Electronic Cigarettes effect on Cigarette Cravings

[unlearnaddiction]

I am an internal medicine physician with great interest in addiction treatment and have seen great things with electronic cigarettes in practice. I was just curious if any has still experienced significant cravings for real cigarettes while actively using electronic cigarettes? Also, has anyone tried the patches and gums as well? And if so how would you say they compared to electronic cigarettes?

 

[T41CK]

I have been on electronics for over a year now. I've tried the patch and gum and this didn't work for me. It took the cravings away but I still craved the feeling of having something between my fingers or something in my hand. This is when the electronic cigarette came into play. I dont feel any cravings at all while on the electronic cigarette more or less the smell of one even. They have helped me out so much. I can tell a difference in the way I feel as well knowing that I am not putting thousands of other chemicals in my body

I sure everyone on here can agree with what I'm claiming
Hope this helpsT41CK

 

[Riff Raff]

I have tried patches, gum, chantix, wellbutrin, hypnosis and acupuncture none of them worked. For me vaping is what I needed to get off analogs.

The only real cravings I have had since my stop date was in the first two to two and a half weeks. Now vaping has stopped them for me. I smoked for 42 years and happy to say I am a non-smoker

 

[Steve K]

Never tried the patches or anything else but I was a full on chain smoker and vaping has fully taken the place of smoking,I have very tiny cravings for cigs but I smoked for 30 years.Vaping tastes better and it is a fun hobby,So glad I found it.

 

[NancyR]

There is a section of the forum for medical personal, you might want to check with them. Also are you asking as a smoker trying to change, or for some research paper?

 

[Jimi D.]

I have been vaping since July 2010. I've tried it all. Patches, gum, Snus, and hypnotics. Vaping has replaced my method of nicotine addiction. My health is much better due to the chronic coughing I suffered from smoking. Vaping has also turned into a fun hobby. I make my own juice, and rebuild my atomizers, which is very rewarding. I also spend a lot less, compared to what I was spending on cigarettes for my Wife and I.

 

[DPLongo22]

It totally eliminated my desire to smoke. In quite a short time too, from what I recall.

 

[Leal]

I've tried patches and had both cravings and allergic reaction. Gum. Still cravings and since I drink so much water it was a pain to wait 15 min chew park it for 10 to 15 min and wait more for next drink of water. It was way too frustrating. The process itself made me want to smoke. Wellbutrin did work after I was on full dosage for about three months I forgot to smoke. Awesome. I quit successfully for a year but a month after cessation I started smoking again. Haven't even wanted to try chantex. I quit smoking with e cigs in dec 2009 with some cravings for about two weeks but nothing like patches or gum. Stopped using e cigs in feb 2010 when I found out I was pregnant. No withdrawals or cravings. Five months after my daughter was born i started smoking again. Boo. Started with e cigs again on 11-27-12. I have had 3 cigarettes since then when really bad cravings hit that 36mg wouldn't touch. Bear in mind these were extremely high stress situations including the death of a client and a friend. My plan with e cigs is to ween down nic strength to 0 within a year and then keep supplies on hand so I can have a go to that isn't another pack.

Hope this wall of text helps.

Edit: I started smoking when I was 14 and I am 38 now.

 

[jubal81]

My cigarette cravings were quite intense when I first began using a vaporizer, but they disappeared completely when I changed the equipment I was using. The small, 'cigalike' model with prefilled cartridges, even at 24mg dose, was inconsistent and only slightly more satisfying than nicotine gum/lozenges.

I'd tried patches, gum and lozenges many times and at no point during those trials did I ever think, 'Wow, I don't think I'll ever want a cigarette again.' With a properly setup vaporizer I have no desire at all to smoke and find cigarettes quite repulsive.

My theory on the improved efficacy is that, like a cigarette, a vaporizer allows the user to precisely control dosage in a way they are familiar with. The nicotine contacts the entire surface area inside the mouth at the same time and controlling exposure is completely intuitive, i.e. puffing harder gives slightly higher dosage.

 

[Thrasher]

i have been vaping for 8 months and I tried the patch (no effect) and quit 3 times with the 4mg gum, every time it was within months I just missed smoking, i got over the nicotine ok I just wanted to smoke, what a lot of us are really fighting is the hand to mouth action. it becomes ingrained.
there was nothing like a big greasy burger then a glass of ice cold coke and a smoke after.
Even on days i vape 0nic juce I still have the urge to smoke, not for the addiction but after 35 years the action is expected by my brain as its always been there no matter what else was going on in life,

I feel vaping saved my life as i had resigned myself to the fact i was going to die a smoker because even when my chest hurt I could not stop. now i feel wonderful and can adjust the nic to suit the mood so to speak.
depending on the type of devices and your personal goals, some devices are cig replacements and some are more for smoking cessation.

The day I started vaping was the last day i ever craved a real cig.

 

[Baditude]

Over 35 years of smoking a pack-per-day. Over the years I had tried the nicotine gum, nicotine patches, hypnosis (group and solo), Wellbutrin, etc.

The only thing that has worked, and quite remarkably, has been the electronic cigarettes. When I started vaping, I vaped with 24mg strength e-liquids as much as I felt I needed, which was probably more frequently than compared to actually smoking. I allowed myself parts of 3-4 cigarettes the first week. Over the first couple of days I noticed the normal satisfaction that I got from the real cigs was not as good. When my final pack of cigarettes was finished, so was I. I haven't touched another cigarette, nor craved one, in over 8 months.

I've lowered the nicotine strength from 24mg to 16mg and currently at 12mg over that time. I hate the smell of cigarette smoke, stinky ashtrays, and smoking areas. I can smell the smoke lingering around smoker's hair and clothes. And to think that I once smelled that nasty.

So doc, these do work where other things fail miserably. I have my own theories. Not only are we getting the nicotine replacement into our bodies (physical dependence), the act of vaping re-enforces the hand-to-mouth ritual (mental) of smoking that is so ingrained into our psyches. Also, the physical presence of a warm vapor in our mouth, throat, and lungs simulates the sensation of cigarette smoke, although its contents are far more healthier.

I can't understand why the medical community doesn't study these more and get behind them. I can understand the Big Tobacco being against these for obvious reasons. But Big Pharmaceutical is firmly against e-cigarettes, too. Is nicotine gum and patches that big of a pay-day? Seems like if one of those two did some R & D they could come up with some incredible vaping devices and nic-liquids that could blow the socks off of what is currently available.

 

[patkin]

I still smoke lightly... under 5 cigarettes a day... after two months vaping. But, I smoked a pack a day for 33 years and two packs a day for the last 25 years. I have cut the amount of nicotine down while vaping (pretty constant all day) to barely there (under 1mg diy) or zero though. I still crave cigarettes but not the nicotine so much from what I can tell. I have noticed that I reach for a cigarette when I'm upset, angry or when I need to focus hard as in doing taxes, the budget, paying bills.. although that could be stress too. ;-) When I do have a bad day and smoke up to 5 as a result of one of those situations, I don't beat myself up about it as I know my chest is clear for the first time in years and I can go right back to my usual vaping in the morning. I've tried other cessation methods and none worked. Smoking is more than craving nicotine. The zero nic PV satisfies my need for the habit of smoking such as throat hit, oral, etc, which I doubt I'll ever be free of craving considering I started smoking at 11.

 

[Kable]

I tried patches, gum, lozenges. Made me want a cigarette or dip. From the moment I tried an e cig, I haven't had any desire to smoke or chew whatsoever. The next day I literally cried I was so happy, and I knew I would never go back. This was even before I found this forum and all the great options that were available.

 

[Rachy_B]

I would feel more comfortable knowing whether or not this info was going into an academic paper- if you're going to use it, i want the opportunity to give you my express consent. This isn't it. Spot the fellow academic!

I've been on ecigs full time for 26.4 days and I've only found myself wanting a cigarette once and for a split second. Before a long journey, i used to have a mcdonalds and a cig, roll three for the journey and then set off. On Thursday, i had my maccy d's and thought 'I'll have a ..., then set off...oh...no wait...i won't...cool!' In the first few days i found the first cig of the day hard to get over but with slightly higher nicotine, i got over that quickly and now i use slightly lower nicotine all day...first thing on a morning i find myself wanting to go outside (i had to go outside to smoke) but that's habit, not a craving...

All in all, i find the habits hard to break but the ecig helps the chemical addiction and most of the psychological addiction.x

 

[onry]

i have tried the patch and chantix even did cold turkey for a very short while.
i used one of the mystic cig a likes for about a week yuk.
i have been using my 2 set ups i have now for about 2 weeks
i had my last cig last Wednesday about 10pm
i have a craving now and then but nothing that isn't bearable
with my e-cig.
i love it and dont believe i will ever smoke again

 

[ShyDragon]

I've been at this for about 5 months. At the very beginning I tried the cigarette look alike kit and I still preferred smoking over vaping. The kit was doing absolutely nothing for my cravings. Thanks to a co-worker of my husband's we eventually switched to ego batteries with clearomizers and the cravings were manageable for me. I've had the occasional really STRONG craving usually while out drinking with friends who are smoking. I've begged a couple of drags off their cig and been totally disgusted by the taste and the fact that I've smoked again. I do know, however, that the cravings are rare and way less than if I had tried to quit cold turkey (which never worked, anyway). In the five months since I've stopped buying cigarettes I might have smoked what amounts to 2 cigs. A lot less than what I would have smoked if I hadn't found e-cigs.

 

[synthsiggy]

Well i gave up smoking for health reasons. I was getting heart burn 24 hours a day seven days a week. Drinking tonnes of water and hoping it would go away, it never did. I gave up smoking cigarettes as a habit and started using a vapourizer. I loved smoking, i still smoked every couple of weeks or so but knew i wouldn't do it as a habit again. To me smoking is like anything else, it's not an addiction, just something i liked doing. I know people that say they are addicted to other things and have been using them for decades but addiction has nothing to do with it. They just enjoy the effects the substance provides. After all, withdrawal is like a touch of the flu. People that abuse substances are not addicted, they are more like spoilt children that have to have everything their way all the time. I know a lot of these types of people. And their doctors are just gullible. It says more about the person than it does about the substance.
Anyway, so called nicotine addiction is not the same. The way i see it is nicotine seems to affect you on a more subliminal level. Having nicotine in my electric cigarette makes it a placebo. Not having it in my electric cigarette makes vaping pointless to me. So shall i have a cigarette or the placebo ?. Well the placebo doesn't deposit tar into my lungs so i'll take it. As long as i can get some satisfaction from vaping, which includes sensations similar to smoking, then i will continue inhaling vegetable glycerine vapour as a vehicle for nicotine. So really, what is an electric cigarette ?. How would you define it ?. IT'S A PLACEBO !. So are placebo's recognised by medical authorities as a viable treatment ?. If so, then why aren't electric cigarettes recognised as a cessation device by any authorities,medical or otherwise ? Does it matter that the recipient knows the placebo isn't the real thing ?, well in this case no it doesn't. Placebo's work !. So lets forget the term "electric cigarette" and call it what it is, PLACEBO. And lets see the FDA argue about that. The device, and substances used in said device, are to be categorised as a placebo from now on.

 

[klynnn]

I smoked 48 yrs 2 pad. I have tried it all and nothing worked, nasty dreams on that chantix though. Quit smoking in a week with ecigs and I haven't been sick in a year. Had cravings for the first couple weeks but nothing that made me smoke. I did try a cig after a month or two and by then they tasted so nasty all I could say was how in the world did I ever smoke that long. I feel great now.

 

[Kable]

Well i gave up smoking for health reasons. I was getting heart burn 24 hours a day seven days a week. Drinking tonnes of water and hoping it would go away, it never did. I gave up smoking cigarettes as a habit and started using a vapourizer. I loved smoking, i still smoked every couple of weeks or so but knew i wouldn't do it as a habit again. To me smoking is like anything else, it's not an addiction, just something i liked doing. I know people that say they are addicted to other things and have been using them for decades but addiction has nothing to do with it. They just enjoy the effects the substance provides. After all, withdrawal is like a touch of the flu. People that abuse substances are not addicted, they are more like spoilt children that have to have everything their way all the time. I know a lot of these types of people. And their doctors are just gullible. It says more about the person than it does about the substance.
Anyway, so called nicotine addiction is not the same. The way i see it is nicotine seems to affect you on a more subliminal level. Having nicotine in my electric cigarette makes it a placebo. Not having it in my electric cigarette makes vaping pointless to me. So shall i have a cigarette or the placebo ?. Well the placebo doesn't deposit tar into my lungs so i'll take it. As long as i can get some satisfaction from vaping, which includes sensations similar to smoking, then i will continue inhaling vegetable glycerine vapour as a vehicle for nicotine. So really, what is an electric cigarette ?. How would you define it ?. IT'S A PLACEBO !. So are placebo's recognised by medical authorities as a viable treatment ?. If so, then why aren't electric cigarettes recognised as a cessation device by any authorities,medical or otherwise ? Does it matter that the recipient knows the placebo isn't the real thing ?, well in this case no it doesn't. Placebo's work !. So lets forget the term "electric cigarette" and call it what it is, PLACEBO. And lets see the FDA argue about that. The device, and substances used in said device, are to be categorised as a placebo from now on.

I take issue with quite a few of your statements. Pretending that other people aren't addicted to substances because you're not addicted to them is foolish. Physical symptoms of withdrawal are not why people have trouble quitting addictive substance. It has more to do with altered neuro chemistry. I believe you shouldn't pretend to know what other people experience, and that it must be the same as what you experience, because this can be divisive and is responsible for a lot of what I see as unnecessary violence. But that's just my philosophical perspective.

Also, something that contains the active chemical responsible for addiction, used as a replacement for a more harmful delivery system is not a placebo.

 

[gzin44]

I smoked for over 25 years. I still have a cigar once in awhile but i really have no cravings for it. I enjoy the taste now and do not have to have them all the time. I would guess it works better for me because i had something still in my hand while I was quitting analogs.