Mental triggers for smoking.

[Nonnymonster]

Hi,
I failed quitting cigarettes several times before vaping became a thing. I finally decided that I just have a real deep psychological need to smoke that nothing else will fix. I successfully quit cold turkey for about 6 months before I just decided I hated being a nonsmoker.
Since I bought an e-cig, I instantly stopped wanting to smoke at work, in the car, when I go out with friends, etc.
But I can't stop wanting cigarettes when I'm home alone. I'm very introverted, so home-alone time is often when I feel the best.
I want cigarettes because they're the perfect punctuation for my day.
I smoke when I am about to start something hard. I smoke to reward myself for doing something hard. I smoke to relax when I'm very happy or very upset. I smoke to give myself a few minutes to think about something. I smoke as meditation. I smoke to have something to look forward to.
I find vaping very satisfying and I think my vape tastes way better than a cigarette, and I don't have any physical cravings. But the very things that make vaping so great are the things that make it hard for me to replace my home-alone cigarettes with e-cigs. E-cigs don't have a specific start and end point; I can vape when I'm doing other things (instead of taking a ritual "break"); vaping doesn't have a physical detectable cost.
I'm sure other people have felt that way and have overcome it. Is there a way I can twist these kinds of psychological triggers and make them work for me?
Thanks.

 

[Robino1]

This is the toughest.

I can only tell you what I did when I was transitioning. It took me a month before I realized that I did not like the taste of the cigarette any longer. I would only smoke outside. I would have my cigarettes somewhere where I would have to get up and go a bit of a distance to get to them. My ecig would always be next to me or within easy reach.

My lazy .... would rather reach for the ecig than get up and go find the cigs, then go outside for that smoke. Make it hard to actually smoke the cigarette. If you do have one, that's ok. We do have a saying around here of "count the ones you don't have, not the ones you do".

It is about harm reduction. I get what you mean about having a start and stop time. That is probably the Only thing I miss about smoking. It's kinda nice only missing one thing

Hang in there, eventually it gets better.

Welcome to the forum

 

[alisa1970]

I can identify with your post as well...some of what you said was the hardest part at the beginning. I never smoked in the house - always went on the front porch to smoke. Even my neighbor saw me a couple weeks ago and mentioned that she doesn't see me anymore because I'm not on the porch anymore. The no stopping thing was also hard. A cigarette always lasted me 7 minutes; enough for one between TV shows, or a break at work.

I got over that pretty quickly; I actually vape pretty much all the time. I always have a PV in my hand, and now it's second nature to carry it around with me. I don't often remember it either, and will leave it places and have to go look for it (or pick up a different one that's close by).

All of these things you tend to adjust to over time. I no longer have most of my triggers that used to make me want to smoke. I still have one, and that is when I am not feeling well. I have a chronic disease and I can get very fatigued and sort of mentally drained at times, and that's when I feel like smoking because early on in my switch smoking actually made me feel better. I don't smoke, though. Usually the feeling will pass, and if it doesn't I have some emergency snus that helps pick me up.

Before I completely quit, I would have a cigarette if it felt like I couldn't take it. It was pretty rare, but once every couple months or so I'd have one a day for a week. Now, cigarettes taste gross and they don't actually satisfy like they used to, so I know that there's no point to having one. Since you're still new at this, take it slow--there's no rush to quit completely, and if you really do want to quit, you will.

 

[DocHo11idaze]

My biggest mental trigger is while driving. I drive around all day for work and it's the biggest pain to break that habit. The biggest thing that's helped as dumb as it sounds, is to drive with my window up, not cracked open a little or anything, so far it's working a bit. Shocking how something so little makes a difference

 

[amoret]

Count the ones you don't smoke, not the ones you do. It took me weeks to be able to drop the first thing in the morning and right after meals cigarettes. And as Robino1 said, be sure that it is easier to vape than to smoke. I made myself abandon my recliner and book and go sit on a straight chair when I had to light up.

 

[Milkhoney]

It just takes time to forget your old routines and get set in your new ones. For me, being a nerd about vaping helped. Before I did any DIY stuff I ordered tons of samples to make tasting notes about, and spent a lot of time reorganizing my juice and carts and various supplies, and that was sort of my "smoke break." During cravings I'd reorganize my eGo cases, convinced there was a more space efficient way to do it. I'd inspect chargers and backups and wipe down bottles, I'd just waste time in all honesty. I vaped whenever, but playing with my stuff sort of substituted for the time that used to be occupied by stepping out for a cigarette. Eventually you just get used to vaping as you want, and the idea of taking a 7 minute break from what you're doing will seem weird.

If it helps, choose juice flavors for those specific cigarette times. The focusing flavor to start a hard task, the sweet flavor to reward the taste well done, the relaxing flavor before you get ready for bed. You don't have a beginning and end point, but you can still mark the time in vaping as you did with smoking, you just have to find different ways to do so.

 

[LondonGirl]

Well the important thing is that you are reducing your smoking, which is a massive improvement.

I too vape much more at home than I used to smoke, simply because I can sit here at my desk, or in front of the TV, instead of having to go outside.

I wonder if it would help if you did not keep your e-cig with you all the time, and took your usual cigarette break with your e-cig instead.
Some batteries have a puff-counter, which you might use to time your break.

Hope you can find a way to get off the cigarettes x

 

[peraspera]

You might want to pick up a couple of NJOY Kings at a convenience store to try. They are silly expensive and grossly overstate the equivalence to the number of cigarettes but I find they come as close as anything to the experience of smoking in the way of a vape.

The NJOY is the size and weight of a cigarette and even has a soft "filter. They may come close enough to smoking a cigarette to successfully play a psychological trick on your brain to accept the NJOY as a satisfactory substitute.

If the NJOY does the trick you might want to see if substituting a rechargeable cig-alike for the NJOYs over time will serve the same purpose at considerably less cost. The eRoll is a good cig-alike that is quite small although heavier than the NJOY and has no soft tip.

I had no problem giving up cigarettes for vaping but I clutched a cig-alike in my hand like a life preserver as well as using it frequently for several weeks after I got upgraded gear. I would tend to get panicky without having the cigarette form factor for psychological comfort.

The important thing is not to put undue pressure on yourself with any goal that isn't realistic for you. Never forget to celebrate your success in how far you have already come.

 

[coalyard]

I used every excuse in the book to not quit smoking, and that's an easy thing to do. And I don't mean that in a negative way toward you. Smoking is a horrible addiction, and quitting is not easy. There is no way to sugar coat it or make it simple. All of the talk of "triggers" and the like are just excuses you make for yourself; either you smoke, or you don't smoke.

I am kind of experienced with addiction. I drank very heavily since the age of 14 or so. Not a gutter drunk, I worked every day and raised a family, but I drank a lot. It almost killed me 3 times. First was pancreatitis. Second was when I became a type 1 diabetic due to the damage to my pancreas. Third time I was mis diagnosed with pancreatic cancer which turned out to be an abcess and a septic blood infection. I am very lucky to be alive and able to type this message to you.

My doctors were (and are) amazed that I didn't need any assistance to stop drinking alcohol, but it came down to mind over matter. I just no longer drink alcohol. It's really that simple. Yes, it was difficult, and it still is from time to time. I would love to have a cold beer on a summer evening, and I could do that now without hurting myself, but I just don't drink anymore. I used the fact that I stopped drinking as an excuse to not quit cigarettes. Long term addictions are not easy to deal with; but it is worth it.

I did the same with cigarettes. I just became so disgusted with smoking that I decided to stop. I was disgusted with how I felt and smelled. I was disgusted with how much money I was spending to commit slow suicide. I was disgusted with planning every day activities around whether or not I could smoke a cigarette and when. I took Chantix, but it didn't work. Then I started vaping, and I just stopped smoking. It wasn't easy at all. I had cravings, but I just vaped like crazy to get over them. I told myself, no, forced myself to accept that all I had was my e-cigarette. It was hell, but then it got easier and easier as the benefits of no longer smoking became evident.

Sorry for the rambling story, but there is no other way to put it without sounding harsh. Vaping is a great assistant, but quitting smoking requires a great deal of fortitude and effort on your part as well. I can promise you that the effort is well worth it, both for you and your loved ones. I wish you the best of luck, and welcome to ECF.

 

[Nonnymonster]

Thanks for everything said so far! You have all given me a lot to work on this week...

 

[peraspera]

I thought of one more thing you might want to try. If you are using a battery with a 510 connection you might want to try dripping. People usually drip because it produces the best flavor of any of the juice delivery devices. However, it is a process with a beginning and an end which you mentioned as being important. Also, some people find the process very relaxing although others find it annoying but you won't know which category you will fall in without trying.

This kit has everything you need to try dripping, Drippers' Delight. Just put two to four drops of juice in the atty and vape. When the flavor fades and vapor production decreases add two or three more drops.

There are a couple of other manufactured dripping atties similar to the KP atties that will hold more juice but if you want one that holds quite a lot more you will need to learn to build a rebuildable dripping atty with a deep well.

 

[dice57]

Well, get a dripper, they will give one a specific start and end point. My Magma is a perfect example. Holds like 1.5 ml of juice, fill it up, and have one damn fine vape for a good 10 minutes. Well if you vape it at under 0.3 ohms it's 10 minutes. lol.

Love having tanks too, need a quick vape for that early morning potty run, heck, don't even need to find a lighter.

Some adjustment to vape, but easily adapted to.