I am something other than an "ex-smoker". Are you?

[Harlequin]

I'm 43, started smoking when I was 15 and was hooked by the time I was 18. I smoked a pack of reds a day until I started vaping at the end of 2009. Had no real intention of quitting smoking, I was just sick of being treated like a leper ...

These days I might smoke 1 cigarette a day, mostly out of nostalgia, or go for weeks without smoking at all. IMO not obsessing about quitting was an important strategy; for me, anyway, that obsession creates a "can't fall off the wagon!!" mentality that is ultimately counter-productive.

 

[justwaaaa]

That's kind of the boat I'm in. I was a 2 pad smoker. I started vaping on March 14th and I have cut back immensely on smoking, but am still having trouble giving it up totally. I'm down to between 5 and 8 cigs a day, but I'd like to get rid of them for good. I keep telling myself I'm doing a great job and the time will come (hopefully soon) that I'll just say, "Nah, I don't need or want them anymore."

I started vaping almost a year ago but not with the intention of putting pressure on myself to quit smoking. I've been a smoker for 38 years, the last 8 or so at 3 packs a day. I still smoke, but I went from that 3pad to half a pack a day average...some days it's less. Will I quite smoking completely? I don't know, but I count the ciggs I don't smoke as a success for me

 

[marcielynn]

Today is my 2 month anniv. of not smoking, started with mindset of slowing my 1 1/2 pad habit down to about 1/2 pad. Well after getting first kit in mail my daughter said ty mom now you dont have to smoke anymore................. well there went my theory of being able to have my 10 cigs a day. The heartbreak on her face would had been way worse then not having my analogs. I struggled for the first month with a bad quality kit, moved to a 510 penstyle which cut most of my yearnings for a "real" cig, but there was always that thought in the back of my head that I just wanted/needed one more analog. That led me to order an eGo about a week ago it arrived and with getting the upgrade the desire has finally just disappeared!!! It was funny the first night I realized that I didnt want a cig all day... Done no more cravings and 2 months under my belt woo hoo well on my way to staying analog free for the rest of my life. Good Luck to everyone who is struggling with their own battle, slowing down the amount of analogs, quitting them completely or just trying to add vaping due to restrictions of places you are permitted to smoke. Just be careful you may quit analogs all together lol!!!

 

[Stosh]

Smoked 1 1/2 pad average for over 35 years, as strong as luckies and camel unfiltered at times.
Been totally clean for near 10 months now, and don't miss it, but without vaping might very well
start the coffin nails again. Every other NRT I tried, 0 nic drove me back to smoking.

 

[ddirtyvapes]

I know myself so well and I knew that if I went into it with a "must quit immediately" mindset I would fail. When I first started vaping I struggled like a lot do with the first inferior kit, then 510 battery life frustrations, etc. What I was hoping would happen and what HAS happened is I've been able to cut back more organically. I did find, of course, that the more I vaped in the beginning the less and less I wanted cigarettes. I've just been kind of letting it happen. The very first few days I smoked as much as I had been, then by the end of the first week I had cut out two a day, then more and more etc. etc. until I reached only one or two analogs a day. The nice thing is I feel like I didn't even have to try that hard! I think one of the things that has amazed me most in the quitting process is the emotional and nostalgic connections so many of us have with cigarettes. Yes, they're gross. I find them so revolting now. But at the same time, the weather is getting nicer here in Wisconsin (FINALLY! FINALLY! It snowed 6.5" here the last week in April!) and each day I can't help but want a nice, solitary moment outside in the nice weather with an analog. I personally feel like many of us have strong connections with "smoking buddies," different places we used to smoke, and youth for those of us who started smoking so young. Granted, I'm still pretty young, but I sometimes think about how I used to sneak of my high school to smoke behind the building and how badass I thought I was. Still aiming to quit and still believe I can, but for me the emotional ties to cigarettes have been so much harder to overcome than the physical aspects of quitting which have of course been greatly minimized thanks to my PV. One day at a time and I'm certainly proud of myself-- and all of you!-- for the analogs not smoked.

 

[Winkos]

I was a half a pack a day smoker, Salem Slim Light 100's on and off for 20 years. Quit smoking for four years. Turned to overeating and occasional wine at night to reduce stress. Started vaping over 2 months ago. Reached my target weight, no wine and my stress is reduced 100%. BP went down from 140/90 to 118/70. Right now I am enjoying my coffee, e-cig and computer on my day off. Later I will take the dogs for a walk, then sit by my pond and vape. Perfect day off.

 

[ricks]

I was a half a pack a day smoker, Salem Slim Light 100's on and off for 20 years. Quit smoking for four years. Turned to overeating and occasional wine at night to reduce stress. Started vaping over 2 months ago. Reached my target weight, no wine and my stress is reduced 100%. BP went down from 140/90 to 118/70. Right now I am enjoying my coffee, e-cig and computer on my day off. Later I will take the dogs for a walk, then sit by my pond and vape. Perfect day off.

Life is great with e-cigs....

 

[Vaapette]

My husband and I smoked for 13 years together. He smoked for 25 years. It was our time together. We'd have a glass if wine, cup of coffee sit outside and talk.

We tried every possible way to quit. Each time was horrible. We yelled at each other etc. It wasn't pretty. We pretty much gave up on quitting even though we both really wanted to.

I heard about e-cigs. Did my research and nervously bought a Riva for me and an eGo for him. We had no intention of quitting smoking. But I thought why not try theses pv's out and have some fun with it?

We both had our last cigarette on March 7, 2011.

It was so easy. Fun almost. No crazy nic withdrawal symptoms. We still have our time together outside.

I am so grateful to have found this website and thanks to everyone who contributes to these topics. It has saved my and my husbands life.

 

[ddirtyvapes]

Great story, Vaapette. Very encouraging and inspiring. Congratulations to you and your husband! I know I'll get over the emotional baggage tied to cigarettes because they're just objects. Terrible, terrible objects. I'm sure I just need a little time to absorb. In a way, quitting smoking is just like ending a bad relationship. Just because it's awful for you doesn't necessarily make it any easier to call it quits and yet you know in the long run it is the right decision and you'll be healthier for it.

 

[jlarsen]

I had practically quit smoking already when I started vaping. I vape more than I smoked prior to starting vaping... but at one point I was a 1/2 PAD smoker, a weekend drinker/smoker, and occasional cigar smoker. Now I only vape. I have already cut my nicotine back from 18 to 12. I don't plan to quit or cut back anymore, but I take solace knowing that the mere though of an analog makes me want to puke.

 

[ekimcraig]

Back in Feb 2011 I was spending $15 - $20/ a day on analogs. (NY super expensive). I was just looking for a cheaper delivery system for my nic hit, when I discovered e cigs. I have smoked for 46 years 1-2 pad. At the end of my 1st week on ecigs I was down to 5 analogs a day, after 2 weeks down to 3 a day. Then I bit the bullet & tried to go with out analogs for the hell of it. Have not had an analog since !!! I wasn't looking to quit but what the hell, I'll take it !!

Mike

 

[mwa102464]

2 PAD guy here for 25 yrs or more, back in early 09 I started vaping and in 3 weeks I was all done with cigarettes for the rest of my life, period end of story.!

 

[DC2]

I think one of the things that has amazed me most in the quitting process is the emotional and nostalgic connections so many of us have with cigarettes. Yes, they're gross. I find them so revolting now. But at the same time, the weather is getting nicer here in Wisconsin (FINALLY! FINALLY! It snowed 6.5" here the last week in April!) and each day I can't help but want a nice, solitary moment outside in the nice weather with an analog. I personally feel like many of us have strong connections with "smoking buddies," different places we used to smoke, and youth for those of us who started smoking so young. Granted, I'm still pretty young, but I sometimes think about how I used to sneak of my high school to smoke behind the building and how badass I thought I was. Still aiming to quit and still believe I can, but for me the emotional ties to cigarettes have been so much harder to overcome than the physical aspects of quitting which have of course been greatly minimized thanks to my PV.

Check out this post...
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo.../171343-one-year-anniversary.html#post2855110

 

[ddirtyvapes]

Thanks DC2. What a great post.

 

[Trbobitch]

1 PAD smoker for about 14 years. I'd quit with gum once for about 7 months then started up again at the beginning of my divorce. When I was quit, it seemed so easy, I felt like I never wanted to smoke again, but it was just as easy to pick it right back up. After that, my heart was never into quitting again. I got a Blu kit about a year ago and it was so crappy I continued smoking while using it. It never really replaced the cigs, just took the edge off when I didn't or couldn't have one.

This time, I did want to quit, but I didn't want to go through the stress. Someone pointed me to these forums which led me to buy a 510 several months ago. Since then, the only times I have smoked a cig were when my battery ran out or when other people around me were smoking. I've since gotten more comfortable using my Ego T in public and haven't bought a pack for about 2 months. Every now and hen I will bum one or take a drag off of someone's (I guess sometimes I feel like I am missing something) then it reaffirms how much better I like vaping - the taste, the smell, the sensation. As long as I have this I will never by a pack of smokes again.

 

[Bovinia]

Zacsz, you are so right about the emotional / psychological part of the addiction. I know that is what still has me connected to cigs. Somehow it is still providing a comfort for me. I have made good strides in reducing my smoking, but I haven't yet let go of the falsehood of that cig comforting me. As you said, one day at a time

These stories are wonderful and I am proud of everyone!

 

[ddirtyvapes]

And I, for my part, am so glad people are enjoying this thread and are willing to share their more personal experiences rather than just trade tech-talk about our PVs. (Which has a time and a place of course!) It's wonderful to see so many people's different stories side-by-side, and I think what may be most incredible is the fact that everyone here feels so good about what they've accomplished. Because it is a huge accomplishment! This and the other wonderful e-cig forums must be the only forums where so many people who are quitting smoking can come together and not be grumpy, crave-y balls of misery that a lack of cigarettes so frequently turns people into Thanks to everyone who has shared their experiences and a little extra thanks to those who have quit for good for providing such hopeful stories for those of us who do have that goal.

 

[starrynight]

I smoked for 20 years and I mean 20 solid years. I never once in that time even made a single attempt to quit, the thought alone would send me into an internal panic. I smoked right through throat infections that felt like you were swallowing freshly sharpened knives. It owned me- smoking defined me. I knew I had to make a change when my health was taking it's toll, shortness of breath, wheezing and that chronic chest tighness. I am in my 30's and felt if I didn't make a change soon I would be facing more tragic consequences. I quit the day I bought my first ecig and with the drastic improvements in my health feel like I dodged a very large bullet.

 

[Halsey]

I'm with starrynight, over 20 years smoking, sometimes over 2 PAD, and never once trying to quit. I enjoy smoking, and while on an intellectual level, I knew I should quit, I didn't want to, and knew that trying without wanting to was a recipe for misery followed by failure.

My first PV was a blucig, a friend had told me they were amazing, and that prompted me to look into them a bit more. I had previously dismissed the whole ecig concept as an odd fad. After a bit of reading, unfortunately far less than I should have done, I ordered a blucig kit, and some extra parts for myself and a friend to try. Now to explain a bit, my research was woefully inadequate, and nothing like the reading I usually due on a topic. That was because I had no plans to use it to quit. I ordered it for a convenience factor. A quick hit of nicotine when I didn't have time for a smoke, a few puffs when or where I couldn't smoke etc.

I got the blucig stuff in early March, and was impressed that it was a far better experience than I thought it would be. Still nothing like a smoke though, but now I was intrigued. So I started my usual obsessive reading when I decide to learn about something aimed at ecigs, and rapidly discovered ECF. Which showed me quickly that the real information I wanted was buried in my casual google searches by the internet's affiliate machine. I soon ordered myself an ego system with a bunch of various carts, cartomizers etc. to try out. I'm at the moment still experimenting a bit, but mostly using an ego tank set up.

Which leads to my long winded point. I've gone from somewhere between 30-40 hand rolled non filters a day to rarely smoking more than 10. This is WITHOUT TRYING, I don't know if i can possibly emphasize how amazing that is to me. I am not trying to quit, if I want a cigarette, I have one. But the PV has just effortlessly slipped in to replace a frankly to me amazing portion of my smoking habit.

So yeah I'm certainly 'something other than an ex smoker', but it's actually got me thinking about dropping the analogs completely. If I can get the same enjoyment without destroying my lungs, for gods sake even I can't be stupid enough not to realize that's the better option. Still on the fence about attempting it, but for the first time in almost 25 years I'm actually thinking about what life would be like without cigarettes, it doesn't get any more amazing than that.

 

[1freespirit]

Myself a pack a day for the last 15-20 years, actually smoked analog for 34 years just a pack a day for about the last 15 or so. Been vaping now for... 6 weeks.

I have had maybe 2 packs of cigarettes during this time if that. Sometimes I will smoke an analog when out and about and about for the evening and my batteries went dead in e-cig and then maybe 1-2 here and there if I choose during the day.

Realistically I have no problem changing back over to the e-cig from the analog. I mean if I smoke analogs maybe the night before I have no desire to pick up analogs the next day. I just vape and I am fine. One thing I don't do is beat myself up about having an analog once in a while. If I feel like it I will if not I don't . One thing I do notice I can really SMELL when people are analog smokers which I never noticed before sometimes just their clothing can stink up a whole room. AND I don't and will not become of of those people do you mind not smoking around me type people, but I do have to admit analogs really do smell and they don't taste very good either.