Did you start vaping as a stepping stone to quit or a permanent replacement to cigs?

[JRudey]

I'm a non-smoker. My wife asked me to look into e-cigarettes for her. E-cigs are popular with people in her office. I bought her a Halo G6 Starter Kit in July. She hasn't bought a pack of Newports for a few weeks now. I quit smoking cold turkey about 18 years ago. I'm vaping now. It's my new hobby.

 

[Chas F.]

I started running for health in June. I have been a smoker for 40 yrs but for the last 20 it's only been 5-6 smokes a day. I didn't realize how much even that little amount hurt my running. I did some research and decided that smoking was lowering my lactate acid threshhold and preventing me from running further and faster than I was. I switched to Blu's 13 days ago and haven't looked back. On Saturday I bought a pair of c-twists and a couple Protank II's and some juice in 6/0 mg and eventually will only vape 0mg. I enjoy vaping and will only quit if it becomes apparent that it is hurting my health.

 

[Superchunk]

I considered it a stepping stone, and the first thing people assume or ask about is how long before I quit the ecig. Right now, though, I'm only concerned with fully quitting analog - I'm down by 60% right off the bat so pretty happy so far. I don't care a lick if I smoke ecigs the rest of my life, but my goal is, I guess, to lower the nic level slowly and steadily until I'm hardly addicted to nicotine. Then, probably quit alltogether.

 

[Entari]

Permanent replacement for analogs. It has been 8 days since i go my SmokelessImage starter pack in the mail, opened it, started using it, never looked back. In fact, I still had half a pack of cigarettes sitting beside me that i was going to finish as i transitioned. The day after getting my Volt, i decided i would just toss the analogs in the trash. Best decision I've ever made.

 

[Superchunk]

Wow, good for you man. I'm still hitting the cigs, particularly in the morning and after a meal, but I can, for the first time in 20 years, really see just letting them go alltogether.

 

[Scott_Simpson]

After two doctors—my family physician and my cardiologist—recommended e-cigs as a safer alternative to the pack-a-day tobacco habit I'd been carrying for over 50 years, I did my research and started with an eGo Passthrough and Joye attys. That was 18 months ago, and I haven't had a tobacco cigarette, or even the desire for one, in all that time. The results are amazing ... I no longer cough, my blood pressure has returned to normal, and my senses of taste and smell have returned. Furthermore, I've dropped my nic level from the 24mg I started with, to 6-10mg now. As added bonuses, I'm saving scads of money (yes, I DIY), I no longer have burn holes in all my clothes, and I no longer smell like an ash tray. And since there are no "second-hand" dangers to people around me, I'm guilt-free about having my grandchildren come visit.

Vaping is such a winning proposition, I simply cannot understand the bigoted ANTZ who are trying to ban e-cigs. We vapers have discovered a healthier life style, but these nicophobic nannies seem determined to force us back to smoking. They push their NRTs (patches, gums, etc.) which have a miserable success rate (less than 7% in most studies I've seen), and Chantix is a proven killer. They want us to "quit or die", but we have a better solution ... vape and live!

 

[moondragon]

I was skeptical that I would even be able to quit analogs when I got my first e-cig - so many failed quitting attempts over the years had eroded my confidence. So I was not one of the people who get an e-cig, take their first vape and never look back. It took me about 6 weeks to completely give up the analogs. However, I did notice, even the first couple of weeks, that my analog use had immediately started dropping off, and continued to drop each week.

I like vaping - I like something to hold in my hand - so I don't have any plans to give it up in the near future - we'll see what happens and how I feel further down the road. I have dropped my nic level from 24 to 18 to 12 to 6. Every so often I'll give it a try at 3, but once I find myself starting to feel very irritated and irritable for no reason, I go back up to 6. I'm not going to put any pressure on myself about it, and am just going to see how things go into the future.

 

[MattB101]

On April 9th 2012 I was diagnosed with lung cancer. My surgeon said that he would not operate unless I quit smoking. He suggested vaping. I had tried the Blu before bur didn't care for them. A friend turned me on to the Ego and I never looked back. They removed a little more than a third of my right lung on May 9th 2012. My annual check last May was cancer free so you could say that vaping saved my life. I smoked 2 1/2 packs of Marlboro Lights a day and haven't touched one of the nasties since April 2012 and don't believe I ever will again.

Sent from my recliner, using my arthritic thumbs. (being helped by the Abby dog who is reading from my shoulder)

 

[NiNi]

I started when I was 18, quickly switched to Camel "Humps" because no one wanted to bum one off me, LOL! As prices went up, I switched to RYO about 10 years ago.....Drum. Then as I was looking at my 52 B-day, I decided this nonsense has got to stop! Longevity runs on both sides of my family, bunches of centurions, all non-smokers with no medical issues. Great, I'll be the first one to drag an oxygen tank around with me!!! Figuring I had just passed the halfway mark of my mortality, and having quit a few vices before my children were born, 2013 was the year I would quit.

Then my BBF, who had surgery last year, revealed that SHE had quit and gone to vaping. Had been doing it for 5 months and not one word!!!! If she could do it, ANYONE could do it!

I ordered a kit from EVictory, hey, it was a START! Took about 10 days to arrive, OMG! But when it did, THAT was the end of analogs, PERIOD. BF followed soon after.

I will probably stop vaping when it's no longer "fun". My nic mg, is all over the place, sometimes I have 24 mg, sometimes 0mg. It doesn't have that pull on me anymore. Sometimes I go without vaping all day, I don't even think about it.....the irony is I don't even like the tobacco flavors, which I thought was incredibly strange. I like mixing these pre-mixed juices, so the next step is DIY, flex the old brain!

On a somber note, it was the right time. My BF is 12+ years older than me, and he's been going through the hurdles at the VA Hospital determining whether he has Alzheimer's these last few weeks. His initial blood work and SLUMS test were not very hopeful. But......we conquered getting one of the dangers associated with accidents and "fire" that AD individuals have out of the way. And if he gets annoyed about something, it's not from a "Nic Fit", LOL!

Who would have thought? Whatever the end result, I'm stronger and healthier, and I just might need that more than I know in the next few years. Until it's proven that vaping will kill me, or I get terribly bored of it, I'll be vapin'.! A girl's GOT to have a VICE!

My whole point is, "Congratulations on quitting analogs!" That is awesome! And whatever road it takes you down, whether vaping a few months till nic is no longer part of your life, or vaping your heart out for as long as you want, you have said "Adios" to those nasty cancer sticks!
BRAVO!!!!

 

[LuanaS]

Permanent replacing for analogs. I love vaping too much to quit. It's been over 6 months since the last cigarette.

 

[Phairoh]

I've only been off smokes and vaping for 3 weeks but I have absolutely no intention of quitting. As of this moment there is just completely no reason to. With vaping I get all the benefits of smoking with virtually none of the negatives.

There's the social aspect. This weekend I visited friends in Cleveland for the long weekend. This was the first time they'd seen me smoking an e-cig and most of them had never seen anything like what I was using. All it was was a Vision Spinner with a Vivi Nova tank but most had only seen a blu or maybe an NJOY King behind the cashier at the convenience store. They all had questions. Many tried it. Then other people started showing up and they had vapes as well! We swapped stories and flavors. We could all stand outside and vape with the few smokers in the group and then go right back inside and keep on going (I asked my friend who owned the place if it was cool to vape inside first).

All of these were friends that I'd smoked with for years but most of them had since quit on their own. I've quit plenty of times in the past, once for an entire year, and yet each time I started up again not because I felt the urge to start killing myself again or some impossible chemical draw that forced me to pay $11.43 for a pack of cigarettes, but because I wanted to smoke and as far as I was concerned I was only hurting myself so why should anyone care but me.

Having a smoke made me feel better on a bad day, warmed me up on a cold day, calmed me down on a stressful day. It gave me something to do when I was bored, provided stimulation to all of my senses at once, got me up in the morning and ready for a tough day at work. Enhanced drinking and social situations, gave me a reason to talk to the girl outside the bar, gave me something to relax with.

Vaping provides all of this and more.

Now I get to bring in my (and everyone else in the modern word's) obsession with getting the latest gadgets! Our intense obsession for getting the absolute most perfect essence of a flavor in a food. Our consumerist drive to collect all the newest and fanciest toys for adults.

So far as we know right now it's very likely that vaping is not as harmful as smoking. More research needs to be done and I hope it gets done because I want to know what I'm putting in to my body and potentially those around me. But until that research gets done I'm going to continue with my knowledge that I'm not coughing as much, that I don't get winded walking down the street, and that my throat hasn't felt so good in years.

Wow... sorry for the wall... I've been lurking awhile and I guess I had a lot to say.

 

[kbf101998]

I started vaping to give up smoking after 38 years. I love it and have been asked when I plan to give this up. I don't! I enjoyed smoking and am amazed that I don't really want to smoke. So I figure I will do this for quite some time. I am thrilled that I am smoke free--and don't want to take a chance of relapse!

I will say that I have not saved any money yet--but I do think that will level out and in the long run hopefully I will see a savings too!

 

[kushka]

I started smoking at 12 - well over half a century ago. I quickly became addicted. I did not like smoking - I needed to smoke. Every time I tried to stop it was horrible. I once was able to quit for over a year, but the whole time I craved it, and I would even dream of it every night. I hated it but needed it. When I started vaping (going on 4 years now), I quickly was able to replace smoking with vaping. I had no cravings for a smoke as soon as I found a e-liquid strong enough. I don't like or enjoy vaping, I vape because it replaces smoking with what I believe is a much less harmful habit. But, honestly I don't believe I will ever be able to stop without going back to smoking, so I just hope it will remain legal and easily available.

 

[MattB101]

A little more information- I started smoking at 13. I am now 56. I started smoking True Blue, if anyone remembers those. We stole them from the local Winn Dixie. Some fool decided to put the cigarette rack as the end cap to the comic book aisle. This was way before they locked them up. Also probably part of the reason why they did! We would stand there reading a comic book and worry open the end of the carton. Then load up our pockets. True Blue was the only thing we could reach. Even at 13 they were nasty so that didn't last long. Felt guilty about the stealing aspect too. Switched to Marlboro Reds then shortly thereafter lights, both of which I paid for. You know, I had to get a job at 13 to pay for that nasty habit/addiction. Smoked them for over 40 years. I am now vaping Real Cig flavor from Vaping Zone (DIY) at 12% nic.
Cancer will wake you up quick!

Sent from my recliner, using my arthritic thumbs. (being helped by the Abby dog who is reading from my shoulder)

 

[garcia1996]

I began vaping to get away from analogs and it worked. I've passed the 2yr mark without analogs and I have no intention to stop vaping.
I can't imagine that vaping is anywhere near as harmful as smoking. I breathe better, blood pressure is back to normal and sleep apnea is gone, not to mention that I, the car, house nor clothes stink like an ashtray anymore.

I started smoking True Blue

Those were my Mom's favorite. She smoked for more than 50yrs until cigarettes finally killed her.

 

[JRudey]

GrimmGreen did a YouTube video about this subject:

HOW LONG ARE WE GOING TO DO THIS VAPING THING?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qotLPEK-tiU

The video is 6 minutes long. Recommended!

 

[CraftyZA]

I have no intention to quit vaping. It was since day 1, pure replacement for something healthier.
I enjoy this WAY to much. Just wish I gave it another try a lot sooner. tried my 1st ecig in 2004, and it really did not work for me! after the 1st day I put it down. 9 Years later i tried again, and I'm hooked. Ok, granted i did use analogs for a couple of weeks, until eventually i did not feel like getting into my car to get smokes, since i can just as well vape. that was the last of analogs!
Long Live vaping!

 

[HeadInClouds]

I began vaping within the past month, solely to quit smoking. I'd smoked near 30 years, and previous quit attempts were painful failures. Yes it has worked for me, and it has actually been easy. And enjoyable! I love the flavors available.

I've been using a fairly high nic level, and I could see reducing that - so that I can vape for more than a couple of minutes before feeling 'satisfied'.

I feel no guilt and have read no scientific evidence that indicates any need to quit vaping. I am keeping a close eye on medical studies of nicotine used to treat/prevent memory issues (given my family history) and ADHD. Wouldn't it be amazing if nicotine turns out to be beneficial?!

If studies show harm from my habits/hobbies I'll reconsider. Otherwise, hands off my coffee cup and vapes!

 

[bueno1955]

My plan was to wean myself of cigs but I actually handed my pack to my husband 11 days ago and haven't looked back. I plan to wean myself down on the nic but I don't think ill give up vaping. I LOVE IT!!!!

 

[UntamedRose]

I'll stop vaping when I get bored with it