Give the forum your story to help get it legal
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he he.. i am in my bloody front room.. my front room is in the UK.. the UK is my concern.. the rest of the world can look after itself..
trog
I had my first cig when I was about 13 so I suppose thats now been around 18 years of lung abuse..
Following the birth of our first baby, I first discovered e-cigs back in April this year after 'yet another' google search on 'how to give up smoking'. Wasn't sure what to make of them first off - thought I'd prefer to try one out before committing to buy.
Anyhow, snus was the first step forward which worked pretty well, but still missed the act of smoking. Then after reading some of TB's postings on the snuson forum, I was brought to this fantastic forum and haven't looked back!
I admit, I have had the odd cigarette when an atomiser packs it up, or a battery dies on holiday but if these devices could be made better, cheaper and more easily obtainable, I have no doubt they would completely solve my addiction to cigarettes.
Tim
Following the birth of our first baby, I first discovered e-cigs back in April this year after 'yet another' google search on 'how to give up smoking'. Wasn't sure what to make of them first off - thought I'd prefer to try one out before committing to buy.
Anyhow, snus was the first step forward which worked pretty well, but still missed the act of smoking. Then after reading some of TB's postings on the snuson forum, I was brought to this fantastic forum and haven't looked back!
I admit, I have had the odd cigarette when an atomiser packs it up, or a battery dies on holiday but if these devices could be made better, cheaper and more easily obtainable, I have no doubt they would completely solve my addiction to cigarettes.
Tim
I started smoking at age 13. I have tried the stinking patches, the foul tasting gum, the useless nicotine inhaler, support groups and many other methods.
We are told to quit as if this merely requires willpower, but the side effects of quitting are very underplayed. I stopped smoking for 6 years once, but my weight increased at a dangerous rate and I and my family lived the fallout of my constant depression until I resorted to anti depressents (which have plenty of side effects and potential health risks too!). So it can be very daunting for someone like myself to quit. Weight gain is no small thing and in some cases it leads to serious health risks. Depression affects every aspect of a persons life.
Other methods do not address these issues. The e-cigarette does. This is a method that at last allows even heavy smokers to quit the many toxins in regular cigarettes without the risk of depression & weight gain.
I have cut down from being a heavy smoker to having a couple of cigarettes a day - I credit the e-cig with this. Each time I smoke regular cigarettes I like them less. I find myself reaching for my e-cig more and more.
It's only been a few weeks but I feel benefits already, I don't cough anymore. I breathe easier. I'm confident I will completely stop regular cigarettes in the very near future. And best of all no weight gain and no depression.
If the Governments of the world really mean what they say about wanting us to stop smoking - they should be delighted that at last there is a way that we have every hope of doing so.
We are told to quit as if this merely requires willpower, but the side effects of quitting are very underplayed. I stopped smoking for 6 years once, but my weight increased at a dangerous rate and I and my family lived the fallout of my constant depression until I resorted to anti depressents (which have plenty of side effects and potential health risks too!). So it can be very daunting for someone like myself to quit. Weight gain is no small thing and in some cases it leads to serious health risks. Depression affects every aspect of a persons life.
Other methods do not address these issues. The e-cigarette does. This is a method that at last allows even heavy smokers to quit the many toxins in regular cigarettes without the risk of depression & weight gain.
I have cut down from being a heavy smoker to having a couple of cigarettes a day - I credit the e-cig with this. Each time I smoke regular cigarettes I like them less. I find myself reaching for my e-cig more and more.
It's only been a few weeks but I feel benefits already, I don't cough anymore. I breathe easier. I'm confident I will completely stop regular cigarettes in the very near future. And best of all no weight gain and no depression.
If the Governments of the world really mean what they say about wanting us to stop smoking - they should be delighted that at last there is a way that we have every hope of doing so.
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I am Kimmie and use a personal vapor device that is called an electronic cigarette.
-I was a thumb sucker as a child...it gave me security
-I was an undiagnosed ADHD child then adult (Stimulants actually calm me)
-My first cig was at age 13 (I am now 45) (I won't go into details but I was of the era of cigarette machines in the skating rink. Smoking outside the Catholic Church teen dance. Smoking in the girls room with teachers. Spring break bashes that were hosted by cig companies...
-I resorted to sneaking cigs when I met my hubby (he hates the smell and idea of smoking) but I did not quit
-I tried gum, patches, chantix (all terrible terrible things!) Side affects from headaches...rashes...terrible thoughts, dreams, depression, and weight gain.
-I stumbled upon these personal vapor devices...they aren't stinky, I can control medium, low or no nicotine, I don't have to sneak, I haven't had any side affects, and I get the oral satisfaction I crave. I am calm.
-I do not use the personal vapor device more than I did burning cigs and I know this is much more healthier for me.
"That's my story and I am sticking to it!"
-I was a thumb sucker as a child...it gave me security
-I was an undiagnosed ADHD child then adult (Stimulants actually calm me)
-My first cig was at age 13 (I am now 45) (I won't go into details but I was of the era of cigarette machines in the skating rink. Smoking outside the Catholic Church teen dance. Smoking in the girls room with teachers. Spring break bashes that were hosted by cig companies...
-I resorted to sneaking cigs when I met my hubby (he hates the smell and idea of smoking) but I did not quit
-I tried gum, patches, chantix (all terrible terrible things!) Side affects from headaches...rashes...terrible thoughts, dreams, depression, and weight gain.
-I stumbled upon these personal vapor devices...they aren't stinky, I can control medium, low or no nicotine, I don't have to sneak, I haven't had any side affects, and I get the oral satisfaction I crave. I am calm.
-I do not use the personal vapor device more than I did burning cigs and I know this is much more healthier for me.
"That's my story and I am sticking to it!"
Leaford,
I have, so far, 3 Njoy, 3 from jane, both of Steve's, and Both of Jeffs. Jeff is sending me the cigar, and getting me a pipe too. I put out 6-9 next to computer during trading hours, I uwse different flavors for each, I have 2 power strips, with 10 open chargers, labled for correct batteries.....I am developing a certain style
obsessed, no?Thanks for your invaluable guidance, and actually taking the time to tell it how it is, on your video's. You would laugh hard at my dog, when your bird talks8-o
You sound like me! 
I've got a spinning desk caddy with multiple pen holders, so I can spin it and grab any of me e-cigs at any time, TWO power strips, one for grounded power cords, one for ungrounded, and I bought a P-Touch labler just for chargers and cartridges.
I've got a spinning desk caddy with multiple pen holders, so I can spin it and grab any of me e-cigs at any time, TWO power strips, one for grounded power cords, one for ungrounded, and I bought a P-Touch labler just for chargers and cartridges.
I've been smoking now for 39 years, I just worked that out and I frightens me, not so much as the length of time I've smoked but how old I am
Started at school when I was 13 and have been solidly hooked ever since. I have tried all the usual tricks, patches, gum, inhalator, nasal sprays and nothing worked. I can barely go a day without a cigarette.
I did at one time manage to stop for two months and it was hell. I used to dream about smoking!!
The slightest bit of stress has me running for a cigarette and thats the amazing thing about the e-cigs. I may only have stopped for a short time but during that time my stress level has been through the roof. I have not fallen back to using tobacco, the e-cigs have really replaced smoke.
I may be vaping to much but I feel so much better, I can breathe, taste and the cough has gone.
If they ban this I'm in BIG trouble!!
Started at school when I was 13 and have been solidly hooked ever since. I have tried all the usual tricks, patches, gum, inhalator, nasal sprays and nothing worked. I can barely go a day without a cigarette.
I did at one time manage to stop for two months and it was hell. I used to dream about smoking!!
The slightest bit of stress has me running for a cigarette and thats the amazing thing about the e-cigs. I may only have stopped for a short time but during that time my stress level has been through the roof. I have not fallen back to using tobacco, the e-cigs have really replaced smoke.
I may be vaping to much but I feel so much better, I can breathe, taste and the cough has gone.
If they ban this I'm in BIG trouble!!
i love that simple statement.. but they wont dare ban it out right.. what we have to be very careful of is their attempts to regulate and control it.. in short to make it "safe"..
these stories and many like them will stop them from "banning" it.. they wont stop them from trying to make it "safe" thow.. be warned..
trog
You and me both 8-o, don't even want to contemplate that possibility !
Although, thinking about it (and playing a bit of 'Devil's Advocate' here
), if they do ban it, tobacco is not an option for me anymore so I guess then they will have proved the point that e-smoking actually IS an effective (tobacco) smoking cessation device !But I really, really, desperately hope it won't come to that...
I read a story on the internet, it was an rss feed.. had to have been though digg or stumblebuzz.. that mentioned e-cigs (I just dug through google reader to see if I could track down the original story that caught my eye, but it didn't catch my eye again). It gave very little information except that they were "big in the UK."
Now, knowing how crafty my friends across the pond are (I come from good Irish stock myself), I researched the issue quite a bit, asking anyone I knew who came from, had been to, or even knew lots of people from Europe for any information, but only one claimed to have heard of them, and he was a total poser, unable to give me any information I didn't already have at my command.
Having been failed (once again) by actual human contact, I turned my search to where the search began- the internet. I was quickly directed here, and to Dusty's video reviews.
Having not nearly built up the nerve to start posting here (a fear I got over yesterday), the universally glowing reviews of CaSH's customer service prompted me to email him with many questions. It didn't take long before I ordered my first package.
I didn't intend to quit. I had, in fact, resigned myself after just over fourteen years of daily smoking, to dying in the grand tradition of my family: slowly, by asphyxiation.
It wouldn't be so bad, I thought. I told myself I could live with the loss of my singing voice, waking up every day coughing, being treated like a criminal. At least I would look cool.
But still, my love of technology and the growing cost of cigarettes drew me to the e-cig. I had my last cigarette on my way home from the post office to pick up my first penstyle and dse901b package.
I wasn't planning on it being my last cigarette, I had even purchased another pack of my beloved Camel Lights on my way TO the post office. That pack remains sealed on my desk.
Somehow, the game of "lets try this" became "let's see how far I can go," which gave way to "I don't smoke anymore." Today is my thirty-first day without even a puff of tobacco. I doubt I will ever have another one. My roommate and my girlfriend both freely smoke around me (although my girlfriend is slowly making the transition to e-cigs. I just ordered her a few pink ones from Puresmoker), and it doesn't bother me a bit. In fact I sort of enjoy the smell.
Presently I'm motivated by the fact that I have not told my mother about it yet. My mom's going to be sixty in December, and she's been a smoker for probably 45 of those years. I know she's always blamed herself for me taking up the habit, and so I think the best gift for her birthday I could come up with is a visit home, the announcement that her only child hasn't touched a pyro cig in just over three months, and a starter kit (with an assortment of spare parts and juices, of course).
She has no idea. I'm so excited.
Now, knowing how crafty my friends across the pond are (I come from good Irish stock myself), I researched the issue quite a bit, asking anyone I knew who came from, had been to, or even knew lots of people from Europe for any information, but only one claimed to have heard of them, and he was a total poser, unable to give me any information I didn't already have at my command.
Having been failed (once again) by actual human contact, I turned my search to where the search began- the internet. I was quickly directed here, and to Dusty's video reviews.
Having not nearly built up the nerve to start posting here (a fear I got over yesterday), the universally glowing reviews of CaSH's customer service prompted me to email him with many questions. It didn't take long before I ordered my first package.
I didn't intend to quit. I had, in fact, resigned myself after just over fourteen years of daily smoking, to dying in the grand tradition of my family: slowly, by asphyxiation.
It wouldn't be so bad, I thought. I told myself I could live with the loss of my singing voice, waking up every day coughing, being treated like a criminal. At least I would look cool.
But still, my love of technology and the growing cost of cigarettes drew me to the e-cig. I had my last cigarette on my way home from the post office to pick up my first penstyle and dse901b package.
I wasn't planning on it being my last cigarette, I had even purchased another pack of my beloved Camel Lights on my way TO the post office. That pack remains sealed on my desk.
Somehow, the game of "lets try this" became "let's see how far I can go," which gave way to "I don't smoke anymore." Today is my thirty-first day without even a puff of tobacco. I doubt I will ever have another one. My roommate and my girlfriend both freely smoke around me (although my girlfriend is slowly making the transition to e-cigs. I just ordered her a few pink ones from Puresmoker), and it doesn't bother me a bit. In fact I sort of enjoy the smell.
Presently I'm motivated by the fact that I have not told my mother about it yet. My mom's going to be sixty in December, and she's been a smoker for probably 45 of those years. I know she's always blamed herself for me taking up the habit, and so I think the best gift for her birthday I could come up with is a visit home, the announcement that her only child hasn't touched a pyro cig in just over three months, and a starter kit (with an assortment of spare parts and juices, of course).
She has no idea. I'm so excited.
I hear horrible things about these pills. Big pharma pushes them out to make big bugs, but even when short-term clinical trials (typically 6 weeks) on healthy, young volunteers don't show up unpleasant side-effects, it does not then follow that drugs which mess with neurotransmitter levels are safe in the general population, or that they shouldn't be followed up in general practice and that patient tales should be dismissed.
Up to a quarter of the general population has mental health issues (even though they may not know it yet) which preclude the use of such drugs. Many 'antidepressants' are no such thing and--while working for some people--can make the condition much worse in others. They are certainly not sugar pills and their use as stop-smoking aids is frivolous and dangerous.
And the authorities get excited about e-cigs. Go figure.
But yeah, we have to be careful not to make similar rash claims with no data whatsoever to back them up
And to get back on topic: I bought an e-cig as a birthday gimmick for my hubby and found to my surprise that I prefer them to the real thing, although my hubby doesn't.
Regarding Zyban and seizures, from what I have read on the internet (ie, take with a bucket-load of salt), there is an increased risk if combined with another antidepressant drug (bupropion is an antidepressant in its own right).
In the US zyban is regularly prescribed to counteract the sexual side-effects of antidepressants (ssris mostly) - clearly they can't have much of a worry about it increasing the seizure risk, although dosage considerations have to be taken into account.
There have been many reports in the press about zyban causing depression, and I can't help but wonder if doctors mightn't try a small dose of an antidepressant in people who are benefiting from the zyban's anti-smoking effects?
Sorry for the OT rant - I take a special interest in this sort of thing down to the volunteering work I do with a mental health charity.
In the US zyban is regularly prescribed to counteract the sexual side-effects of antidepressants (ssris mostly) - clearly they can't have much of a worry about it increasing the seizure risk, although dosage considerations have to be taken into account.
There have been many reports in the press about zyban causing depression, and I can't help but wonder if doctors mightn't try a small dose of an antidepressant in people who are benefiting from the zyban's anti-smoking effects?
Sorry for the OT rant - I take a special interest in this sort of thing down to the volunteering work I do with a mental health charity.
Denni, the reports on antidepressants must be understood in many different contexts. It's quite true that many people who are given them should not be and it's also quite true to say that big pharma pushes them, and they really shouldn't.
The big problem, though, is the chronic lack of interest in mental health issues by government and society at large. In fact, I'd say depression, although far better understood than in the past, is one of the last great taboos we have. Certainly in the UK.
However, antidepressants are extremely valuable for those that genuinely do need them. Speak to any front-line medical professional and they will tell you the same thing: When someone presents to them with clinical depression and is given the right antidepressant, they are 9/10 times extremely effective (in the short term).
Clearly the major caveats here are, firstly, getting the right drug which, at the moment, can only be done on a trial and error basis and, secondly, the consideration of the proportion that are not helped by any of these drugs.
Then there is the problem of volition. This can occur in the period between starting the drug and the drug having its full effects: Simply put, before the drug has its mood-improving effects, it often causes the patient to recover their energy, both physical and mental.
This is potentially very dangerous for someone who has been deeply depressed and has had suicidal thoughts, but hasn't taken any action because of the lack of motivation associated with depression. Some patients have taken their lives in this period.
It is a tough one. In my opinion, the evaluation of depressed patients should be very thorough - preferably carried out by a clinical psychologist or a psychiatrist. Certainly, if a patient expresses any suicidal thoughts to their primary healthcare provider, this should happen. Those who are deemed at risk should be hospitalized until they are seen to be responding to the medication.
In the UK, there is simply not enough money to do this. Far too few clinical psychologists are being trained (DH Cohen: CBT is inadequate and administered by the unqualified | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk) and inappropriate treatment is often given.
The most important factor of all is what is done when the patient is responding to the drugs. Often they will simply be sent off and re-evaluated on subsequent prescription re-writes but never referred for talk-therapy.
Some people may well just need the one course of drugs to help overcome a difficult time in their lives, but others (for whom the majority of prescriptions are written), will likely end up being off and on the drugs for years. These are the people with deep-seated issues involving low self-esteem, trauma and neurological deficiencies.
Evaluating the effectiveness of ADs comes down to how we define success in treating mental illness. If a single illness episode is overcome but the underlying issues are left untreated is that a successful outcome?
Yes and no, I'd say!
The big problem, though, is the chronic lack of interest in mental health issues by government and society at large. In fact, I'd say depression, although far better understood than in the past, is one of the last great taboos we have. Certainly in the UK.
However, antidepressants are extremely valuable for those that genuinely do need them. Speak to any front-line medical professional and they will tell you the same thing: When someone presents to them with clinical depression and is given the right antidepressant, they are 9/10 times extremely effective (in the short term).
Clearly the major caveats here are, firstly, getting the right drug which, at the moment, can only be done on a trial and error basis and, secondly, the consideration of the proportion that are not helped by any of these drugs.
Then there is the problem of volition. This can occur in the period between starting the drug and the drug having its full effects: Simply put, before the drug has its mood-improving effects, it often causes the patient to recover their energy, both physical and mental.
This is potentially very dangerous for someone who has been deeply depressed and has had suicidal thoughts, but hasn't taken any action because of the lack of motivation associated with depression. Some patients have taken their lives in this period.
It is a tough one. In my opinion, the evaluation of depressed patients should be very thorough - preferably carried out by a clinical psychologist or a psychiatrist. Certainly, if a patient expresses any suicidal thoughts to their primary healthcare provider, this should happen. Those who are deemed at risk should be hospitalized until they are seen to be responding to the medication.
In the UK, there is simply not enough money to do this. Far too few clinical psychologists are being trained (DH Cohen: CBT is inadequate and administered by the unqualified | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk) and inappropriate treatment is often given.
The most important factor of all is what is done when the patient is responding to the drugs. Often they will simply be sent off and re-evaluated on subsequent prescription re-writes but never referred for talk-therapy.
Some people may well just need the one course of drugs to help overcome a difficult time in their lives, but others (for whom the majority of prescriptions are written), will likely end up being off and on the drugs for years. These are the people with deep-seated issues involving low self-esteem, trauma and neurological deficiencies.
Evaluating the effectiveness of ADs comes down to how we define success in treating mental illness. If a single illness episode is overcome but the underlying issues are left untreated is that a successful outcome?
Yes and no, I'd say!
Again, sorry for the OT rant, but I've been involved with this stuff quite a lot and it's a topic that I am very passionate about!
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