Craving for smokes subsided after 3 weeks of vaping

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Nishi

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I'm really happy that after 3 weeks of controlling the urge to have just one cigarette (knowing myself, I wouldn't have stopped at 1/day), I finally don't crave analogs any more.:)
It's do-able! New vapers, don't give in or give up.
In my 27 years of smoking, I'd given them up twice - for 6 months & 8 months with the aid of smoking cessation drugs. I used to love smoking, so I used to restart. With vaping, there is less chance of missing them and going back.

Thanks for the support everyone.
 

dice57

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Well done, everyone, well done. Yeah, vaping has allowed me not having to smoke for over a year now. Have also noticed, when batt dies, or out of juice, I don't panic and feel the need to secure a vape immediately. Know I have plenty of supplies, backups and the collection at home.

Once again, well done, and it just keeps getting better.


Vape long and Prosper.!!!
 

Rickajho

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Hi Nishi!

Can you take some advice from an ex 30 year 2 PAD smoker? Chances are the cravings issue isn't over. It goes in waves that are really compressed and intense when you start, (like those first hours to days to weeks thing) and they get further apart and weaker as you go along. A lot of people report "craving milestones" of sorts - 90 days, at six months etc. Hell, I just hit three years and got this weird notion in my head that I was craving a smoke in the last week.

It didn't happen though. I haven't had one in over three years and am not about to cave now - as long as I have something to vape instead. I'm just throwing out the words of caution, especially for long term smokers who are switching. Smoking is insidious and for a lot of us that monkey is a lot bigger than we think it is and doesn't drop off our back that easy. I'm just saying don't be surprised if cravings cycle back up again. If/when that happens you have better options now: Chain vape through a cravings fit, temporarily up your nic level, even switching flavors can be enough to deal effectively with a craving problem.

It gets easier and better the longer you have vaped and are away from smoking. You have reached a major milestone. Keep going!
 

AndriaD

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I always keep in mind a) craving isn't the same as doing, and b) nobody ever died from a craving. That helped me a lot with getting sober (and staying that way!). It helped a lot back in March, when I became smoke-free for the first time in 39 yrs. This second time around, I admit, the cravings got pretty bad in my 2nd week -- luckily I had some WTA already on hand, which I had planned on starting just before I hit 3 wks, so I started on it a bit early, and then it was like... "what craving?"

Andria
 

Nishi

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Aug 4, 2014
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Mumbai, India
Hi Nishi!

Can you take some advice from an ex 30 year 2 PAD smoker? Chances are the cravings issue isn't over. It goes in waves that are really compressed and intense when you start, (like those first hours to days to weeks thing) and they get further apart and weaker as you go along. A lot of people report "craving milestones" of sorts - 90 days, at six months etc. Hell, I just hit three years and got this weird notion in my head that I was craving a smoke in the last week.

It didn't happen though. I haven't had one in over three years and am not about to cave now - as long as I have something to vape instead. I'm just throwing out the words of caution, especially for long term smokers who are switching. Smoking is insidious and for a lot of us that monkey is a lot bigger than we think it is and doesn't drop off our back that easy. I'm just saying don't be surprised if cravings cycle back up again. If/when that happens you have better options now: Chain vape through a cravings fit, temporarily up your nic level, even switching flavors can be enough to deal effectively with a craving problem.

It gets easier and better the longer you have vaped and are away from smoking. You have reached a major milestone. Keep going!

Hi Rickajho.

Oh! I didn't know that.Thanks. I'll be cautious.
Is it possible that vaping reminds us of smoking? On the other hand if it wasn't for it, quitting long term would be difficult.
 
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Robino1

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Hi Rickajho.

Oh! I didn't know that.Thanks. I'll be cautious.
Is it possible that vaping reminds us of smoking? On the other hand if it wasn't for it, quitting long term would be difficult.

I don't think that it reminds us of smoking. Nicotine, although not as bad as other drugs, is still an addictive substance. The brain sometimes wants the other chemicals that are in cigarettes. Those chemicals are what the brain wants us to go back to.

If nicotine were the only culprit, vaping would totally take care of this issue and would become a non-issue. Remember, cigarettes were engineered to deliver nic more efficiently and some of those things put into cigs are addicting in their own way. Not to mention alkaloids and MAOI's that are found in tobacco but not in the nic that is used for e-liquid.

Just be vigilant and know that there is a possibility that a craving could take you by surprise down the road. It will pass and the longer you are away from cigs, the faster that craving will pass. I'm almost at 2 years (!!!!!) now. I figure at year 3 I will get another craving jolt, like Rick stated he had. I'm prepared for it mentally. I know it will more than likely come. Just knowing helps prepare me. :)

Congrats and welcome!
 

Rickajho

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I don't think that it reminds us of smoking. Nicotine, although not as bad as other drugs, is still an addictive substance. The brain sometimes wants the other chemicals that are in cigarettes. Those chemicals are what the brain wants us to go back to.

If nicotine were the only culprit, vaping would totally take care of this issue and would become a non-issue. Remember, cigarettes were engineered to deliver nic more efficiently and some of those things put into cigs are addicting in their own way. Not to mention alkaloids and MAOI's that are found in tobacco but not in the nic that is used for e-liquid.

Just be vigilant and know that there is a possibility that a craving could take you by surprise down the road. It will pass and the longer you are away from cigs, the faster that craving will pass. I'm almost at 2 years (!!!!!) now. I figure at year 3 I will get another craving jolt, like Rick stated he had. I'm prepared for it mentally. I know it will more than likely come. Just knowing helps prepare me. :)

Congrats and welcome!

It wasn't much of a thing - the three year one - but it was... there. This mental picture that a smoke was going to taste good. At the three year point it isn't like a craving that sends you over a cliff or anything, but without vaping I can see how that 'lil craving could have easily turned into "...maybe I'll try one." And "... maybe I'll try one" is how my 30 year smoking binge got started.

I don't think it's because vaping reminds us of smoking at all. For us long term smokers we were getting our brain zotzed with the chemical hot mess that smoking delivers for decades. There is a lot going on with smoking that is not delivered by vaping. This isn't just about replacing nicotine with nicotine. Those "wanna cigarette" cravings are based in a deeper chemistry of addiction, one that vaping can help you deal with but can't completely eradicate either. Not for a lot of us.

Over the years we have had people who went down the path of quitting smoking with vaping, to lowering their nic level to 0 mg, to quitting vaping. For two years or more even... only to return here - and to vaping - when a full blown smoking relapse craving fit was staring them in the face. Ideally any of us who quit smoking would just as soon not be vaping either. For us it was smoking, after all, that brought us here. And if you can quit vaping as well - I have no problem with that. Just be alert and aware that if a quit smoking relapse stares you down you have better choices this time around than returning to smoking. That's all. If quitting for good was really easy we all would have done it - decades ago.

I didn't mean to get ahead of you Nishi, but if you do find your cravings rearing up again as you march forward at least you won't be all that surprised either. :p
 
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