Did you cut down Analogs Gradually?

[rainbow_soul]

When I started vaping, it was supposed to be an additional thing - for home, so that the house wouldn't smell so bad. After an afternoon of just vaping I tried an analog and tasted so horrible, that I put it out immediatly.

That was it. No more analogs for me.

After over 30 years of smoking, the last years up to 50 a day, I just had to stop because of the bad taste.

I started out with 24mg/ml nicotine (the strongest we get offline in Germany) and felt good. I didn't miss smoking, felt more or less instantly, that my breathing was improving and I could climb stairs without needing to stop to catch my breath.

After six months I am now down to around 10mg/ml nic most of the time. Just sometimes, when I'm stressed or feel the urge, I go back to higher nic.

 

[pumasforpets]

I quit the analogues when my first kit arrived and haven't touched one since. My reason was the birth of our daughter, and I just didn't want to subject her to my second hand smoke when I came back in the house after a cig. That and the fact thats its bloody cold outside and I no longer need to go out for a fix have surely helped, but to be honest reaching for a ciggie hasn't once crossed my mind. Reaching for my vape in the middle of the night when baby is crying and I've had 2 hours sleep has on may occassions though

One of the best reasons I've ever heard for switching to e-cigs. You sir, are a gentleman and a scholar! Keep it up and congratulations on the new family member

 

[pumasforpets]

One of the best reasons I've ever heard for switching to e-cigs. You sir, are a gentleman and a scholar! Keep it up and congratulations on the new family member

Not even 2 hours after reading this story from MrGiggly, I went to Radio Shack to pick up some parts to build my 2AA box mod and started talking about e-cigs with one of the clerks. He has smoked 2 PAD for 15 years and just recently had a kid. He wanted to quit but was having trouble so I gave him a few websites to look at with some starter kits and he looked genuinely excited about being able to keep the smoke away from his child.

I left with a bag full of electronics and a double wide smile

The mod btw:

 

[thall12]

I have spent a small fortune on ecigs and several brands before I found the tank model I use now. Once I started with that I haven't wanted a cigarette at all, it's only been a few days, however with my previous types of ecigs I still wanted to smoke regular cigarettes.

 

[DC2]

This poll might help you figure out some things...
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...ou-put-down-those-last-couple-cigarettes.html

 

[kirsty0108]

Thanks for all the encouraging posts guys for others having same issues as me this thread is great it comes with medical endorsement

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...dvice-new-e-cig-users-cigarette-cravings.html

 

[Belchfire]

For me it was a gradual process. No cigs after taking my shower and going to work until I got home again. That cycle lasted about 2 months before I finally switched over completely to vaping ending a 34 y.o. habit.

Oddly enough my need for nicotine paled in comparison to the need to have something substitute the times I would usually smoke. The psychological addiction for me was worse than the physical. You learn interesting things about yourself when you switch to vaping instead of lighting up. Especially how you have conditioned your daily routines to include smoking as an integral filler or reward for everyday things. Finish eating, have a smoke, down time at work, go burn one, get behind the wheel of your car, light up, plop into the Lazy Boy and grab the remote, oh yeah time to light up.

Just become more aware of when you are prone to smoke and keep the PNV at hand, as mentioned use some higher strength nicotine juice until the cravings subside, and don't panic if you fall off the wagon a few times. Just keep at it and soon you will be able to put smoking behind you and make the full time switch to vaping.

 

[twohandedcreations]

When I quit about a year ago, I had no intensions of quitting. I was heading out on a road trip with my wife, and I bought a 2 piece kit because I wanted to smoke as lil as possible while I was in the car with her. So I really wasn't trying to actually cut back on analogs, was just trying not to smoke in the car. But, the more I used the E-smoke, the more I liked it! I bought 4 cartons of analogs while I was on that trip because they were cheaper in NC then they were in orlando. 2 weeks after I got home I realized that I still hadn't even made it through the first carton because I was using my E-cig so much. So a few days after that I went the whole day with out an analog, and well, the rest is history! I sold the other 3 cartons to my friends and haven't smoked again since! I was a Pk to Pk & 1/2 a day smoker for 17 yrs! But now I've been free from the grips of Parliament Lights for the past year and hopefully will be for the rest of my life!

 

[FAAmecanic]

My story..and realize that everyone is different in how they quit analogs.

Week 1-2 I had a two piece e-cig model. I went down from 30 cigs a day to around 12 and eventually 8 cigs. Then I got my Buzz Pro.... I then went down to around 5 a day. I have still been trying to find my "LOVE IT" juice.. one that I just love vape, produces the vapor that satisfies me, and the taste that I like (and minimal nose sting, and throat irritation...turns out I had a PG sensitivity). I found that juice and for the last week I have been analog free, except for 2 I had at work this week due to stress.

I knew this is going to work the day that my wife and I went to dinner. I had to stop at a local store for the wife to run in. I had just bought a pack of smokes, and I had my Buzz with me. As soon as we stopped and she ran it... I reached for my PV and started happily vaping. It wasnt until my 4th or 5th vape that I realized what I had done... instead of reaching for my cigarettes...I reached for my PV first.

The key is ... cut down to what you are comfortable with. Challenge yourself a little day by day... take one cig out and try vaping instead. One of my hardest to give up was my after dinner smoke... but now with my LOVE IT jucie at 24mg nic... I was able to give it up.

The other key is...you will eventually get down to the last 4 or 5 smokes a day. Those smokes are you hardest to get rid of... its at that point you have to make up your mind that THIS is what you want to do...and do it! For some that was immediate and easy, or others like me...not so easy. What made it TOLERABLE was my vape took away 90% of my cravings...the rest of the 10% was willpower.

Good luck and stick with it... the way I see it even if you are able to cut down from 30 or 40 analogs a day to 5 a day...thats 25-35 analogs you are no longer polluting your body with. The other 5 will come sooner or later....

 

[Michael James]

I still smoked for about a week while vaping. Switch went pretty smooth for me. I think most of it is that I was wanting to use up the cigs I had bought, if I didn't it felt like I was wasting money.

 

[spaceballsrules]

It's been almost 2 months since I first picked up vaping, and I am still struggling with the analogs. My analog consumption dropped drastically on day 1 of vaping. I was smoking ~18 analogs per day after cutting down from a high of 1.5-2 packs a day. When I got my first PV, I stopped buying cartons and made it a point to go out of my way and buy one pack at a time. I figured that the extra hassle would give me time to stop and think about it before doing it. That method ended up cutting my analog consumption to ~6 per day. Eventually, I started tracking my daily consumption on a dry erase board on my fridge. That's where I am today.

As I write this, I am 24 hours analog free, but I am ready to jump in the car and buy a pack. Since I started vaping, my best run was 36 hours analog free before running out and buying a pack. I don't know if I will break down tonight, but if I do, I won't beat myself up over it. I'll just start over when that pack is gone. When I really can't stand smoking anymore, but I still break down, I will buy a pack just for one cigarette, and throw the other 19 away. That'll teach me! Ain't masochism great!?

One cheat I allow myself is the brand I use. I used to smoke Winston Lights, but when I started vaping I figured why not treat myself to a decent cigarette, so I switched to American Spirit. Anyone who has ever smoked an American Spirit knows that they last almost twice as long as other cigarette brands, as the tobacco doesn't burn as quickly and they stuff the bejeezus out of them with tobacco. So that's one way to get more out of one cigarette.

Another cheat I allow myself is putting a cigarette out halfway. I smoke half, flick the cherry off, and save the other half for later. I have found that the less I smoke overall, the less I need a full "serving" of cigarette. If I smoke a whole cigarette, I end up getting dizzy and nauseous anyway. The only whole cigarette I ever smoke is the first one of the day when I am sitting on the can and still waking up. I have realized the danger of this practice, as I am not really in a present state of mind first thing in the morning, and when I try to stand up afterwards, the dizziness hits me big time. I have learned to stand up veeeeeeeeeeeery slooooooooooowly!

Apologies for the long-winded post, but I was hoping that writing this would help get me over the withdrawal symptoms I am feeling at the moment......Nope! I made it 24 hours, but I am going to go buy a pack right now. BRB.

 

[swedishfish]

Noooooo!! Don't go!!

J/K, sounds like you're doing great! BTW, what do you pay for a pack in NC? I practically had to take out a loan to buy a pack here in NJ or NY.

 

[TheStopDoc]

After 43 years of smoking Camels, I started vaping. I smoked 3 analogs a day for three days, then 1 for three days, after that I just found that I loved vaping more than smoking and quit entirely. I loved the taste of vaping more than smoking. At first I only vaped tobacco juices, but soon I started vaping all kinds of flavors. I love coffee, chocolate, divine cheescake from HellaVapor.com is awesome, and some tobacco juices. I started vaping around 18 mgs and I never really had to battle much with wanted an analog. I quess I was lucky. I can't stand the smell now of analogs. It is so strong. I can't believe I used to smell that way to everyone. I still have family member who smoke and I will never be the kind of person who won't let them smoke around me, or you can't smoke here type of thing. I just slowly bring vaping to them.

43 years! and Vaping did the job for me. I tried everything, you name it, patches, gums, fake cigs, filters, hypnosis, acupuncture, cold turkey, presciptions, slowly cutting down, and nothing helped. The Ecig did and I wanted to just shout it from the rooftops that I quit smoking and switched to the Ecig! Thats why I started TheEcigStop.com and The Vapor Trail Magazine. It is my "Shout it from The RoofTops!"

 

[Nate1778]

Put my analogs down the day my vape showed, different strokes I recon.

 

[spaceballsrules]

Noooooo!! Don't go!!

J/K, sounds like you're doing great! BTW, what do you pay for a pack in NC? I practically had to take out a loan to buy a pack here in NJ or NY.

A pack of Winstons is about $5, and a pack of American Spirits is $6.07, tax included. Yeah, I pay with exact change.

When I started smoking 20 years ago (has it REALLY been that long!?), I could get a carton for $13!

 

[jolly_st_nic]

Paul Simon should've written a song called "50 Ways to Leave Your Cigarettes" haha. There isn't a wrong way to quit, only a wrong way to expect someone else to quit, in my opinion (not that anyone here is doing that). I actually love the glowing stories about e cigarettes where people can just toss their pack of regular smokes in the trash and that's that. For me it hasn't been that easy, but for some others it is.

What I don't like is the "quit now or die" approach that some doctors and anti-smoking people take. Because even an effort to quit that is successful can involve a lot of slip-ups. I don't think some people, including in healthcare, appreciate how powerful an addiction cigarettes can be for many smokers.

I'm tapering off the smokes. For me it's been the most realistic approach and I actually feel good that I'm keeping my goals instead of discouraged that I smoked one cigarette (when I've tried total cessation). Best of luck, and don't beat yourself up or get discouraged over smoking. Because in the past I've gotten SO discouraged from just a few cigarettes that I stopped trying to quit. I'm trying now not to be so rigid with breaking my addiction that I just give up again. It's a powerful addiction, and for most it takes time to quit.

 

[DaveP]

There are definitely triggers that send you for a cigarette. Coffee, a meal, stress, and just about anything you used to smoke while doing are all mental urges that you have to allow to fade. Vaping a little heavier when you feel an urge helps to make it go away. Ecigs are definitely an effective cure for the tobacco habit.

 

[swedishfish]

I'm tapering off the smokes. For me it's been the most realistic approach and I actually feel good that I'm keeping my goals instead of discouraged that I smoked one cigarette (when I've tried total cessation). Best of luck, and don't beat yourself up or get discouraged over smoking. Because in the past I've gotten SO discouraged from just a few cigarettes that I stopped trying to quit. I'm trying now not to be so rigid with breaking my addiction that I just give up again. It's a powerful addiction, and for most it takes time to quit.

That is SO true. I got so tired of feeling like crap about myself over cigs and allowing others to make me feel like crap- I just refuse to buy into that anymore. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy I'm not smoking. I would have been happy if I cut down or smoked a few too.

 

[hairball]

The day I started vaping was the same day I quit smoking but I was determined to make it work. Yes, I had to suffer through some withdrawal but it wasn't all that bad and I survived. It's been over 17 months and I haven't touched one nor do I want too. I know not everyone can do what I did but look at this way, for every cig not smoked, your health has been saved.

 

[swedishfish]

17 months! Go Hairball!