Differentiation between "vaping" & "quitting"

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EIHYPI

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I consider myself an exsmoker and would not smoke if I was out without a vape. I don't get the same nagging craving without vape that I got when I was smoking and running out of cigs.

I am down to 4mg nic where I seem to have settled from 24 mg a couple years back. When asked by the Doctor or medical personnel, I tell them I quit smoking a couple years ago but vape. I have been told by all of them so far that I am considered an exsmoker. They don't seem to equate vaping with smoking.

I can and have on but not regularly gone 10 or more hours without vaping and didn't freak out
I used to get offended when Doctors & medical personnel would give me negative feedback when I told them that I vape. I would think to myself that this Doc is supposed to be educated in this matter too. I've come to realize two things. One, that many Doctors are very ignorant when it comes to matters outside their practice. Two, who cares what other people say. We just gotta do what we know is right & best for ourselves. If we know that we shouldn't give a damn what he or she has to say which would just bring us down.
 

stols001

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I am not sure I care what I call it, other than, "I'm not getting emphysema" is what I call vaping, and that works for me.

The nebulous concepts of nicotine, or even WTA, well, again, "I'm not getting emphysema," is what I call it.

I will say I can go way longer without vaping than smoking, especially if I'm busy or occupied and etc. I have a hunch different folks's brains, how long they were smoking, nicotine levels and a host of other issues come into play, including whether or not you believe you can go a decent period of time without vaping all play a role.

I will say stress, other things, don't play around with that stuff if the idea tempts you because it's easy to backslide. I never leave the house without 3 vapes because right now for SURE I don't need the added temptation, that is ENTIRELY certain. Etc.

Anna
 

Pete M

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I'd definitely say I'm not a smoker - as another poster put, I am no longer setting fire to something and inhaling its smoke directly in my mouth (and when you put it like that - why did I ever think that was a good idea?)

However unlike most people have said, I am still very addicted to nicotine and find it hard to go for very long without a vape. In fact maybe I'm more addicted, as I can get away with vaping indoors and having a nicotine fix at work by ghosting in the bathrooms (it probably doesn't help that most jobs over the years were happy with me smoking at my desk. Now I work in a hospital it's a bit stricter!)

In the OP's scenario - broken tank no backup - I still don't think I would have a cigarette though. The smell off other people's is revolting and it wouldn't quite be worth it. I would however be looking for any shop or garage that sold cheap cig a likes, failing that patches, gum whatever.

I deliberately didn't take it with me on a week's holiday abroad thinking it'd be a good way of seeing if I could kick the nicotine completely. I wasn't anywhere near as bad as going cold turkey on cigarettes but still felt irritable at least 3 times a day and at my lowest point was looking forward to going home simply to have a vape. That's still the thought process of an addict.

But, OP, it's fine really. OK you're still addicted to nicotine and hey, you had a one off blip on a bad day but it doesn't sound like it turned you back to the brown side permenantly. You've found away to to control that addiction and spin it into something much less dangerous than it was before. So don't overthink it would be my advice!
 

EIHYPI

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I'd definitely say I'm not a smoker - as another poster put, I am no longer setting fire to something and inhaling its smoke directly in my mouth (and when you put it like that - why did I ever think that was a good idea?)

However unlike most people have said, I am still very addicted to nicotine and find it hard to go for very long without a vape. In fact maybe I'm more addicted, as I can get away with vaping indoors and having a nicotine fix at work by ghosting in the bathrooms (it probably doesn't help that most jobs over the years were happy with me smoking at my desk. Now I work in a hospital it's a bit stricter!)

In the OP's scenario - broken tank no backup - I still don't think I would have a cigarette though. The smell off other people's is revolting and it wouldn't quite be worth it. I would however be looking for any shop or garage that sold cheap cig a likes, failing that patches, gum whatever.

I deliberately didn't take it with me on a week's holiday abroad thinking it'd be a good way of seeing if I could kick the nicotine completely. I wasn't anywhere near as bad as going cold turkey on cigarettes but still felt irritable at least 3 times a day and at my lowest point was looking forward to going home simply to have a vape. That's still the thought process of an addict.

But, OP, it's fine really. OK you're still addicted to nicotine and hey, you had a one off blip on a bad day but it doesn't sound like it turned you back to the brown side permenantly. You've found away to to control that addiction and spin it into something much less dangerous than it was before. So don't overthink it would be my advice!
Much thanks for the encouragement and I'm definitely not getting down on myself. Falling and then getting back up is all part of the growth processes. It only makes one stronger.
 

vapdivrr

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Hope you have already ordered a back up...so you stressed and smoked, but as long as you have back ups, I don't think you will go back to smoking, so don't sweat it...so your addicted to nic, like most of us here are, but vaping is still way safer and that's the main thing imo....I'm over 7 years into vaping after 1.5 pad for over 30 years and my health is improved 100 percent and yours will too if you stick to it....obviously everyone is built different but the fact is, your doing your body a good thing by vaping and not smoking and that's how I look at it...if you haven't been smoking (except this latest thing) and your current device is working, just keep what's been working (along with a few back ups) . Some will always want to smoke , while others know they never will , for me, something happened about 4 years into vaping where I just couldn't stand the smell, as it made me feel physically sick just being around it, also have been vaping 24mg all along and have gone without for 2 days not that long ago and it wasn't that bad at all, so maybe eventually things change. G ood luck and just keep vaping and when your body heals from years of smoking, you will feel better about yourself knowing that you have indeed quit cigarettes

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williamclarkonet

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Being a former smoker (obviously) I've now been vaping for about four years. Does it mean that I quit cigarettes because I have been vaping all this time? I'm not sure because I am still extremely addicted to the nicotine. If an alcoholic drinks one brand of wine and then switches to another, that new brand that he's drinking doesn't change his status as alcoholic.

The word quit means abruptly stopping or discontinuing. Even though I discontinued the harmful chemicals from entering my body, vaping still gives me a connection to the root of the problem that I had - being completely dependent on my nicotine fix. Quit would mean cutting all ties in relation to my old cigarette habit.

The reason want to mention this is because of the events which happened today. I was with my pocket vape (target mini/nautilus 2 & 24mg juice) and the setup fell to the concrete. This caused permanent damage to my tank and it won't read on any mod but the mod is fine. Being far from my house I had no way to get my nicotine from a vape. I licked a couple of drops from my arm from the e-liquid bottle to get some nic but it was nasty and I knew that the only way that I was able to get my fix was through cigarettes.

In the end a friend of mine gave me the remainder of his pack. There was no fear within me that I would go back to smoking once I would retrieve my backup. I must say that I really enjoyed each and every puff even though many say that the first one after a while tastes bad. But soon enough I was out of cigarettes and I tried to hold it out until I would be able to get back to my home. After about 45 minutes my stress level went from 5 to 10 and my hands had the tremors so I was forced to bum a cigarette. That cigarette was the extremely thin ones and I was forced to smoke it like how I would inhale my goon. Eventually I was able to get inside my house and vape my backup device which now will be my main.

I'm sure you've all heard people stressing the importance of having a backup vape at all times. I shared my events of today to show that the risk of returning to cigarettes is not that far away if we don't back ourselves up.
Very good to know! cigarettes also have othere things in them to make them addictive
 

Katdarling

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dethmedalmuziq...

I do believe you are in process of discovering for yourself whether or not you've quit cigs or not. It sounds to ME as if you have, but that's a determination only made by you.

I actually, and I may be rare, or brutally truthful, think of myself (still) as a "smoker", tho I've opted for nearing EIGHT years to indulge my habit with vape, rather than smoke. I consistently have told others that vaping is my alternative to cigarettes. And for me, it is that.

I've thought long and hard about the scenario that you described for yourself today. And my follow thru thoughts led me to know, in no uncertain terms, that it is/was always necessary for me to have at minimum, three set ups with me at all times. Even just a drive around the block.... (ya never know)

Had I one vape, and that vape fell to the concrete and was unusable? YIKES! I am truly not sure if I would have chosen your path, or not. Perhaps a smoke (tho it's hard for me to type that, much less think it)...
I hope I would have chosen the quickest path to the nearest mini mart/smoke shop (whatever) and picked up a disgusting cigalike just to get me thru til I could get home to my pretties. But, I don't know. I've not been in that situation, so no judgement on you, for sure.

And you are right. We are prolly all just one step away from the risk of returning if we don't protect ourselves with backups.

An heir and a spare and an heir for the spare...


I'd like to point out that everyone's brain make up, thought processes and patterns are different and so is our character. Everyone's habits can seem similar being that they may have a common denominator. Still two smokers of a pack a day of the same brand will have the habit completely different from each other. I smoked reds for five years and have been vaping 24mg juice for almost four years since then and never lowered the level. I guess that explains why I felt compelled to smoke today, not being able to go without my fix for an extended time. For some it's easy to gradually lower the nic level but I build a tolerance to things that are addictive. But as long as I still know that vaping isn't harmful I have no reason to stop.

And to this, I say BRAVO. There is certainly no one size fits all.
 

The Vaped Crusader

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I was never a true smoker when I began vaping. I smoked cigars, pipes and rolled my own cigs but I smoked about 2 cigs a week, a cigar once a month but stopped for years then I went on to pipe smoking but I only puffed a bowl on a saturday night.

Just last week I went 2 days without vaping and had no ill effects even though I have been a consistent vaper for about 3 months now. I vape daily all the time but it is not unusual for me to not vape until at night or not vape for a few days because I do not feel like it. I just don't understand addiction quite frankly.

I used to drink whiskey every night for years then one day I was broke and couldn;t buy any and spent a year and a half without drinking because I forgot about it. Drugs just seem like a casual affair and I have done all sorts of them consistently and in most cases just forgot about them or got bored of it. I guess it requires a certain personality.
 

mountainbikermark

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Cigarettes are sneaky bastidges. Nicotine addiction is a physical thing but 99% of smoking (at least for me) has always been mental and/or habitual. My doctor called them my mistress.
As I've quit smoking now for the 3rd time by vaping I've decided on this one every time anything to do with smoking pops into my head I'm going to change the subject in my head . When cutting grass last time when finished I sat in a chair and reached into my pocket and grabbed for my cigarettes and lighter. It took several moments for my brain to realize i don't smoke anymore. I literally said out loud "oh yeah. I don't smoke"
When the stresses of work or home cause me to want to fall back into the habit of my old best friend, the cigarette, tries to sneak into my thinking I have to choose to think about something else. At 5am when I'm leaving for work, my brain is trying to go into the old habit of lighting up on the way out the front door and a moment later my favorite tank decided to flood during the night that is when i break out my backup to my backup to my backup in the form of a Sourin Air with regular juice in it. I get the old habit of mouth to lung, i can let it hang down as I grab my keys and lunchbox, i get a hit of nicotine so I'm not so ...... off that my cocoa puffs (as an example) tank flooded and i hey through the episode.
First time i stopped, almost a year. Second time i stopped, over a year. Where i failed both times was believing the lie that just 1 won't hurt and used some excuse to do just the 1.
I have an unopened pack I'm leaving in my lunchbox because i walked away from cigarettes at the end of a pack and I know if i open that last pack I'm a smoker again. No bullcrap about just 1 won't hurt. Once that cellophane comes off, it's all been for nothing. That is motivation for me to keep finding ways not to want to open that pack.
The first 2 times I quit smoking being around smokers made me want to smoke. This time it makes me want to puke, feels like I've got asthma and I get naucious. I used to love the smell of smoke but this time it's bothering me like never before.


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RainSong

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Everyone is different but I consider myself an ex-smoker. Been vaping almost 2 years. Still using nicotine doesn’t concern me because nicotine wasn’t killing me. I can go a long time without hitting my setup if I’m busy, leave the house without a mod sometimes and generally am completely removed from cigarettes at this point.
 
Being a former smoker (obviously) I've now been vaping for about four years. Does it mean that I quit cigarettes because I have been vaping all this time? I'm not sure because I am still extremely addicted to the nicotine. If an alcoholic drinks one brand of wine and then switches to another, that new brand that he's drinking doesn't change his status as alcoholic.

The word quit means abruptly stopping or discontinuing. Even though I discontinued the harmful chemicals from entering my body, vaping still gives me a connection to the root of the problem that I had - being completely dependent on my nicotine fix. Quit would mean cutting all ties in relation to my old cigarette habit.

The reason want to mention this is because of the events which happened today. I was with my pocket vape (target mini/nautilus 2 & 24mg juice) and the setup fell to the concrete. This caused permanent damage to my tank and it won't read on any mod but the mod is fine. Being far from my house I had no way to get my nicotine from a vape. I licked a couple of drops from my arm from the e-liquid bottle to get some nic but it was nasty and I knew that the only way that I was able to get my fix was through cigarettes.

In the end a friend of mine gave me the remainder of his pack. There was no fear within me that I would go back to smoking once I would retrieve my backup. I must say that I really enjoyed each and every puff even though many say that the first one after a while tastes bad. But soon enough I was out of cigarettes and I tried to hold it out until I would be able to get back to my home. After about 45 minutes my stress level went from 5 to 10 and my hands had the tremors so I was forced to bum a cigarette. That cigarette was the extremely thin ones and I was forced to smoke it like how I would inhale my goon. Eventually I was able to get inside my house and vape my backup device which now will be my main.

I'm sure you've all heard people stressing the importance of having a backup vape at all times. I shared my events of today to show that the risk of returning to cigarettes is not that far away if we don't back ourselves up.
I know the feeling!! I know I'm extremely addicted to nicotine & I just changed the way I get it. I have purchased 6 device's since I started vaping. I will not go anywhere without @ least 3 of them with me. I carry a USB cable & Breeze charging dock also. The longer I'm leaving home the more vape stuff I take with me. Coils, juice, ect. I dont want to smoke again & i must be prepared. I get anxiety thinking about running out of power for my devices lol.

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ppeeble

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If i were to take up smoking again i would die. That's a hell of an incentive to keep off the ciggies. Guess i'm lucky :?:.
I have definitely quit smoking. No question.

I'm still addicted to the act of inhaling something other than air and i still feel as though nicotine makes me feel good (or maybe just a little better)... so what does that make me ?
A vaper.
 

zoiDman

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I know the feeling!! I know I'm extremely addicted to nicotine & I just changed the way I get it. I have purchased 6 device's since I started vaping. I will not go anywhere without @ least 3 of them with me. I carry a USB cable & Breeze charging dock also. The longer I'm leaving home the more vape stuff I take with me. Coils, juice, ect. I dont want to smoke again & i must be prepared. I get anxiety thinking about running out of power for my devices lol.

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When I first Switched to e-Cigarettes, I was kinda like that. And I would Carry Around backups to my backups. But as I got Farther away from Cigarettes, the need to do so became less and less.
 

tailland

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Being a former smoker (obviously) I've now been vaping for about four years. Does it mean that I quit cigarettes because I have been vaping all this time? I'm not sure because I am still extremely addicted to the nicotine. If an alcoholic drinks one brand of wine and then switches to another, that new brand that he's drinking doesn't change his status as alcoholic...

Preface 1: Addiction is a very subjective thing.
Preface 2: IIRC, Prof. Dr. Bernd Mayer (austrian, head researcher in the pharmacology/toxicology department at his uni, renowned vaping advocate) mentioned that his research showed that nicotine alone does not cause addiction in "naive" subjects, meaning people who haven't taken in nicotine via inhalation of cigarette smoke before. It's the behavioural process, only when combined with the body's reaction to nicotine, that then causes "nicotine addiction". While that's certainly interesting news, it shouldn't be too surprising, since for the longest time, the only known way to digest nicotine, was by smoking cigarettes. That fixed combination seemingly rendered the importance of the experiential process of smoking invisible.

Having that bit of knowledge in the back of my head, I treat my entire vaping experience differently than I treated smoking cigarettes in the past.

I too now have 2 main devices, one for home enjoyment and one for travelling. My travel device is an Ego AiO (Pro C), arguably a very-low-wattage device, simple and robust, and I don't even particularly care if it's fully charged, or what coil is in it. The base I use has now 3mg, nominally, although I'm already mixing it with 0mg base to get an average of 1.5mg, which I will try to lower even more in the future.
While I still treat nicotine with a default amount of respect, I don't have any sort of anxiety when leaving home, not knowing how much vape and/or nicotine I will be able to get out of my AiO. And I don't have the constant urge to vape when I'm on the road or otherwise occupied outside my home. It's become a "bonus thing" instead of simply shutting down an urge. Back when smoking filterless cigs (for 20 years), that casualness would've been utterly unthinkable.

Taking all of that into account, my conclusion would be this:
Your "addiciton to nicotine" is really what you make of it. It's much more a mental thing than it is physiological. Even more so when our vape juice doesn't contain all the addiction-boosting chemicals which we used to consume with tobacco. So maybe, just maybe, you can work on your mental state a bit. It would surely benefit you.
 

Rossum

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While that's certainly interesting news, it shouldn't be too surprising, since for the longest time, the only known way to digest nicotine, was by smoking cigarettes.
Eh? Tobacco has been consumed in various forms world-wide for more than 500 years, and much longer than that in the pre-Columbian Americas. Cigarettes did not become a popular method of consuming tobacco until about 100 years ago, but even over the last century or so, they certainly weren't the only way to consume tobacco.
 

Vinnybagodoughnuts

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I'd like to point out that everyone's brain make up, thought processes and patterns are different and so is our character. Everyone's habits can seem similar being that they may have a common denominator. Still two smokers of a pack a day of the same brand will have the habit completely different from each other. I smoked reds for five years and have been vaping 24mg juice for almost four years since then and never lowered the level. I guess that explains why I felt compelled to smoke today, not being able to go without my fix for an extended time. For some it's easy to gradually lower the nic level but I build a tolerance to things that are addictive. But as long as I still know that vaping isn't harmful I have no reason to stop.
Hate to be "that guy" but although vaping is less harmful then smoking it is still healthier to do neither. To say vaping is harmless is not accurate.
 
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