Hello New Friends.
Been lurking the forum for the last few days, decided to indulge and make an account because of all the wonderful information I've read throughout the forum.
Tomorrow marks my second straight week without cigarettes, I feel great, enjoying life and am truly pleased Ive found an alternative to smoking cigarettes and wanted to share my brief story, vapping experience and how it has already changed my life forever.
My first experience with vapping started back towards the end of last year, when the disposable e-cigarettes starting showing up for sale at all the local convenience stores and gas stations. At one point I asked one of the clerks if they sold them with nicotine in them, which they didn't so I hit up Google and stumbled upon the Halo Brand which had juices with nicotine in them. Seemed exciting, so ordered a starter kit and some juice and awaited it's delivery. Took a few weeks to come from Florida although I paid for the express shipping, it appeared it got stopped at the Canadian/US Boarder for a number of days but it eventually arrived and I dived right in. I used this thin cigarette shaped e-cig for a few weeks and noticed I wasn't smoking as many actual cigarettes in the run of a day as I previously was which was great but the novelty started to ware off and I eventually was back to smoking a pack or more a day.
Fast forward to the end of August and I was out driving around killing time for some reason, and happened to drive by one of these valor shops which I noticed had popped in a few places. Since I was killing time, I figured I'd go in and look around. The individual at the shop eventually convinced me to sit down at their testing bar to give it a try after talking about vapping for about ten minutes. I was a little hesitated at first to try things out because of my first experience with vapping was kind of a let down after the novelty of a new item wore off, and because these e-cigs at the testing bar were a different style. The individual proceeded to give me a demo as to how they load em up as we discussed what kind of cigarettes I smoked so they could give me a flavor to try which he felt would be similar. I took a hit, the flavor was nice, felt great and I was blown away.
The experience at the vapor shop was much for pleasing that my first trial. After trying out some different juices, I decided I would purchase a starter kit and try things out. This is probably a good time to indicate as I walked out of the shop, I had no real intentions of quitting smoking seriously. Although over the past few years I had though about quitting I truly enjoyed smoking and just looked at vapping as an alternative avenue of getting my nicotine when smoking an actual cigarette wasn't an option or to cut back slightly.
That evening I took after charging the battery I played around with the e-cig, next thing I knew it had been over three hours since I was outside to have a smoke. For the next evening or two, I proceeded to do the same thing by using the e-cig as an alternative to smoking so many cigarettes and I was truly starting to enjoy it. The following day was a Saturday, which means I wasn't surrounded by smokers at work as my girlfriend no longer smokes so I decided to vape primarily instead of smoking to see how it went. The two biggest hurtles both Saturday & Sunday that weekend were the morning cigarette as soon as I stepped out of bed, and the last smoke of the day prior to going to bed but other than that I made it through the day with just smoking two cigarettes which was somewhat alarming in all honestly. That Sunday evening while smoking that cigarette before I went to bed, I though to myself I may actually be able to quit smoking cigarettes and be healthy once again.I had some motivation at this point to give it my best, I proceeded Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday only having those two cigarettes and on Thursday at around 10:30PM I smoke my last cigarette, it didn't taste well and I decided to give vapping my best foot forward towards quitting smoking cigarettes for good.
The five or six days weren't all that bad, I didn't have any cravings to smoke because of the awful taste from my last smoke. One thing I did notice though, was my stomach felt good for a few days straight something which hasn't happened in five years.
Ive been lactose intolerant since I was born, avoiding dairy products and taking medication helped me manage my symptoms. A month of two after I started smoking cigarettes my stomach got worse, things that had no dairy products within them were causing the same symptoms as if they were loaded with milk. This progressed and progressed, to the point were it was difficult to plan anything as I never knew what my stomach would be like following any meal on any given day. I went out seeking professional helping, over the last five years Ive had blood work done so many times I cant count, had two scopes completed, an ultrasound and a cat scan. After all these different tests and procedures, all I have been technically diagnosed with is GERD (acid reflux disease) and IBS (irritable bowl syndrome) where prior to these tests the medical professions figured I had Crones Disease there wasn't any true evidence other than my symptoms matched that to a T.
Feeling lost, and rather hopeless wondering if I would ever truly know what was plaguing my stomach I reached out to a local dietitian who specializes in GI (gastrointestinal) disorders. Throughout about a month, she was able to specialize a diet specifically to myself to help with my symptoms which is essentially a modified FODMAP diet. Up to when I quit smoking, I had been following this diet for approximately four - five months, and had shown signs of improvement but this most defiantly wast the cure to my unknown issues.
Over the last week of being smoke free, I have had cravings to light up a cigarette but I have found significant motivation not too because of my vastly improved stomach. In this past week I decided to test my gut by trying different foods and drinks that I haven't been able to touch in years which includes eggs, bacon, ham, soda, coffee, etc. and although there has been some minor discomfort no other major symptoms have arrive which is such a wonderful feeling.
From what I have gathered over the last two weeks is that smoking cigarettes for the last six years, has caused my stomach to constantly be extremely inflamed which is resulting in all my problems. I'm still only young being 21, but I believe Ive found the route of my problem and have possibly prevented even more serious issues that may have arrived if I continued to smoke cigarettes.
Im really enjoying vapping thus far, and am currently looking to possibly upgrading my current setup to something of better quality and even more importantly it looks like Ill be healthy which is a huge personal accomplishment.
Been lurking the forum for the last few days, decided to indulge and make an account because of all the wonderful information I've read throughout the forum.
Tomorrow marks my second straight week without cigarettes, I feel great, enjoying life and am truly pleased Ive found an alternative to smoking cigarettes and wanted to share my brief story, vapping experience and how it has already changed my life forever.
My first experience with vapping started back towards the end of last year, when the disposable e-cigarettes starting showing up for sale at all the local convenience stores and gas stations. At one point I asked one of the clerks if they sold them with nicotine in them, which they didn't so I hit up Google and stumbled upon the Halo Brand which had juices with nicotine in them. Seemed exciting, so ordered a starter kit and some juice and awaited it's delivery. Took a few weeks to come from Florida although I paid for the express shipping, it appeared it got stopped at the Canadian/US Boarder for a number of days but it eventually arrived and I dived right in. I used this thin cigarette shaped e-cig for a few weeks and noticed I wasn't smoking as many actual cigarettes in the run of a day as I previously was which was great but the novelty started to ware off and I eventually was back to smoking a pack or more a day.
Fast forward to the end of August and I was out driving around killing time for some reason, and happened to drive by one of these valor shops which I noticed had popped in a few places. Since I was killing time, I figured I'd go in and look around. The individual at the shop eventually convinced me to sit down at their testing bar to give it a try after talking about vapping for about ten minutes. I was a little hesitated at first to try things out because of my first experience with vapping was kind of a let down after the novelty of a new item wore off, and because these e-cigs at the testing bar were a different style. The individual proceeded to give me a demo as to how they load em up as we discussed what kind of cigarettes I smoked so they could give me a flavor to try which he felt would be similar. I took a hit, the flavor was nice, felt great and I was blown away.
The experience at the vapor shop was much for pleasing that my first trial. After trying out some different juices, I decided I would purchase a starter kit and try things out. This is probably a good time to indicate as I walked out of the shop, I had no real intentions of quitting smoking seriously. Although over the past few years I had though about quitting I truly enjoyed smoking and just looked at vapping as an alternative avenue of getting my nicotine when smoking an actual cigarette wasn't an option or to cut back slightly.
That evening I took after charging the battery I played around with the e-cig, next thing I knew it had been over three hours since I was outside to have a smoke. For the next evening or two, I proceeded to do the same thing by using the e-cig as an alternative to smoking so many cigarettes and I was truly starting to enjoy it. The following day was a Saturday, which means I wasn't surrounded by smokers at work as my girlfriend no longer smokes so I decided to vape primarily instead of smoking to see how it went. The two biggest hurtles both Saturday & Sunday that weekend were the morning cigarette as soon as I stepped out of bed, and the last smoke of the day prior to going to bed but other than that I made it through the day with just smoking two cigarettes which was somewhat alarming in all honestly. That Sunday evening while smoking that cigarette before I went to bed, I though to myself I may actually be able to quit smoking cigarettes and be healthy once again.I had some motivation at this point to give it my best, I proceeded Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday only having those two cigarettes and on Thursday at around 10:30PM I smoke my last cigarette, it didn't taste well and I decided to give vapping my best foot forward towards quitting smoking cigarettes for good.
The five or six days weren't all that bad, I didn't have any cravings to smoke because of the awful taste from my last smoke. One thing I did notice though, was my stomach felt good for a few days straight something which hasn't happened in five years.
Ive been lactose intolerant since I was born, avoiding dairy products and taking medication helped me manage my symptoms. A month of two after I started smoking cigarettes my stomach got worse, things that had no dairy products within them were causing the same symptoms as if they were loaded with milk. This progressed and progressed, to the point were it was difficult to plan anything as I never knew what my stomach would be like following any meal on any given day. I went out seeking professional helping, over the last five years Ive had blood work done so many times I cant count, had two scopes completed, an ultrasound and a cat scan. After all these different tests and procedures, all I have been technically diagnosed with is GERD (acid reflux disease) and IBS (irritable bowl syndrome) where prior to these tests the medical professions figured I had Crones Disease there wasn't any true evidence other than my symptoms matched that to a T.
Feeling lost, and rather hopeless wondering if I would ever truly know what was plaguing my stomach I reached out to a local dietitian who specializes in GI (gastrointestinal) disorders. Throughout about a month, she was able to specialize a diet specifically to myself to help with my symptoms which is essentially a modified FODMAP diet. Up to when I quit smoking, I had been following this diet for approximately four - five months, and had shown signs of improvement but this most defiantly wast the cure to my unknown issues.
Over the last week of being smoke free, I have had cravings to light up a cigarette but I have found significant motivation not too because of my vastly improved stomach. In this past week I decided to test my gut by trying different foods and drinks that I haven't been able to touch in years which includes eggs, bacon, ham, soda, coffee, etc. and although there has been some minor discomfort no other major symptoms have arrive which is such a wonderful feeling.
From what I have gathered over the last two weeks is that smoking cigarettes for the last six years, has caused my stomach to constantly be extremely inflamed which is resulting in all my problems. I'm still only young being 21, but I believe Ive found the route of my problem and have possibly prevented even more serious issues that may have arrived if I continued to smoke cigarettes.
Im really enjoying vapping thus far, and am currently looking to possibly upgrading my current setup to something of better quality and even more importantly it looks like Ill be healthy which is a huge personal accomplishment.
Nice to meet you 
