Somewhat painful question to all ex-analog smokers

[house mouse]

For me, it turned out that I really wasn't a nicotine addict. I weaned down to 0mg without any difficulty. I will on occasion mix up a 2mg batch if I'm feeling draggy, but I think it's all in my head if that little amount of nicotine perks me up, and I'm just as happy with 0 nic. But I'm very much a hand to mouth addict. Actually, that's not even true. I'm a sensation addict. The sensation of inhaling something into my lungs is my driving force for continuing to vape. Even though I can vape 0mg nic for days or weeks on end, if I can't vape for a few hours I start getting edgy and need a 0mg fix. How bizarre is that? So, 2 years into this I've no intention to stop vaping. And frankly see no reason to. It's becoming something of a hobby with me now, with all the cool mods and rebuildables coming out. Harmless enough as I see it.

 

[zuzette]

misinformation is the problem for sure.
nic by its. self is less harmful than alcohol. yet we can buy beer in the supermarkets with lovely packages that appeal to kids. go figure.

 

[tdzrock]

misinformation is the problem for sure.
nic by its. self is less harmful than alcohol. yet we can buy beer in the supermarkets with lovely packages that appeal to kids. go figure.

Absolutely. Nicotine only gets bad press because it's the addictive ingredient in cigarettes. Correct me if I'm wrong but I always learned that nicotine was produced in small quantities in our bodies anyway. Absorbing some artificially would then make the gland (or whatever is producing it) lazy so it stop creating some...leading to our body and mind associating it with the act of smoking hence that "need" we have.

As for beer...well it's like everything "bad" we do, it's so deeply encrusted in our society that we don't even seriously consider banning them...alcohol, cigarettes, soft drinks, hunting/fishing, even cars to some extent. I know it sounds crazy but as human evolve, all theses things will disappear with time.

 

[Orobas]

1-So now that you've quit smoking analogs, what's your next step?

Continue not to smoke analogs. Keep vaping.

2-Do you start cutting back on the nicotine levels until you are at zero or do you simply keep on getting your nicotine from e-cigs?

I have no plans to unless i suddenly develop high blood pressure or something. Sure, nicotine isn't healthy for you, but when you've laid off something that contains things like formaldehyde as an additive, nicotine is probably one of the more innocuous substances in an analog.

3-Could you not vape for an entire day? How about a week?

I probably could. As I've said numerous times before, the urge to vape, while present, isn't as urgent as the need to smoke was. I wouldn't WANT to, but I could probably manage it without too many dead bodies.

4-Once you don't need nicotine anymore, would you....stop vaping entirely?

And then what would I do with myself? This has become one of my hobbies. What would I do with myself?!

 

[TulsaClint]

1-So now that you've quit smoking analogs, what's your next step?

Find more awesome, flavorful vapes.

2-Do you start cutting back on the nicotine levels until you are at zero or do you simply keep on getting your nicotine from e-cigs?

Keep on, keepin on.

3-Could you not vape for an entire day? How about a week?

Heh, easy one...nope.

4-Once you don't need nicotine anymore, would you....stop vaping entirely?

Why would I ever not need nicotine?
/QUOTE]


Really though, I think I could quit nicotine cold turkey more easily vaping 0mg than I could on a patch or other means of NRT. I'd even wager on the amount of cigs I'd smoke on a 24mg patch vs 12mg vape. Patch...3 or 4. Vape... NONE!

 

[Yves]

1-So now that you've quit smoking analogs, what's your next step?

I quit by accident when I got an e cig to use where I couldn't smoke. I enjoyed smoking. I smoked a PAD for 43 years. Now can't even think about going back to the stinkies!

2-Do you start cutting back on the nicotine levels until you are at zero or do you simply keep on getting your nicotine from e-cigs?

I started at 18mg and now I am at 12 mg, I plan to get to 0nic in 18 months but if it doesn't happen then that's no problem to me.

3-Could you not vape for an entire day? How about a week?

I think I am too addicted to the hand to mouth actions to miss out for a day, never mind a week. lol

4-Once you don't need nicotine anymore, would you....stop vaping entirely?

If I do get to 0 nic I still have no plans to stop vaping I enjoy it too much.

 

[mccrji]

I quit analogs within a couple of days of starting the e-cig! I have tried the gum, lozenges, patch, chantix, wellbutrin....everything and anything you can think of to quit and have never been successful until now! WooHoo! I'm very much addicted to the "action" of smoking. I have been able to cut my nicotine level down since I have started using the KGO. I'm not rushing this as I want to be successful in being analog free for the rest of my life! I highly doubt I will quit vaping, but one day I do want to get down to zero nicotine level. That is my goal, being completely free of nicotine. Why stop vaping when you can continue with zero nicotine??? Good luck to you!

 

[Racehorse]

Besides health, one of reasons I quit smoking was freedom. I dislike being tied to a pack of smokes. Live 30 mile R/T from a store, so sometimes I'd have to do that drive because I unexectedly ran out.

Plan: continue to vape, decreasing nic levels, til down to zero. I really want to be free of fiddling around with vaping stuff, too, eventually.

Life is all about freedom to me. Sometimes, I've paid someone to do some chores for me, just so I can free up to do something special out with my dogs or friends or something. Fewer possessions means less to take care of, too, and less chores.

at that point, I will place my ecig stuff over in PIF Treasure Chest, and gift it to the next person who needs it.

 

[Clovery]

1-So now that you've quit smoking analogs, what's your next step?
Keep vaping for now. After it's been 1 year I will re-evaluate.

2-Do you start cutting back on the nicotine levels until you are at zero or do you simply keep on getting your nicotine from e-cigs?
I tried going down from 12 mg to 6 mg, but it was too soon. I didn't go back to the cigs, but 6mg just wasn't satisfying enough and I started to get that panicky feeling you get when you are out of cigs.

3-Could you not vape for an entire day? How about a week?
I could definitely go a day, but I would be cranky about it. I would probably buy cigs, or at least some nic gum if I couldn't vape for a week.

4-Once you don't need nicotine anymore, would you....stop vaping entirely?
I'm not sure if I'll ever not need nicotine. I quit smoking entirely and had been off nicotine for 10 months, but all it took was one bad day and those cravings hit me hard and I went right back to being a PAD smoker.

 

[kiwivap]

1-So now that you've quit smoking analogs, what's your next step?
Vaping is my next step. I've been vaping since 4 days after I quit.

2-Do you start cutting back on the nicotine levels until you are at zero or do you simply keep on getting your nicotine from e-cigs?
I smoked for over 30 years. I'm not pressurizing myself about getting to zero nic after only 4 months. I vape 12 mg at the moment and it does me fine. When I feel like trying 6 mg I'll try it.

3-Could you not vape for an entire day? How about a week?
I haven't tried it. I expect I could go a day without if I had no choice.

4-Once you don't need nicotine anymore, would you....stop vaping entirely?
I'm not sure how much is about nicotine for me and how much is having something in my hand and inhaling/exhaling something. Anyway - can't answer this question as I've no idea how long I'll vape for. Early days.

 

[DaveP]

I don't have any plans to quit vaping. It satisfies the hand to mouth part of the smoking habit for me. I was a 2PAD+ smoker who found cold turkey to be a bad way to quit because of the urges from sudden change. When I first started vaping, my cigarette consumption dropped to 6-10 cigs a day during the first week.

I continued to smoke with coffee in the morning, one after each meal, and one or two before bedtime. I did that while vaping for two years. Somewhere along the line, I began to realize how much better vaping tasted as opposed to cigarette smoke. That realization led me to be convinced that I didn't need those last few cigarettes. One day, I decided not to smoke and I quit. What I discovered was that it was a non-event. Vaping satisfied my urges and I could even be around my wife when she smoked without wanting one. That was 3 months ago and I never looked back.

Getting your mind wrapped around quitting and getting the mental state established helps tremendously. Don't push it. Vape and smoke if you have to. Reduce the numbers and compare the flavors between smoking and vaping. If you are like me, you will eventually decide that vaping tastes better, gives you the nicotine you need, and satisfies the actions of smoking. When you get to that point, quitting is easy.

Another plus from quitting is that after a while, you find that your juices have more flavor. The ones that seemed bland acquire the taste you were looking for. Tobacco kills the taste buds.

This is your brain on nicotine

 

[RedForeman]

1-So now that you've quit smoking analogs, what's your next step?
There's a next step? I suppose it would be to continue refining my vaping equipment to get better more reliable and portable vapor. It's way more fiddly than smoking. Some day when I'm getting in my flying car, I'll have a cig sized PV that doesn't require filling or charging and never leaks while making endless, tasty, rock-concert fog. Some day.

2-Do you start cutting back on the nicotine levels until you are at zero or do you simply keep on getting your nicotine from e-cigs?
Probably the latter. I picked up vaping as a less harmful habit than smoking. I'd like to reduce the nic level, but it isn't something that keeps me up at night. I went all the way to 36mg juice to get to zero cigarettes. I recently got some better equipment. The resulting better vapor was giving me too much nic. My last juice order was 30mg and just right. So I did reduce, just not with the goal of quitting.

3-Could you not vape for an entire day? How about a week?
Yes but I wouldn't like it. On the upside, the craving isn't as powerful as it was when I smoked. An international flight would have my skin crawling before I could get out to the curb at the other end and light up. Probably a reaction to all that fresh air and oxygen in my blood. An extended time without vapor is easier to satisfy with stealth. Even if I couldn't do that, it's not as unsettling. I enjoy the act of "smoking" but am addicted to nicotine. So lapses are increasingly uncomfortable as they get longer.

4-Once you don't need nicotine anymore, would you....stop vaping entirely?
This assumes I am trying to kick nicotine, which I am not. So I really couldn't answer this.

 

[Carl0411]

1. Next step after analogs?
Continue vaping to my hearts content (unless it causes unknown heart issues, apart from the known nicotine blood pressure stuff)

2. Cutting back to zero?
I started at 24 mg a month ago, this week I'm on 6mg, I'll probably go all the way down to zero sometime, but I'm thinking that I'm more addicted to the habit of inhaling and exhaling vapor.

3. Not vape for an entire day?
I don't think so, atleast not yet anyway when I started to quit smoking, I was vaping practically every hour. Now I'm able to go a couple hours without it. Funny thing is though, if I leave the house and not have my PV with me, I get REALLY antsy. Even if I'm only gone for an hour or two. I've gone half a day without a vape, but that was cause I had my PV near me and I knew I could vape if I needed it. Possibly just a psychological thing for me, If it's there, I'm ok with not vaping for a few hours, but if it's somewhere I can't get to soon, then I start to panic and crave for it more. Now I understand why they call it my pacifier

4. Once you don't need nicotine anymore..?
Like I said, it's more of a psychological thing for me now, rather than a physical need for nicotine. I can probably go 0 nic sometime soon, but I will still need that inhale exhale habit. I think that's where my addiction lies. That and the awesome flavors!! It's like a treat or a chocolate craving i guess...

 

[Davenkay]

I am a nicotine addict and will try to cut down from 24 to a lower level. If I succeed, that's great, but if not I still have the satisfaction of stopping a very unhealthy and expensive way to feed the addiction. Besides I thoroughly enjoy the relaxing quiet time while vaping.

 

[echofinder]

1-So now that you've quit smoking analogs, what's your next step?

Enjoy my life.

2-Do you start cutting back on the nicotine levels until you are at zero or do you simply keep on getting your nicotine from e-cigs?

I am fine with nicotine; have not significantly lowered mg's.

3-Could you not vape for an entire day? How about a week?

Don't know exactly, but I have found it much easier to go without vape for longer in comparison to ana's.

4-Once you don't need nicotine anymore, would you....stop vaping entirely?

NEVER!

 

[tommy2bad]

Good questions!
I didn't start vaping to quit cigs, I did it to avoid the smoking bans, thought I'd vape where smoking wasn't allowed. guess what? never smoked after the first ecig, loved the taste and the fact that it was gadgety.
Next I spent the smoke savings on vaping stuff,
Cut the nic down from 24 to 10 cos I was getting nightmares from the high nic.
Don't mind going without if I buizy, used to have to stop stuff so I could smoke now I never notice any nic craving.
No I won't stop cos I'm a fidget and vaping keeps my hands doing something other than picking at things and rearranging the mags on the coffee table.

 

[mostapha]

1-So now that you've quit smoking analogs, what's your next step?

Playing with more toys. I'm researching mods and deciding whether to dip my toe in or go all-out, and I'm debating on getting something that's "good enough" soon, waiting to see if my dream PV comes out, or seeing about building it.

2-Do you start cutting back on the nicotine levels until you are at zero or do you simply keep on getting your nicotine from e-cigs?

I've cut back from 18mg/ml to 11mg/ml juice, but I still occasionally order 24mg/ml if that's the only strength of a flavor I want. I see no reason to quit nicotine given it's health benefits and negligible risks (similar to other stimulants).

The only reason I cut back my nicotine is so I can vape more during the day with less of a risk of feeling nicotine intoxication. I have no plans to get to 0mg juice.

3-Could you not vape for an entire day? How about a week?

If I had to, yes. But when I smoked, I'd often go a day or so without smoking because it wasn't appropriate where I was. I see no real reason why I'd have to go without for a week, and I'd have to find something else to do with my hands while I was waiting around for anything, but the same was true smoking.

4-Once you don't need nicotine anymore, would you....stop vaping entirely?

I have no plans to do so. I enjoy the meditative aspects of it; I enjoy tinkering with toys; I enjoy the flavors; I enjoy the sensations of tasting things without overeating; I enjoy the social aspects of it (and don't mind vaping around smokers most of the time); and I really enjoy having something ritualistic to do that takes my mind off of whatever I'm thinking about whenever I want.

My next step: more vaping.