How to reduce cravings / withdrawal symptoms?

[zewda]

I have started vaping trying to quit smoking!

I'm getting really bad cravings and a lot of the withdrawal symptoms associated with quitting smoking even though I'm using high nicotine in juice. Do others experience this? Not sure why that's the case as I thought I would've only been addicted to nicotine. Is there anything that I can do to reduce these cravings & withdrawal symptoms? Any tips / vaping techniques?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Warpigs]

What I did, when I had a craving I took a toot off my Silver Bullet and did anything to distract me from the craving (read a book, mag, get a snack, Take a walk outside.) Just anything that distracts you enough to get over the urge. This will get easier as time goes on. It took me about 2-3 monrths for my cravings to cease. I smoked 2-3 packs fo Marlboro Reds a day and chewed 2-3 bags of Red Man a week. so I was fighting both the cig's and chewing. But I was determined to break the cycle of that crap that I did for 30+ years. It's not easy quitting cig's. You just need to take it day by day and don't give in. It WILL get better, I assure you that. Once you pick up a cig and smoke it, you wasted all that time you were off them. Some say don't worry if you fall off the wagon. Well after falling off so many times and making excuses to smoke. You will be sucked right back into the vicious cycle. VAPE ON!

 

[Narpho]

Make sure you always have vape gear and backup vape gear with you. Otherwise, one dead battery and you'll think about buying a pack or bumming one. Don't do it. Get some healthy snacks. Not the buy one get one free chips ahoy like I did.

 

[WickedBad]

What worked for me was just smoking when I felt like. My cig count got better every day on its own until I just didnt need them. When you put yourself in a I can not have any at all stance you make the cravings worse and it just snowballs and once you do smoke you are way way to hard on yoursel. I was using 24mg nic but make sure you are vaping enough. When I quit smoking completely I was using 2 - 3 ml of liquid a day.

 

[Deeo]

Alkaloid wta ejuices may help you.

 

[Warpigs]

I was using 36-38nic when I quit, Now I'm down to 24.

 

[yzer]

I had bad cravings for the first three days after quitting. The next stage seemed to fall off after about 10 ten days. After a month without smoking the cravings subsided a lot.

Nicotine is not the only addictive substance in tobacco smoke. So nicotine alone isn't going to handle all of the cravings. Some people use WTA juice that includes some of the nicotine-related drugs missing from conventional nicotine e-juice. I was able to quit with just nicotine juice.

Two and a half years after quitting cigarettes entirely I still get the rare craving now and then. That's the way it goes.

Just tough it out. Things will get better soon.

 

[Sgt.Rock]

Make sure you're vaping with a decent setup that will actually deliver you a good hit while vaping.

For a beginner something like the Nautilus with the BVC coils should give you the hit you need.

 

[yzer]

You don't need a fancy set-up to quit. I quit with a single voltage eGo-type device and cartos. Your will to quit is key, not the equipment you use.

 

[hurricanegirl100]

What worked for me was just smoking when I felt like. My cig count got better every day on its own until I just didnt need them. When you put yourself in a I can not have any at all stance you make the cravings worse and it just snowballs and once you do smoke you are way way to hard on yoursel. I was using 24mg nic but make sure you are vaping enough. When I quit smoking completely I was using 2 - 3 ml of liquid a day.

I completely disagree with this, no offense intended, Wicked! Don't buy cigarettes. Don't smoke cigarettes. Get a little ...... off at cigarettes. Scratch that..every time you feel like smoking a cigarette, run all the reasons you wanted to quit smoking through your head. Think of cigarettes with the contempt they deserve. When you smoke a cigarette, you're losing all the progress you've made and dragging out the agony of withdrawl that much longer.

Don't go near the damn things. At three months, it'll be easier. At six months, it won't be any problem at all. Crank up the nicotine level on your juice to 24 mgs for the first few months and vape. Etch it in stone that you're done with the damn things. And then, just do it.

 

[potholerepairman]

fitness helped me, along with carrying a pack of what if for a few months never using them, just knowing it was close.

 

[yzer]

The first six months that I vaped I was also smoking but at a reduced level. I was smoking about a quarter of the cigs I used to but had a hard time quitting entirely. After six months of this nonsense I just quit completely.

 

[Rickajho]

Everyone experiences quit smoking withdrawal differently. Some people seem to breeze through it with little to no side effects. I was a screwed up, brain fogged, zero attention span mess for two weeks - even with vaping. If you are having problems:

Vaping 101: Vaping is not smoking. Don't try to approach it the same way. Short, infrequent vape breaks - possibly like you used to smoke - don't work well for vaping. Most new users have to work up to vaping enough and on a consistent enough basis to get past cravings and make a successful break from smoking. So one possibility is you aren't vaping enough.

How much are you smoking and what nic level are you using? There is no general answer for what nic level is right, as absorption rates from vaping and individual needs seem to vary a lot from one person to the next, even when they had the same smoking profile. You may need to look into trying the next higher nic level.

Don't be afraid to use more than one nic level either. Some people have it rough first thing in the morning. I did and used two different nic levels for my first four months of vaping. You have flexibility here - change your nic level up and down as needed. Most of the day I was fine, but for those first couple hours when starting the day I bumped up to a higher nic level.

Even a change in flavor can be enough of a distraction to get your mind off a craving.

I respectfully disagree with hurricanegirl100 - this isn't the moralistic ACS approach to quitting. If that "Just don't do it while you're saying no!!!" approach worked none of us would be here. Some people can and do quit smoking cold the minute they start vaping. It took me three months to completely lose a 30 year 2 PAD habit. Everyone gets to figure out their own end game here and how to approach it.

 

[HgA1C]

My recommendation, is to view vaping as a lifestyle and hobby. First make sure you have adequate equipment to start such as an MVP/Nautilus type setup, and good tasting e-liquid. This is your hobbies sunk cost, and should not be included into your ongoing funding. Then sit down and make a wish list of the equipment you would love to own, and right down its costs. Now figure out how much you spent on your previous form of addiction. GIVE yourself this money to buy vape gear for at least the first six months. What I mean is that if you spent $13 a day on tobacco and only $2 on e-liquid and consumable you will earn $77 a week to buy new equipment. After 1 month that is over $300 of new gear. If you break down and buy tobacco subtract that from your "allowance". Six months would be close to $1800 dollars in top quality equipment, at which point most people would be 100% happy and completely off the analogs. You will save money, but be realistic. You have burned dollars into smoke for however long you have been on analogs. The savings will be realized once you are happy with your new hobby. Too many people focus on the costs of this hobby without thinking about the wastes of their past hobby (analogs).

Overall, quitting is about getting over an addiction. Many people on this forum replace the tobacco addiction with vaping. Approach this from a hobby/lifestyle change. Make it both fun, involved, and rewarding. Invest some time into YOUR life, YOU deserve it. Honestly, a PAD smoker spend about two hours a day smoking. You need to replace that time with a new hobby/addiction. The more you dedicate yourself to vaping the easier it will be. Use those hours to research gear and techniques such as RTA or RDA. I am currently transitioning and this thinking helps prevent tobacco purchases. Because dammit I want a bottom feeder, and several other things. I don't feel like spending $7 of my hobby budget on something I am going to burn. Especially when I can have that sweet $300 bottom feeder in a month or two time. Get it?

 

[potholerepairman]

The first six months that I vaped I was also smoking but at a reduced level. I was smoking about a quarter of the cigs I used to but had a hard time quitting entirely. After six months of this nonsense I just quit completely.

showing how nuts we are when quitting, to this day is such a joy.Me carring a sealed pack that if opened smelled bad to me and you do both is fun, maybe in the wrong way but shows its all about leaving smoking cause vapings better/and or/you like it better.TY for that.

 

[zewda]

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences, tips and advice. I have taken the route of smoking only in the am before heading out to work. Vaping throughout the day. Then a couple of cigarettes before bed. I have cut down from a pack a day, to 4 cigarettes a day. I do realize that this doesn't help with getting off cigarettes completely as it is a vicious cycle once you smoke one, but it's my way of trying to control the cravings & withdrawals....having said that, during the day.....it's pretty tough....i'm always thinking of smoking...and have to fight really hard to put down that thought. So far it has worked, but it is torture. I find great support here on the forum. Thanks!

 

[dragonflie]

Whatever works for you! Everyone is different. I wouldn't feel guilty if you smoke one here and there. My habit died down little over a week, and for me it was a natural progression, because every one I smoked sucked more than the last, and eventually I just didn't want one anymore.

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