I'm lost, can you tell me where I am?

[jamie]

When my first ordered ecig arrived I finished my pack of ciggies and decided not to buy the next pack. After a couple days I noticed one of my ashtrays had 3/4 of a ciggie left. Previously I'd read a cessation article that said the known presence of cigarettes can create or increase cravings. I considered that, went to toss the ciggie in the trash, then considered I might visualize it being there. We've all done it, usually at 3am! So I smoked it instead and was pleased to find it seemed just okay, nothing special. Finished it and didn't give it another thought.

Fast forward a few weeks and a few more orders. Tonight none of my ecigs are working. I've been struggling with them for days, too much time, too many wasted carts, too much rinsing juice out of my mouth and too much sticky liquid odor. Used some NRT, however I need to work on something for hours. It's dark, and I have to FOCUS after several days of ecig fumbling. I'm fully confident that when I've got a reasonably working ecig again all will be right with the world, so I finally decide to pick up one pack of the real thing until - I hope - a replacement arrives tomorrow. Is my confidence misplaced? Am I just rationalizing?

What a difference a few weeks makes. I'm 5 cigs into the pack now and where is that mindless enjoyable bliss I recall getting from my dear ciggies? The smoke is harsh in my mouth and tastes of truck exhaust. The filter is spongy... too soft, too soggy - I might be holding a damp wool sock between my lips and it's repellent. I've got a hint of a headache, am on the edge of dizzy. My fingers smell of charred wood. When I breath there is a heaviness in my chest I don't recollect ever noticing before.

So, here I am. I didn't notice the trip.

 

[leaford]

Isn't it some kind of rule that every recovering addict needs a relapse. Needs that final look at the dark side, as it were.

 

[TropicalBob]

Frankly, I'm getting lost too. I've stopped counting specific days off cigarettes and my calendar is now a countdown to one year. It reads -23 days. But I'm very frustrated and oh so close to returning to cigarettes. Frustration and stress take a toll, I know, and that's what e-smoking is to me.

Atomizers. Batteries. Questionable e-liquid. Inconsistent performance. Inadequate nicotine dose. Frustrations.

Unlike you, Jamie, I think if I smoke even one cigarette -- ever-- then I'm back to being a slave to the habit/addiction. I liked the smoking experience, with the singular exception of a persistant cough that disappeared almost a year ago ... I liked the smell (still do) of burning tobacco. I liked a break taken outside with peers. I liked to "reward" myself for tasks successfully completed. I liked to contemplate tasks lying just ahead. All were reasons (excuses) to smoke a cigarette.

I get only a placebo effect with e-smoking. That's good, mind you, but hardly satisfying.

I'm just not sure I can wait until a reliable device is marketed. In this year, however, I've learned what works so I can be smokefree in forced environments -- like flying or hospital stays. (1) Stonewall tobacco bits, my personal favorite; (2) snus, non-stop using Wise 6mg tasteless pouches; (3) Oliver Twist bits, when a strong nic hit is needed. I'm hanging tough today, with two declining atomizers in use, but I'm not a happy e-smoker.

 

[dnakr]

I tend to agree with TB - I don't think any of us are truly a happy e-smoker - at least not until the perfect e-cig is made... It does get frustrating when an atomizer breaks or the batteries do not last long. Always having to replace parts and the cost of doing so are enough to make anyone say "that’s enough"...

However, the other day, my hubby was driving and asked me to light him a cigarette. When I did, I about gagged... Now I know what “licking an ashtray” means. It was truly disgusting to me.

So I will continue to fight with my e-cigs. I will continue to buy new atomizers and batteries. I will continue to buy new e-cigs just coming out on the market, in hope of one day finding the perfect e-cig, the perfect smoking device for myself....

 

[MNZ]

Right now as I'm writing this there is a marlboro light between my fingers and I'm smoking it. God I wish there wasn't...
All day and all night I've been really really good and used my e-products.
What is it that continues to draw us back to the dark side ?
There doesn't seem to be an answer to that !
For me even after extensive use of an e-product I still want the craving that the familiar cigarette gives me. And yes, I hate the taste of them now, and yes, not that I really like e-smoke either. And yes, I hate the feeling of smoke gets in your eyes, and yes, I know I smell like ...., and yes I know I'm going to wake up with bird cage mouth, but I still do it ... WHY ?

 

[Mr.Darcy]

well im a pretty happy esmoker...im a former 20 a day man,and i loved them..but maybe some people are more susceptible to the siren song of cigarettes than others...

the way i look at it,theres no such thing as an everlasting pack of smokes either.things get used and need to be replaced.
you smoke a pack of 20,then buy another pack.same thing for these devices-they get used,reach the end of their life,then need replaced.
get real folks-nothing lasts forever.i can buy an atomiser from my supplier for the price of a 20 pack,and its gonna last longer than they would.

thats the way it is at the moment,like it or lump it.keep lots of spares,thats all you can do right now to avoid frustration if you want to continue to do this.

 

[BananaDoc]

Wow.. what a difference a few weeks make...

When i came on board in mid May this was a pretty optimistic group. Myself included. The decided lack of E-reliability seems to be ebbing for all of us. Even us nonicks are getting a bit sick and tired of the battery/atomizer shuffle these days. SmartFixx has sent me 2 free atomizers and 3 free batteries so far and i can only cobble together one penstyle that sort-of works today... I spent Monday just holding and gesturing with a dead PS all day. What the hell-- i don't need the nicotine.... it's just a prop. who cares if I'm not making fake smoke... I care. The ability to make vapor MATTERS! I wanted a cigarette on Monday. Today I can make vapor and today i couldn't care less about cigarettes.

Not sure who i am more annoyed with: the device or myself. :?

 

[jasondavis48108]

sounds like some folks are having a rough go of things, I guess I count myself lucky in that I found e-smokes by accident and bought one only to cut down my smoking, and then just didn't want to smoke real cigs after having smoked an e-cig. I never thought i'd quit smoking even after watching a few of my relatives die rather slowly and painfuly from smoking related illness. I for one can't believe that I havent had a real cgg in six days and don't have the slightest desire for one. I've spent $600.00 in the last six days on e-cigs carts and juice and I don't think I've ever been so happy to part with my money, I too am scared of failing atomizersd and the battery issue can be a bit annoying but so is carting an oxygen tank and 20 feet of hose around all day or at least my grandfather seeme pretty annoyed at this until he dies of emphazema, I don't care if I have to make sure that I have twenty spare atomizers and 50 spare batterys just to insure that i have one working e-cig, its worth it in the long run. And I can't tell ya how wonderful it is to have this forum with all it's information and helpful folks like yourself when getting started with this e-cig stuff so a big thanx to everyone on this board and I hope that something really wonderful happens to each and every one of you that will make you smile.

 

[NerdyCinderella]

Gee I overlooked this thread by accident until now. Rather touching I thought. I’ll just add my 2 cents.

The only thing I haven’t liked about e-smoking is that I’ve become totally obsessed with it and it has taken up much of my time and money. I wanted to ensure I had all the paraphernalia to make the e-cigs work so I have a substitute to going out and buying a pack of regular cigarettes. It’s time for me to move on from this obsession and I think I have a plan that I hope works out.

Today I received my 2nd NJoy. I started ordering low or no nicotine. Each of my NJoys is a different color. One I’ll use the low or no nicotine with and the other all the high nicotine I have ordered up until now. I also hope by having 2 e-cigs to alternate throughout the day, they won’t break down so easily as I’m a heavy smoker. So I’m a little pleased with my plan and hope it will work and release me from my obsession and let me move on to my next project or stage, making e-smoking a more tangential part of my life. And if I need 3 e-cigs, I’ll get 3.

Now TropicalBob don’t let me hear you talk like that again! You keep counting those days to the end of your year. You are our Grand Master! You can’t fail us!

 

[TheEmperorOfIceCream]

I think a lot of this is just change in the tactile part of the habit. When I was smoking tobacco full time, the 'business' of it was pretty locked down. Buy cigs, buy lighter, spark up, inhale, toss ..... I never freaked out when a disposable lighter died, just bought another one.

There is enough difference in preparing an e-cig to cause vague unease (to me at least)

The part that really bugs me is the variable level of nicotine as a cart empties. There is no equivalent in tobacco smoking so it comes across as less satisfying then the real thing. (I haven't started dripping yet, but I'm hoping that topping up the carts will sort this out)

We haven't acclimitised to the limits of the tech yet, that's all.

Emp

 

[jamie]

Enjoyed reading your posts. Thought I should write an end to my tale - well, at least this round.

By the time I'd finished my pack in the afternoon, I'd gotten and later lost the headache. The ciggies had become somewhat less blecchh but not as much as expected over a whole pack. Then! - There was a package at the door and it was so exciting... I ripped strips off the wretched sticky envelope trying to get it open and found... lanyards. The lanyards I'd ordered for all those working ecigs I don't have. The lanyards I'd ordered AFTER that atomizer was supposedly mailed. Hmmph.

While I was irritated, perturbed, disgruntled over the missing atomizer, I didn't have any noticeable interest in getting another pack of ciggies either. I used my prescription inhaler for a while. As posted elsewhere, I used the 'scratch' trick and got about an hour of functionality from one unit. Played with another atomizer for a bit and it's been dribbling, a little vapor here, a wisp of smoke over there... The dribbling and my inhalers have fed the demon, even in the dark.

=================

The "reputable retailers" who continue to flog these single-atomizer kits are quickly losing my respect. You'd think folks who jumped seriously into this business did so because they understood the power of having a customer base of addicts, but they don't seem to get what that means beyond gold bullion fantasies. They'll be hard pressed to hang on to the bullion as a bunch of addicts remember their part in f'ing up the fix. Single-atomizer kits are too costly from all angles.

Not enough time at the moment to note all your interesting comments.... thanks again.

 

[TropicalBob]

I'm gulping my coffee down this morning while facing two failing atomizers for my pen style. They lasted two weeks.

Visited my tobacco store again yesterday to buy some more Stonewall pieces. The owner asked about e-smoking. I told him the failure rate is excessive. I told him that he'll want to sell these only when they're are as friendly and replaceable as cigarette packs.

That's what I want. I want a product that is the same with every use. I pick it up, I smoke it, I put it down. To get that product, I see disposables as the future. The devices will be sold in hard packs the size of cigarette packs. Inside will be a charger for the e-cig battery and two disposable atomizer-cartridges. Each atomizer-cartridge is equal to one pack of 20 cigarettes. Each atomizer-cartridge costs the same or less than a pack of cigarettes.

When I need a 'smoke', I pull out my pack, slide an atomizer-cartridge onto the battery end and puff away.

I can only see that scenario for mass market appeal.

 

[dnakr]

After 6 months of e-smoking - I would try a disposable.

I wonder how long it will take before a reliable one is actually marketed. I mean one that will last at least 6 months to a year.

 

[TropicalBob]

Just about the most important marketing issue for disposables will be price. The combo must be comparably priced to tobacco products. We ex-smokers are used to forking over weekly sums. In my case (Florida has very low tobacco taxes), it was $22 a week for a single carton. I budgeted for that. If I could get disposable atomizer-cartridge combinations (each purchase equal to a carton of commercial cigarettes) for $22 a week, I'd be in E-Heaven.

And -- I hear the voice of Leaford -- I need to be able to buy these off the shelf at my local tobacco store and not depend on a slow boat from China.

 

[Mr.Darcy]

Bob,how much do you reckon e-smoking is costing you now per week?

 

[TropicalBob]

Not much at all. I'm a cheap SOB at heart. In the beginning, I ordered quite a quantity of E-Cig's liquids -- and have enough to supply me a year or more. Then I started homebrew and mixing. That's enough to last me another year.

My $36 DealExtreme e-cigar continues to not only function, but get better daily. I've used it five months and never replaced the atomizer or battery. My punk Health mini cig functions as it did new -- not very well. But it works. It cost me $18. My pen style had an atomizer failure at 7 days. That was quickly replaced and I still depend on the myecig.com pen style daily.

Bottom line: E-smoking has been dirt cheap for me. No KISSBoxes, etc. No Njoy. No Gamucci, Santucci or Yves St. Laurent. That's partly because I can't justify spending the money those things cost.

BTW: Do keep in mind that I use snus non-stop. I also like a pipe about three times a day. So I rely heavily on alternative sources of nicotine, besides e-smoking. My addiction/habit costs me about $20 a week, when I add up Stonewall, snus, custom pipe tobacco and amortized e-smoking expenditures. E-smoking has been by far the least expensive stay-off-cigarettes option, but not the most effective for me.

 

[MNZ]

I'm not sure how I can quantify my smoking ... I own a store that among other things sells tobacco, in fact I sell alot of tobacco, so my smoking needs are free, but I have expended a lump of cash on e-smokers, quite a few of them actually. I'm not going to go into the how many dollars thing, frankly I think that's a pointless issue, you spend what you want to spend and that's the end of it ... but i will say that no matter what is costs getting shot of the evil weed is my goal, and by all that's whatever the quote is I'm going to do it... But, by fecking things with round brass knobs and flashy lights it's a seriously tough ask !

 

[Spider]

Personally e-smoking is working for me, if anything I don't feel the need for cigarettes at all and I'm even starting to need a lot less e-smoking than when I first started, this means that I'm using less cartridges and my atomisers will hopefully last longer too.

I agree that having to wait for supplies when you can usually just walk into a shop and buy what you need is rather annoying, but if the cost of better health is convenience then I'm up for that. I'll just make sure I stock up enough to keep me going - I'm gonna continue using cartridges, but buy some e-liquid for emergencies, and maybe try some dripping too.

I totally agree with Emperor's point though, the ONE thing I'm noticing is that the density of the vapour decreases as the cartridge runs out - maybe dripping will sort this.

In a strange way, I think that e-smoking is to tobacco smoking what home cooked food is to fast food.

 

[jamie]

This evening I visited my just-younger sister. After a few hours the sun was setting and a nice breeze had picked up. She wanted to sit on the patio for a chat and smoke. I said sure, maybe I'll even have one with you! She was confused and I clarified, yes, one of hers. It would be nice.

Recalling the experience which started this thread I commented, well, I probably won't love it but <shrug> I'm up for sharing a smoking moment. One will be fine, I noted as we sat down.

She handed me a cigarette - a Marlboro Light - and I lit up first. We were relaxed and unselfconscious, enjoying the breeze and the near darkness. As the lighter still flared I had a fleeting thought that the "damp wool sock" I'd written of would have been a vast improvement over the mushy vegetable sensation of this attempt. I didn't dwell on it though, because the first full drag found me doubled over in the flexible outdoor chair, coughing and spitting and choking and hacking and trying to say something but unable to speak. My sister sat back, leaned over, sat back, not sure whether to be concerned or amused. When I could sit up again I nearly threw the cigarette back at her, saying, okay okay, I guess it's yours after all! 8-o

She decided upon a maternal appreciation, and said, well good, good for you! approvingly. We started talking about her job but I couldn't get past it. Finally I sputtered, oh for pete's sake, that's just not right! Probably I inhaled wrong, I'm so used to my ecigs. Give it here.

She handed the ciggie back, now openly amused. I tried again. It wasn't the same. This time, after I doubled over and coughed and coughed and choked, before I was fully upright, I ran into the house and rinsed my mouth over and over right under the faucet and hacked and spit into the sink and pondered if I might throw up.

More than I understood, I'm well and truly trapped here now.

 

[leaford]

Now you are one of us... FOREVER!

Dum-dum-dummmmmmmmmmm...