New to Vaping - trying to quit smoking!
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I've been on ECF for quite a while, and I notice that people find their way to completely cutting out cigarettes in a wide variety of ways.
Some people have success by being very strict with themselves, "I will not smoke again, period". To help with this they do many of the same things recommended by quit smoking workshops and counsellors. They throw away all their cigarettes, they get rid of all their smoking paraphernalia. They change their routines. It's all very planned out and determined. Many people find this works well, but the downside is that if you slip and have a cigarette you can feel like you failed. Feeling like you failed chips away at your motivation and confidence.
Ecigs do seem to offer another option that deviates from this common advice though, and many people find that cutting back gradually can be quite successful. It takes longer, but a benefit is that there is less pressure and if you end up smoking a cig here and there, you don't consider yourself a failure.
Here's a short summary of my experience... I had tried to quit smoking many times. I tried patches, gum, Wellbutrin, gum, gum, cold turkey, gum. I never succeeded at all. I had 15-20 years of spread out failed attempts to quit. Birthdays would come and go, and I'd say, "I have to stop before I turn 25", "I have to stop before I turn 30", "I'm about to turn 35, I really need to quit this". I found my 40th birthday approaching and had lost all motivation. I knew I would never quit. It's as simple as that, I would NEVER quit. I was going to die as a smoker, and I had come to accept that. I finished a Ph.D., lost weight, developed good eating and exercise habits, but I would NEVER quit smoking. I had failed at quitting too many times to see any other option.
A neighbor kept telling me about this new gadget she had. She was a heavy smoker, but she said the ecig thing was pretty good. She hadn't quit with it (she was already diagnosed with terminal cancer, so not much motivation to quit, really). I brushed her off. I had tried so many things, and this sounded like a total gimmick designed to waste even more of my money. She kept nagging. I did some reading. She nagged some more. Finally, to shut her up, I went and got one. I had two half cigarettes after I got that first kit. I think part of the reason this worked for me is that there was no pressure. I didn't think it was going to work, and I had no expectations of a miracle. To my shock, it did work, and those two half cigarettes tasted terrible. I never smoked again. I did quickly graduate to better equipment, thanks to finding ECF, and that probably made a big difference as well.
So, anyway, my point is that people find many pathways to ditching the cigarettes by using ecigs. The right way is the way that works for you. If it takes you a month or a year of gradually cutting back, that is just fine. It's not a race. If you never manage to quit completely, but only cut back to a few a day, that is still much better than smoking a pack or more a day. I do think that most (many?) people who stick with it and make an effort to find juice and a setup that they really like, will eventually come to find that cigarettes are less and less tolerable. Do what works for you. If pressure wigs you out, take a more relaxed approach. If you are a person that does well with setting your goals in stone and sticking to them, then do it that way.
Eta: I did manage to quit/switch 4 months before my 40th birthday
Some people have success by being very strict with themselves, "I will not smoke again, period". To help with this they do many of the same things recommended by quit smoking workshops and counsellors. They throw away all their cigarettes, they get rid of all their smoking paraphernalia. They change their routines. It's all very planned out and determined. Many people find this works well, but the downside is that if you slip and have a cigarette you can feel like you failed. Feeling like you failed chips away at your motivation and confidence.
Ecigs do seem to offer another option that deviates from this common advice though, and many people find that cutting back gradually can be quite successful. It takes longer, but a benefit is that there is less pressure and if you end up smoking a cig here and there, you don't consider yourself a failure.
Here's a short summary of my experience... I had tried to quit smoking many times. I tried patches, gum, Wellbutrin, gum, gum, cold turkey, gum. I never succeeded at all. I had 15-20 years of spread out failed attempts to quit. Birthdays would come and go, and I'd say, "I have to stop before I turn 25", "I have to stop before I turn 30", "I'm about to turn 35, I really need to quit this". I found my 40th birthday approaching and had lost all motivation. I knew I would never quit. It's as simple as that, I would NEVER quit. I was going to die as a smoker, and I had come to accept that. I finished a Ph.D., lost weight, developed good eating and exercise habits, but I would NEVER quit smoking. I had failed at quitting too many times to see any other option.
A neighbor kept telling me about this new gadget she had. She was a heavy smoker, but she said the ecig thing was pretty good. She hadn't quit with it (she was already diagnosed with terminal cancer, so not much motivation to quit, really). I brushed her off. I had tried so many things, and this sounded like a total gimmick designed to waste even more of my money. She kept nagging. I did some reading. She nagged some more. Finally, to shut her up, I went and got one. I had two half cigarettes after I got that first kit. I think part of the reason this worked for me is that there was no pressure. I didn't think it was going to work, and I had no expectations of a miracle. To my shock, it did work, and those two half cigarettes tasted terrible. I never smoked again. I did quickly graduate to better equipment, thanks to finding ECF, and that probably made a big difference as well.
So, anyway, my point is that people find many pathways to ditching the cigarettes by using ecigs. The right way is the way that works for you. If it takes you a month or a year of gradually cutting back, that is just fine. It's not a race. If you never manage to quit completely, but only cut back to a few a day, that is still much better than smoking a pack or more a day. I do think that most (many?) people who stick with it and make an effort to find juice and a setup that they really like, will eventually come to find that cigarettes are less and less tolerable. Do what works for you. If pressure wigs you out, take a more relaxed approach. If you are a person that does well with setting your goals in stone and sticking to them, then do it that way.
Eta: I did manage to quit/switch 4 months before my 40th birthday
I got some good 2.4% Nicotine e-liquid and decided I was ready to save hundreds of dollars per month. Used that money to get a decent PV setup. Haven't taken a puff since. I have one of those little quit smoking tracker apps on my phone that keeps track of how many cigs I haven't smoked and how much I've saved by not doing so. It's quite encouraging. I found that gradually cutting down wasn't working. I just had to stop. Not sure if this method would work for you, but after 15 years as a pack a day smoker it was the only way I could quit.
Spazmelda - yep - said those lines before "quit by time I turn 30" Now, it's "quit by time I turn 40". I'm 2 weeks into vaping now - and still down to half of what I was smoking. But, I feel like I'm missing something. I'm still enjoying my allotted 3-4 cigs a day. I'm keeping with it though - as I'm still better off than where I was
And, I won't share how much time is left before I turn 40. . hehehe
And, I won't share how much time is left before I turn 40. . hehehe
Before I started vaping, I had quit cigs for about 3 months. Then, like previous tries, I started with just one while out at the bar. This quickly led to more and more until I was back up to a pack a day. I finally sat down and said to myself, one way or the other I am going to quit smoking, or give up and forever be a smoker. I thought about using snus, and was actually ready to order some when I stumbled across vaping. I bought a starter pack, and told myself that if I start this I will not smoke again.
It worked. Not a single cigarette in about a year and a half.
It worked. Not a single cigarette in about a year and a half.
Hi and congratulations to you ngelbke. I have been a smoker for 20+ years at 1 to 2 packs a day. I was able to switch instantly without a hitch and I am glad I did. My friend, who turned me on to vaping, made me try it one night on a lot of his devices using different builds. One of his builds kept me off the analogs the whole night so the next day we went to the store and bought just like the one me lent me the night before and had it built the same way. I never even craved the analogs after that day. I'm still fairly new to vaping but in my humble opinion, you just have to find the right gear, the right build and the right juice and you will never look back.
I bought my e cig because they cut out smoke breaks at work. I generally work a 12+ hour shift. I was furious considering I am in a warehouse most of the day and cannot go outside to 'sneak' a smoke. So I went to a local shop and got a starter kit. I vaped all day that day and when I got off work I lit up a cigarette. Although it was mostly out of habit because I really did not have a craving. I smoked one when I got home that night (I have a 30 minute commute) and went to bed. I usually wake up and have coffee/smoke but this day I didn't. I had coffee and waited until I got in the car to fire up my vaporizer. I got to work, had my usual morning cigarette and it did not taste good. I almost finished the cigarette but I tossed it. Went in to work, vaped until lunch break (6 hours). On lunch I lit a cig and took 1 puff before I threw it out. It did not taste good at all. That was the last smoke I had, and that was a month and a half ago. I don't think I'll ever go back but I never say never. My advice would be, keep some juice a little higher in nic than you normally use for when you get a craving. I use 6&12mg daily but keep a tank with 18mg for when I get a craving. I take a few good puffs off of the 18 and I'm good to go. Hope this helps. I am curious to know how things are going for you.
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Thank you for taking the time and effort to write to me.i find that I become very irritable nasty and mean whenever I quit /switch and I also cant think straight I just want to lash out at the first person I can find ,and for the smallest of mistakes also I find my heart pounding and my head swinging from the craving for nicotine.i smoked a cigeratte last night and had a very horrible tobacco smell emanating from deep within my lungs it was so very replusive that i'm discouraged to smoke analogs now.its just that I hope the nastiness and irritability go away,i felt them the first couple of days when I switched ,and I shouted at an office junior for being late,i don't usually do that and he's always on time. I'm also experiencing hunger pangs within 60 mins of eating a heavy meal I cant explain it but if I keep eating like this i'm bound to gain weight and quickly too.i'm afraid of the side effects (as mentioned above) of quitting and just don't know how to deal with them without making people around miserable.i feel anxious,aggitated its like every fiber of my body wants me to start smoking again.
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can you tell us more details of what you are using?i started last week with litejoy starter kit (e cig with cartomisers) and within 3 days got myself ego c as the vape from e cig did not replicate the smoke from analog, may be phychological for me but i'm happier with the ego.what are you using, what strength nicotine do you use I was smoking 8 to 12 analogs every day before. now i'm smoking just 1 since last week but its not doing it for me I find myself sucking on the ego ce4 all day long and using up all my juice very quickly.i'm using 18mg (1.8%) strength nicotine
my first attempt at e cigs was last year but I had allergic reaction to the cheap chinise e cig I bought I don't know if it was the chemicals in it or the nicotine was too high but it did not suit me ,discouraged I threw it away after a couple of puffs. I never knew of branded e cigs were available in india until 10 days ago I saw the a litejoy advertisement in my email and clicked on the link I reckoned since this was a branded product from the UK I should give it a shot,i called them up on phone they answered all my questions and suggested 1.8%/18 mg strength nicotine to me , I loved it. the first day I vaped all evening and after dinner I lit up out of habit.the next day when I woke up in the morning I lit up and same afeter dinner, day 4 went the same but I had stopped smoking throught the whole day I was only smoking one in the morning and 1 to 2 in the night, day 5 I smoked 1 cigarette in the evening,day 6 one in the evening.day 7 same.but I cant get rid of that 1 cig.my head starts to spin,my heart starts pounding, cant balance myself while walking I become irritable and mean ,nasty and grumpy and just want to fight and shout at anyone and everyone for the smallest of things I also noticed that I'm constantly very hungry every hour, I just had 2 pieces of toast 1 hour ago and i'm craving food again,i'm also experiencing the craving to smoke , fast heart beat and mild headache right now as I am typing this, i'm also feeling tightness in my chesyt and want to take off my vest feeling very hot and uncomfortable also have a dry mouth.
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I did things backwards; I quit cold turkey May 1 2008 and didn't look back. Then I found vaping and got to revist all the good things about smoking, without the bad stuff. I have even cut my nicotine levels in half sice starting about a year ago.
I feel and think the same but consider this:my dad was a heavy smoker 80 to 100 cigarettes everyday since he was a teen/early 20s.he quit cold turkey in the early 80's and never relapsed .he was a champion sportsman won many cups,played and excelled in cricket and table tennis.he only quit because he developed asthma at the age of 40.the damage to his body is astounding.Whenever the thought of the expense involved in/for my vaping comes to my mind and that's almost everyday, I remind myself of the health benefits ,the ability to breath freely and to the fullest , something he took for granted then but is suffering for today.being hospitalized is an exensive proposition especially when you have llung problems.when we smoke regular analog cigerattes the number number of cigerattes we smoke will always only go up.it will almost never decrease.on the other hand in case of vaping it can and in many cases the amount people vape has gone down and soooo many have eventually stopped vaping nicotine.addiction to nicotine is a disease but even if I cant quit altogeather I would rather have my health (with vaping nicotine) than not have good health .So if i'm smoking regular cigs I know that 20 years down the line i'm going to have major hospital bills to pay and still be suffering due to damage to my body . so I consider it better (if I must choose to continue my nicotine use) to pay the e-cig e-liquid-e-juice makers instead of the hospitals.I made the blunder to start smoking it was my mistake but when I'm rushed to the hospital everyone who cares for me is affected,why should they?its my fault that I smoke not theirs I don't want to worry them on regular hospitalizations and hospital visits and have them curse me for smoking not even trying to give up,the least I can do is try to keep my health if I cant get rid of my nicotine dependency.I would let it cost more now, think of it as installments toward your future hospital bills whilst still having all your health.
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Hello what a great topic.
iv been doing this for 5 years when i started someone was giving away a 510 kit they didn't want and moved past and i was able to grab it and i knew this was for me and i seriously never smoked again not one in 5 years
But my wife she saw me do this thing and i tried for a few years to change her over but it took over 3 years to get her switched over at her pace. she now is off the ciggies and she likes her VV device but she moved at her own pace and this just shows there is no right or wrong with swapping over to this and everyone will do it differently
i really hope you find what works for you
iv been doing this for 5 years when i started someone was giving away a 510 kit they didn't want and moved past and i was able to grab it and i knew this was for me and i seriously never smoked again not one in 5 years
But my wife she saw me do this thing and i tried for a few years to change her over but it took over 3 years to get her switched over at her pace. she now is off the ciggies and she likes her VV device but she moved at her own pace and this just shows there is no right or wrong with swapping over to this and everyone will do it differently
i really hope you find what works for you
I have a friend who still struggles. He started vaping about a month ago and still has the occasional cigarette. And he is always talking about it. I tell him, don't focus on what you did smoke, focus on what you didn't. A pack now last him 2 weeks where as before vaping, he'd be lucky if that pack made it home with him in the evening. It's different for everyone. The hardest smoke for me to pass up was the after dinner one. Stick with it, when the day comes, and you have your last cigarette, just don't look back. Stay positive and don't be too hard on yourself. You can do it!
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