(Haha - tl;dr - there's an actual question in the last full paragraph, the rest is me blabbering.)
This is actually my third post, and I realized that I have some thoughts about all this floating around in my head, and I'm sure others can relate and may have some advice or thoughts to add.
I have smoked cigarettes since I was 14. I just turned 36 last month. I started right after my grandparents died (7 weeks apart). They had practically raised me, so it was a tremendous loss. Almost everyone in my family smoked, so it's not so surprising that my stress response would be to start smoking.
I had never seriously tried to quit. Thought about it, sure, but never got past that point. I enjoyed smoking, and I'm not afraid of death. Smoking was also very much a security blanket for me. I was emotionally attached to the act of smoking. Arguments about my health never got to me. Telling me it was gross, I stank, or I had ashtray breath just ticked me off. (Maybe it's just me, but this approach always seemed odd to me. Since when has insulting someone ever been an effective method of persuasion? "No, I don't need to quit smoking, I need new friends!!") Anyway, a series of events recently happened in my life, and I decided it was time. Interestingly enough, there were no scares or anything bad, it was actually positive things happening that made me want to make MORE positive changes in my life. Funny how that works, eh?
So last Saturday (8/20/11) at 9:07 pm, my quitting commenced. I've outlined my self-designed program in my first ever post, but suffice it to say, for the first two weeks I'm allowed to "cheat" with an analog twice a day. Starting with week three (9/4/11) I'm allowed one analog a day and that's it. Starting with week 4, if all goes well I will be a non-smoker. Have I snuck an extra analog in here and there? Yes, but interestingly enough, I find myself doing it just to see if it tastes/smells/feels gross yet, and they DO! So more often than not, I light one then burn it but don't smoke much of it.
Two days ago I walked 5 miles. Five miles! Just a few days before I started quitting, I walked 2 miles and just about needed a nap on the way back to the house, and it took me half an hour to breathe normally. (Of course, the day after the 5 miles, my leg muscles reminded me not to let my enthusiasm get in the way of my common sense. I'm back to 2-3 miles a day and will work my way back up to 5 over the next two weeks.)
So the vaping... A couple of years ago I briefly contemplated quitting. I ordered an NJOY but ended up not having much use for it. This time around, I dug it out, charged it up and put it to use. It helped some, but it wasn't pleasant to use. I don't care for whistle tips, apparently. Anyway, I dropped it and broke it, so I went online to see what I could find. OMG! Who knew that in the last couple of years e-cigs had become HUGE?! So many choices! But as it turned out, I found a Solarflare 2012 on clearance at eliquidplanet. It's a rebranded DSE-103 (I've learned a lot and quickly). Now, I knew buying a clearance unit meant I was probably getting something at (or past) the end of it's production life so I figured I could count on buying a different unit in a few months. I just needed something QUICKLY so I ordered it.
Well, wouldn't you know, I've just fallen for the little thing. I got the black one because I didn't want a PV that looked like a cig, but I wanted a small one because I have problems with my hands and had issues with the length/off-balancedness (notaword) of the NJOY. So here I am, with a little 103 that's working GREAT (nice batt life for a mini, atty packs a punch if you work the vents a bit on a draw) knowing there may soon come a time when I can't get parts for it. I've already ordered an extra batt and a couple of attys as well as some more empty carts. I know others have been annoyed by the tiny cart inserts, but I just set myself up a little assembly line and clean, dry and fill three or four at a go. Long-handled surgical clamps are handy for this. Despite the tiny size, if I'm patient packing the batting into the juice to get a good soak, I can get several hours of vaping out of a cart.
Now that I have a PV I like, I'm totally getting why people do this. I don't know if that sounds weird or not, but I guess I mean I see why it's become it's own thing rather than just a stand-in for analogs. When I used the NJOY, I really didn't get it, you know? Probably because the NJOY was unpleasant to use, at least for me. But this time, I really feel the vaping as something different, something better to transition to, not just a replacement. This can totally turn into a hobby for me, and even with the extra stuff I'm buying, it's still immensely cheaper than cigarettes.
My body has really kicked in the detox process. Ugh. My face is breaking out, weird stuff comes out my nose (TMI?) via my sinuses, and I coughed up something I couldn't identify yesterday. I know I'm getting less nic than I was smoking (I underestimated my avg nic intake when I ordered my juice), so I'm having some withdrawals on top of it. I've ordered some higher-octane juice to minimize my chances of freaking out for a nic fix, but it won't be here for a few days at least. I'm hanging in there, though. I could get that extra nic from my analog cheats, but I don't want it that way - WIN!!! That right there is progress.
No, I'm not just rambling. I do have a question in the midst of my exposition. Knowing that I like the size of the SF/DSE-103 and have no issues with three-piece units with PIA carts, does anyone have any recs for what to try when the parts run out? I mean, I'm finding new sources every day so I may be worrying too soon. By the time the supply dries up, we could be looking at a whole new landscape of PVs - the industry is speeding along. I don't know of a retailer near me, so I can't really go try things out for myself, which sucks. I ordered my little darling before I found this place, so I wasn't aware of the general opinion of minis at the time, but I'm happy to report that this mini is keeping my "pack and a half a day" self quite satisfied. I suspect my attachment to it may be just as emotional in nature as my attachment to cigarettes - it's the PV that "got me there", so to speak. I don't want to part with it.
Wow, this is long, but I'm a writer, not an editor. Thanks to anyone who read the whole thing.
And if you skimmed... well, don't tell me. I'm fragile right now.
This is actually my third post, and I realized that I have some thoughts about all this floating around in my head, and I'm sure others can relate and may have some advice or thoughts to add.
I have smoked cigarettes since I was 14. I just turned 36 last month. I started right after my grandparents died (7 weeks apart). They had practically raised me, so it was a tremendous loss. Almost everyone in my family smoked, so it's not so surprising that my stress response would be to start smoking.
I had never seriously tried to quit. Thought about it, sure, but never got past that point. I enjoyed smoking, and I'm not afraid of death. Smoking was also very much a security blanket for me. I was emotionally attached to the act of smoking. Arguments about my health never got to me. Telling me it was gross, I stank, or I had ashtray breath just ticked me off. (Maybe it's just me, but this approach always seemed odd to me. Since when has insulting someone ever been an effective method of persuasion? "No, I don't need to quit smoking, I need new friends!!") Anyway, a series of events recently happened in my life, and I decided it was time. Interestingly enough, there were no scares or anything bad, it was actually positive things happening that made me want to make MORE positive changes in my life. Funny how that works, eh?
So last Saturday (8/20/11) at 9:07 pm, my quitting commenced. I've outlined my self-designed program in my first ever post, but suffice it to say, for the first two weeks I'm allowed to "cheat" with an analog twice a day. Starting with week three (9/4/11) I'm allowed one analog a day and that's it. Starting with week 4, if all goes well I will be a non-smoker. Have I snuck an extra analog in here and there? Yes, but interestingly enough, I find myself doing it just to see if it tastes/smells/feels gross yet, and they DO! So more often than not, I light one then burn it but don't smoke much of it.
Two days ago I walked 5 miles. Five miles! Just a few days before I started quitting, I walked 2 miles and just about needed a nap on the way back to the house, and it took me half an hour to breathe normally. (Of course, the day after the 5 miles, my leg muscles reminded me not to let my enthusiasm get in the way of my common sense. I'm back to 2-3 miles a day and will work my way back up to 5 over the next two weeks.)
So the vaping... A couple of years ago I briefly contemplated quitting. I ordered an NJOY but ended up not having much use for it. This time around, I dug it out, charged it up and put it to use. It helped some, but it wasn't pleasant to use. I don't care for whistle tips, apparently. Anyway, I dropped it and broke it, so I went online to see what I could find. OMG! Who knew that in the last couple of years e-cigs had become HUGE?! So many choices! But as it turned out, I found a Solarflare 2012 on clearance at eliquidplanet. It's a rebranded DSE-103 (I've learned a lot and quickly). Now, I knew buying a clearance unit meant I was probably getting something at (or past) the end of it's production life so I figured I could count on buying a different unit in a few months. I just needed something QUICKLY so I ordered it.
Well, wouldn't you know, I've just fallen for the little thing. I got the black one because I didn't want a PV that looked like a cig, but I wanted a small one because I have problems with my hands and had issues with the length/off-balancedness (notaword) of the NJOY. So here I am, with a little 103 that's working GREAT (nice batt life for a mini, atty packs a punch if you work the vents a bit on a draw) knowing there may soon come a time when I can't get parts for it. I've already ordered an extra batt and a couple of attys as well as some more empty carts. I know others have been annoyed by the tiny cart inserts, but I just set myself up a little assembly line and clean, dry and fill three or four at a go. Long-handled surgical clamps are handy for this. Despite the tiny size, if I'm patient packing the batting into the juice to get a good soak, I can get several hours of vaping out of a cart.
Now that I have a PV I like, I'm totally getting why people do this. I don't know if that sounds weird or not, but I guess I mean I see why it's become it's own thing rather than just a stand-in for analogs. When I used the NJOY, I really didn't get it, you know? Probably because the NJOY was unpleasant to use, at least for me. But this time, I really feel the vaping as something different, something better to transition to, not just a replacement. This can totally turn into a hobby for me, and even with the extra stuff I'm buying, it's still immensely cheaper than cigarettes.
My body has really kicked in the detox process. Ugh. My face is breaking out, weird stuff comes out my nose (TMI?) via my sinuses, and I coughed up something I couldn't identify yesterday. I know I'm getting less nic than I was smoking (I underestimated my avg nic intake when I ordered my juice), so I'm having some withdrawals on top of it. I've ordered some higher-octane juice to minimize my chances of freaking out for a nic fix, but it won't be here for a few days at least. I'm hanging in there, though. I could get that extra nic from my analog cheats, but I don't want it that way - WIN!!! That right there is progress.
No, I'm not just rambling. I do have a question in the midst of my exposition. Knowing that I like the size of the SF/DSE-103 and have no issues with three-piece units with PIA carts, does anyone have any recs for what to try when the parts run out? I mean, I'm finding new sources every day so I may be worrying too soon. By the time the supply dries up, we could be looking at a whole new landscape of PVs - the industry is speeding along. I don't know of a retailer near me, so I can't really go try things out for myself, which sucks. I ordered my little darling before I found this place, so I wasn't aware of the general opinion of minis at the time, but I'm happy to report that this mini is keeping my "pack and a half a day" self quite satisfied. I suspect my attachment to it may be just as emotional in nature as my attachment to cigarettes - it's the PV that "got me there", so to speak. I don't want to part with it.
Wow, this is long, but I'm a writer, not an editor. Thanks to anyone who read the whole thing.
And if you skimmed... well, don't tell me. I'm fragile right now. 
