@Crissyrose I smoked for 42 years like VNeil did, at 2 packs a day, sometimes more, and never thought I would quit, and didn't want to. I was having health problems that I was ignoring, or attributing to "old age," because I LOVED SMOKING and structured my entire life around it. Smoking WAS my life, plain and simple. I never tried to quit because I knew I couldn't, but when vaping came along, and I tried it, I thought, "Maybe I can, after all." Apparently, deep down inside, I really DID want to quit, because I was able to set my cigarettes down the day I got my first vape pen, and never picked them up again. I kept reaching for them, out of habit, but luckily I'd catch myself before I actually LIT one, and grab my vape instead. I finally put them up on a shelf, so I'd have to GO to the shelf to get one, and that did the trick.
I had asked all the same questions you've asked, about whether I should try to stop cold turkey, or just do both for a while, and all the advice I got was to above all, not put any pressure on myself to quit. So I had my packs of cigs up on the shelf, there if I REALLY needed to have one, but I actually liked the vaping more than smoking (oh, the FLAVORS in vaping are wonderful!), and I never went and got another cigarette off that shelf. My husband finally "disposed" of 5 cartons of cigs because I said I was never going to smoke another one, but it KILLED him, because they cost a lot of money! LOL! He said it was worth it, though, just to know that I was off them for good.
So the moral of the story is, do it at your own pace, and don't feel pressured. If you're anything like me, the more pressure you feel, the more you're going to dig in your heels and resist.
So give yourself permission to smoke one here and there, when you feel like you need to. I predict that soon you'll realize that smoking isn't quite as pleasant as you once thought it was, and that vaping is much better. Good luck to you, girl! You can do it. I have faith in you.
I'll tell you a little secret, though. The other morning, hubby and I were at the kitchen table having coffee and discussing something, and I automatically reached over to grab my nonexistent pack of cigs. I haven't reached for them in MONTHS now, and where that came from, I don't know, but it's a deep-seated habit for sure. We both had a good laugh and I had another hit of yummy strawberry cupcake off my lovely Disrupter, and all was well in my world again.
~Lannie
