Did you have a "defining moment"?

[Grimwald]

When I ordered my first starter kit (cig-sized) in August 2012, it was just on a whim. I was trying other methods like lozenges to cut back on a 40 year 3 pad habit. I never thought it would work...just help me cut back some.

I can tell you the moment I knew it was going to work. I still remember it vividly.

I began using my e-cig at 6pm on a Friday. I did not have a smoke until bedtime because I thought I needed one before bed. The next morning I had 2 when I woke, then started vaping. About 2pm I was walking by the kitchen table where my pack of cigarettes and lighter always lay. Just by habit I lit one...without thinking. I realized what I had done almost immediately and snuffed it out in the ashtray.

Well, that cigarette just laid there, in the ashtray, all lonely, until I decided to smoke it just because. After I finished it, I realized it was no better than using the e-cig...that I didn't need the cigarettes any longer. Epiphany.

 

[smacuser]

The flea market.

$30 cigalike starter kit, free 30ml/18mg juice.

 

[PhilBrown123]

a month ago my 10yr old looked at me and said "dad if you didnt always smell like smoke I would hang out with you more" that was my moment

 

[tjcraig]

I've been described as an old soul and multiple people have told me throughout my life that I'm very stoic. On the inside I'm rush hour traffic in Los Angeles. Cigarettes helped my anxiety for a long time, or at least I thought they did. Eventually, 15 years in, I started to realize that they made me even more anxious. Where are my smokes? How many do I have left? I'll make a quick stop here and get my next pack just to be sure I don't run out at work. I shouldn't smoke now while I'm on my way to my girlfriend's house because I know she doesn't like the smell even though she never complains, but I really want one. Damn my car stinks; how will I cover it up before I have to pick up my mom?

I didn't have one moment, it just built up over time. I mixed vaping in there and didn't stick the first time, but eventually I started feeling older, I started feeling like it was actually having a physical effect on me both internally and on my face and my hands. 12/14/15 was my last cigarette and I don't crave them anymore unless I'm really on a good one and I run out of juice.

 

[Tania-chch]

Now that I think about it, I think I did (Lightbulb gif.) For the longest time when I would see someone smoking on TV or in a movie, I would have a guttural if not instinctual reaction of needing a smoke in my hands. The satisfaction, that feeling of relaxation, completeness. Those feelings wound up evaporating somewhere about the 14-15 month mark. Now I see it and its like just something you see from out of the past, like an antique, or outdated technology (not unlike seeing a rotary phone, LOL). There is no longer these deep emotional feelings associated with seeing it whatsoever.

Whew, I am so happy that bridge has been crossed.

I know exactly what you mean. I used to feel the same when I saw someone smoking in the car next to mine at lights etc. I felt a small pang of loss, like an old beloved pet who died a long time ago. Then it got less and less, and now I feel pity and fascination for them holding and sucking on this weird thing that burns away on its own! It's such a strange reaction as I did it myself for about 21 years!