Not a past smoker but a new vaper. Anyone out there with the same story?

[janb8589]

Hey guys on ECF, newbie here I recently got into vaping and electronic cigarettes in the last 2 months after having never smoked a real cigarette in my life. A friend at work looking to quit after 10+ years of smoking got into vaping with a Provari. He let me try his Provari with some monkey cream e-juice and since then I was hooked. Knowing it was not real smoke I was willing to give it a try (to this day I will continue to refuse trying a real cigarette having had several family members die of lung cancer due to smoking. Also as a registered nurse, I have seen the devastating effects that can last a life time even after 1 cigarette). Anyway, I found that I really like nicotine, it helps keep me alert and awake during and after long 12 hour shifts but also helps me relax when I want it to. Since trying out my friend's provari, I've been going crazy reading reviews, watching one ecig video after another, and spending hundreds of dollars on mods, attys, cartos, e-juice and accessories (currently have a couple ego twists, a provari mini, lavatube, zmax, galileo, several box vv mods, and several kicked 3.7v tube mods, probably would have my hands on a darwin or empire pv if they weren't extinct before I got into vaping). When I got started and went out to ecig stores in my area, I still remember the weird-funny look the vendors gave me when I told them I never smoked a real cigarette in my life. Just wanted to see if anyone else out there shared the same story

 

[daddytwigs]

No, you're probably an army of one in that regard.but, you probably know that already.
Most of us are coming of years/decades of battling an addiction that would have most certainly destroyed us.
just can't wrap my head around picking up e-cigs out of the blue like that.yeah, some of the flavors are awesome, but they make chewing gum with those flavors, too.the thought of it is giving me a headache, so I'm going to go back and relax with my study on quantum entanglement.
anyway, uhh welcome I guess.

 

[proudlion]

Hey guys on ECF, newbie here ... I never smoked a real cigarette in my life. Just wanted to see if anyone else out there shared the same story

Have a friend who never smoked cigarettes but did use smokeless tobacco - he switched to eCigs because he made a change to a career in which spitting would have been totally inappropriate.

Have fun!

 

[bril]

Hello, and welcome to this wonderful community! Considering your story, I was personally a smoker before having found the world of vaping, but my best friend had never touched a cigarette in his life. We grew up together and he was the only one amongst all of our friends that refused to cave to artifacts of Taipei culture, especially the nightlife (smoking in clubs, bars, beer gardens... smoking in general). Once I got my first KGO and showed him my new gear, it was love at first vape for him and he immediately ordered his own set along with a bunch of juice. I guess he finally caved to the allure of nicotine, haha. Better vapor than smoke any day!

 

[BGabe]

No, you're probably an army of one in that regard.but, you probably know that already.
Most of us are coming of years/decades of battling an addiction that would have most certainly destroyed us.
just can't wrap my head around picking up e-cigs out of the blue like that.yeah, some of the flavors are awesome, but they make chewing gum with those flavors, too.the thought of it is giving me a headache, so I'm going to go back and relax with my study on quantum entanglement.
anyway, uhh welcome I guess.

Think of it this way, if it came down to that one day, that one opportunity where the OP felt that a cigarette would make her feel better after something stressful, she might have done it. Maybe one drag off of someone elses cigarette. I wouldn't see vaping any different. Just like how others started smoking after this ONE experience. Vaping is the new smoking, so to speak. It's just better for you. Do you question why ANYONE would pick up smoking? If someone joins saying that they've smoked for 35 years, do you say, "I can't wrap my head around why you would start smoking in the first place?" Nope, you congratulate them. I feel this situation is no different. Instead of starting with smoking, the OP started with vaping. I think that is great. I remember when I first started smoking. I tried so hard to fight it, but inevitably, I found myself smoking about a half a pack or more a day. There's almost no guilt like this when it comes to vaping. I don't plan on quitting anytime soon.

 

[janb8589]

No, you're probably an army of one in that regard.but, you probably know that already.
Most of us are coming of years/decades of battling an addiction that would have most certainly destroyed us.
just can't wrap my head around picking up e-cigs out of the blue like that.yeah, some of the flavors are awesome, but they make chewing gum with those flavors, too.the thought of it is giving me a headache, so I'm going to go back and relax with my study on quantum entanglement.
anyway, uhh welcome I guess.

By no means am I trying to discount anyone's experience or past struggle with their addiction. I truly commend you and everyone who has been able to quit and I understand that it seems like those like myself are jumping into something unnecessary when I was better off before w/o the nicotine and the vaping altogether. But when I look at it, I'm sure the reasons why you started smoking are similar to the reasons I and others like myself started vaping, the latter just being a safer alternative. Thank you for the comment and the welcome

 

[ardelleg]

janb8589.... welcome to ECF and the world of vaping....... enjoy the learning curve

There have been quite a few posts here by people who aren't smokers but started vaping.... I can see the attraction, it isn't all about nicotine.

Some people here get a little wound up about non-smokers starting to vape. I have never figured out why they think it should be within their control

I use mostly 0 nicotine juice and have had people tell me 'you need to just go ahead and quit!' Another thing that isn't in their control.....

 

[phillie]

Welcome! I'm new also. At least you choose not to start smoking analogs. Do you buy juices with nic or w/o?

 

[janb8589]

I have both but usually use just 6mg. 0 nic I love too when I just want to vape for flavor. I find this new hobby is also keeping me from snacking when I'm bored which is another plus lol

 

[janb8589]

Ardelleg, thank you for the support on this. I agree on the control issue. It seems like some former smokers believe vaping should be exclusive to them.

 

[phillie]

Thank you for the support on this. I agree on the control issue. It seems like some former smokers believe vaping should be exclusive to them.

Vaping is fun and cool the former smokers don't want to share the fun lol!

 

[Aoi~]

Ardelleg, thank you for the support on this. I agree on the control issue. It seems like some former smokers believe vaping should be exclusive to them.

I would recommend vaping to non-smoker as I would recommend picking up a bottle of Jack to a non-drinker (NEVER). It's not about keeping it exclusive. It's about not recommending addicting things when people don't have an addiction.

 

[chloe2t]

I have actually read that some people are turning to vaping to lose weight as they feel that vaping the flavor of sweets helps them avoid eating them.

Nicotine is fairly safe on its own and I'm glad you chose vaping instead of cigarettes. Just know that nicotine can constrict blood vessels which can lead to heart-disease if you are predisposed to it. I hope you keep to lower levels for this reason. That's why I plan to gradually lower my own nic levels.

Vaping is tons better than smoking!

 

[PassivDampfer]

I first found out about vaping on Reddit and was immediately fascinated.

There's a friend of mine who tried to quit smoking for years but just couldn't do it. I've hooked him up with some gear and it immediately "clicked". He's since converted himself about half a dozen other people

I've kind of become their "dealer" (you can't buy juice containing nicotine domestically here) and got into DIY.
But long story short is that as a side effect of this I'm definitely getting addicted to nicotine.

 

[JerryRM]

I'm a former smoker and it's not so much us who don't want non-smokers to start vaping, it's the ANTZ (anti-nicotine/tobacco zealots). As far as I am concerned and I think that most vapers will concur, we are a free people and if a non-smoker wants to start vaping, it's their right to do so, although they are starting a new habit. The ANTZ falsely claim that e-cigs introduce people, especially children to tobacco use and that e-cigs will lead them to smoking. They would like to see e-cigs banned. We are only protecting the thing that got us off of cigarettes.

 

[phillie]

Big tobacco would like e cigs to get banned. I wonder how many customers they're losing a day to ecigs.

 

[JerryRM]

It's more like big pharma that would like to see e-cigs banned. They stand to lose a lot of money on their NRT products, because of e-cigs. Big tobacco is starting to get involved with e-cigs.

 

[PassivDampfer]

I'm a former smoker and it's not so much us who don't want non-smokers to start vaping, it's the ANTZ (anti-nicotine/tobacco zealots). As far as I am concerned and I think that most vapers will concur, we are a free people and if a non-smoker wants to start vaping, it's their right to do so, although they are starting a new habit. The ANTZ falsely claim that e-cigs introduce people, especially children to tobacco use and that e-cigs will lead them to smoking. They would like to see e-cigs banned. We are only protecting the thing that got us off of cigarettes.

I totally see where you're coming from.

Although I think we're fooling ourselves if we deny that more people will start to consume nicotine if it can be consumed much more safely. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

BTW, I really don't like the term ANTZ because it puts together those who hate tobacco / second hand smoke with those who want to take away your nicotine. It's not the same at all.

 

[janb8589]

I would recommend vaping to non-smoker as I would recommend picking up a bottle of Jack to a non-drinker (NEVER). It's not about keeping it exclusive. It's about not recommending addicting things when people don't have an addiction.

But how would you account for those who just pick up vaping and stick to 0 nic; there is no addiction but obviously are attracted to it for other reasons.

 

[Aoi~]

I still would recommend against it. It's harm reduction from smoking tobacco cigarette. It's not harm-free. Nobody knows the long term effect of vaping.