Really struggling

[andyrox]

I'm about 6 days off analogs and into vaping. I am still having uncomfortable symptoms and analog cravings. Is this normal after almost a week still? Anyone else experience this?

I don't really want to increase my nic mg, will my body eventually adjust?

 

[patsfan1130]

How much did you smoke? What Mg are you on?

 

[andyrox]

I smoked about 3 packs a week of lights and I'm vaping 6 mg.

 

[Centurion]

Yeah, your body can't get the same sort of a sharp peak in nicotine levels that taking a drag off a cig can do. I had those pangs like you're describing for a long time, many months, most of a year. But they get better each time and then you're no longer jonesing for peak nicotine levels, which is nice. Maybe bump up your nic levels a bit for now?

 

[r77r7r]

I smoked 3-6 still for 6wks, felt fine (but I stank). Didn't think about going cold turkey, glad I didn't.

 

[vernhall]

With that minimal intake of analogs in the past I wouldn't worry too much... It does take your body a while to adjust... A few days with urges still evident isn't the end of the world...

 

[nyplayful1]

I found this to be really normal... don't mean/want to scare you and this is only my experience, but it was really weeks until the daily (almost hourly really) pull to smoke an analog subsided... It was a real day to day, moment to moment struggle for me, but I just tried to breathe with it and used my ecig almost non stop for awhile.... when my battery died I hit panic mode but real fast.

I just crossed my 8 week mark, and the truth is it has gotten a bit easier -- not every day jonsing... but there are still days or moments when the need is uber strong

give it time... stay with your commitment... at some point (yes, not nearly soon enough but still) it will get a bit better, then a little bit more, then a bit more.

I used FB a lot to shout out my huge craving moments, and got a lot of support back from people...

I hear ya. I have been there. I am still there. Keep it up. It will get better. It will get easier.

 

[Ken62]

Even after 2 months I get bad cravings and uncomfortable symptoms if the nic level in my juice is too low. I DIY and I need to keep the nic level above 24 mg (usually above 30) or I want an analog and/or I get edgy and snappy toward my family.

 

[markfm]

I'd bump a notch, somewhere up in the 12mg zone, maybe just a little at 16 mg/ml

Old time rule of thumb, if you smoked full strength use 24, if lights use 16. There is variability, some people need one strength higher or lower, but it is a classically good starting point.

Comfortable vaping gets rid of the vast majority of chemicals from cigs. Give yourself some time with a 12, then gradually reduce if that is your goal.

Just my thought...

 

[Arch Duke]

Hang in there andyrox, it will get a little easier. I am on day 20 today and feeling much better than the first week. A lot of it is your body adjusting to just getting the nic and not the other 1000's of chemicals in the coffin nails. Everyone has a different reaction to it, I have been somewhat fortunate with lacking the cravings. I was slowly stepping myself down from 20 or so a day, once I got to about 1/2 a pack I made the switch to e-cigs. Maybe that helped? I'd like to think so. I agree with markfm, it may not be a bad idea to bump up a level to help take the edge off.

Just stick with it, we are all behind you!

 

[LedGecko]

Ditto markfm's advice. You may have only smoked 1/2 pack a day, but you expected to get your nic fix when you had one, although they were spaced out sparingly over the day. You'll want that same feeling when you vape, and vaping only 6mg will take a lot of juice to get there. Bump it up to 12/16mg for a while until your body adjusts to the new delivery mechanism.

 

[zapped]

First two weeks are the hardest. Chain vape until the urges go away. It will get easier but not if you give into temptation now. I kept a wet ashtray outside and would smell it when the urges got really bad.

Hang in there you can make it and you'll be glad you did.

 

[Canuk]

After the first week I was a little cranky. About 10 days in I had bad cravings for a day.

After the second week all I craved was vaping.

After the third week I need a stronger vape first thing in the morning and then something smoother during the day.

 

[andyrox]

Thanks for the support guys. I'm just super depressed. I think I'm mourning the loss of my analogs, even though I never want to go back. Last night was rough, but I had horrible cravings. I just hope it gets easier. The thought of feeling like this for extended period is tough. Lol

 

[Mikeyd66]

Hang in there Andyrox, you can do it!

It took me a couple of months to go analog free when I started vaping. I chain vaped like a madman, destroying cartos, wearing out batteries and burning through juice like a 59 Cadillac goes through gas.

But the most important thing is...I feel great! I no longer wake up coughing and hacking. I still think it's one of the best decisions I've made.

P.S. Thanks to ECF for all the info and help.

 

[Baditude]

Here's how I was successful. I smoked a pack a day of Marlboro Menthol Lights. When my employer banned tobacco on it's campus, I was forced to go at least 8 hours without smoking. I already knew the patches or gum wouldn't work, so I sucked on Jolly Rancher candy all shift. When away from work, I made up for the lost time away from tobacco and still ended up smoking a pack per day.

When I began vaping, I vaped as much and as frequent as I desired. I started on 24 mg nicotine. When I got a cig craving, I vaped more frequently. If that didn't stop the craving, I allowed myself HALF of a cigarette, and saved the rest. Same thing for the next time, vape harder and that didn't help, I smoked the last half of the cig. First couple of days I probably smoked 3-4 cigs total per day. Soon, the smokes became less satisfying, the vape became preferred over the smokes, and then the smokes started to taste nasty. At the end of the week my pack was finished, and so was I. I haven't had a cigarette, nor wanted one, since.

I recommend jumping up to 18 mg nicotine strength to help get you over the hump. I've cut my nicotine down by half to 12 mg, and currently I'm content at that level, as I plan to continue vaping at that strength.

I'll probably be in the minority here, but if you REALLY think you need a cig, try one. You've been without a cig for a week, it won't kill ya to have one just to remind you how nasty they really taste. If you got some laying around still, take a puff. You'll ptobably surprise yourself.

At this point in the game, it's not the cigarettes that you smoke, it's the ones that you don't.

 

[NamVet68]

What you are experiencing is normal, and you will be yo-yoing back and forth for probably the first month or so, but it will get easier, especially when your taste-buds start to heal - vaping will become much more satisfying.

I quit analogs cold-turkey about ten years ago (after over thirty years of 2+packs a day), and I wish there were vaping options available back then....it would have made it much easier. Quitting tobacco was probably one of the hardest things I've ever done, but trust me, it's worth it.

Hang in there, and enjoy the vapor!

 

[VapingRulz]

Thanks for the support guys. I'm just super depressed. I think I'm mourning the loss of my analogs, even though I never want to go back. Last night was rough, but I had horrible cravings. I just hope it gets easier. The thought of feeling like this for extended period is tough. Lol

I think you should raise the nic level in your juice to at least 12mg, probably closer to 18mg, or you run the risk of giving up on vaping and turning back to cigarettes. The symptoms you describe remind me of how I felt when I tried to quit cold turkey. Every time I tried - and failed.

 

[andyrox]

I think you should raise the nic level in your juice to at least 12mg, probably closer to 18mg, or you run the risk of giving up on vaping and turning back to cigarettes. The symptoms you describe remind me of how I felt when I tried to quit cold turkey. Every time I tried - and failed.

Ok thanks. I wondered if this is all about my nic levels being too low. I'm probably not vaping enough regardless of the mg.

 

[Baditude]

Thanks for the support guys. I'm just super depressed. I think I'm mourning the loss of my analogs, even though I never want to go back. Last night was rough, but I had horrible cravings. I just hope it gets easier. The thought of feeling like this for extended period is tough. Lol

Some of the chemicals in cigarette smoke have a similar reaction to certain receptors in the brain that antidepressant medications do. So you do experience a physical withdrawal that can mimic depression when you remove cigarette smoke from your body.

And then there is the psychological loss of a support system that had been used as a crutch for years - smoking. We smoked more heavily when we were stressed out, and more when we were drinking (if we drank). So taking that "friend" away can bring on feelings of mourning.

Luckily, vaping can help with both issues. Unlike other nicotine replacements like the patch and gum, we can vape more frequently for an stronger dose of nicotine when we need it most, during a cigarette craving. Rubbing the patch won't release the nicotine any faster; it's designed to release the same amount of nicotine over time. And chewing more gum likely intensifies it's side effects; for me it was hiccups and upset stomach/heartburn.

Vaping allows the continued hand-to-mouth ritual of smoking that is so strongly implanted into our brains. It also allows the sensation of having our mouth, throat, and lungs filled with a warm vapor not unlike cigarette smoke. All these elements present in using a personal vaporizer is what ultimately got me off cigarettes where the gum and patches (and hypnosis, medicines, etc) miserably failed.

Stay with it. Vaping works.