How To Quit Smoking and Start Vaping!

Status
Not open for further replies.

cmccl

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Mar 8, 2013
170
184
63
Verdi, NV
I am starting this thread because it's what I looked for when I quit smoking a few months ago and made the switch to vaping. For some it is easy. They just start vaping and never look back. No struggles at all. For those of you who struggle, I was one of you! It was definitely hard for the first few weeks. I did like vaping but I felt deprived- it just wasn't the same as a cig. Here are a few tips that helped me:


  • Get a decent vaping set-up.
I had tried the cigalike e-cigs in the past (Greensmoke, Safecigs, and Cig2o) and though they were fun, they weren't quite enough to get me to give up the real thing. A friend advised me to get some "ego 510" batteries and "clearomizers". She lived in another state and I had no idea what she was talking about. She introduced me to this forum and I read a bit but it all seemed very overwhelming and confusing. I couldn't figure out what to buy. I found the Volcano website and I could at least understand it (they have helpful videos) and I could get everything I needed to get started. I ordered an inferno starter kit and some juice.

The volcano inferno is basically an ego 510 900 maH battery (all of this was jibberish to me at the time). I'm not plugging volcano here- there a plenty of sites that sell a good starter kit for under $100 appropriate for those who need something better than cigalikes. Just ask! You'll get plenty of good advice from the people here!


  • Make sure the nicotine level in your juice is high enough to satisfy you!
I purchased mostly 24 mg juice. I smoked about a pack a day and wanted to make sure I wouldn't be going through nicotine withdrawal! I also ordered one 36 mg juice that I used only when I had strong cravings (with morning coffee and after meals).


  • Experiment with e-juice flavors and make it a fun adventure.
I read reviews on this forum and other sites and ordered about 20 different juices to try! The problem I had was that I only had a few tanks to fill and couldn't figure out how to try the other juices! I did two things to solve this issue.

First, I did some research (googling) to figure out what kind of batteries my old cigalikes used. I discovered they were 808D-1 for cig2o, 808-D2 for greensmoke, and RN4081 for safecig. I then purchased some refillable cartridges/blank cartomizers (from vapor kings) so I could put juice in them and still use all my old batteries for trying out all my new e-juice!

Second, I researched a bit and learned that I could try new flavors by "dripping". For this I purchased a low resistance atomizer for my inferno battery (from volcano).


  • Once you get your supplies- set a date and JUST DO IT!
​I played with my new stuff for a few weeks to learn how to use it and set a quit date (I have had many of these quit dates in the past LOL!). During this time I still smoked when I felt like it. With no effort at all I cut my smoking in half. I did not touch the 36 mg juice during that time since I wanted to keep it as my goto juice for strong cravings when I quit. Once I reached the date I stopped. I still had about 1/2 pack of American Spirits left which I left on top of my dresser (just in case).


  • Come here for support and help.
For the first week I came to the New Members Forum every day and mostly read other people's posts. I did reach out for help a few times and got plenty of reinforcement and support. It definitely helped to have an enthusiastic community to encourage me and offer tips and advice when I felt like giving up (and I did a few times!)


  • Don't worry about how much you vape!
In order to stop smoking I basically vaped non-stop. I mean literally all day I vaped (since I work from home I could do this). When I had to go out and couldn't vape (I had to go work at a customer site for a few days and couldn't very well walk in with my new e-cig) I used the old nicotine lozenges (they never did help me quit but they were enough to get me through the 8 hours of no vaping). At first I was worried that I was actually just increasing my nicotine addiction but I decided I would worry about that later -- now all I needed to do was not smoke!


  • Remember- that if you do give in and smoke it won't really satisfy you for long! It's just a temporary satisfaction and before long you'll want another, and another, and another...and before you know it you'll be smoking again.

This realization kept me strong somehow. I knew that smoking was not a real answer to satisfy my cravings. I did not smoke - but if you do decide to smoke while your trying to quit don't feel like you failed and give up- just keep vaping and know that you will succeed. And pay attention- did that cigarette really satisfy you? Was it more enjoyable then vaping? Really?

After I had gone about a month without smoking I did try a cig. Unlike what some people experience I kind of enjoyed it (some say it's awful after vaping for awhile). Nonetheless, I had no real desire to go back to smoking. Vaping really has become much more satisfying than smoking ever was!


  • Track your savings (or lack thereof if you're like me)
I loaded a little app on my iphone called Vapemate that tracks how many cigarettes you don't smoke, how much you save by not smoking, how much you spend on vaping and your net savings (in the currency of your choice).

Even with my extensive juice purchases I recently broke even, about 3 months after quitting (now I'm back in the red since I just ordered a Provari mini). I really didn't do this to save money but if that is your intent it's not hard to do if you keep track.


  • Help Others!
One of the first things I did was introduce my smoking family members and friends to e-cigs and vaping. I sent my father an inferno starter kit for Father's day and got one of my girl friends one for her birthday. Introducing others to vaping and helping them get started will help keep you strong. And you'll have built your own support system. Vaping is a journey and it's great to have friends and family members join you on the adventure.

So, WELCOME to all of you who have recently discovered vaping and the e-cig forum. I hope your experience will be as good as mine has been so far. Please don't be afraid to ask questions. It's very confusing and hard to know what devices you need and what will work with what you have already purchased. Don't be intimidated by the acronyms and techie language. Just stick around- ask questions and you'll be a source of knowledge for others before you know it!

It would be great if others could share how they managed to quit or significantly cut back on smoking on this thread.

VAPE ON!


 
Last edited:

alisa1970

Vaping Master
ECF Veteran
Mar 30, 2013
3,122
9,798
53
Portland, OR
Awesome post, and I know it will help a lot of newbies!

knew that smoking was not a real answer to satisfy my cravings. I did not smoke - but if you do decide to smoke while your trying to quit don't, feel like you failed and give up- just keep vaping and know that you will succeed. And pay attention- did that cigarette really satisfy you? Was it more enjoyable then vaping? Really?

After I had gone about a month without smoking I did try a cig. Unlike what some people experience I kind of enjoyed it (some say it's awful after vaping for awhile). Nonetheless, I had no real desire to go back to smoking. Vaping really has become much more satisfying than smoking ever was!

+1
 

Baditude

ECF Guru
ECF Veteran
Apr 8, 2012
30,394
73,072
70
Ridgeway, Ohio
Excellent post, cmccl! :thumb: I couldn't have done better myself.

There are many success stories of quitting cigarettes via vaping. Some have done as cmccl described going cold turkey. Some have wavered between vaping and continuing to smoke for weeks before finally putting them away for good. It likely doesn't matter which method you choose, as long as it works for you.

When I made my decision to quit, I allowed myself to vape as much as I wanted. I decided to limit my cigarette use on a daily basis for the first week. If I had a real cigarette craving, I vaped more. If that didn't resolve it, I allowed myself half of a cigarette, and saved the rest of it for the next craving. I probably smoked the equivalant 3 - 4 cigs the first couple of days.

Over the course of the week, I definitely noticed that the taste of the cigarette was not as satisfying, and even getting gross. When the pack was finished, so was I. I have not had a cigarette since. Not touched one nor wanted one. This is what worked for me.

Even should you decide to quit cold turkey and slip up and sneak a smoke, it's not the end of the world. We have a phrase here on ECF, "It's not the cigarettes that you smoke that count...it's the ones that you didn't."
 

Cuando

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Feb 5, 2009
1,573
6,000
Living in a box of CelluCotton
Excellent post, definitely blog this so it doesn't sink into obscurity. One of the biggest factors in a successful transition from smoking to vaping is the desire to quit smoking. It makes the transition much easier. The actual vaping adventure itself never ends, and it becomes a hobby if you're not careful. I happen to love the community, the variety, and most importantly, how I feel vaping versus smoking. I have gone back and forth over the years, but the past two years I have vaped far more than I have smoked.
 

StarDose

Super Member
ECF Veteran
Mar 28, 2013
836
301
Brampton
Everytime someone asks about vaping they always want a cig a like no matter what I tell them. Sometimes ppl need to follow the path themselves and figure it out all I can do is introduce them to the world of vaping it seems.

Personally when I quit a couple months ago I just decided to not have any smokes at home on my day off and only rely on my pv and see how it goes. After day 1 with support from the community here I just kept going and didn't look back. It is very easy to save money by vaping but like many others it has become a hobby and I'm always looking for more toys and flavors to try out.
 

Vapoor eyes er

ECF Guru
Supporting Member
ECF Veteran
Sep 13, 2011
11,028
8,945
Toronto, Ont.
Agree with Taylon and many others about Blogging this one. Rarely do I believe something should be stickied but this post makes the grade. An excellent starter tutorial and obviously a lot of thought went into this. Will bookmark it and send new vapers this way. Again Kudos :thumbs:

I am starting this thread because it's what I looked for when I quit smoking a few months ago and made the switch to vaping. For some it is easy. They just start vaping and never look back. No struggles at all. For those of you who struggle, I was one of you! It was definitely hard for the first few weeks. I did like vaping but I felt deprived- it just wasn't the same as a cig. Here are a few tips that helped me:


  • Get a decent vaping set-up.
I had tried the cigalike e-cigs in the past (Greensmoke, Safecigs, and Cig2o) and though they were fun, they weren't quite enough to get me to give up the real thing. A friend advised me to get some "ego 510" batteries and "clearomizers". She lived in another state and I had no idea what she was talking about. She introduced me to this forum and I read a bit but it all seemed very overwhelming and confusing. I couldn't figure out what to buy. I found the Volcano website and I could at least understand it (they have helpful videos) and I could get everything I needed to get started. I ordered an inferno starter kit and some juice.

The volcano inferno is basically an ego 510 900 maH battery (all of this was jibberish to me at the time). I'm not plugging volcano here- there a plenty of sites that sell a good starter kit for under $100 appropriate for those who need something better than cigalikes. Just ask! You'll get plenty of good advice from the people here!


  • Make sure the nicotine level in your juice is high enough to satisfy you!
I purchased mostly 24 mg juice. I smoked about a pack a day and wanted to make sure I wouldn't be going through nicotine withdrawal! I also ordered one 36 mg juice that I used only when I had strong cravings (with morning coffee and after meals).


  • Experiment with e-juice flavors and make it a fun adventure.
I read reviews on this forum and other sites and ordered about 20 different juices to try! The problem I had was that I only had a few tanks to fill and couldn't figure out how to try the other juices! I did two things to solve this issue.

First, I did some research (googling) to figure out what kind of batteries my old cigalikes used. I discovered they were 808D-1 for cig2o, 808-D2 for greensmoke, and RN4081 for safecig. I then purchased some refillable cartridges/blank cartomizers (from vapor kings) so I could put juice in them and still use all my old batteries for trying out all my new e-juice!

Second, I researched a bit and learned that I could try new flavors by "dripping". For this I purchased a low resistance atomizer for my inferno battery (from volcano).


  • Once you get your supplies- set a date and JUST DO IT!
​I played with my new stuff for a few weeks to learn how to use it and set a quit date (I have had many of these quit dates in the past LOL!). During this time I still smoked when I felt like it. With no effort at all I cut my smoking in half. I did not touch the 36 mg juice during that time since I wanted to keep it as my goto juice for strong cravings when I quit. Once I reached the date I stopped. I still had about 1/2 pack of American Spirits left which I left on top of my dresser (just in case).


  • Come here for support and help.
For the first week I came to the New Members Forum every day and mostly read other people's posts. I did reach out for help a few times and got plenty of reinforcement and support. It definitely helped to have an enthusiastic community to encourage me and offer tips and advice when I felt like giving up (and I did a few times!)


  • Don't worry about how much you vape!
In order to stop smoking I basically vaped non-stop. I mean literally all day I vaped (since I work from home I could do this). When I had to go out and couldn't vape (I had to go work at a customer site for a few days and couldn't very well walk in with my new e-cig) I used the old nicotine lozenges (they never did help me quit but they were enough to get me through the 8 hours of no vaping). At first I was worried that I was actually just increasing my nicotine addiction but I decided I would worry about that later -- now all I needed to do was not smoke!


  • Remember- that if you do give in and smoke it won't really satisfy you for long! It's just a temporary satisfaction and before long you'll want another, and another, and another...and before you know it you'll be smoking again.

This realization kept me strong somehow. I knew that smoking was not a real answer to satisfy my cravings. I did not smoke - but if you do decide to smoke while your trying to quit don't feel like you failed and give up- just keep vaping and know that you will succeed. And pay attention- did that cigarette really satisfy you? Was it more enjoyable then vaping? Really?

After I had gone about a month without smoking I did try a cig. Unlike what some people experience I kind of enjoyed it (some say it's awful after vaping for awhile). Nonetheless, I had no real desire to go back to smoking. Vaping really has become much more satisfying than smoking ever was!


  • Track your savings (or lack thereof if you're like me)
I loaded a little app on my iphone called Vapemate that tracks how many cigarettes you don't smoke, how much you save by not smoking, how much you spend on vaping and your net savings (in the currency of your choice).

Even with my extensive juice purchases I recently broke even, about 3 months after quitting (now I'm back in the red since I just ordered a Provari mini). I really didn't do this to save money but if that is your intent it's not hard to do if you keep track.


  • Help Others!
One of the first things I did was introduce my smoking family members and friends to e-cigs and vaping. I sent my father an inferno starter kit for Father's day and got one of my girl friends one for her birthday. Introducing others to vaping and helping them get started will help keep you strong. And you'll have built your own support system. Vaping is a journey and it's great to have friends and family members join you on the adventure.

So, WELCOME to all of you who have recently discovered vaping and the e-cig forum. I hope your experience will be as good as mine has been so far. Please don't be afraid to ask questions. It's very confusing and hard to know what devices you need and what will work with what you have already purchased. Don't be intimidated by the acronyms and techie language. Just stick around- ask questions and you'll be a source of knowledge for others before you know it!

It would be great if others could share how they managed to quit or significantly cut back on smoking on this thread.

VAPE ON!


 
Excellent post and ty for writing it.

I knew very very little when I started vaping just over 2 weeks ago and this would have been great to have been able to read then although I still found it helpful :) I'm still in process of quiting smoking but I have noticed I've cut way way down and the last time I was out to smoke I didn't really enjoy it at all. I still can't taste anything so can't say it tasted gross, I just didn't enjoy standing there holding the cig while trying to keep my hair from being blown into it as I'm smoking.

I also grabbed the Vapemate you mentioned and have just set the last of my pack in my dresser drawer just in case but I do know eventually I WILL be done completely with them.
 

k9rotehexe

Full Member
Verified Member
May 23, 2013
61
18
Davie, FL
Thanks for the great info. Here is what I did. My sister bought me a dual battery kit for Christmas. It had cartos. 24 mg. I used it a couple of times but it just didnt do it for me. After a few days I put it away. Then I went to visit my best friend in New orleans and found out she was vaping. She was using a tank of sorts and used juice. Her flavor was vanilla bean. I tried it a couple of times and ordered a tank and some juice because I felt I wanted to try again. I asked her how she did it and followed her way. It worked for me. I bought a carton of smokes while I was there and had a couple of packs left. I ordered the juice and tank while I was still there. When I got home I was suprised to see my two orders had already arrived. So she told me to make sure I do this in the morning and not start during the middle of the day when I had already been smoking. The next morning I vaped first thing. Then I had an analog later on when I felt the need. The next time I felt the need to have an analog I vaped again. (I had been smoking for 28 years none stop.) The second day I did the same thing and by the time it came around to wanting an analog again it just started tasting nasty. I was not sure of myself and still had that unopen carton and 1 unopen pack here for about 6 weeks. Not to long ago I gave it to my sister because she smokes analogs. I havent touched one since. I am really happy. Since I am diabetic my doc kept encouraging me to stop and when I went to my appointment and told him I had switched to the ecig he was super happy. My recent tests came back slightly better then usual and that was after 4 weeks of pure vaping. I am hoping to get even better results next time. I wish I would have done this years ago. I feel better, I can taste things and I don't smell like &*%$#. LOL My sister just started vaping on and off recently. Hopefully she can also do it. Personally I dont think she is ready yet but hopefully she will be soon. Of course I went juice crazy and am looking for a tasty vanilla. I have ordered a lot of juice but I am sure I will settle down soon. Either way still cheaper and better then analogs. For me anyway. Right now my favorite is Vanilla Bourbon bean. Yum. BTW if anyone has any really good vanilla they can recommend let me know. I have had different flavors but can't get into them on a regular bases except for the vanilla. I would really like to find one that is super tasty. So far the one I have it pretty good.:vapor::vapor::p
 

Katya

ECF Guru
Supporting Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Feb 23, 2010
34,804
120,145
SoCal
Great post!

I'm just not so sure about setting the date. It obviously worked for you, and it's your story, but for many others, setting a date is terrifying in and of itself--God knows we have all set all kinds of dates in the past...

So a word of encouragement to those who are afraid to set another quit date and fail--you don't have to! Do what works for you. Just vape as much and as often as you can. If you have to have a cig--go for it. Don't deny yourself, don't torture yourself, don't feel guilty. Just vape some more.

It will happen to you to. :)
 

grooveon

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Jun 15, 2013
81
41
Georgia
I just quit cigarettes 3 days ago. Got a ego twist 1000 battery and a vivo mini bcc with 12mg and 16mg juices and I have no problem keeping off the real thing. I have been vaping ALOT but I have had no desire to run and grab a pack at the gas station. I will just keep puffing until I level out and hopefully I won't need the vape as much. I just enjoy my nicotine with coffee and booze and after a nice meal and on breaks haha. I love the vape and wish others would turn. I also like not having to excuse myself from social situations to go have a smoke. I just sit in the living room and puff away! Love the vape!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Users who are viewing this thread