Hi! I'm Tina, 45 year old mother of 4, work as a manager for a software/consulting firm and work from home over half the time. My kids are boys 20, 15 and 6...and my last is the Princess of the Castle, a 3 year old girl.
I tried smoking for the first time around 20, when out having a beer. When I started smoking, it was no longer really considered cool and I knew it was stupid from day 1. But it didn't take long before I was hooked. I never smoked more than about a pack of ultralights a day (ok sometimes I could down a whole pack at a party if drinking), and tried to quit literally hundreds of times using every method known to man. In retrospect, I believe I was self-medicating for ADHD and stress. I smoked over 20 years.
Nothing I tried worked. I had a love/hate relationship with my smoking. Hated the danger, but loved the actual act of smoking as much as the nicotine.
I was online about two and a half years ago and saw a free trial offer for an electronic cigarette. That sounded like EXACTLY what I needed! But then I read the fine print and found out yes, it was too good to be true and sounded like an expensive commitment for something I wasn't even sure would work.
So I started searching the net for ecigs, found a couple of brands...found ECF and looked for reviews on the ones I was considering (there was not much available then, not even the eGo, just cig lookalikes and a lot of crazy mods people were building in their garages...which was cool but not for me).
So I bought my cig lookalike and I was amazed with it. I knew this could work for me! I battled with constantly recharging the tiny batteries and put up with constantly dripping into tiny foam filled carts to keep the vapor going. Experimented with the juices available at the time and just kept trying to improve the experience, but didn't go back to smoking.
This was my dream come true! I could smoke without 99% of the risk.
When the ego's came out, I finally found an experience that satisfied me.
Last year had a 7 month relapse with smoking. Started with a marriage crisis and I drank too much, too. Not enough to affect my functioning but enough wine to drown my pain every night. Eventually I started getting a wheeze when i went to sleep, and that woke me up. I thought, "WHY on earth am I doing this to myself, especially when I KNOW for a FACT that vaping works for me?". It made me think long at hard about playing Russian Roullete with my life when I still have two small kids? I'll be in my 60's when my youngest graduates high school! I want to see them graduate college, be there when they have my grandchildren.
So I dragged out my ego's, ordered a couple new batteries and some new juices and got back on the vaping wagon. I haven't looked back. Tried my cigs a couple times since and after a couple literally threw out the rest of the pack. Amazing after a short time my tastebuds readjusted to hating the taste of cigarettes.
I don't use the Joye tanks or cartridges any more...I have come to prefer clearomizers. I don't do big tanks because because I change up flavors frequently throughout the day and keep 8-10 full of different juices. I still use Joyetech batteries though, 900-2400 mah mod, because they seem to last me a very long time and work for me. Extra batteries are relatively inexpensive now, so I keep 7-8 of them charged up with different flavors in them in my pencil jar on my desk.
I won't risk my life any more with analogs. Vaping has become not only a safer solution for me, it is now my preferred solution. If you told me tomorrow I could go back to smoking without health consequences, I would still be a vaper.
