help my wife with terrible analog withdrawals

[dormouse]

Did she smoke full strength cigarettes? If so, you could definitely try some try 24mg

But besides that, buy some decent juice. If you have that 100% PG juice from China - it has good TH but not great in the aroma dept. Try some of the Backwoods Brew and FreedomSmokeUSA tobaccos. I tried a bunch of tobaccos before I found what worked for me was Turkish blends, tobaccos w/ vanilla or cocoa in them and some sweet tobaccos. Most cigs have cocoa and honey or sugar in them. I was a Pall Mall Lights smoker but I didn't like them - I just couldn't afford my old fave Capri Ultralights. I found Backwoods Brew Casablanca sort of reminded me of the Capri Ultralights and the aroma relaxed me (Casablanca is a Turkish blend w/ some cocoa and other things). My second all day was the nutty and slightly pungent Desert Ship (70pg/30vg, a more plain Turkish Blend) from FreedomSmokeUSA and I made it more interesting and a bit sweet by adding either their Vanilla Tahity, Chocolate or oRYental 4 (70pg/30vg which itself became a fave for me). But I tried a lot of tobaccos. FreedomSmokeUSA has 24mg samples of some of their tobaccos - you could try some of those - but not all are available as samples. Some people like their PureCig, Pall Mall and others.

Bottom line - what finally made me fully satisfied was a combination of the nicotine WITH the aroma and TH of particular juices.

And get her some cartos to try - she might light the drag better. With 70pg/30vg juices I get a nice amount of vapor on these. These standard resistance (needed on 510 batteries) Boge soft-caps are easy to add juice to and I love them on my 510. Unfortunately they are out of stock...
510 Blank Cartomizers
This place has some - get standard resistance and the black-covered feels better on the lips IMO
Boge 510 Cartomizer
or the prefilled ones here would be an easier way to try them - get the soft cap USA Mix (Marlboro-alike) and Desert Ship (Turkish Blend) - they are likely prefilled with the Chinese 100% PG juice but if you don't run them dry and singe them you should be able to top off/refill with nicer juices like those I listed above.
Cartomizers

You can probably get a week or more out of 1 carto by refilling before it runs dry.

 

[Bradder]

I am sure it will work out for both of you - hang in there. You have a lot of support in each other and here in the forums.

 

[wevie]

I had already ordered a bunch of cartos a few days ago. Hope to see them Monday or Tuesday. I also have already placed (my first) order from BWB. Of course, it will have to steep for a while after I get it before it's ready.

 

[Rosa]

I think that she'll do well on the 24mg.

Here's something that helped me a lot with the cig craving part:

Any time she wants a smoke she should vape first for a bout 10-15 minutes. If she still wants one after that then she should have one, but if the craving goes away then don't. She should do it every time though, even if it's every half an hour. The cravings will get fewer and farther between.

Here's one that I did for my psychological addiction:

I'd vape with a cigarette in one hand and my e-cig in the other. Take one drag of the cig and really experience it; the taste, the smoke, the feeling in my lungs, thinking about what I really like about it. Then I'd take a drag off the e-cig and do the same thing but I'd think, "Is the taste as good? Does the vapor feel worse than smoke or better or the same? Is the overall experience better, worse or the same?" I did that a few times during the first couple of days and I realized that really, they're pretty much similar experiences. I got better TH from the e-cig, liked the flavor better too.. I sort of ended up laughing at myself for holding on to the cigs when even I had to admit that I liked the e-cig better.

Anyway, as long as she keeps vaping she'll end up dropping the cigs eventually even if she doesn't try to, it just happens that way.

Good luck!

 

[pianoguy]

I concur on the 24mg - a lot of folks need 18-24mg or higher to start. Just watch it in the evening, or sleeping might be difficult. When I started, I didn't quit altogether - I decided to have a cigarette just when I really felt I needed one for the first few days, which worked out to 3-5 per day. Each day I put the first one off further and further, and after 4 days I didn't light up at all. I did carry a pack of cigs around for a week or so, and kept a pack in my car and in my drawer at work for quite a while. I had relatively mild withdrawal for the first couple weeks, then virtually nothing after that. Best of luck!

 

[ExMarbRed]

I agree with the replies saying everyone is different and people who quit do so differently. Even though I've been vaping for 2 weeks I've gone though about a pack and a half of analogs in that time. Just having them available seems to help a lot. If I know they are within arms reach I'll normally opt for my pv instead. If, however, I didn't have any analogs around it would be the only thing I could think about and would eat me up until I got some.

A pack and a half in two weeks is much better than a pack and a half a day and more importantly, it's the best I've done in my 40 years of smoking. What encourages me is that I can tell right now that this is going to work for me. Maybe not overnight cold turkey, but it *is* going to work.

Instead of her thinking that she's quitting, try to have her think that she's just trying something else for a change. And if she feels like she absolutely needs an analog tell her to have one... don't make any kind of big deal out of it. It's not that she has failed in any way. This is what is helping me. If I thought I was really quitting and couldn't have one more analog ever, it would be the only thing I could think about. It's weird, but that's just the way I am.

Many of the other replies also gave great advice about adjusting the nic strength, that would help if it's physical, but if it's the mental thing that's getting to her, it's a bit more challenging as it is with me. I have total respect and am in awe of people with the will power to quit cold turkey with or without vaping. I'm not one of those people.

Tell her to put the whole quitting thing out of her mind and just vape because she wants to. Eventually she will reach for her pv and actually prefer it over an analog. It's just now getting to that point for me. Have patience with her and more importantly tell her to have patience with herself. Having a flavor or two that you really really like helps me as well.

Hope this helps....

Don't worry, It will happen.

 

[Shinypaladin]

I usually use 18mg, but when I'm really Jonesing, I go to a 24 and that kills the urge for the most part.

Yupp 24mg in the morning over coffee and 18 mg for rest of the time usually does the trick for me. Perhaps if you pump up the nic level a little to start the cravings will go bye bye. I was a 2 pad smoker for 28 yrs and they didn't hit me so bad.

 

[pandatera]

Hi, and welcome to ECF

Let her know don't go so hard on herself. I think if she really needs 1 ciggy or a few to go by the day, I think it's fine. I'm been vaping since New Year. I'm still smoking around 10 ciggy or less each day from 40 a day before vaping. I noticed I'm smoking less and less by the day. I crave less for it when I have a new toy (juice, new cartos, etc..) I'll be playing around with the new stuff and forget about the ciggy.
Also hope the new nic lvl you purchase for her will help her, too.

Good luck

 

[LadyWeeps]

The habit has a routine also. I know for us (me) my analog habit was associated with going in the garage to smoke and having that time with my husband, you know, full attention kinda thing So, the first week of only vaping caused me to miss that time. We now have "vape breaks" and it really helped.

 

[Rosa]

The habit has a routine also. I know for us (me) my analog habit was associated with going in the garage to smoke and having that time with my husband, you know, full attention kinda thing So, the first week of only vaping caused me to miss that time. We now have "vape breaks" and it really helped.

LOL! my routine was about getting away from my loved ones.... j/k (sort of)

 

[Darkwitless]

It took me a week to give up the analogs completely - some people never stop completely - but every analog missed is one less!

No one will take her gold star away if she needs an analog every once in a while. I HAD to have my morning one and one after dinner (or 2!) and again before bed...part of it was my routine - I liked my sneak away to a quiet spot in the garage.... And like PP mentioned - I vaped first, then had the smoke. Oddly enough, after day 2 or 3, my smokes didn't taste good anymore. By day 7, I lit it took a couple of drags and was done...The rest of the pack sat in a drawer for the next 3 months til I threw them away.

 

[Sayvil]

Tell her to just keep swimming. My last analog was on Dec. 27. The first week was....um.... difficult. It does get easier.
Just try to be understanding if she bites your head off. LOL

 

[progg]

I've been at it for about 10 months at 18mg supplemented with Swedish Snus like DC2 said.

The snus provides things chemically that vaping lacks. I use far less of snus now, but when I first quit I always had a plug going.

If the wifey decides to go this route -- get the Swedish Snus.

Hang in there.

 

[BigTex]

I'll add one thing. I found it very helpful to vape in a completely different way than I smoked.

I always smoked outside and did it at certain times. After meals. After a certain TV show. When I got home after work. Etc.

When I started vaping I tried to break all those habits by vaping all the time. I always have my PV in my pocket and I vape all day long. By constantly vaping instead of waiting to feel the cigarette craving I avoided the feeling of needing a cigarette.

I'm in the dental field and I viewed it like pain medications after an extraction. We always tell patients to take the pain medication on schedule instead of waiting to feel the pain. Once you feel the pain it is too late, but if you take the medication on schedule the pain never occurs.

Take it for what its worth, but it worked for me. I'm 51 days analog-free now and feeling great.

 

[6pointprime]

I think it's a good idea to try low resistance atomizers with an ego - that gives the throat hit that she may be missing.

 

[tabithad]

I agree with the advice you were given here as well. I needed the 24 mg last week when I quit, and I did it cold turkey, the 18mg was just not cutting it for me... now this week, 18mg is perfect, and the 24mg makes me feel sick.... she just needs something a little stronger to help her get over the urges, and encourage her to vape constantly, not wait for those urges to be too strong.
One thing I did all last week was take my PV to bed with me, in the morning I would vape when I woke up and kinda laid there in bed till my morning craving was gone.... then I got up, found it much easier to cope since my routine was always to get up, get a cup of coffee and go out to the garage..... I had to come up with something different.. It worked !!