Newbie, when to stop vaping concerns...

[Mickbo80]

Number one rule of vaping , drink lots of water as vaping dehydrates .
I plan on vaping for roughly a year before quitting that also , i'm currently vaping 6 - 8 mg. NIC and will taper that down to 0 eventually .

I think you may have answered my question as to why ive started to itch so much, could this be because in dehydrated?

 

[Slummy]

That's it exactly: WTAs, Whole Tobacco Alkaloids.

I also hit the wall after about week three. The next week after that was absolute hell. I started to have trouble at work and even considered smoking a cigarette. My concentration and memory for detail was shot, and I started to not care about the consequences of my slackness. I was in a world of hurt.

I had to explain to the boss what was happening to me and while he was an ex smoker he was one of the lucky ones who had very little trouble giving it up, and did so many years ago. I explained that previous attempts to give up saw me on anti-depressents and in much worse shape than I am in now - this blew him away. It turns out that my work colleagues had been seeing a change (for the worse) in my performance from about the second week of giving up the cigarettes, but I didn't notice until the cravings really started after week three.

During this time, at home I would vape to OD and still feel that there was something missing. I really didn't want to have a cigarette; I really didn't want the tobacco to win yet another round. This phase lasted about a week, I was really unhappy during this time but fortunately had upgraded to some twist batteries for work and a Vamo for home use and was doing DIY juice. I think it really helped to have some toys and juice to play with and I managed to hang to some of my self esteem. These forums helped immensely.

The boss insisted that I see a doctor about my degraded concentration and performance, which I did. A full blood workup showed no problems, and the doctors that I spoke to were completely clueless about WTA addiction, vaping, or anything else that was happening in my world.

During this time two things helped me a lot: One of my work colleagues told me I was doing really well not smoking. She was an ex-smoker and was one of the few people who seemed to understand. I also noticed that cigarette smoke from anyone smoking around me smelled really awful, which was not the case when I'd tried to give up before. The same colleague pointed out that this might indicated that I'd made the mental switch to being a non-smoker, something that hadn't really happened before.

The really bad cravings lasted about a week, but I made the effort to not give in and work through it. Now that week is over I'm starting to feel better but I'm still not 100%. Small improvements, every day. I can completely understand your wish to try the WTA liquids but be aware that you will probably be over the worst of it by the time you receive them. Hang in there and be strong; you are not a smoker any more.

Thanks mate, that was a really good post to read. im plodding on. my teeth still feel horrible from trying that cigarette earlier, the experience was awful enough to know im not gonna go back to smoking.

Im going through a hard time with some real life problems at the moment which is making it much harder missing the effects of real smoking. thats why im opting for the WTA juices, hopefully they will have the same calming effects and help focus on work. even if they work only psychologically rather than chemically then they are still worth it My girlfriend and others tell me its probably the wrong time for me to quit smoking (she's a smoker), but my answer is there never is a good time, its just another excuse to put it off further

for the moment, i keep buying new toys for my vaping which keeps the novelty running, and keeping my mind off the depressing effects of smoking withdrawal. week 1 and 2 just seemed so easy, and i didnt expect this downer on the end of week three. overall tho, i am overwhelmingly happy with quitting smoking this long and enjoying vaping immensely. Really do think its an incredible invention (yet so simple) and i keep preaching it to all my smoker friends.

 

[Slummy]

I think you may have answered my question as to why ive started to itch so much, could this be because in dehydrated?

Havnt experienced any itching, but may well be possible as it is a symptom of dehydration...

I have also noticed i maybe sweat a little more since i started vaping... has anybody else noticed this?

 

[fabricator4]

I think you may have answered my question as to why ive started to itch so much, could this be because in dehydrated?

Dry skin is usually more of an issue with a lack of oils from the sebaceous glands due to damage or other factors. If it's a new symptom there's probably some other cause. You should still drink lots of water however; it will both keep you hydrated and flush the tobacco toxins out of your body. Maybe try a moisturiser after showering or bathing and see if that helps at all.

Lots of strange things can and do happen to your when you give up smoking. I've had minor bleeding from the gums, throat, and tongue. Now that you mention it, I've also had itchy patches where the skin was not physically damaged or dry. I put it down to exposure to some possible allergen. I don't want to even describe the gunk I've been coughing out of my lungs. I expect this main detox will take about two months or so. (Three weeks to go, for me! Maybe.)

If the itching continues consider seeing a doctor. While I've found them pretty clueless about dealing with WTA withdrawal symptoms, they can at least elliminate other things that may be going wrong. Describe ALL your symtoms and if they want to do a blood workup, let them. It will probably come back completely clear, but at least it will set your mind to rest.

 

[Myrany]

Honestly I am on a slow gradual reduction of Nic plan. I hoe to be nic free by fall. Now will I quit vaping when I am down to zero nic? Not Likely!

 

[Mickbo80]

Dry skin is usually more of an issue with a lack of oils from the sebaceous glands due to damage or other factors. If it's a new symptom there's probably some other cause. You should still drink lots of water however; it will both keep you hydrated and flush the tobacco toxins out of your body. Maybe try a moisturiser after showering or bathing and see if that helps at all.

Lots of strange things can and do happen to your when you give up smoking. I've had minor bleeding from the gums, throat, and tongue. Now that you mention it, I've also had itchy patches where the skin was not physically damaged or dry. I put it down to exposure to some possible allergen. I don't want to even describe the gunk I've been coughing out of my lungs. I expect this main detox will take about two months or so. (Three weeks to go, for me! Maybe.)

If the itching continues consider seeing a doctor. While I've found them pretty clueless about dealing with WTA withdrawal symptoms, they can at least elliminate other things that may be going wrong. Describe ALL your symtoms and if they want to do a blood workup, let them. It will probably come back completely clear, but at least it will set your mind to rest.

Yeh im going to the docs, always do when something isnt right!

Thought it could be the nic intake as i was never a heavy smoker and im probably intaking more now im vaping!

 

[Slummy]

Yeh im going to the docs, always do when something isnt right!

Thought it could be the nic intake as i was never a heavy smoker and im probably intaking more now im vaping!

I'm beginning to itch just reading about itching! Lol

 

[Mickbo80]

I'm beginning to itch just reading about itching! Lol

Haha i know, everyone i tell starts to feel itchy, its like infectious yawning haha

 

[fabricator4]

Thanks mate, that was a really good post to read. im plodding on. my teeth still feel horrible from trying that cigarette earlier, the experience was awful enough to know im not gonna go back to smoking.

I'm really pleased you found my experiences helpful. I found brushing my teath more frequently helpful, but had some trouble with bleeding as the blood flow to the gums started return. I also got some tooth whitening mouth wash (hyrdogen peroxide, some minor percentage) and it's working - my teeth are starting to look better. One more reason not to light up another cigarette.

Im going through a hard time with some real life problems at the moment which is making it much harder missing the effects of real smoking. thats why im opting for the WTA juices, hopefully they will have the same calming effects and help focus on work. even if they work only psychologically rather than chemically then they are still worth it

I'm sorry to hear that. You know that smoking won't actually help at all with the other problems, but when you're in a black hole emotionally any crutch looks attractive. I can honestly say that one thing that helped me to stop going back to tobacco this time around is past experience discovering that it didn't actually help with the real world problems one little bit. It's just that in the past I still had the real world problems, AND I was now smoking again. Net result was actually worse, being disapointed in myself for smoking and the real world problems were still there, and I still felt like crap about them, and also had to feel like crap about another failed attempt at stopping smoking. When you've got big and bad things happening in your life, no amount of tobacco is going to actually make you feel good about it. It's one of the things we fool ourselves with to make an excuse to smoke. Now we have PV's, we don't need to make that excuse anymore since we can deal with the three main addictive elements slowly one at a time instead of all three at once. I hope the WTA liquids work for you, and that you don't go through too much while waiting for them to arrive.

My girlfriend and others tell me its probably the wrong time for me to quit smoking (she's a smoker), but my answer is there never is a good time, its just another excuse to put it off further

Exactly right. Vaping nicotine juice helps you stay in control: I found I was completely calm and not stressed, just in a bad place emotionally and mentally. Knowing that it would be over soon gave me the strength to keep going. When I first heard about WTAs I was in two minds whether the information was a good thing - after all "ignorance is bliss". Looking back on it now, I'm glad I understood what was going on since I could rationalise it, explain it to people around me who were also dealing with my angst, and I also knew there was some light at the end of the tunnel. I'm still not completely out of it yet, but at least I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel getting closer. The tunnel analogy is pretty apt, don't you think?

for the moment, i keep buying new toys for my vaping which keeps the novelty running, and keeping my mind off the depressing effects of smoking withdrawal. week 1 and 2 just seemed so easy, and i didnt expect this downer on the end of week three. overall tho, i am overwhelmingly happy with quitting smoking this long and enjoying vaping immensely. Really do think its an incredible invention (yet so simple) and i keep preaching it to all my smoker friends.

Yes, wasn't week one and two funnnn?

I wasn't expecting what happened almost right on day 21 to hit as hard as it did even with what I'd been reading about on here.

Look, don't lose sight of the fact that you are doing the best thing. Even if you want to vape nicotine until you die, that day will be a lot further along in your future than it would be if you kept smoking, guaranteed. I saw my father die at the age of 56, directly attibutable to smoking all his life. Keeping that in mind is helpful for me; I don't want to go that way.

Get excited, if you can, about sticking it to big tobacco who have been knowingly poisoning us for so many years. Get excited about sticking it to the taxman who has been profiteering off our addiction for decades, and get excited about sticking it to big pharmaceuticals who have had the knowledge and means to make better NRT's but couldn't be bothered doing the research or hard work to make it happen because there's no money in it. It has taken a groundswell of popular support to get vaping where it is today - none of it is new technology, just the willingness to apply existing technologies.

I also get angry about the same three "bigs" who want to ban, prohibit, or otherwise restrict PV's but it doesn't seem to be as constructive. ;-)

 

[Myrany]

A very experience vaper once told me there are 3 danger points in transitioning from stinkies to vaping

3 days (no problem for me)
3 weeks (minor problems for me)
3 months not there yet

Apparently those three points correspond to when various nasty stuff from cigs go out of our bodies.

 

[fabricator4]

Havnt experienced any itching, but may well be possible as it is a symptom of dehydration...

I have also noticed i maybe sweat a little more since i started vaping... has anybody else noticed this?

I don't notice any change in how much I sweat, but I do now notice if I smell bad because of it.

 

[fabricator4]

A very experience vaper once told me there are 3 danger points in transitioning from stinkies to vaping

3 days (no problem for me)
3 weeks (minor problems for me)
3 months not there yet

Apparently those three points correspond to when various nasty stuff from cigs go out of our bodies.

Oh god, what happens at three months?

 

[Slummy]

Oh god, what happens at three months?

I heard that you spontaneously combust... But i read that on the FDA website

 

[fabricator4]

I heard that you spontaneously combust... But i read that on the FDA website

Heh heh. I wish they did say stuff like that, it would be easier to rebut.

 

[SharonH]

Sorry to bump a REALLY old thread but went to Google to search after a discussion on another thread about why people would go back to analogs or have a hard time getting off them. I ended up here because of the mention of MAOI but was blown away by something else...

.. the discussion of menthol cigarettes.... I'm really struggling with getting off analogs and also have always smoked menthol.

 

[SoCalMichelle]

Sorry to bump a REALLY old thread but went to Google to search after a discussion on another thread about why people would go back to analogs or have a hard time getting off them. I ended up here because of the mention of MAOI but was blown away by something else...

.. the discussion of menthol cigarettes.... I'm really struggling with getting off analogs and also have always smoked menthol.

Hello Sharon! I've smoked Newport 100's for the last 7+ years

I started vaping on and off last year. Also very difficult for me to stay off analogs initially! What I have found makes a big difference(just like most things in life I have come to find) is what your vaping with from the Ecig or mod to the tank/carto/atty to the Eliquid you choose- it all makes a difference.

What Ecig are you using, Ejuice/Eliquid, and type of tank?

 

[SharonH]

Hello Sharon! I've smoked Newport 100's for the last 7+ years

I started vaping on and off last year. Also very difficult for me to stay off analogs initially! What I have found makes a big difference(just like most things in life I have come to find) is what your vaping with from the Ecig or mod to the tank/carto/atty to the Eliquid you choose- it all makes a difference.

What Ecig are you using, Ejuice/Eliquid, and type of tank?

Hey Michelle! I went from an Ego to an iTaste MVP. Big difference. Using clearos. Had iClears and got fed up with leaking. Overkill assortment of fabulous juices. Gear and juice/levels is good. Issue is the edginess for me when off analogs entirely. I don't WANT an analog but I'm very moody without them. 50 analogs a day and smoking almost 30 years - lot of time!

I'm going to Dominican Republic on the 1st for a week to a resort and not taking analogs with me. Thinking that's what I'm going to need to overcome the edge factor Fortunately with how much I smoked, before end of year trip is paid for with savings (even after vaping supplies factored in)

ps saw your sig file after - Provari is gift to myself when I ditch em for a month straight

 

[SierraVapr]

As a reference point, I have not smoked since my early twenties (let's just say a long time ago). When I started vaping a while back I would switch back and forth between 1.2% during the day and 0.6% in the evening when I vape more. How my experience suits your situation depends on the strength and how often, deep, and long you inhale. At work I generally take 5-6 good tokes at one-hour intervals. Did at times get a slight lightheadedness, and the sensation of a headache coming on, but no actual headache.

Ironically I historically would get 2-3 migraines per month that required some very expensive Sumatriptan to knock out. Since I started vaping, I have not had a migraine. I'm sure it is because the nicotine acts as a vasoconstrictor, essentially the same action as the Sumatriptan, but milder.

Also be sure to drink lots of fluids. Your headaches might be due to dehydration. Vaping dehydrates you.

 

[fabricator4]

Sorry to bump a REALLY old thread but went to Google to search after a discussion on another thread about why people would go back to analogs or have a hard time getting off them. I ended up here because of the mention of MAOI but was blown away by something else...

.. the discussion of menthol cigarettes.... I'm really struggling with getting off analogs and also have always smoked menthol.

Yes this is an old thread, and funny to look back on now. I believe that vapers struggling with addiction to smoking have a much better understanding of their own addiction than almost anyone else. Unfortunately it's only by winning the struggle that we come to full knowledge. Catch 22, because everyone is different.

Menthol really does work for some people, even those that never smoked menthol cigarettes. It increases the throat hit, gives an extra sensation, and there's suggestion that it might increase the speed in which nicotine is absorbed and/or used. I've only just started using it myself, mostly just to find out what I was missing out on. I've got to say there is something in it and I understand why it works for some people.

Understanding your addiction and working out ways to overcome it is key to giving up cigarettes completely after which I think most of us find that vaping on its own is not as addictive as smoking. There's more than just the nicotine component to it and I've written a little blog about this very subject:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...107-vaping-not-addictive-smoking-tobacco.html

 

[SharonH]

Menthol really does work for some people, even those that never smoked menthol cigarettes. It increases the throat hit, gives an extra sensation, and there's suggestion that it might increase the speed in which nicotine is absorbed and/or used. I've only just started using it myself, mostly just to find out what I was missing out on. I've got to say there is something in it and I understand why it works for some people.

Understanding your addiction and working out ways to overcome it is key to giving up cigarettes completely after which I think most of us find that vaping on its own is not as addictive as smoking. There's more than just the nicotine component to it and I've written a little blog about this very subject:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...107-vaping-not-addictive-smoking-tobacco.html

Thanks for that link!

Ha! I actually don't like menthol/minty liquids myself. Odd, isn't it? I find I get sore throats easily with them.