How old are you, and why did you start vaping?

[AcePilot]

I'm 41 (going on 14, so I've been told ). I smoked 1.5 pad for 17 years and then a pipe for 9 more years. Gave up tobacco because I was finally tired of reeking of smoke, coughing, burning holes in my clothes, etc., and had reached the age where I knew the habit could come back to bite me at any time. Conga rats, AcePilot, on giving up the evil weed at so young an age. Wish PVs had been around when I was in my 20s.

Thanks, I'm glad too. I thought for sure I would be a life long smoker before I switched. Cigarettes had me hook, line and sinker.

 

[Spazmelda]

Today is the last day I will be able to say I am 39. I started smoking relatively late at the age of 17.

Another accidental quitter here. I tried to quit many times with the patches, gum (habitual gum user), and once with Wellbutrin. I had given up hope, but tried e-cigs thinking maybe I could at least smoke less.

Not only is tomorrow my 40th birthday but it also marks 5 months of being smoke free!

 

[Semiretired]

I'm 41 (going on 14, so I've been told ). Wish PVs had been around when I was in my 20s.

Through this forum I have read that these things have been around for 10 years - wish I had learned about them back then. I kind of wonder what it would be like now if I had tried them when they first came out... I learned about them about a year ago and procrastinated for about 8 mths and studied about them a lot before I made the jump - did not want to switch from one thing that was killing me into another that might be worse...

 

[dotma]

Im 46 and started vaping last September. I smoked since i was 17, off and on, mostly on, but quit when i was pregnant both times and a few other times in between but that craving never ever seems to go away entirely. I started e cigs for the health aspect but probably more for the financial aspect, which now I see is a losing proposition lol.

 

[tippyclubb]

First of all your a smart girl giving up analogs before you do any long term damage to your lungs. The younger generation is fortunate to have electronic cigarettes as a alternative to analogs. Us older people did not have that option but many of us sure wish we did for health reasons.

I'm 56 and started smoking at 16 so 40 years of frying my lungs and I knew it was time to stop because I could barely make it up a flight of stairs without gasping for air. However, I had tried quiting many, many times without success.

Over a year ago they banned smoking in all public places, restaurants, bars, etc. One day I stopped at the tobacco shop for smokes and saw the disposable e-cig so I bought one strictly for when we went out to eat, or to the bar. It tasted awful but it served its purpose so I could smoke while having some cocktails in public.

Six months later I ran across a booth that sold those DSE801 penstyle e-cigs and they tasted so good and I felt like I could quit smoking with this one. Not! Although I did smoke less. One day I goggled e-cigs and found this forum and I learned all about the vaping world and how much there is to it. After a week or so of reading I ordered a Riva 510 and a bunch of juice. In a few weeks I will be upgrading to a mod, vv or something better.

For me it started out as a fluke, but look at me now --smokeless in Michigan. Yes, indeed I have finally won the war with that nasty addiction.

 

[Katy]

52 smoked 2 pad for 35ish yrs, Tried the ecig because of the riseing costs of analogs figureing to just use on occasion dropped to 1/2 pad the first day and went total ecig within the first week.
The rest of my family was amazed as I never intended to drop the analogs it just happened.

I'm a bit like you on how fast I took to the vaporizer ... yes, less than a week. I'm 70 years old and had smoked (2 packs a day) for over 50 of those years. I had tried everything imaginable to quit regular cigarettes without success. My husband died 2 years ago from lung cancer and my adult children were really after me to quit. I've not had a cigarette since the beginning of June last year.

 

[tj99959]

Im kinda old and I started vaping so that Ill live to be really old.

Well I'm really old, and would like to get even older.

I'm 70 and started smoking when I was 13. I started vaping last April because the cough was killing me (literally).
I can now do an 8 minute mile on the treadmill, so I would say that the difference is significant.

 

[moonlessnight]

34 (well in a few months anyway) and I wasn't interested in vaping to begin with. But I'm glad I finally started. I wanted to quit analogs for my health but mainly for my kids and for my wife and it means a great deal to me at how proud they are that I quit. Then again saving money is always a plus.

 

[escaladedude]

Im 26 from Pittsburgh Pa i started cigs at 16 and i quit due to health, im also a recoveryin ...... addict and i unforunetly have hep C. D:< Well i needed to give up them dang analogs! So i did and i gave up an unhealthy for a datable obsession!

 

[annah]

I'm 31. Started casually smoking at 16. Addicted smoker by 20. Was smoking 2 PAD when I quit. I quit because I want to be alive to see my future grandchildren, guilt about smoke around the kids, and guilt about the amount of trash going into a landfill over my stupid habit.

 

[silentbrains]

Nice stories in this thread. : )

I'm 30 and I've smoked 1/4-1/2 packs a day for 7 years. Never could smoke an entire pack because it'd give me headaches. Recently got fired and had some money saved up so I decided to relax and try a few things. Things like Top Ramen (more like Bottom Ramen am I right) and e-cigarettes. Additionally, I have asthma and I always feel like I'm bothering people when I smoke. It's working so far in addition to the snus but I only just ran out of cigarettes yesterday so I guess we'll see how this experiment plays out.

 

[Jimi D.]

45, and because I was losing sleep from excessive coughing... Vaping saved my life...That's why I'm here on the ECF..

 

[Denise D]

I started smoking at 13, a PAD since I was 18 and could afford to buy it every single day. You know you're headed for trouble after 20 years but I couldn't quit no matter what I tried. Now its been 38 years and finding vaping was amazing! Ironically the guy who sold me analogs told me about the e-cig although he decided not to sell them in his store. He must've got tired of hearing me say I wanted to quit. So I looked it up e-cig online and here I am!

I knew I was always going to buy analogs no matter how much they cost so I didn't pay much attention to price other than I'm on a tight budget (but analogs always came before groceries). So for me it was health, I've seen the oxygen tank users and didn't want one for myself.

Last weekend I did a 3-mile hike and was able to keep up with the group for a change so I am very happy!

 

[Wadey McVapie]

35 and been a pad smoker since I was 19. My fiance bought a WAAAAYYY overpriced ($89) imitation Joye 510 starter kit from the local discount tobacco store as a way for both of us to quit smoking, without my knowing. The night she bought it, she gave me one of the batteries and a 5 pack of USAMix cartridges and said, "Give it a try." Several months later, I'm venturing into the mod-world and she still has no idea what I'm talking about when I say "510!" But she still loves her little batts and cartridges, and we are both smoke free!

 

[skizif]

Im 28, smoked a pack a day for about 10 years... I bought an 808 starter kit at a smoke shop one day on a whim and have not turned back... That was almost 6 months ago. I really wasnt enjoying smoking anymore but couldnt put em down. So happy i decided to try vaping.

 

[Warm&Humid]

42. Was the picture of health and had a golden body a few years ago. Gained 100 pounds in just over 3 years due to a hiccup from my thyroid that I didn't stay on top of by visiting the doc when I was supposed to. (I have been on meds for it for 20 years BTW). Can't exercise the way I need to if I can't breath....duh...lolz!

 

[mostlyclassics]

I'm 63 and smoked three packs per day for 48 years.

Just for grins, and to join friends at taverns without having to go outside for a quick smoke, I ordered a $40 eGo starter kit plus some e-liquids from Liberty Flights in February 2011. (I had lurked here for several weeks before making my first purchase -- thanks, folks, for the great knowledge base!) I hadn't expected to quit cigarettes: I was only looking for an alternative when out and about.

For me, it was an "accidental quit." I'd tried everything except hypnotism (from previous experiences, it's likely I can't be hypnotized) and Chantix (so scary a drug that my doctor wouldn't even prescribe it).

 

[Rob.W]

33. Started smoking at about 16, quit for about two years at 20 but fell back to it. Smoked 1/2 pad or more. Started vaping just before the new year, ran out of analogs 2 Thursdays ago and haven't bought more. Didn't want to quit, but this is a great alternative and I don't intend to go back... Plus the wife and kiddos are supper happy over it.

Rob

 

[PaulB]

58. Started somewhere around 13-14, but didn't hit a ppd until 18-19,.and peaked at around a pack and a half (so, I guess just a heavy-ish smoker...). A couple years ago, I started noticing more than ever before how compromised my breathing had become when doing things like walking a couple hundred yards in deep snow. Around then I was also still in sticker shock over the big cigarette price hike. (I remember 45 cents a pack...) All this got me interested in the e-cigarette. Unlike so many, I haven't been one of those instant quitters, two years later. I still smoke 3-4 a day--my version of equilibrium, but it works for me and I feel considerably better.

 

[rustybikes]

44. Started around 13 or 14 years old, up to PAD by the time I got to 17. I've had numerous quits over the years, like many of us here, and had pretty much given up on quitting as something that "wasn't meant to be" for me. I'll spare you all the details that led me here, but I still wanted to quit. I figured that if eCigs could help me cut down a little, it would be a good start. I got my first starter-kit on Wednesday evening, and somewhere around 2:30 the next afternoon realized, with some surprise, that I'd simply forgotten to have an analog so far that day. That was a bit more than six months ago.

I've always been a bit of a "gadget nut", like the OP. So the variety of gear, along with the technical details about how it all works, was seductive, to say the least. Probably a good thing I didn't want to quit for financial reasons.