Going without, no withdrawal!

[nynvolt]

I've been a tobacco user since around 1990. Last year I started vaping, it took a few days to a week to give up tobacco and only vape. It wasn't super easy but it wasn't as difficult as going cold turkey. I still had the urge for tobacco for a couple of months but nothing I couldn't control.

I've stepped down to 6mg and been here ever since, pretty much exclusively using a dripper. One night last week at work I didn't have my kit and went the whole shift, 12 hours without any issue at all. None of the irritability, drowsiness or any of the crazy withdrawal symptoms I've had before and usually it would only take four hours on tobacco before I started going nuts.

Tested it this time on purpose. Went to work and I was totally fine. I DID want to vape, the same way you might want that extra slice of pizza but definitely was nothing like NEEDING it.

This has me thinking, maybe there really is something to some peoples assertion that the chemicals in tobacco make it more addicting.

Now I'm thinking of just giving it up but I don't want to. Psychologically, I think I need/want it. I may takes a few days off and see how it goes.

Someone needs to do a new study, if tobacco itself is a separate addiction or the primary addictive element. I know how I react without tobacco when I was a user, It's way WAY worse than going without vaping, it's not even in the same league.

Thoughts or similar experiences?

 

[Robino1]

A lot of people find it to be the same as you have. Personally? I am afraid to try to go without. There is that strong psychological pull there. Not to mention the fact that having felt those cravings before, I really don't want to chance having them again. You know?

I really believe that there are things in cigs that DO make it harder and make cigs more addicting. There are quite a few that have been able to totally give up vaping without going back to smoking. A couple still post on ECF. Not too many people, that have stopped vaping, continue to post on ECF.

If you do decide to stop vaping, and kudos if you do!, keep a backup on hand... just in case

Nice of you to share you experience with us!

 

[Robert Dupre]

I do fine mostly with no nic for long periods of time throughout the day but i only if it is in my hands and i can vape every so often. I only use 3mg anyway and high vg because i dont like the throat hit. Also i find using sweeter tasting flavors help me with the eating every kind of junk food i can get my hands on like when i tried to stop smoking many times before and i dont even really like junk food that much.

 

[Danbrooks2k]

A cigarette contains thousands of different chemicals... your body becomes addicted to those chemicals along with the nicotine... Do you ever wonder why you stuck with one type of cigarette and still wanted it even if you had a different cigarette you got from a friend?

Each brand has its own blend of chemicals that you get used to and crave...

That is the hard part about quitting... the nicotine by itself isnt that bad to quit.

 

[93gc40]

A cigarette contains thousands of different chemicals... your body becomes addicted to those chemicals along with the nicotine... Do you ever wonder why you stuck with one type of cigarette and still wanted it even if you had a different cigarette you got from a friend?

Each brand has its own blend of chemicals that you get used to and crave...

That is the hard part about quitting... the nicotine by itself isnt that bad to quit.

Actually it's the nicotine that is chemically adictive, the rest of smoking is HABIT. IMO, the chemical addiction part is easy to fix. We all start at higher nic levels than what we rutinely vape. BUT the physiological habit, which vaping reiforces is the hard thing to change.

 

[faeriekitsune]

Actually it's the nicotine that is chemically adictive, the rest of smoking is HABIT. IMO, the chemical addiction part is easy to fix. We all start at higher nic levels than what we rutinely vape. BUT the physiological habit, which vaping reiforces is the hard thing to change.

You're both kinda right.

Look at people who vape NETs. They do so because there is something in them not found in regular ejuice that eases their craving.

But the habit formed is tough to break. People who quit cold turkey often start chewing toothpicks or gum to interfere with the hand to mouth pattern.

Anyways, with the OT, I've been sick as a dog since Friday (great way to start the New Year right?) and haven't been able to vape unless I want to scorch my throat that already feels like sandpaper. I'm a little irritated as I haven't gotten my relaxing vape in the evenings, but nowhere near when I smoked ciggies. Back then I would still down half a pack, damned be the consequences.

 

[Robino1]

You're both kinda right.

Look at people who vape NETs. They do so because there is something in them not found in regular ejuice that eases their craving.

But the habit formed is tough to break. People who quit cold turkey often start chewing toothpicks or gum to interfere with the hand to mouth pattern.

Anyways, with the OT, I've been sick as a dog since Friday (great way to start the New Year right?) and haven't been able to vape unless I want to scorch my throat that already feels like sandpaper. I'm a little irritated as I haven't gotten my relaxing vape in the evenings, but nowhere near when I smoked ciggies. Back then I would still down half a pack, damned be the consequences.

Hold the vapor in your mouth for a little while then exhale through your nose. The nic is actually absorbed more efficiently through the mucus membranes in the mouth and nasal passages. You don't need it to hit your throat at all. Hope you feel better !

 

[nynvolt]

There is, my mind is made up, obviously more to tobacco addiction than nicotine and the habit. If I went a few hours without a cigarette (when I smoked) or chewing tobacco, I was a raving lunatic. Deprived of vaping, after kicking tobacco, was no biggie. I felt no physical withdrawals.

I can still get a nic buzz so I know I'm getting it by vaping. I think this could change the way we regulate nicotine and tobacco products. Nicotine may not be as addictive, or maybe, the withdrawals aren't nearly as bad without the tobacco element.

 

[bussdriver]

Just read the posts in the forum. As vapers we do all we can to get our nicotine, all we can to get our vapor, and for the most part, it is very effective. But underlying all of them, is the desire to smoke. NET tobacco extracts, vapor that shows bystanders that we can act like fog machines with more vapor than even the biggest cigar or pipe can deliver, devices that have the power and airflow to fly to the moon............most of us still want to smoke. Even though everything else, including nicotine, has been more than satisfied.

Cigarettes more addictive ? ? ? No question here either.

 

[sofarsogood]

I quit for 10 years and relapsed! So what ever you do keep your vape gear in working order just in case. I'd like to throttle down my vaping some but it won't be any time real soon. My perception quitting this time is the nic is about 80% of the chemistry but not 100%. My cigs declined from 25 to 4 the day I started vaping. I've seen others report something similar. I decided to leave it at that and learn to vape before worrying about those last 4 cigs and cut those out six weeks later successfully. The fatal flaw of every other "cessation" stratagy is relapse. Vaping addresses that. I smoked a cig two days ago to see what would happen. It tasted awful and made me feel bad. Vaping has spoiled me. As long as I can vape the relapse issue appears to be solved for me.

 

[inspects]

This has me thinking, maybe there really is something to some peoples assertion that the chemicals in tobacco make it more addicting.

Agree with you wholeheartedly.

I've only been vaping since November, now the smell of a cigarette just about gags me. When I started vaping 24mg nic was the strength it took to quench my desire not to smoke, a month later I'm down to 12mg with no desire for a higher level.

The next juice order is going to be a mix of 6mg and 12mg to eventually wean myself down to none. Nicotine is definitely additive, but no where near the addictiveness of other chemicals in those nasty cancer sticks.

 

[TyPie]

My experience mirrors these exactly. I started with a higher nicotine content, then found it very easy to gradually reduce it, where I am now down to 0-6mg. I am much more interested in the flavor nuances than the hit from nicotine at this point, and can actually go without vaping all day. It just so damn enjoyable tho, no desire to quit completely.

No question about it: Nicotine is nowhere near as addictive alone, as part of vapor, than it is in the chemical cocktail of burning tobacco created by the tobacco companies.

 

[Rotowoman]

Well, I must be the odd one in the bunch then because I'm still struggling, although not as much as I was a few weeks ago. I smoked for 40 years, and at three weeks of vaping, I started having hell with the urges. I'm down now to a pack every 3 days, but sometimes it just gets really rough for me. I'm determined to let those smokes go, so I keep on keeping on.

 

[stevegmu]

I think some are more dependent on vaping than they were smoking cigarettes. Personally I have found the opposite to be true...

 

[haveblue]

As a PAD for 20 years, I read about, and heard about, some strange withdrawal symptoms I thought wouldnt happen to me..But I was wrong.. I got my first e-cig kit and cut way back on ciggs that day. The first week was hell, sweaty, sleepless nights, muscle aches..so on..but having my vape kept my mind in the game. I went overnight from a PAD to smoking maybe three analogs a day to sometimes one. I dare say, I actually prefer vaping more than analogs now! There is no doubt in my mind vaping is safer than smoking. I was having withdrawals from chemicals, not nicotine.

 

[NewPT]

I found this post encouraging.

I had my last smoke Dec 19, have been vaping exclusively and have had no uncontrollable urges for a cigarette.

Sometimes a smoke would just feel right in certain situations and I find myself reaching for a pack that's no longer on my side table and then I just pick up the mod instead.

What I stress about is forgetting my device or having the device fail when away.

I've addressed this by keeping a spare coil and e-juice at work and in my car and buying a backup mod. I'm also getting in the habit of taking a few pulls as soon as I leave my home or work as a trigger to remind me to bring my mod.

But thus far my only fear has been the fear of not vaping and being overwhelmed by the old analog habit.

 

[Debadoo]

Well, I must be the odd one in the bunch then because I'm still struggling, although not as much as I was a few weeks ago. I smoked for 40 years, and at three weeks of vaping, I started having hell with the urges. I'm down now to a pack every 3 days, but sometimes it just gets really rough for me. I'm determined to let those smokes go, so I keep on keeping on.

What's your nic level? I had cravings for about 8 months at 18mg nic. I finally boosted up to 24mg and the cravings pretty much went away. Last week I tried to go back down to 18mg, (thought I was ready after 2 years at 24mg) I made it a week, but just felt bad. Went back up to 24 and I'm fine now. Except I do have several bottles of 18mg juice now. lol At some point I'll probably try mixing it with some 24, and have some 21mg.

So to the OP, some are more addicted to the nicotine than others. I really thought I was ready to go down to 18mg. I see now why many say it's best to step down in 3 mg increments. Some might be able to drop 6mgs at a time, but I'm not one of them apparently.

 

[Robino1]

We all are different in the way we are able to deal with vaping over smoking. There are some around here that still smoke a few cigs a day. That's how it is for them. Better to count the ones you don't have, then count the ones you do.

For some, cravings come back at the three mark: 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months even at the 3 year mark. Not everyone has this happen. Just something to watch and prepare for in case it happens to you. Have stronger nic around, just in case.

Rotowoman, have you thought about trying WTA? I have seen and heard that for some, it helps those that have a harder time giving up those last few. You don't need to vape WTA all the time, just when you feel you need those alkaloids. Don't beat yourself up. You're doing good. You're here, right?

 

[nynvolt]

I wasn't trying to minimalize the struggle to quit, that obviously will be different for everyone. My point is that the tobacco itself is part of, if not a major factor, in the addiction and withdrawals.

I was scared to drop down to 6mg to be honest. Last thing I wanted was to get the crazy withdrawals. It went well and of course I still had cravings, especially in the morning but they diminished weekly. Now after leaving my kit at home, which I was sketching about until I realized I was just fine. I only thought about it because I was blown away I felt just fine.

If we could some how prove that nicotine by itself is no more addicting than diet coke or morning coffee, it would be really hard for governments to rationalize taking it away.

For those still feeling the cravings daily, it takes awhile for that to go away but it does go away. Stick with it.

 

[wesson]

Well, I must be the odd one in the bunch then because I'm still struggling, although not as much as I was a few weeks ago. I smoked for 40 years, and at three weeks of vaping, I started having hell with the urges. I'm down now to a pack every 3 days, but sometimes it just gets really rough for me. I'm determined to let those smokes go, so I keep on keeping on.

Strange. I smoked a pack (25s, Players) per day for 41 years. Started vaping 24 mg about six weeks ago and haven't touched my smokes since. Down to 18 mg now and hoping to drop to 12 or lower within the next three months or so. No angst or cigarette withdrawal and, in fact, I now really dislike the odor of a cigarette. Everyone is different and will respond to vaping in a different manner. On the positive side, you're only smoking one pack every three days (I assume that you smoke more originally) well done! Keep at it till you can drop the tobacco habit all together. Best of luck

Peter