Killing a habit

[MK-7]

Hi,

I'm currently in the middle of my 20's and have been smoking since I'm 16. I had periods of 50+ a day, and lately, I have been more around the 10 a day.
After giving it a lot of thought I decided to quit smoking, again. I have tried in the past and did well, but an event after 8 months of quitting made me,.. well... I went to take refuge in my old habit of smoking.
So, I know I can beat the substance but the habit...

I have bought what it seems is a starter kit, Endura T18E.
For the juice, I took 0 nicotine ones, and the seller told me you can't get everything with any devices due to liquid density/viscosity/whatever he said, honestly, I don't know. So I went for the Ruthless brand, they had a deal in the store for 3 of them, so it's all right price wise.

It has been 3 days now. I have some throat pain especially and exclusively I would say in the morning but I feel better overall. I have huge cravings here and there, but the act of vaping helps to wait/making it go away. The worst is by far morning coffee if I don't smoke or vape for a long time like 30 mins straight, it does not go. Like it's an hours-long craving, it does not stop until I smoke something, anything. And even with the e-cig, it comes back pretty quickly. Going through it right now will have to go down vape a bit soon
And yes, I refuse to vape inside, I started to do that with smoking to reduce smoking. I always go down to smoke, helped reduce the consummation by so much,... it made me go from the pack to the current half pack a day I ended up smoking.

When I did quit like 2 years ago, I also quit coffee. But I went through rough months. Now, with the job and stuff, and what is about the happen for the second half of the year professionally, I can't afford to go through a ....ty state for months. But I also can't keep waiting for the "right time", there is never a perfect time to stop. So I keep coffee (for now) so I don't fight 2 things at once, and I use basically the e-cig to ease the craving. Been working well. I have been through the withdrawal, being able to drink coffee to not feel down and having a way to ease the habit and the craving (you still feel it) is soooooo much better than having to deal with all that stuff at once without anything to help.
It is still a very bad experience though. Especially when you're French... But it needs to be done.

So yeah, I was browsing a lot of old subjects on the forum and figured I could say hi. Maybe ask a couple of questions about my engine etc.. Got some heat sometimes and stuff I'm not sure about.

See ya around people!

 

[Mod_life]

Hello glad to hear that you’re finally kicking the habit. Let’s see I started vaping when I was around 14 and playing with it. Then I slowly put it down and moved to smoking. I really started to smoke at the age of 16 (when I got my drivers license) and I’ve kept going on it. I picked the vape up to kick the habit of smoking which did very well and I came off of it. But then I had a close friend at my school who died recently so I picked them back up. Anyways a long story short I ended up in Europe without a vape for the last 6 days. I went through an entire carton of cigarettes (by myself) and since I’ve gotten back (about a month) I’ve slowly started to come back off of it. Cravings get me from time to time. I don’t think I could ever put down the vape though. Well nice talking to you! Hope that you kick the habit and make your life 1000% better

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

Welcome to ecf. What strength of nic are you using? If any? If you are totally nic free in your vape setup are you using nic patches, gum, swedish snuff?

Have you upped the amount of liquid you drink per day?

Cigarette habits are the worst to quit due to several different aspects we come to expect and depend on when smoking..
A product call Whole Tobacco Alkaloid (WTA) can be purchase to add to your ejuice and to help calm the gravings down. These Alkaloids are put into cigarettes by Big Tobacco , making it almost impossible to quit smoking for some people. Most people don't know that nicotine is only a small part of what you are craving. And is really no more addictive than caffeine.

 

[Mod_life]

Welcome to ecf. What strength of nic are you using? If any? If you are totally nic free in your vape setup are you using nic patches, gum, swedish snuff?

Have you upped the amount of liquid you drink per day?

Cigarette habits are the worst to quit due to several different aspects we come to expect and depend on when smoking..
A product call Whole Tobacco Alkaloid (WTA) can be purchase to add to your ejuice and to help calm the gravings down. These Alkaloids are put into cigarettes by Big Tobacco , making it almost impossible to quit smoking for some people. Most people don't know that nicotine is only a small part of what you are craving. And is really no more addictive than caffeine.

THank you! And I use 6mg in my mods. I have several other devices like a Juul, infinix, and a sourin Air. (Which these have 50 mg of nicotine in them) I also use chewing tobacco or dip on occasion and also smoke a cigarette on occasion. I have used the nicotine gum before trying to quit smoking. No I haven’t been drinking anymore since I’ve slowed down. I think it is a very good idea to not vape/ smoke inside to make yourself have to go outside to do it. I’m rooting for you!

 

[MK-7]

Thanks for the welcome guys.

Nothing, I use 0 mg juice, and no patch or gum. I just vape to calm the habit of smoking and to "unlink" it to nicotine, and it helps a lot going through the craving.

There are so many stuff in the cig to make you an addict, it's insane... but I have decided to treat it as a bad habit. So yeah, nothing besides just the feeling os smoking. If I weren't going through some tough times at work right now, I'd probably have not started vaping at all and would have just quit. But the vaping really helps when going on a coffee break and stuff, keeps hands and mouth busy!

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

Thanks for the welcome guys.

Nothing, I use 0 mg juice, and no patch or gum. I just vape to calm the habit of smoking and to "unlink" it to nicotine, and it helps a lot going through the craving.

There are so many stuff in the cig to make you an addict, it's insane... but I have decided to treat it as a bad habit. So yeah, nothing besides just the feeling os smoking. If I weren't going through some tough times at work right now, I'd probably have not started vaping at all and would have just quit. But the vaping really helps when going on a coffee break and stuff, keeps hands and mouth busy!

It just seems to me that you are making this harder on yourself than it has to be. The beauty of vaping is that it does address all the aspects of the addiction minus the WTA(unless you supply that). Behavioral addiction such as the hand to mouth action. Socially , with friends or at a party. The visual of the vapor(our brains think its smoke), These aspect and many more are just a part of the overall addiction to smoking. That is what makes ecigs genius as it covers it all. No other product evens come close and why all other quit smoking otc stuff just does not work.

But if you are determined to keep making it so hard on you please just drink, drink, drink. It does not have to be water, just keep yourself hydrated.

 

[MK-7]

Thanks for your input, but I'm having a hard time to understand how it makes things harder. I seriously feel it helps me go through the craving. I don't think I would have done it so far without this little replacement, especially through the hours of work I went through yesterday for a meeting I have today.

And yeah, forgot about staying well hydrated, will try to drink as much as I can, thanks for the reminder aswell!

 

[ilporcupine]

This is an interesting approach. It is the reverse of the SNUS/patch/gum method.
With the NR(nicotine replacement) methods, you indulge the chemical addiction by replacing nicotine, and try to fight/ignore the habitual part.
(smoking action, and feel of smoke).
OP has turned this on its head. Indulge the habitual behavior, and fight/ignore the nicotine craving.
This could work, if he is craving the action more than the chemical. This somewhat works for me as well, for short stretches, but I eventually must get some nicotine, or go a little nuts.
I also do not have much interaction with people day to day, and nobody to be polite to...

 

[MK-7]

Yeah, I have "beaten" nicotine in the past, but what got me back at smoking was the feeling of the smoke in the mouth and the habit in general. So this is definitely what I am targeting here!

 

[ilporcupine]

Yeah, I have "beaten" nicotine in the past, but what got me back at smoking was the feeling of the smoke in the mouth and the habit in general. So this is definitely what I am targeting here!

Seems most people find it easier, and have more success,targeting both at once. If you can 'cold turkey' the chemical addiction, and just feed the habitual behavior, you are a brave soul, indeed. Do you plan on giving up the habitual part at some later date? It would be easier for me, at least, to taper the nicotine levels than somehow taper the behavioral aspect.
YMMV though. Nice chatting with you. Best of luck, let us know how you're doing. It is an interesting experiment to follow.

 

[MK-7]

Thanks, will keep you updated! Maybe not here, maybe make another thread and also share ideas/reactions could help others and myself!

Well, right now it's more about getting through some meetings and work. I was thinking maybe get everything "done" by mid-August, I know I will go for 5 days or so in the mountain for hiking, and maybe see the family a bit as well too. Might be a good time to get rid of everything. Or, take it slow and quit vaping 0 mg naturally, without forcing it, can be also a good call. Think I have not set up anything about it, the goal is the long-term result, to kill the habit properly.

The thing I'm hesitating a lot to do right now would be to have tobacco-like flavors. For the "safety", I went for exotic ones, but I'm considering this... a lot.

 

[Upinsmoke]

Hi MK7
Mark Twain famously said "Giving up smoking is easy , I've done it thousands of times. "
Something you should learn to accept is that you are an addict .
10 years a smoker and you have a nicotine habit .
Don't beat yourself up about it. Vaping is here to help.
Your strategy has a very high risk of failure IMO .
Nicotine when vaped is not known to be particularly harmful.
The danger of your zero nicotine approach is that you will be more likely in a moment of weakness to have 1 cigarette, then another. .....
My advice would be to buy another device and some juice with say 3 or 6 mg/ml of nicotine . When you feel the need for nicotine, use that device and vape your 0mg juice when you are just fulfilling the need of the physical aspect.
Once you are completely cigarette free for at least a year then consider weaning yourself off the nicotine if you feel you want to.
Staying free of smoking has to be the first goal.
Good luck and welcome.
People here are very knowledgeable and non judgemental.

 

[QcVaper]

I also agree that your method seems more complicated for no reason, then again whatever works for you is a good way of doing it.

After my first year of vaping i still use 3-6mgs of nicotine and i still feel miles better than if i kept smoking, without flavors i'd never would've been able to quit (i honestly hated the tobaco taste).
Unfortunately for me i now treat vaping as any other hobby but hell i'm having fun with it and i feel great about it

 

[KurtVD]

i honestly hated the tobaco taste

Me too, I think it’s disgusting. But still, the last time I was on vacation in a country where everything else is illegal, I found out that it’s really quite a strong addiction (and habit), because I found myself smoking about a pack per day during almost 3 weeks, and I didn’t enjoy a single one of these...so weird. When I was a teenager and started smoking, I really liked it.

 

[BrotherBob]

The thing I'm hesitating a lot to do right now would be to have tobacco-like flavors

Welcome and glad you joined.
I'm at zero nic for years now. Works for me. I found tobacco flavors to be more reliably satisfying (as a flavor class) than any other vaping flavors. I found the statements about tobacco in the article below is pretty hard to disagree with.
re: A Word On Vaping Technique | Nicoticket

 

[KurtVD]

I found the statements about tobacco in the article below is pretty hard to disagree with.
re: A Word On Vaping Technique | Nicoticket

Thanks for this link, interesting and useful! I’ll be trying to inhale less or not at all, see how that goes.

 

[MK-7]

Thanks for the replies.
I have started to experience the symptoms of the withdrawal from yesterday afternoon roughly. I'm happy about my e-cigarette, haven't even thought of buying analogs. I bought a tobacco flavor, it really helped.
It's kazillion miles away from the real flavor of a cig or any real tobacco product but a part of me was getting tired of the taste of the other liquids I have tried so far (only 3, but don't like the "principle", fruity and bubble-gummy, I don't know, not for me I guess).

The e-cig was super useful yesterday during the morning and will be during the afternoon of today I believe. Got experiments to conduct and sometimes people don't show up... I really vaped a lot by small session yesterday due to that. Think I went over 3ml! Will try to stay at a tank a day (2ml). I know many people vape way more, but I already drank 2,5 L yesterday (did some sport too) but I didn't piss blank white, which I kindda do with 2+L... guess the tip of staying well hydrated was really golden haha!

How much do you guys drink a day? Exercise feels good, so 2-3ml + sport + coffee seems to require a lot of water, way above recommended average.

 

[jmur]

Welcome MK, and best wishes to you. Mid-twenties, that's the best decision you could have made. Your future body will thank you for it.

I'm an old goat, and vaping put an end to a 45 year 3 PAD, unfiltered habit. 5 1/2 years now. You WILL thank yourself years from now.

 

[MK-7]

That's great man, keep at it! Yeah, I really need to quit, most importantly now. As a smoker, cigarettes have been with me since 16 and have witnessed all my experiences, and God knows those years are full of it. The only thing "left" now is work-related, kindda the adult world. Already found one after I graduate, and I hope quitting now will reinforce my decision by allowing me to have a "cut" between years of stupid youth and a more adult and mature life with responsibilities.

So yeah, decided that this one is the good one. I don't know if I'll vape, maybe/maybe not. I'd prefer to not vape and not smoke, at all.

P.S: 3 packs a day unfiltered for 45 years... glad you're still with us this is hardcore...

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

Thanks for the replies.
I have started to experience the symptoms of the withdrawal from yesterday afternoon roughly. I'm happy about my e-cigarette, haven't even thought of buying analogs. I bought a tobacco flavor, it really helped.
It's kazillion miles away from the real flavor of a cig or any real tobacco product but a part of me was getting tired of the taste of the other liquids I have tried so far (only 3, but don't like the "principle", fruity and bubble-gummy, I don't know, not for me I guess).

The e-cig was super useful yesterday during the morning and will be during the afternoon of today I believe. Got experiments to conduct and sometimes people don't show up... I really vaped a lot by small session yesterday due to that. Think I went over 3ml! Will try to stay at a tank a day (2ml). I know many people vape way more, but I already drank 2,5 L yesterday (did some sport too) but I didn't piss blank white, which I kindda do with 2+L... guess the tip of staying well hydrated was really golden haha!

How much do you guys drink a day? Exercise feels good, so 2-3ml + sport + coffee seems to require a lot of water, way above recommended average.

The extra water not only helps you get rid of the toxins in your body, it actually makes the vaping more comfortable for you. Reason is that the pg/vg withdrawals moisture from your mouth, nose and throat to help produce the vapor you see when exhaling. Sometimes if you forget to drink and go all day vaping you could find yourself feeling a little ill and have headaches and muscle aches also. I know because this happened to me. I felt almost nic sic(too much nic). Once I figured it out and drank huge amounts of water I started to feel much better. Dehydration is no joke.

Oh, and I was a 3 ppd peep also. With about the same number of years as jmur. You are very lucky you are changing your habits early on in life. Until ecigs became available, we only had OTC junk that just did not work. And they don't work because they only target a small piece of the addiction and do not address the rest of the pie of smoking. If you ever want stories about all the crap smoking has done to some people, they are here on ecf....

Good luck