One more question...about quitting.

[xanadu0324]

After ohhh...14 or so years of smoking, I'm giving it up and switching to vaping. The disposables worked well for a little bit, I was all gung-ho like woooooo I can do this...then reality set in. I came up with excuses (but I just bought a carton! Who's gonna smoke those?!)

I just ordered a Volcano Inferno and I'm really serious about quitting, or at least trying really freakin hard!

1. Does anyone have any tips/recommendations for me first quitting? Other than 'don't beat yourself up if you slip' I've heard that like 20 times.

2. What's a good mg of nic to get if I smoked roughly 3/4pk a day of L&M bold menthol 100's?

3. How long should I wait in between lowering my nic dose so I don't freak my body out too early and feel like I NEED an ickystick?

Any other tips/recommendations would be great as well. Do you think I'd have better success if I start using yummy flavors right away? Or should I stick to menthol tobacco/menthol flavor to begin with? Appx. how long, etc..

I apologize for the lengthy questions, but I'm really hoping to be a success story instead of a failure.

 

[Dana A]

I would try 24 mg and 18 mg both and see which works best for you. I have been lowering my nic dose by 1 mg every 3 weeks with very miner pain involved. I started at 26 mg and so far an down to 12. You should try as many different types of flavors as you can afford to get. buy the smallest bottles offered at first to avoid getting stuck with huge bottles of flavors you do not like. Don't ever be afraid to post questions on this forum. That's what it's for. Good luck.

 

[Dvx67]

Make this a hobby. Try different hardware and juices. Get some tobacco flavored juices. I think this is much better than smoking but I have made it a hobby.

 

[MistaKuraudo]

I'm in the same boat as you and would like some advice too.

What I've been doing is just trying to find out which flavors I enjoy vaping. I don't think it matters whether or not you get tobacco flavors or fruity flavors, so as long as it helps you stop. And instead of trying to quick cold turkey I've been slowly weaning myself off of regular cigs. I've cut down from a 1/2pack-1pack to around 1 to 2 cigs a day and vaping on 12-18mg juices. After I get more comfortable with vaping I'm going to try and cut down to only when I get a big urge to smoke, which hopefully isn't going to be too often. If I feel like I'm craving too much I'll up the nic on my juices.

Annnnd, when I just stop smoking I'll start thinking about weaning myself off of nicotine all together.

 

[Baditude]

1. Does anyone have any tips/recommendations for me first quitting? Other than 'don't beat yourself up if you slip' I've heard that like 20 times.

Don't beat yourself up if you slip. Seriously.

You don't have to quit cigarettes cold turkey; I didn't. Just try hard to keep your daily total to a minimum.

When I began vaping, I had a full pack of cigs and allowed myself to vape as much as I wanted. If I experienced a cig craving, I vaped even more frequently. If that didn't work, I allowed myself half of a cigarette, and saved the other half. You get the idea for the rest of the scenario. Over the course of that week the cigs began to become less satisfying and actually began to taste really bad. I began to prefer vaping more and not looking forward to the next 1/2 of a cigarette. At the end of the week, the pack was finished, and so was I. I haven't wanted, needed, nor touched a cigarette since.

It's not the cigs that you smoke that count, it's the ones you didn't. (Another notorious phrase you'll see here)

2. What's a good mg of nic to get if I smoked roughly 3/4pk a day of L&M bold menthol 100's?

Typically a 1 ppd smoker uses 24mg strength nicotine e-liquids. So, following that scheme, perhaps 18mg strength. Might not hurt to have some 24mg liquid to have on standby "just in case". Since you were a menthol smoker, a good e-liquid flavor to begin with would be an Ice Menthol. I wouldn't bother with any tobacco flavors. They'll not taste anything like a real cigarette.

3. How long should I wait in between lowering my nic dose so I don't freak my body out too early and feel like I NEED an ickystick?

Don't even go there yet. Just concentrate on getting off the stinky sticks first. Worry about weaning off the nicotine far later down the road. I've been vaping a year, and half-heartedly have cut down from 24mg to 12mg in that time. I'm happy with that.

Any other tips/recommendations would be great as well. Do you think I'd have better success if I start using yummy flavors right away? Or should I stick to menthol tobacco/menthol flavor to begin with? Appx. how long, etc..

As I said, start with the Ice Menthol. Have some yummy flavors you think you might like to use for variety, too. I currently have over a dozen flavors at my disposal at any time; I typically use 3 - 4 different flavors in any given day. The typical person consumes 3 -6 ml a day.

Drink plenty of water. The Pg and Vg attract water from our tissues. That can cause dry mouth and even lead to dehydration. Dry mouth affects what little ability we have to taste flavors.

Inhale like sucking on a straw in a thick milkshake, not directly into your lungs, but into your mouth and hold it there temporarily. Nicotine in vapor is absorbed in the mucous membranes of our mouth, throat, and nose. Slow, deliberate, patient draws between 3 - 6 seconds length. Inhale if you wish, or just blow it out through your mouth and nose.

Many first time vapors experience coughing when first vaping. This is normal; it took your body time to adjust to cigarette smoke (remember?), it will take it some time to adjust to warm vapor.

Your tastebuds have been damaged from years of smoking. Don't be surprised if many of your flavors appear to be muted or even non-existant. This is vapors tongue. It will gradually improve over time, but also can return at any time. Switch to a different flavor, use a stronger flavor like menthol or cinnamon or mint flavors. Exhale some vapor out of your nose to allow it to help you "taste" your juice flavors.

Good luck, you can do this.

 

[StevesCVO]

Quit making excuses and quit buying cigs. You have to want to quit to do it. It's that simple. If you don't want to quit and not dedicated, you're not going to. It will be rough at times the first few weeks but you can make it through it. Just keep tellig yourself you don't need another smoke when the craving hits and vape until it passes. It takes willpower to quit. After 30 yrs of smoking I knew I wanted to quit and haven't had a smoke since I started vaping.

 

[Oktyabr]

Congrats on making the decision to make it work. Having the right state of mind is HUGE in completely making the switch.

All I can tell you is what worked for ME:

No e-cig that looks, feels or works ("automatics") anything even remotely like a real cigarette. I needed to completely disassociate my nicotine addiction with cigarettes. Nice shiny with a pretty button that lights up worked well for starters.

No e-juice that "tastes just like a cigarette" or even tries to come close, at least for the first couple of weeks. I used to smoke menthols also... No tobacco flavored juices, no juice with menthol or mint in them either. The trick is finding a juice flavor you like *better* than the taste of cigarettes and then sticking with it.

Buy backup hardware and even backups for your backups, if you can afford it. An e-cig won't work if you only have one and are waiting for it to recharge, break it, loose it or get it stolen. Same with tanks, etc. One of the best investments I bought for both me and my wife was a cheap lanyard that fits the common eGo style batteries. You don't know how often I have heard friends that are new to e-cigs say "Uhhh... I lost it." Or "I forgot to charge it". Sure, right. Whatever.

I quit with the strongest nicotine I could find which was 36mg, locally. I also bought a bottle of 24mg and I still had some old 18 and 16mg laying around from a few years ago, but it was the first 24 hours or so of that 36mg that made me leave my cigarettes where they belong... back at the store and not in my pocket! I actually got a headache from it after the first day and a half or so and knew that was the time to step it down a notch. I mostly vape 18mg stuff now but keep the 24mg for when I go out to the pub, etc.

You can slowly try to lower the nicotine strength... everyone is different. Be prepared and it won't hurt anything to have some of the "strong stuff" around *just in case*. Once you have a few weeks of zero cigarettes you can pass it off to a friend with that same advice. I used 36mg for a day or so then my wife quit using the same bottle a few days after I did. I passed it on to a friend who is in their first few days right now.

But the biggest thing is having the right mind set and it sounds like you are well on your way in that department! It will take awhile to learn *new habits* of e-cigs and to completely forget the old habits of smoking cigarettes, but it will happen if you keep trying.

Remember, we are all here for you! Best of luck!

 

[Lafingriot]

An average cig has 1 to 1.5 mg of nicotine so if you vape 1 ml of 24mg nic is about one pack of cigs. Being a 3-4 pack a day I would get the highest nicotine (36 mg I think) and know you have to vape 3mls a day for the same effect. Don't worry about lowering you nicotine level yet, just work on quitting analogs. In a month or so when you've successfully hate smoking cigs compared to vaping try getting a couple bottles of lower nicotine and see if you can tell a difference

When I first got my ecig I supplemented the vape with real cigs for the first week, and I haven't bought a pack in two months. Just take it easy and relax knowing that if you cut down even one pack a day your health is better off

As far as eliquid buy yourself a bunch of different flavors and start experimenting. I tried a bunch of tobacco flavors at first and found then all lacking but then I tried caramel coffee juice and fell in love. Seeing as you smoked menthol get a couple different menthol juice and a couple sweet ones to try out.

Hope this helps!

(when I started writing this no one else had posted)

 

[Demiurgous]

I dabbled for a week, couldn't switch cleanly. Pack a day for 15 years.

Finally picked up Halo Tribeca at 18mg. Game over.

If you don't the sweetness of the caramel, go for their Turkish Tobacco. I'd probably do 12mg, maybe 18mg. 24 is too much for ya. You'll get sick.

 

[Talyon]

Man I hate getting here after Baditude, lol just kidding, Bad says it all mate, there's no going back now, and it's ok to break down a bit here and there, remember only u and your body can set any timetables on when to drop in nic strength. As for me heading for 18 nic next after about 10 weeks, but I don't really care if I get there, as I intend to Vape for the rest of my life.

I for 1 am just so Happy to have found something to get me off those damn stinky analogs. Vaper 4 Life.

 

[xanadu0324]

Don't beat yourself up if you slip. Seriously.

When I began vaping, I had a full pack of cigs and allowed myself to vape as much as I wanted. If I experienced a cig craving, I vaped even more frequently. If that didn't work, I allowed myself half of a cigarette, and saved the other half. You get the idea for the rest of the scenario. Over the course of that week the cigs began to become less satisfying and actually began to taste really bad. I began to prefer vaping more and not looking forward to the next 1/2 of a cigarette. At the end of the week, the pack was finished, and so was I. I haven't wanted, needed, nor touched a cigarette since.

It's not the cigs that you smoke that count, it's the ones you didn't. (Another notorious phrase you'll see here)



Typically a 1 ppd smoker uses 24mg strength nicotine e-liquids. So, following that scheme, perhaps 18mg strength. Might not hurt to have some 24mg liquid to have on standby "just in case". Since you were a menthol smoker, a good e-liquid flavor to begin with would be an Ice Menthol. I wouldn't bother with any tobacco flavors. They'll not taste anything like a real cigarette.



Don't even go there yet. Just concentrate on getting off the stinky sticks first. Worry about weaning off the nicotine far later down the road. I've been vaping a year, and half-heartedly have cut down from 24mg to 12mg in that time. I'm happy with that.

[/I]
As I said, start with the Ice Menthol. Have some yummy flavors you think you might like to use for variety, too. I currently have over a dozen flavors at my disposal at any time; I typically use 3 - 4 different flavors in any given day.

Drink plenty of water. The Pg and Vg attract water from our tissues. That can cause dry mouth and even dehydration.

Inhale like sucking on a straw in a thick milkshake, not directly into your lungs, but into your mouth and hold it there temporarily. Nicotine in vapor is absorbed in the mucous membranes of our mouth, throat, and nose. Inhale if you wish, or just blow it out through your mouth and nose.

Many first time vapors experience coughing when first vaping. This is normal; it took your body time to adjust to cigarette smoke (remember?), it will take it some time to adjust to warm vapor.

Your tastebuds have been damaged from years of smoking. Don't be surprised if many of your flavors appear to be muted or even non-existant. This is vapors tongue. It will gradually improve over time, but also can return at any time. Switch to a different flavor, use a stronger flavor like menthol or cinnamon or mint flavors. Exhale some vapor out of your nose to allow it to help you "taste" your juice flavors.

Good luck, you can do this.

Wow thanks a BUNCH for the info (and the cheering on of course) I know I CAN do it, it's just DOING it. I want to quit, I do I do, but then I get 'those thoughts.' I am hoping to do it as you have done, where I just vape and vape and try not to even THINK about my ickys. You would THINK that if my body/mouth had a choice between peaches and tobacco cig it would choose peaches, but...somehow I'm sensing that will not be the case at first.

I did get one menthol, and I'm also going to order the extreme ice from MBV. I'm hoping that I'll get the same reaction with my inferno as I did with the one disposable I tried. I inhaled it slow and easy, held it in my mouth and could only take about 4 hits from it before I was done and wanted to cough a lung or 2 back up.

I noticed that after vaping the disposable all day, I smoked my first analog of the day and holy CRAP it was harsh and tasted like blech! So, just need my body to come to the realization that 'here is yummy nic...you want that...not the bacco...promise.'

Easier said than done I'm sure, but at least it'll be easier with the fact I smoked menthols. I can pretty much get menthol flavor wherever the heck I want/need! They may not all be delicious...but hey menthol is menthol!

 

[Crazyinariz]

I can tell you what worked for me. When I first got my first e-cig kit in I had 1 pack of camels left. I smoked a camel when I woke up and one with my morning coffee, vaped all day and had a camel at night right before I went to bed. The last camel from that pack was the last cigarette I smoked. When the pack ran out I just vaped all day. It made the transition easy for me. Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[xanadu0324]

Man I hate getting here after Baditude, lol just kidding, Bad says it all mate, there's no going back now, and it's ok to break down a bit here and there, remember only u and your body can set any timetables on when to drop in nic strength. As for me heading for 18 nic next after about 10 weeks, but I don't really care if I get there, as I intend to Vape for the rest of my life.

I for 1 am just so Happy to have found something to get me off those damn stinky analogs. Vaper 4 Life.

It's okay! I'm sure Baditude won't mind if we just pretend like you two co-wrote that post I appreciate the help, and the encouragement from everyone!!

I CAN do this. I can I can I can!!

 

[Talyon]

I use to smoke menthol only while sick, and when I was at my local asked the guy for Marlboro, and got menthol instead I didn't discover this til I got home, no biggie. Well I just have to say I like menthol in my daily routine of 4 other favs. Lol. Who knew.

Hey look there is something shiny in my hand.

 

[xanadu0324]

I can tell you what worked for me. When I first got my first e-cig kit in I had 1 pack of camels left. I smoked a camel when I woke up and one with my morning coffee, vaped all day and had a camel at night right before I went to bed. The last camel from that pack was the last cigarette I smoked. When the pack ran out I just vaped all day. It made the transition easy for me. Hope this helps and good luck!

That will be the hardest cigs for me to give up. I can give up the 'before bed' cig and the 'throughout the day' cigs easy. But the 'right when I wake up' and after a meal? Those ones are gonna be hard. I agree though, I think it will be an easier transition for me if I 'allow' myself to slip, or to have that one certain cig instead of beating myself up and later deciding 'oh well, I failed, into the closet you go, ecig! time for a Marlboro!'

 

[klynnn]

I smoked 2+ pad marlboro lgts for too long. 18mg was too strong for me I had to go to 15mg. Am now down to 10mg. Finding a juice you like is key. Try several sampler packs are great to start.

 

[xanadu0324]

I'm actually a bit scared of quitting tbh. I've tried before with other methods and I turned into perma-PMS. Like OMFG WHY ARE YOU BLINKING SO LOUD. I swung at a couple people a couple times. I had a POUNDING headache. It was NOT pleasant. So I got fed up with that, and grabbed a smoke with a nice 'ahhhhhh' attached. Then the guilt set in...blah!

 

[Demiurgous]

Hence the power of variable voltage and a tobacco flavored juice.

Crank up the voltage during a crave, get the throat hit and flavor. Not quite the same, but it sure does the trick, taking a ton off the edge.

I quit cigs knowing my first day without would be the first time I've ever been written up work. I knew day 3 was a significant court hearing.

If I can do it, anyone can. I never went as much as 12 hours without, just at a pack a day. Sick? Pfft, I'd smoke. Raining? Dude, I got an umbrella. Snow? Eh, only takes a few mins to smoke. 15 years, this is the longest I've been.

 

[klynnn]

I think you will be surprised just how well vaping works. I know I was shocked. Best thing I ever did.

 

[Demiurgous]

I think you will be surprised just how well vaping works. I know I was shocked. Best thing I ever did.

For me, the key was the right set up. I tinkered for a week with poor results. Almost gave up.