Mind Games - Analogs and E-cigs

[Sagg]

I am 5 days into vaping and have cut back the anologs 50% in that time. I am starting to really get a different perspective on my addiction. This e-cig has really got me thinking, its tough to subsitute vaping for an analogue but in a different way.

I know that I am getting the nicotine in my system. The vapour that comes out of my Ego is just like the smoke on a analog. I love the fact that I can sit in my office and drink coffee and vape! But I still want to go out in the cold for an analog!

So I go outside to light up that analog that I have been delaying for an hour to find out what I am missing. Its good but its not great! weird? Besides I can go back inside where its warm and then start vaping. It goes back and forth and it makes me realize what is it about this smoking habit? I have gone outside and smoked and vaped at the same time. Now that is an interesting way of playing mind games with yourself!

I went for a walk the other day and started thinking to myself that wow maybe I would have a lot more stamina and energy without all that smoke! I think I am finding out the truth about my addiction more and more with this vaping experiment.

If anyone has experienced something similar how did you deal with it?

Wish me luck I get some new juice next week and hope the new stuff tastes better. The Marlborough juice is a little to harsh for me. If I quit smoking I am going to splurge on a new e-bike thats for sure!

 

[markfm]

I had to bump my nic level one notch, switching from 18 to 24mg, with some 30, particularly at trigger points. Turns out that I really like the higher nic levels, though now I can go for hours without vaping and not notice it.
Once I got the right nic level, in a flavor I liked, I just made it more of a hassle to smoke, leaving the last pack of cigs in my car. Cut down to 3 cigs max a day, and by day 7 I was actually glad to have finished the cigs - out had become more of a hassle to smoke than vape, and the cigs just were not tasting as good.
Good luck!

 

[dormouse]

My suggestion is first you figure what your PV is not giving you and fix that! That may require different juices since you already have a good PV. Maybe find some nice stinky ejuice that reminds you of a cigarette more? For me, FreedomSMokeUSA Desert Ship had a sort of pungent aspect that satisfied me, and sometimes I would add a bit of their oRYental for a caramel sweet touch. And some people use a higher nicotine juice for tough times - to replace the cigarettes times that are hardest to replace for them. or maybe a hardware change would help - there are so many kinds of cartos and attys, both normal and low resistance (LR) that can be used on an Ego. Maybe a different one would make you love the Ego even more.

Or is it the going out and getting away from everything and everyone that relaxes you? I know at work I really enjoyed going to the warehouse with my hot cup of tea and having a smoke. Now with the ecig and winter though, I don't want the cold of the warehouse and just vape occasionally at my desk, but it's not the same as getting away from everything in the warehouse. Is there anyplace inside you could vape in peace? I vape in the bathroom at home.

More ideas

Lock up your fave cigs and get some crappy ones you don't like so much.

If you don't have enough batteries to always leave your PV set up all the time, get more batteries and chargers.

 

[RicksBeach]

I've found two flavors that I really, really like...toasted almond and creamy cappucino and another that I just like...ry4. After using these flavors my usually brand of cigarettes now tastes really bad and weak. I no longer have any desire to smoke them.

 

[Numevexo]

Hi Sagg,
I'm in almost the same place as you are. Cut my analogs by 2/3, but still find myself needing(or thinking that I need) an analog during certain circumstances or at a particular time of the day. I keep a 30mg dropper bottle of menthol tobacco juice for those times, or I "surf the urge" and go without cig or vape. Seems weird, but I get a really good feeling when I abstain through a strong urge to smoke an analog. The urge goes away after a 1/2 hour or so, but after going without, I almost feel a "rush" or "high". Hard to explain.
Anyway, keep up the effort. I truly believe the end result(analog free) is worth it. I think you believe that, too.
Good luck and hang in there!

 

[Shining]

Once I found some flavors I really like and got the mg right on the nicotine, I could care less about an analog. In fact I prefer vaping because of the flavor. I also smoked outside, my quiet time, so I just took my PV outside with me and solved that problem, lol. I think you will find when you get a juice you really like and the nic level high enough you will no longer want the analog.

 

[Beez]

I am going through a similar process. Yesterday I had 3 analogs, today 2. It was the "something missing" issue. I think that Dormouse is right, it is a matter of finding that something and fixing it - for me, my guess is that something is a better tasting and more flavorful juice (and the two orders in the way I hope will fix that issue!).

 

[Free2BeMe]

I agree with everyone and I would also like to add that I treat my ecig just like I did my cigarette. If I want to go outside to smoke it, I do. I used to always smoke on my balcony and look at the trees and whatnot. So if I feel like that I do just that. If you want to smoke outside, just vape outside. Do whatever makes you feel comfortable. For me the change was overnight. I got my ecig and I didn't pick up a cigarette anymore because well...I was basically doing the same thing. Good luck!

 

[chrisH]

sounds great, man i wish i had the cash to order one....

 

[DonG]

Some "ritual smoke breaks" were hard to get over, especially that first one in the morning with my cup of coffee. Instead of trying to change all my habbits at once I would just substitute my EGO for the cigs and go to my designated smoking spot to vape for 10-15 minutes; front porch for morning coffee, outside after meals, garage for the last "smoke" before bed. That way I still had my "break time".

 

[sweetblackkitten]

yes...the e-cig changed my analog experience...when i went back and had a full analog, i felt so horrible afterwards, like my body physically hurt and felt bad....i was like, why bother with this when i can get my nic somewhere else?

and then there is the warmth factor...and the not smelling...ok i better stop now lol

 

[notdurrr]

For me, 24mg for a week did the trick. Word of warning though, when you do drop it back down to 18mg you had better have your batteries sorted out, because you are going to vape almost twice as much for a couple of days.

Also, what do you do when you run out of smokes? One of the things I convinced myself of was that the one bonus I could get out of an e-cig straght away was that if I ran out of smokes I would not have to make a special journey to go and buy some. So I allowed myself to run out of smokes, and not to buy more until I was out on the road again. Ironically one day I just thought it was more bother than it was worth to take a detour to pick up smokes, so I never got round to buying any.

So give yourself a little bit of help, get some liquid at the strongest level you think you could stand. You can always cut it with some VG at a later date. Though keeping some of the strong juice on standby seems a good idea to me, you never know what is around the corner in the future. No point working your way down to 9mg juice just to spoil it by hitting the smokes when something happens.

Give yourself a reason other than "this is healthier" for using an e-cig. Like the fact you can easily have enough juice in the house to get you through three months. Work out how much your habbit costs you in juice in a single day. Although you may not be doing this to save money it is a bonus. So look for more of these "bonuses", like the people around you not having to breathe in smoke, not having to go outside, the fact that you yourself are using an e-cig encourages others to do so.

Eventually, you should start seeing lots of advantages to the e-cig that the smokes you are buying seem more trouble than they are worth. It is not so much that you stop, you just pause and never restart because the e-cig is working fine.

Oh, and as for the going outside bit. It might supprise you but I take a cup of coffee with me and not the e-cig. I can use the e-cig in the house but I do still like the odd trip outside, I find the cup of coffee works much better for me in that situation.