Quitting the analogs - I need to hear it FOR ME

[WharfRat1976]

CONGRATS! my advice is vape MORE! Get great gear and superb tasty JOOSE. Post pics of said joose and gear. Participate in forums and ask questions than vape MORE! Rinse and repeat! Keep us posted and you can do it[emoji13]

BTW, MY biggest trouble spot was WHEN I BREATHED! If I and we can do it so can you!

 

[pfaber11]

I smoked for 31 years and it took me 2 years of vaping for a few weeks then back to smoking for a couple of weeks and back and forth to do it. Haven't smoked in ages now and now it's easy not to smoke. I dare not smoke now as I know how hard it is to stop but just keep at it and it'll happen.. good luck to you and just dig your heels in and say no.

 

[pfaber11]

Forgot to add that since moving up to a sub ohm setup it really scratches the itch. Doesn't need to be expensive either . My defender36w and Arctic tank cost me 55quid and it is great.

 

[Ozzie_J]

Keep at it. Like you, I was one of those people who had to light up a cigarette almost as soon as I woke up in the morning. Then another about 20 minutes later. I was smoking about 15 roll ups a day but smoked 2/3 of those between about 7am and lunchtime! B/c I was a "morning smoker" I was frequently told I'd never be able to quit. (I have no idea why the time makes any difference but apparently it does)

More than 6 weeks analog free and I don't miss them one little bit. Although of course everyone's journey is different. I didn't set out to quit completely, just cut down to about 5 a day, but I found one morning that I'd run out of tobacco and couldn't be bothered going out in the rain to get more when I had a perfectly good e-cig to puff on.

You will get there. My advice would be- don't push yourself too hard. I told myself that I wasn't quitting smoking, I was just changing the way I smoked, and didn't beat myself up if I smoked an analog (I smoked and vaped for the first couple of weeks) That seemed to help. Don't make it into a really big deal (easier said than done) and hopefully you'll get to the stage where you just don't feel the urge to light up.

Good luck, I really hope you get to where you want to be soon. Keep calm and carry on!

 

[Two_Bears]

The first time I switched over to vape-only, it was very easy, almost didn't notice the cigarettes just going away.

However, the 2nd time, after my relapse, was a great deal harder. It really took a huge effort of will, and of constantly reminding myself that I really did want to return to being a non-smoker. As long as I permitted myself ANY possibility of a smoke, my stupid brain drove me crazy, plaguing me to go smoke, go smoke, just about constantly. But as soon as I said ENOUGH! and took even the possibility completely off the table... that 2 yr old in my head shut the hell up and quit bothering me. I finally laid them down again while I was still at 5 per day, simply because a) I knew it was possible, I'd done it before, and b) I knew that the longer I allowed myself to keep smoking, the harder it would become to ditch them.

You just have to decide, and stick with it. An e-cig isn't a magic wand, or a substitute for a firm commitment -- it just makes the commitment easier to live with.

Andria

Andria;

You're right. That is why I say once you start vaping NEVER EVER smoke another cigarette. Because every time you lay them down will be harder.

Back in the 1970s several people I know quit them cold turkey but now getting that monkey off your back is virtually impossible.

 

[Two_Bears]

Thanks for the advice! I've found that no matter what nic level or device I'm using, the first hit of the morning induces a massive coughing fit if I don't have a smoke first. Yes, I know that logically if I fully quit the cigs, this will eventually go away, but I haven't been able to get past it.

Oddly enough, almost no one I know smokes anymore. The incident I spoke of earlier involved a trip to visit people I rarely see. I don't work with any smokers (and only one vaper that I know of), and my husband quit for the most part almost two years ago. It is all on me at this point, I just have to find the willpower.

What is the VG PG ratio of your juice? You may need to move to a lower PG.

I DIY my juice and find a 70-80% VG causez me to cough less.

 

[Robino1]

For a month I was a dual user. In the morning I would have smokes with my coffee, after lunch and then just before bed.
The after lunch fell off pretty quickly and I was just down to morning and night.

One morning I had my ecig sitting next to me along with my coffee and ashtray. It was getting cold outside so I was smoking at the fireplace where the smoke goes up the chimney. Ashtray sat inside the fireplace. I was sitting there reading ECF and my cig was sitting in the ashtray. I'm just reading away drinking my coffee and then it dawned on me.... My cig was burning away in the ashtray and I had been vaping instead! That was the last morning I had a cig in the morning. It took another week to finally stop that last one before bed.

I was one of those that as soon as my eyes opened, I was up making coffee and smoking until the coffee was ready. Then I would have at least two cigs for each cup. I now open my eyes, look at the clock and say....I can sleep longer. I now know the pleasure of what sleeping in feels like. I no longer Need that nicotine as soon as my eyes open.

There is also nothing wrong with dual use. It is harm reduction. Sure, we all want you to succeed in getting down to zero. We will not shame you for not getting there.

There's a saying around here: Don't count the ones you have, count the ones you didn't have.

We have many members that still enjoy those one or two cigs in the morning then vape the rest of the day. Some members will have one or two a week. They are vaping the rest of the time.

Harm reduction.

 

[AndriaD]

Andria;

You're right. That is why I say once you start vaping NEVER EVER smoke another cigarette. Because every time you lay them down will be harder.

Back in the 1970s several people I know quit them cold turkey but now getting that monkey off your back is virtually impossible.

Completely agree. And I even found this to be true by trying cold turkey, the patch, and the patch again... the first time, cold turkey, lasted 3 months before I simply couldn't stand another second of misery. The first time with patch, about 10 days; 2nd time with patch, less than a week. Which is why when I started vaping, I had ZERO thoughts of quitting smoking; I just wanted something to use indoors when it was really cold, and I tried the Great Experiment to see how many times I could easily, happily, successfully substitute vaping for smoking -- turned out to eventually be 100%, which completely flabbergasted me. So even though I had that relapse after my appendectomy, I was determined to get back to smoke-free -- because I knew that e-cigs made it much easier than anything else ever. And now I've learned that it would be completely stupid for me to EVER smoke another cigarette, because they get their hooks back in, in the blink of an eye. And I LIKE being a non-smoker!

Andria

 

[Hans Wermhat]

What worked for me was a dripper with a high-ish nic level juice. I put some 10mg juice in my plume veil with a .5 ohm dual coil build and took 3 or 4 huge lungfuls off it. The subsequent nic rush made me forget I was craving a cig. After a week or so of that, the cravings for an analog just went away.