Describe your experience switching from cigarettes to e-cigarettes

[alex8039]

I'm on about day 5 or 6 now of vaping. Initially I found e-cigs made my cravings go away, to me it the way I can describe it is like if you are hungry and craving a meal, and take a magic pill that makes you feel full, you never got the satisfaction of eating that meal but you feel satisfied enough to not eat.

I'm finding vaping I can feel like a pack-a-day smoker with 1-2 cigarettes a day, as in I'm don't feel I am sacrificing anything. But last 2 days I made the decision to avoid analogs and I'm getting that familiar anxiety I got when I quit cold turkey, like I'm giving something up, and it eats at you until you want to give in. But I'm holding out, and tweaking my habits to see a difference. I know about WTA's and snus but really I want to just forget about it all for good, hopefully my mind will adjust to my will.

Anyone experience something like this or different?

 

[wandawag]

when that familiar anxiety hits you....vape away!

 

[Gemini76]

My experience is similar, I like the meal analogy btw. After the 2nd day the craving was much easier to deal with.

I was told something a long time ago that I think is very true. Smokers never become 'non smokers'. We become 'Ex smokers'.

The main difference is there will always be that memory of smoking and possibly a temptation. Accepting that may help. For me, the health benefits of vaping are enough to keep me off of smokes.

I wish you luck, and encourage you to stick with it.

 

[steelshoe552]

Absolutely, after bout 3 days of no analogs the anxiety kicked in. Immediatly went to the vape shop and picked up 24mg nic. Juice. Anytime I felt like I wanted an analog i'd start hitting that...week later the "craving" was gone and now i'm alternating between 12mg and 18mg. It gets way better keep at it! You will find your vaper heavean! (six weeks yesterday without an analog!)

 

[charmschool]

I envy the people that were able to pick up the ecig & not look back. I'm not one of them. I actually made it analog free for 2 months before the anxiety got so bad I went on a mild antidpressant (Celexa for me). Read up on nicotine & alkaloid addiction. Turns out quite a few of us have been using analogs to self-medicate underlying conditions. You may just be experiencing cigarette withdrawal, but if it lasts more than a couple of weeks, you might want to talk to your dr. about it. I'm now 5 months in, and still smoking 1-2 stinkies a day (more as a security blanket now & I think I'm close to my last one), but every one I don't smoke & don't miss now is a victory.

 

[Tim In Az]

It gets easier/ better! Stick with it. After a few more weeks the smell of a stinky will repulse you
You got this

 

[Oktyabr]

Tried several times the same way for a few years. For me and my wife it never worked, which I blame mostly on only having weak "cig-a-likes" and not enough nicotine in our juice (18mg), the rest I blame on not relearning the psychological habits of smoking... They had to look like cigarettes, work like cigarettes (automatic batteries) and juice had to taste like cigarettes... sort of. Some how the e-cigs never magically became that perfect cigarette replacement... but I found that real cigarettes easily became a replacement for the pretender. Ooops!

Walked into a new local B&M, headed straight for the best battery they had there (a Vision 1300mah Spinner, in chrome), a couple of cheap clearomizer tanks and a bottle of their *strongest* juice... 36mg... in "Pixie Dust", decidedly NOT a tobacco flavor. Did that Friday afternoon and vaped the heck out of it. By Sunday morning I had a pretty good nicotine hangover but hadn't had a single puff off of a cigarette all weekend. Went back Monday and got some 24mg and 18mg juice (still no tobacco flavors!) and mail ordered spare batteries, more tanks, etc. My wife quit exactly the same way a week later. Passed on the rest of that first 36mg bottle to a friend who wanted to quit, etc.

Still puff on 24mg if we go out for the night, etc. If I'm home on a rainy weekend, etc. I favor 18mg but slowly I'm discovering even 12mg is doing the job, if I am somewhere I am free to vape as I like. If I *ever* feel even the slightest hint of a craving for one of those cancer sticks (I still have two and half packs left) I immediately hit my vape, going up to 24mg if needed. But I really don't remember craving one for at least the last week or so.

Congrats to anyone than has the determination and mind set to make the switch! And welcome to ECF

 

[Telescope Neil]

i thought cigarettes were the best thing ever, but I knew i was slowly dying because of it so i tried vaping. my first 2 days still had a cig, but it was only 1 per day. after that i didn't try one, but I still wanted one even though I already had my nic fix. The craving for cigs went away after 5 days, and I never had one for 3 months now. I still kinda remember how smoking was like, and sometimes I want one, but only because I'm the only vaper within my neighborhood, and all of my friends here are smoking. when I see them smoke, I see myself from before when I had one with them. After that, I take a drag from my PV and then I tell myself, "This is .......ing better than that!"

 

[Alexander Mundy]

Same experience here, tried WTA and it did give me the "calm", but not for long. It left me with that half satisfied feeling I spent days getting over already! I have 2 10ml 24mg WTA tobacco flavors that will not be used by me any further. Took several days to get over that half satisfied feeling again. I will do without the "calm" as the "half satisfied" feeling would probably lead me back to analogs. Of course, as with all drugs, everyone is different. As example: Morphine did nothing for me in the ER even at max legal limit, but one shot of Demerol and I didn't care what they did to me.

 

[alex8039]

I envy the people that were able to pick up the ecig & not look back. I'm not one of them. I actually made it analog free for 2 months before the anxiety got so bad I went on a mild antidpressant (Celexa for me). Read up on nicotine & alkaloid addiction. Turns out quite a few of us have been using analogs to self-medicate underlying conditions. You may just be experiencing cigarette withdrawal, but if it lasts more than a couple of weeks, you might want to talk to your dr. about it. I'm now 5 months in, and still smoking 1-2 stinkies a day (more as a security blanket now & I think I'm close to my last one), but every one I don't smoke & don't miss now is a victory.

Yeah this is my fear. I do think I have an 'underlying' condition but I'm trying to figure out if it's due to smoking, as it was the only major life-change I made before I experienced certain 'symptoms'. There were times when having a smoke was the only way I could see a point to anything, but I found I became like zombie lighting up every time faced with an issue or experiencing euphoria. Kinda leveled me out and giving up smoking feels like taking the training wheels off in life.

 

[alex8039]

I think another big mistake I'm making is expecting for there to be some big shift when quitting. I've made such a big deal about giving up smoking, I'm expecting some huge reward for all this mental strife and to finally reach a state of freedom where I look at my past addiction and laugh about it all, smell cigarette smoke and have it seem like a completely foreign substance. Realizing this isn't the case tho I'm finding it a little easier to keep going and not over think things.

 

[charmschool]

Yeah this is my fear. I do think I have an 'underlying' condition but I'm trying to figure out if it's due to smoking, as it was the only major life-change I made before I experienced certain 'symptoms'. There were times when having a smoke was the only way I could see a point to anything, but I found I became like zombie lighting up every time faced with an issue or experiencing euphoria. Kinda leveled me out and giving up smoking feels like taking the training wheels off in life.

Don't fear it, it's really not a big deal, just wonky brain chemistry. Some people have diabetes, or other conditions. You know, Chantix, the most widely used smoking cessation drug, was originally developed as an antidepressant - it just had the unexpected side effect of causing patients to quit smoking out of the blue. Taking one little pill a day has restored the "me" I was before I quit analogs, nothing more, nothing less, except I breathe better, my sense of taste is off the charts & I don't smell like an ashtray any more.

 

[alex8039]

Don't fear it, it's really not a big deal, just wonky brain chemistry. Some people have diabetes, or other conditions. You know, Chantix, the most widely used smoking cessation drug, was originally developed as an antidepressant - it just had the unexpected side effect of causing patients to quit smoking out of the blue. Taking one little pill a day has restored the "me" I was before I quit analogs, nothing more, nothing less, except I breathe better, my sense of taste is off the charts & I don't smell like an ashtray any more.

So you only felt out of whack when giving them up or during smoking as well? Because for the most of the time I've been smoking I haven't quite felt like 'me', I've only been at it for a bit over a year but the addiction escalated heavily

 

[chimsweep]

I am not only a vaper but a doctor, well not really a doctor, but I play one on the forum. For me, I got an EgoC kit out of curiosity talking with a friend of mine. No real intention of quitting...I had failed so many times in the past. Half a dozen times with the patch....smoked regularly on the heavy dose, chantix sort of worked for a week or so...then back to the stinkies soon enough. So I had worked all night and the wife was busy so she couldn't go by the PO Saturday morning, so I got up and went. Lo and behold there was this contraption. Sat in the car, dead tired but managed to piece it together.....and tried it out. Not bad, hit it a few times and then went to bed, had to go back for another shift of 12. Got up that afternoon and while I was making my coffee, there was the PV....hmm...we never smoked in the house, thought to myself.....hmm..no second hand smoke....tried it again....nothing. Checked the batteries....nothing. Now my coffee was ready...so I sat down in the recliner and proceeded to solve what could possibly be wrong. Batteries.....the atomizer thingy....NOTHING...2 hours......120 minutes...........this cheap #@%&%#$.....suddenly I realized I just wasted $100 on this useless piece of ******, ...????????????? Looking at the clock I realized I had to get going......thought about maybe the directions, but I HAD used it that morning.......it's cheap, broke, and I'm frustrated....I NEED A CIGARETTE......walked back into the kitchen and it hit me Now I may be a play doctor, I'm no rocket scientist.....the button.....that little button I don't know if any of you can relate...probably not...it's a little embarassing...alright a whole lotta embarassing....that fricken little button....I had used it right out of the box that morning......two hours.....aaaaarrrrrrrrrrggggghhhhhh....I never picked up a stinkie.....no great courage...nothing to do perserverance...... a lot to do with stupidity I realized that this piece of cheap metal had kept me from a stinkie all day....I showered and drove to work....vape in hand. I believe we not only deal with the nic withdrawals, but the mind dealings with smoking. Checking your pockets for a cigarette and lighter, then realizing you haven't smoked in a few weeks. The ejuice 24mg takes care of the cravings and I have to deal with the mind games. This is the last time I will mention this story....for my embarassment and your boredom.

 

[Dirty40oz]

very hard I can vape all week with my halo g6 but when the weekend gets here and I drink I still buy a pack of newports once and awhile.

 

[eddy230379]

been smoking for the last 16 years ... vaping for the past 3 months ... cant say enough that i like the convenience of vaping ... i can vape in my room and car without that pesky smell ... not mentioning i feel great and do not cough as much as when i used to smoke ... all in all it was because of health and the savings on my hard earned cash ... never looked back since the switch ...

 

[Ratstar]

I messed with the ones that look like cigs off and on but didn't do it for me. Had a couple friends recomend a stronger set up. Not willing to give up completely I got the system and did vape and analogs for about a week. Then refused to buy more analogs. So far so good (going on a week). I will get a strong out of the blue craving every once in a while but the ecig is doing the trick. Also love the different flavors (mango currently my fav).

The biggest insentive for me right now is to be able to run without feeling like I'm breathing through a wet washcloth. Not there yet but getting better.

 

[charmschool]

So you only felt out of whack when giving them up or during smoking as well? Because for the most of the time I've been smoking I haven't quite felt like 'me', I've only been at it for a bit over a year but the addiction escalated heavily

Oh my, I've been smoking since I was 15, so I don't really have much memory of how it felt before I started. All I can tell you is that times of stress & bad news always made me smoke more (and quieted the worry-worry-worry voice in my head), and no, I didn't feel like "me" during those times either. I took up vaping during a relatively calm period, but every week that passed, the louder & more insistent the worry voice became. It wasn't until a near full-blown anxiety attack at work, after 2 solid months of vaping made me light up an anolog that I realized that it was the cigarettes that had calmed me all these years.

Why did you start smoking? Did the weirdness really start after that, or was that the reason you started in the first place? You're right, having certain expectations about quitting that haven't come true can cause it's own set of problems, and re-adjusting them is certainly going to do you good. Like I said earlier, it may just be regular "quitting smoking" blues or whatever, and may pass. Just don't freak out if you find out your brain requires a chemical to remain in balance - and don't put off talking to your dr about it if that's the case for you. Giving up anologs shouldn't be torture.....and doesn't have to be.

 

[RosaJ]

History: 40+ years smoking 1 1/2 pad. February 2012 received my first vape kit, eGo C with small tanks. End of February 2012 realized I had forgotten to smoke my token cigarette the day before and lit one up. First drag, horrible taste; second drag worse than the first; took a third drag for good measure and almost puked. March 1st of 2012 first day of smoke free new life. Started at 24mg nic, now down to 6mg to 0mg nic.

Total vaping transition: Seamless, painless, no withdrawal symptoms, miraculous!

 

[VickiB]

I was on analogs for 38 yrs. then my son introduced me to vaping in Jan of this year. Of course the first week I had a 1 or 2 a day then after that I didn't have anymore for about 2 months until I was out w/o a back-up gone for 5 hrs, in bumper to bumper traffic for 45 min. and said that was, it I need a cig. However, after getting it I hated it! Can't stand them now and will never go back. There was only a couple of times that I got stressed the first week and craved an analog though. I never thought I could ever quit but "I Did" Yippee!!!!
I am now a Vapor for Life!