fix. As with any long-term habitt, it's behaviour modification that is key to changing one's lifestyle. I chose to vape on the premise that it would satisfy my oral fixation and the sensation of inhaling something- and that was another big factor to my failures in the past.
My goal is not to replace one addiction for another- but to slowly phase into being nic free at some point. Now that I'm getting more flavours, I'm into that- not the taste for tobacco.
Don't feel guilty or bad about not being able to wean yourself from analogs. It's a process, and one that may take some time. The more you stress out about them, the more you're likely to fail. Just take your time and do what feels comfortable for you. You've already taken the first step by joining this forum and becoming a vaper.
I still have an analog, that wake-up cig is my biggest hurdle right now, but I don't feel bad- I'm only consuming 3 a day now. I think that's great progress in a short amount of time and I don't feel I've denied myself anything. I don't have any feelings of desperation or anxiety- if the urge hits me, I vape. Eventually I'll phase out the analogs completely-- but I'm taking my time. I figure it took me a while to get hooked on cigs- I've been smoking for nearly 30 years. That's a long time. I decided to slowly reduce my cigarette intake at a level that I felt comfortable with and it's been working.
Bottom line is-- I don't feel guilt for still having my morning analogs because I know that eventually I'll complete the transition to vaping 100%. In fact, I've reduced the nic level in my juice already.
If it weren't for the wonderful folks here at ECF, I'd still be struggling and smoking a pack a day or relying on gums and lozenges which I feel are merely a temporary fix. As with any long-term habitt, it's behaviour modification that is key to changing one's lifestyle. I chose to vape on the premise that it would satisfy my oral fixation and the sensation of inhaling something- and that was another big factor to my failures in the past.
My goal is not to replace one addiction for another- but to slowly phase into being nic free at some point. Now that I'm getting more flavours, I'm into that- not the taste for tobacco.
Don't feel guilty or bad about not being able to wean yourself from analogs. It's a process, and one that may take some time. The more you stress out about them, the more you're likely to fail. Just take your time and do what feels comfortable for you. You've already taken the first step by joining this forum and becoming a vaper.
If you wanna quit, just do it. You've got the vaping gear. Whenever you want a cigarette just vape like crazy. I've been on this for a while and when I got my kit, I wasn't trying to quit smoking, just save a little money and I put the cigs down for about a month with NO problems. I still get a pack of Winston every two or three weeks but vaping is saving money. If you wanna totally quit, you gotta MAKE yourself do it. I know this forum ain't about drinkin' but I was a BAD alcoholic and all the cheerleaders in the world couldn't help. The ONLY way I quit was by making my mind up to quit. It's only after we've lost everything that we are free to do anything.
Incatius & Kittypie, no need to beat yourself up. If you used to smoke PAD and only 5 now, it's a 75% reduction, hopefully making you 75% healthier. And if you only smoke 1 a day or occasionally, it's a 90%+ reduction. You're winning, cause for celebration! Life's too short to demand perfection.
Incatius & Kittypie, no need to beat yourself up. If you used to smoke PAD and only 5 now, it's a 75% reduction, hopefully making you 75% healthier. And if you only smoke 1 a day or occasionally, it's a 90%+ reduction. You're winning, cause for celebration! Life's too short to demand perfection.
I agree. You can't let the anti-smoking Nazis or other nuts make you feel badly that you can't go cold turkey and stay quit easily without issue. They don't get it. Any improvements you can make are accomplishments and you should be proud of yourself. No one else's opinion matters.
If you're still finding yourself craving "the real thing", there is a good chance that you are craving more than just nicotine from tobacco. Some people are developing e-liquids that contain Whole Tobacco Alkaloids which is what is suspected to be the "something missing" in traditional e-cig vapor.
WTA e-liquid might help you get away from the analogs, but until it is better understood and more widely available, I would suggest looking into products like Swedish-style Snus or dissolvables--since they are not lit on fire and smoked, they avoid the hazards and byproducts of combustion that cause about 99% of the deaths and diseases associated with any form of tobacco use. Furthermore, the pasteurization process used to make these products removes most of the (potentially) carcinogenic TSNAs to levels comparable to e-cigarettes and pharmaceutical nicotine products.
What flavor e-juice are you using? I found that when i started vaping (and was still smoking) i did not want to have any e-juices that even vaguely resembled any tobacco flavors. I went for Toffee, Caramel, fruit flavors etc. On day one of using the e-cig i still smoked a few analogs. Day 2 i smoked 2 analogs and did not like the taste of them, om day 3 i smoked half an analog i found it downright dirty so put it out. I was vaping 24mg at the time but only sweet nothing to do with tobacco flavors juices. Before i quit smoking analogs i went through about 40 analogs a day of Camel filters but within 2 days i did not want anything to do with analogs anymore.
So maybe the trick is in not wanting to copy the flavor, but going for completely different flavors. Now a while later i do find that i am liking the tobacco flavors again in my e-cigs but i did not try them until i was convinced i would not go back to analogs.
Hope this helps.
So maybe the trick is in not wanting to copy the flavor, but going for completely different flavors. Now a while later i do find that i am liking the tobacco flavors again in my e-cigs but i did not try them until i was convinced i would not go back to analogs.
Hope this helps.
btw i am now back to 11mg juices because i love to vape and do it a lot, so i dont want to overdo the nicotine ;-)
Hello, another newbie to these forums as well as vaping. I also was a 1.5-2 pack a day smoker. At first I made some misinformed purchases (bought my first e cig from gas station) and had a terrible time getting started. As a smoker for 20 yrs now I know I gotta quit, but I like it. I really don't wanna quit. I do want to get off of analogs tho. My first e cig did work ok for a little while, and I bought some juice online to refill as the stuff it came with made me nauseous. As it was I decided to go with Johnson Creek's multi pack, love the flavors but the killed the cartos quick. Yet again another bump in the road.
Well on a good note I received my 510 titan two weeks ago and ordered the tornado that same night. Need a bit more battery life. I've since then read about problems people have been having with JC so ordered some yummy sounding stuff from Ms.T's Bakery. Gonna place an order also for some stuff from tasty vapes tomorrow. Hopefully this will make my system more reliable.
With the titan I'm now down to about 8 a day, and half of that is more mental than addiction I believe. I did get bad headaches the first day trying to go straight to just e ciggs. I believe this is prolly more from the other chemicals I wasn't getting rather than nicotine withdraw. Analogs taste like crap most of the time to me anymore, but for some reason I still reach for them. Next liquid i'm ordering i'm upping the nic. levels, hope this helps also. Wish me luck.
Well on a good note I received my 510 titan two weeks ago and ordered the tornado that same night. Need a bit more battery life. I've since then read about problems people have been having with JC so ordered some yummy sounding stuff from Ms.T's Bakery. Gonna place an order also for some stuff from tasty vapes tomorrow. Hopefully this will make my system more reliable.
With the titan I'm now down to about 8 a day, and half of that is more mental than addiction I believe. I did get bad headaches the first day trying to go straight to just e ciggs. I believe this is prolly more from the other chemicals I wasn't getting rather than nicotine withdraw. Analogs taste like crap most of the time to me anymore, but for some reason I still reach for them. Next liquid i'm ordering i'm upping the nic. levels, hope this helps also. Wish me luck.
Thulium do you know of anything that can be added to e-liquids or cartos to prevent coughing? I went all VG thinking it was the PG causing the cough but only 0mg nic prevented coughing...tried PG samplers 0mg nic ...no cough. So I'm still smoking analogs & having no luck vaping.
I don't want to hijack this thread but I can't get off the analogs.
just remember nicotine isn't the only thing you would detox from if you quit smoking ... all the other chemicals and the tar will start pushing their way out. you have to really want to do this to make it the first few days ..... i started a thread a few weeks ago about it ... not sure how to post the link to it ... but its title is detox from analogs is terrible ... there is a lot of great advice in that thread on what other people went through and how they dealt with it ... if your having trouble you may want to try to check it out ... it helped get me through my first few days without analogs
Did you actually try just VG with nic, or was your "all VG" still something flavored? A little coughing up front is pretty common, as is hoarseness. Try a mouth inhale, pull some vapor into your mouth then remove the PV and complete the inhale with just air. Also drink a lot of water (take a sip before a vape, then after).
(The hoarseness will happen long term, too, if you don't drink enough water -- both VG and PG are humectants, water attractors -- the majority of the vapor on an exhale is the water that it has pulled out of you.)
I think it's important to go with the highest nic content you can stand. Nicotine actually tricks your brain hardware into thinking whatever you are doing at the time is "good for it." If you could control any of this just by wishing, you could just stop, and never think about it again. Some people, like my grandmother, seem to have this super-power kind of ability. Not me.
Probably not you either.
On the bright side, I've read a lot of recent research that actually shows there are real (testable) benefits to nicotine use, but good news doesn't sell newspapers.
Probably not you either.
On the bright side, I've read a lot of recent research that actually shows there are real (testable) benefits to nicotine use, but good news doesn't sell newspapers.
The best way to avoid coughing is to add "smoke free lungs" into the mix.
As long as you continue smoking, you will have bits of "tar" (the sticky residue from burning nicotine) clinging to the aveoli in your lungs. So why is vaping making you cough? "Glycols are hygroscopic. If placed in an atmosphere containing water vapor, they will pick up and retain moisture. This property is responsible for the many applications of glycols as humectants and dehydrating agents." (Source: https://dow-answer.custhelp.com/app...e-glycols---hygroscopicity-&-humectant-values ) The vapor may be absorbing some of the moisture in the "tar" causing you to have a productive cough.
When switching from smoking to vaping, many people find they go through a few weeks of hacking up some of the nastiness that had been building up in their lungs. So if you want the coughing to stop, your best move is to figure out a way to give up those last few daily cigarettes. In the meantime, you can change the way you vape to avoid the coughing: Instead of inhaling directly into your lungs, just suck the vapor into your mouth and then inhale/exhale through your nose. The nicotine in e-cigs can't be absorbed by deep lung tissue, so you don't really need to inhale at ALL except to create the familiar throat hit and coughing anyway.
If you are still wanting cigarettes after vaping, it probably means that you are "addicted" to more than just nicotine: Get thee to a tobacconist and try some snus or dissolvables!
Keep a tin of snus or a pack of Stonewalls or Arivas around and take one any time that you feel like you want "the real thing" and let your body "detox" from years of smoking and the coughing WILL go away. 
I just quit analogs about 2 weeks ago, i was vaping to slow down and eventually just quit wanting one. I think my success was partly not stressing myself over NEEDING to quit. Every analog i would light up I would think about dieing from not being able to breath. I had an aunt die from lung cancer from smoking and my mom told me about the last few minutes of her life. The thought of gasping for air on my death bed going through my mind was my motivation to not pick up another one. I still get cravings when i see a pack or someone smoking but when i smell the smoke it literally offends me. I just chain vape til the craving goes away and feel proud that i didn't cave in.
You will find the perfect vape if you don't give up and when you do it will make the quitting easier. I purchased a ProVari and a tank system for standard carto's, within a week i quit wanting a analog cause the vape was just that good. I enjoy blowing out huge clouds, i think that was part of my smoking enjoyment. Now with the setup i got i can fill the car with a few toots off the PV and just as impressive flavor out of it. I am totally satisfied with vaping finally.
One more thing i would like to add is that after a day has passed the craving for a analog or nic for that matter becomes less urgent. I used to jump out of bed in the morning for my first analog, even wake up in the middle of the night to smoke. Now i just vape when it's convenient rather than it being a priority in my schedule.
I wish you the best of luck!
You will find the perfect vape if you don't give up and when you do it will make the quitting easier. I purchased a ProVari and a tank system for standard carto's, within a week i quit wanting a analog cause the vape was just that good. I enjoy blowing out huge clouds, i think that was part of my smoking enjoyment. Now with the setup i got i can fill the car with a few toots off the PV and just as impressive flavor out of it. I am totally satisfied with vaping finally.
One more thing i would like to add is that after a day has passed the craving for a analog or nic for that matter becomes less urgent. I used to jump out of bed in the morning for my first analog, even wake up in the middle of the night to smoke. Now i just vape when it's convenient rather than it being a priority in my schedule.
I wish you the best of luck!
I didn't have any trouble switching entirely to vaping, but it's not convenient for me to buy analogs (I'm at home during the day home schooling my kids, so no one around me has them. I'd have to go out and buy a pack to get them). My husband, OTOH, works around people who smoke and is out every day, where it's easy to stop and get a pack of cigarettes. He didn't smoke any analogs for, I'm wanting to say, 2 or 3 weeks? Then he started smoking analogs again in addition to vaping. In hindsight, it was when he tried vaping lower nicotine. I agree with what other people have posted, that you should stay at the high nicotine until you manage to quit analogs entirely, and then stay on it for awhile before dropping. I haven't read through all the replies, but you might also want to try a step-down plan: make your day 1 smoking the number of analogs you typically smoke in a day, then limit yourself to one less each subsequent day. That might also give your brain time to adjust to the idea That system works for me.
I do think you'll eventually quit, since you like vaping better and want to quit. That's how my husband feels, too. Just don't give up and don't be too hard on yourself I think the MAOIs are a bigger factor for some than others: definitely a factor for my husband. I think I'm really just looking for the nicotine, since it medicates ADHD, which I have. I don't feel like I'm missing anything without the analogs....UNLESS some crappy situation ramps up my anxiety. Analogs calm anxiety in a way vaping doesn't, but I'm pretty sure that's just the lack of oxygen I should probably just try breathing into a paper bag when that happens I do hope my husband manages to completely cut out the analogs sooner rather than later, since I always wind up smoking one or two when he brings them home If they're not around, I do just fine.
That system works for me. I do think you'll eventually quit, since you like vaping better and want to quit. That's how my husband feels, too. Just don't give up and don't be too hard on yourself
I think the MAOIs are a bigger factor for some than others: definitely a factor for my husband. I think I'm really just looking for the nicotine, since it medicates ADHD, which I have. I don't feel like I'm missing anything without the analogs....UNLESS some crappy situation ramps up my anxiety. Analogs calm anxiety in a way vaping doesn't, but I'm pretty sure that's just the lack of oxygen I should probably just try breathing into a paper bag when that happens I do hope my husband manages to completely cut out the analogs sooner rather than later, since I always wind up smoking one or two when he brings them home If they're not around, I do just fine.
I just started vaping a couple days ago, and Have cut back from a half-1pack a day to 3-4 analogs a day, hopefully once i get the hang of filling carts ill be off the analogs for good, and 100% on vaping
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