Long-time user's experience?

[Bernard Marx]

I would be interested in comments from people who have been vaping for a number of years. At 3 months it is all fairly new to me and I still keep comparing it with smoking tobacco and I wonder if it might not just be a fad I've gotten myself into. I mean, Thank God I'm not smoking anymore, but what does it feel like to have been doing it for so long? Is it still front and center in your consciousness (obsession) or is it just something you do like smoking used to be.

 

[Beaver]

I've been vaping for a little over 3 years. I smoked for 25 years and in the end I was smoking 25-30 cigarettes a day. Now, to answer your questions from my experience....

"I wonder if it might not just be a fad I've gotten myself into."

If smoking cigarettes weren't problematic for you then yes, it can possibly be a fad. For me it was necessary to quit due to health issues. I could never go back to cigarettes without having a negative impact to my health.

"I still keep comparing it with smoking tobacco."

If you stick with vaping, that will go away in time. Usually it happens once you realize you can't replicate the "real cigarette taste."

"What does it feel like to have been doing it for so long?"

It feels like I traded one addiction for another, but I don't have the stench of tobacco smoke on me and everything I own. More importantly, I've yet to feel any negative side affects to my health. I no longer cough....ever, and my chest pains are gone. Let's not kid ourselves though, there are no long term studies on vaping. We are the guinea pigs here.

"Is it still front and center in your consciousness (obsession) or is it just something you do like smoking used to be."

Yes and yes, but for me it's worse. I enjoyed cigarettes one at a time, but vaping doesn't have a beginning or end...it's always there (in my hand) and ready to go.

 

[cskent]

I've been vaping for about 3 1/2 years now and no I don't view it as a fad, it's a replacement for smoking. I don't compare it with tobacco anymore, that went away shortly after I started vaping, there's so many more options with vaping for you to explore if you want. What does it feel like to have been vaping for so long?, well I don't have breathing issues, or heart palpatations anymore so that's an improvement. And, no, it's not at the center of my consciousness anymore. I don't think about it all the time like I did when I first started. I have a couple of setups that work great for me so there's no fiddling with stuff, I mix my own juice and know what I'm doing and what I like, and I don't see much need to keep buying new stuff all the time. In other words, things have settled down now, I'm seeing a lot of health benefits, and my bank account is healthier as well.

 

[StarsAndBars]

Vaping for about 4 ish years now. It has really become more of a hobby than smoking cessation at this point. I still enjoy it like crazy.

 

[olcottkid]

CravenA, Great question!!! I was wondering the same since being new to vaping. Beaver, Thank you for your honest answer. I have smoked for 25 years PAD and tried everything to quit. Vaping has finally given me that "out". I do find I keep my mod close to me like my cigs were but I don't stink and feel healthier already.

Thanks!!!

 

[Bernard Marx]

I know it seems a little obsessive. It is a lot like when I smoked a pipe for a year. I pretty well became the pipe. At least this doesn't stink like that did.

 

[tearose50]

My story is similar. I find it more of a hobby and a habit than even a necessity. Shock!!!

For quite some time I was still compulsed to vape as I had been with the cigs and it was a substitute with it's own aggravations. To my surprise, that changed and I didn't even notice it at first. If needed I could go hours without a vape with no nagging effects. Sometime later, much to my surprise, I found that I could easily lower my nic to extremely low levels and even zero nic.

Somewhere during the process I 100% knew I would not return to the cigs and had no interest in doing so. However, I do enjoy vaping, have become quite attached to much of my gear and have a fabulous drip tip collection and a bit of bling decoration, just for the girly fun of it.

 

[SoUnique]

I smoked for 35+ years, 1 1/2 pack a day, at times 2. Been vaping for just over 2 years now, and it's not just a fad.

Originally I switched because I had to quit & vaping was the only thing that worked for me. Within a couple months it turned into a hobby, and it's snowballed from there.

I've been playing in the DIY juice making & just love it.

Smoking was never this much fun.

 

[fourtytwo]

I've been vaping for close to two years now. I used to smoke a large pack a day.
Vaping has not become an obsession or hobby for me, It is just something I do that has replaced smoking.
The first half year, I thought about it a lot and sometimes considered picking up a cig now and then. I never did and after a while, just stopped thinking about smoking at all.

 

[farmer_bric]

I smoked for 50+ years and started vaping for health reasons - all the other cessation products didn't work for me. Now, after 2+ yrs without a stinky, I feel great, don't smell - at least of smoke - and my wife is the happiest person on the planet Like others, I can go for hours without the absolute craving that I had with cigarettes, though I still do need to vape.

Certainly vaping became a bit of a hobby, chasing after the latest and greatest hardware and trying more juices than I could have possibly vaped, but like cskent I have found a setup that works great for me, and I have settled down now to just enjoying the experience.

After trying so many juices, I realized that it was a futile dream to think there was a perfect juice out there, and have resorted to DIY quite satisfactorily. At this point, I am finally starting to save $$

 

[Kagey K]

I'm not a long it e vapor but we have gotten pretty far. I told my gf and some of my friends we aren't quitting we are changing brands, once they adopt that attitude it is pretty easy. If you believe it to be a fad or another I'll try but not quit tilt be just that for you.

 

[williebb123]

i smoked for 33yrs and the day i got my first ecig i never smoked again, i had no intentions of quitting i loved to smoke but now i like vaping just as well , when i smoked i never lost my sense of taste or smell but my sense of smell did increase some but i think now after 3 1/2yrs of vaping i can say im not addicted like with the cigs , i can go shopping or to the movies without vaping and not have the cravings of a raging lunatic

 

[Chime]

3 1/2 or so here, yeah not a fad it got me off a 15 year pack a day habit. I don't do it all the time, I don't vape at work anymore usualy just when I'm around the house. It's really nice cause it doesn't reek up the place like cigarettes used to. I have gone days when I don't vape, it's gone from smoking which was a "need to do" to vaping which is "enjoyable to do". I still blow the occasional cigarette or cigar (talking like maybe 2 a year) but I always hate myself the next morning, so harsh on the sinuses.