One last thing keeping me from quitting...taboo incoming

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Bookworm

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This was definitely an issue for me when I quit. It took my body a few days to even be able to go at all, but after a couple weeks, things were totally back to normal. Now I'm back to going right after a cup of coffee and a vape. You just have to quit, and let your body get back to normal. And the only thing that really makes a difference for me is water. In my experience, you can eat all the fiber you want but it won't help if you aren't drinking at least a couple liters of water. Good luck!
 

Katmandu

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It took me about six weeks to give up smoking completely and switch over to vaping. Like you I was still smoking a few a day and just could not make that mental leap to stop.

For me, smoking was a very large part of my life. Everything in my life for 33 years revolved around my smoking, it was part of who I was. So, how do you go about giving up a whole part of your life? The thought was rather daunting to say the least and kept me from tossing those last few smokes.

While cleaning ashtrays one day, I finally just decided to do it but I kept a partial pack with me, "just in case". I will admit, I was panicky at first but I as every day went by I found I missed smoking less and less and vaping became the "new normal". My pv barely left my hand for the first while, I guess I kind of clung onto it for dear life and I vaped a lot. lol

But I found that I was okay with not smoking and just vaping and that the fear was just that, fear of the unknown. It also helped to come and hang out on the forum - the people here are so supportive.

After a couple of months I threw away the mangled cigarette pack from the bottom of my purse as I didn't need them anymore. :) It's been over 4 years now and I am still grateful every day that vaping came into my life.

Oh, one last thing, I always found my brain could not wrap itself around the fact that I was "quitting" smoking as every quit attempt I had ever done had failed. So, it helped me to say that I was just "switching" over to a different way. :)

I wish you the best of luck. I hope you can make the switch over completely, I'm rooting for you!
 

AndriaD

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1-2 a day is fantastic. Sadly, it does come down to wanting to quit. Maybe voop with some strong nic juice? Or, any time you feel the need to have a BM (also, 1-2 times a day, Fantastic!) go to a public place where you can't smoke.
At the end of the day, no worries. You went from 20 to 2.

Good lord, I can't do THAT in a public restroom unless I've got massive ........ or something.

But I would echo the suggestion about higher-nic juice. The one time I quit cold-turkey, I went for 3 wks without a BM. This time, with vaping, the main reason I had to increase my nic level after I finally quit the cigarettes was largely because of this problem. Now that I'm at 10mg-ish, I no longer have a problem, or if I do, I just vape like a maniac for a little while, and that usually helps. Nicotine stimulates peristalsis, the movements of the colon, so if you're not getting enough movement, it's quite likely there's just not enough nicotine.

If the problem persists even with higher nicotine, you might find some "relief" with WTA; the minor alkaloids got my innards back into some kind of normalcy after my appendectomy.

Andria
 
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Bookworm

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If I could just smoke 1 or 2 a day, I would do it. If I didn't have to buy 20, I would try it.
I gotta stop following this thread.............:unsure:

I really feel the same. If I could have a cigarette with coffee once a day, that would be awesome. But I can't. If I have one, I'll be right back to a pack a day.
 

four2109

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I really feel the same. If I could have a cigarette with coffee once a day, that would be awesome. But I can't. If I have one, I'll be right back to a pack a day.

I find it odd that we all seem to have a set point. I smoked 2 packs a day for years, sometimes more, but consistently 2 packs. Since I started vaping, if I buy cigarettes, within days, I am back to 1 pack a day, and then that remains consistent.
My dad smoked under a pack a day for 50+ years, and cut down to 1-2 a day.
How do you do that??
It's like a Lay's commercial playing in my head!!:confused:
 

AndriaD

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I find it odd that we all seem to have a set point. I smoked 2 packs a day for years, sometimes more, but consistently 2 packs. Since I started vaping, if I buy cigarettes, within days, I am back to 1 pack a day, and then that remains consistent.
My dad smoked under a pack a day for 50+ years, and cut down to 1-2 a day.
How do you do that??
It's like a Lay's commercial playing in my head!!:confused:

Yeah. The problem for me is what I call The Monster in My Head. As long as I don't do any of {whatever it is... smoking, drinking, etc}, then The Monster is quietly sleeping, not bothering me at all. But if I have JUST ONE... one smoke, one drink, one whatever... then it's off to the races. With smoking, what happens is it feels like that Monster is a very impatient 2 yr old... "Is it time now? How about now? Huh? Is now ok? HOW ABOUT NOW!!!!!!" and it just never shuts up, like a hamster on a wheel. 8-o When I finally put them down this last time, after my appendectomy, I swore I would never willingly wake up that beast again. It's worked ok for 22 yrs with not drinking, and the Monster hasn't even bothered me about not drinking for quite a few years. I much prefer it that way. The WTA is like a pacifier in a cranky baby's mouth, it keeps that Monster quiet. :D

Andria
 

alopezg1

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1-2 a day is fantastic. Sadly, it does come down to wanting to quit. Maybe voop with some strong nic juice? Or, any time you feel the need to have a BM (also, 1-2 times a day, Fantastic!) go to a public place where you can't smoke.
At the end of the day, no worries. You went from 20 to 2.

most people who smoke 'want to quit' if it were as simple as wanting to quit people would just stop wouldn't they , there wouldn't be any need for e-cigs or forums like these
 

DaveP

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Looks like most everyone has had the issue with regularity after quitting smoking. I used to be one with morning triggers of coffee and a couple of cigs. Regularity depends on water intake, fiber, and frequency of meals. I just got used to it after a while and figured out the combination. It's sufficient water intake and the right diet to produce enough bulk. Vaping can be dehydrating, but as they say, we need 8 glasses of water a day. Most of us don't get the whole 64 oz (half gallon).

If you eat at 8am, 12pm, and 5pm you get different results than if you eat when you can and stagger the times. We are all in a rush sometimes and skip meals or put them off until we get caught up. That's a problem for regularity. Water soluble fiber is critical for the digestive system. After a while you develop a habit of reading the nutrition labels for fiber content at the grocery store.

It's surprising when some of the things you thought were high fiber, aren't. A doughnut or snack cake for breakfast is not your friend, but who wants fruit with a cup of coffee?
 
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AndriaD

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Looks like most everyone has had the issue with regularity after quitting smoking. I used to be one with morning triggers of coffee and a couple of cigs. Regularity depends on water intake, fiber, and frequency of meals. I just got used to it after a while and figured out the combination. It's sufficient water intake and the right diet to produce enough bulk. Vaping can be dehydrating, but as they say, we need 8 glasses of water a day. Most of us don't get the whole 64 oz (half gallon).

If you eat at 8am, 12pm, and 5pm you get different results than if you eat when you can and stagger the times. We are all in a rush sometimes and skip meals or put them off until we get caught up. That's a problem for regularity. Water soluble fiber is critical for the digestive system. After a while you develop a habit of reading the nutrition labels for fiber content at the grocery store.

It's surprising when some of the things you thought were high fiber, aren't. A doughnut or snack cake for breakfast is not your friend, but who wants fruit with a cup of coffee?

I'm another who has to read those labels, for a host of things I shouldn't have, but also for the fiber I desperately need -- I have the "usually stopped up" version of IBS, have had it for many years, and I started buying Double Fiber Whole Wheat bread from Nature's Own (or Arnold, if I can find it -- it's usually a dime cheaper at Walmart). It's not *quite* as tasty as regular whole wheat, but close, and it has 6g of fiber *per slice* -- a sandwich is 12g of fiber, regardless of what else is on it. Much easier way to make sure of getting fiber, than one of those noxious beverages. Bran muffins are a good source too, but might wreak havoc on some diets. I'm going to eat bread even if I'm trying to watch my calories, so for me the dbl fiber bread is a good solution.

Andria
 

AndriaD

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most people who smoke 'want to quit' if it were as simple as wanting to quit people would just stop wouldn't they , there wouldn't be any need for e-cigs or forums like these

That's true, but there is a difference in actually wanting to quit, and someone else wanting you to do it and wanting to make them happy, or, thinking it should be done even if one isn't entirely sure one actually wants to try, etc. A lot of people SAY they want to quit, but make the effort to actually do it? Not nearly as many. E-cigs help more than anything else that's ever been invented for the purpose, but they're no magic wand -- the desire, and the effort, are still required, even if the effort isn't as difficult as it was before e-cigs. It still does take effort, sometimes a lot of effort, and our brains are experts at finding rationalizations that allow us to continue doing as we're accustomed, without having to inconvenience the brain into doing something new and different. It takes a FIRMLY COMMITTED MIND to give up smoking, because the brain will do everything it can possibly do to keep the mind from depriving it of what it needs. The brain controls EVERYTHING in the body, so even a problem like this, at the opposite end so to speak, is still a brain problem.

Andria
 
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alopezg1

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well i would say the mind is the brain ... but we don't need to get involved in a mind body dualism debate .... safe to say a great deal many addicts
smokers , junkies etc don't want to be addicts ....but at the same find the idea of life without their drug of choice impossible to entertain
My dad has COPD , it took him months to even pick up his e-cig after buying it .... well now he is done to about 6 or 7 cigarettes a day , better
than an entire 12.5 gram pouch a day but it is still too much , for someone with chronic bronchitis.... safe to say the cigarettes are going to kill him
and in a pretty unpleasant way , but still the fear of being without , is stronger than the fear of death , for him anyway
 

AndriaD

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well i would say the mind is the brain ... but we don't need to get involved in a mind body dualism debate .... safe to say a great deal many addicts
smokers , junkies etc don't want to be addicts ....but at the same find the idea of life without their drug of choice impossible to entertain
My dad has COPD , it took him months to even pick up his e-cig after buying it .... well now he is done to about 6 or 7 cigarettes a day , better
than an entire 12.5 gram pouch a day but it is still too much , for someone with chronic bronchitis.... safe to say the cigarettes are going to kill him
and in a pretty unpleasant way , but still the fear of being without , is stronger than the fear of death , for him anyway

No, the mind and the brain are absolutely not the same thing. The mind can be trained, educated, it can make choices based on what is good for the self. The brain is nothing but meat, an electrochemical processing unit that only knows that when something is missing that is usually present, to send out requests, demands, distress calls to please furnish the missing substance, and the more it needs that substance, the louder the call. It can also FABRICATE physical symptoms.

The mind can be a professor; the brain can never be anything but a 2 yr old me-me-me monster.

Andria
 
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