How much did you used to smoke?!

[CCVapes23]

So I’ve been smoking a half pack to a pack of American spirits for like three to years now... I used to smoke Marlboro reds and Marlboro smooth’s just curious as to how much everyone else used to smoke? I am still struggling with quitting full time. Some days I smoke 3-4 cigs then others I smoke 10+ . I’m only 23 and I’m so paranoid about copd and all of that. I made a bet with a friend with money I don’t have so I’m actually going to quit. I’m just paranoid and feel like I’m still gonna get copd later in life... it runs in my family. I’ve posted about heart disease and that kind of stuff before. I’m basically wondering if anyone here has copd and vapes and how do they feel? Sorry for all the paranoid posts. Hearing that kind of stuff makes me want to quit. Thanks!


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[bombastinator]

After you actually quit smoking it takes like 5 years or something for your risk factors to return to non smoking status. COPD is partially an artery blockage thing so you’ll probably get some mileage out of regular excercise and avoiding trans fats as well. See a doctor about it maybe. They will know more than me. Iirc there are several people with copd on the site. They generally claim to have improved symptoms with vaping over smoking. Just because vaping is better than smoking doesn’t mean it’s a get-out-of-COPD-free cars though. Ecigs still contain nicotine which is a vasoconstrictor.

 

[Rossum]

Two packs a day of Camel Turkish Silver. Merits before that. I smoked for 36 years. No COPD, but I had a horrible smoker"s cough and what I'd describe as chronic, low-grade bronchitis. Switching to vape five years ago made all that go away very quickly. I felt 10 years younger than when I was smoking.

 

[smacuser]

I have probably smoked a pack a day for almost 30 years, since I was 17. COPD runs in my family, as well. You've been here for over a year, so what's the problem? As far as I'm concerned, what do I have to lose?

 

[Doffy]

70 per day

 

[Anise]

Smoked 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 packs of Marlboro reds for 35 years. Now they smell like doodoo. I don't know how I did it. I'm sure glad I switched to vaping and not just because of my cardiac problems.

 

[AXIOM_1]

Yep, dating my age lol … but I smoked for almost 40 years and I was a heavy smoker for most of that time (chain smoker)

 

[Letitia]

Pack a day for about 40y then 1.5 pack a day for 5 or 6y more.

 

[Skunk!]

Pack to a pack and a half a day. I started when I was 12. Quit for a couple years and started again when I was 16 and smoked for 22 years. Stopped for 3 years with vaping and started again when I was working 2 jobs. I quit again in January. I was working my way towards quitting vaping, and had to start the process all over again.

 

[Vapefiend]

I was lucky to find vaping relatively quick compared to a lot of others here. I smoked a pack a day for 6 years before finding vaping. I definitely feel a lot better and to my knowledge have 0 health issues caused by the smoking I did other than my teeth not being as white as they used to be.

 

[ozm8ey]

I used to go through a pack of 25's every 2 nights

 

[pfaber11]

I smoked 10 a day for the first 2 years then went up to 20 a day for a couple of years then 30 a day for 27 years . Really glad vaping came along . Good for my pocket and my health. Don't think I could of quit any other method. You can do it and it'll probably be easier than you think.

 

[Baditude]

A pack per day (20 cigs) for 35 years. Mostly Marlboro Menthol Lights, but always menthol. I inhaled deeply; I could smoke a cig in about half the time it would take other people. Maybe part of that was taking advantage of 3 minute smoke breaks instead of 7 minute breaks.

@CCVapes23, if you truly want to quit smoking, change your habits.

• Stop buying your favorite brand of cigarettes. If you smoke menthol, buy non-menthol. If you smoke non-menthol, buy menthol. Don't reward yourself for any reason with a cigarette.
• If alcohol lowers your inhibitions to smoke, stop going to bars or clubs. Stop hanging with friends who smoke and drink excessively.
• When you do smoke, don't smoke an entire cigarette; smoke half or less and save the rest for the next craving. Those second half cigarettes will taste nasty, but that will help you quit.

 

[dom qp]

I did 1.5-2 packs (38-50) a day of Malboro, then when things got tight Pall Malls and reserve rollies.

My mom has COPD and my aunt died of lung cancer.

I saw and knew about the health risks, but when you're really addicted I don't know if it's always enough. It wasn't enough for me. I needed the stress relief and worrying about COPD was the last thing in my mind. I had so many other things that were immediate and cigarettes were the only thing that helped me get through it.

A combination of two things got me to quit. One was finding some balance in my life and reducing the general anxiety and stress. Secondly was finding the right reason to quit. In my case it wasn't about me, I didn't care if I died at 85 or 55; it was about caring for someone else and not wanting cigarette addiction being a part of her life. I found someone I love enough to be more important than my cigarette addiction

Adding to @Baditude 's list, here's the thing that I found the most helpful.

Disgust. Disgust is the only thing that would help me. I didn't care if it tasted bad, I didn't care if half was already smoked (I would end up smoking 1 and a half instead). But disgust really helped with those harder moments.

I kept my cigarette butts in a coffee can under the kitchen sink. I'd empty my ash trays into it. I kept it. Whenever I wanting a cigarette i'd open that can up and take a long deep inhale with my face in the hole. My craving died instantly.

 

[dennism]

I smoked 2 packs a day for 50 years, either camel wides or Marlboro reds. I have copd and am on anora ellipta, in the 5 years that I've been vaping, lung function hasn't gotten better nor worse. As a side note the anora ellipta cost $411 for a 3 month supply(that's with insurance). My advice get off of the cigs before you wind up like me.

 

[Baditude]

Adding to @Baditude 's list, here's the thing that I found the most helpful.

Disgust. Disgust is the only thing that would help me. I didn't care if it tasted bad, I didn't care if half was already smoked (I would end up smoking 1 and a half instead). But disgust really helped with those harder moments.

I kept my cigarette butts in a coffee can under the kitchen sink. I'd empty my ash trays into it. I kept it. Whenever I wanting a cigarette i'd open that can up and take a long deep inhale with my face in the hole. My craving died instantly.

My best friend did something similar when she was pregnant. She kept cigarette butts and ashes in a baby food jar filled partially with water. When she got a craving, she'd take a big whiff from the jar. This tactic helped for about a year. She eventually returned back to smoking and died around the age of 44 from a major heart attack. She was not obese and to my knowledge didn't have any other health issues. At the time she was under a lot of emotional stress and began having chest pains. She died the day before she was scheduled for a cardiogram.

 

[EverythingEvil]

I used to smoke at least 1 1/2 packs of camels. Some days it was more like 3 packs. I got to the point where I couldn't breathe at work and decided to go back to vaping.

I'm really not sure why I ever went back to smoking in the first place. I assume I had a hard time sticking with vaping the first time around because my nicotine consumption was too low. It's kinda hard to get enough nicotine at work when you are relying on a mech mod and 3mg juice. I've had a lot easier time with vaping now that high strength salts are avalible. I've even quit using snus, something I thought would be impossible a few months ago.

 

[englishmick]

I smoked a pack a day for 47 years. Lot of that time I rolled my own so I don't really know how many I smoked. I was diagnosed with early stage of COPD and I was using Spiriva and another inhaler for a couple of years. Just after I started vaping my company insurance stopped covering COPD meds. I guess the insurance company Death Panel decided they could make more profit letting people with COPD croak. Turned out with not smoking I was fine without them. It's five years now and I'm doing OK. Turning 68 in a few days and I can still put in 4 hours mowing the lawn without running out of steam.

 

[scott58]

Almost 3 packs a day at the end.

 

[AngeNZ]

1 - 1.5 packs a day for the past 20 years