Still smoking support and chat thread

[Equality 7-2521]

I'm gonna come out of my shell...I've been vaping for bout 2+ years...I've smoked for 40 years..2 packs a day..the first cartomizer i vaped I wound up smoking 5 cigarettes that day from 1 pack a day habit to 5 cigs in one day....I thought I had found my answer to kicking smoking....I was to go on to be a vaping fantic.I sooon got into gennys, and still prefer them over every other atty I've vaped.... drippers kayfuns ect...
but I continued to smoke alongside vaping...I tired WTAs and they worked great tasted bad..still I would find myself smoking cigs...I vaped pg/vg mixes but found out that I was sensitive to PG...it would build up in my system and after months I would suffer severe fatigue and body aches...I started vaping high or all VG juice which I didn't like that much...I am a very experinced vaper and like trying any and all developments in vaping attys, wicking materials, builds.....
lately I find myslef smoking more and more and vaping less and less....
I am looking for any advice on how to stay off the cigs. I'd love to just vape.

 

[aikanae1]

Convienence was very important to me. Skip the coiling and drippers, I needed to have something as convienent as a cigarette. Then I had to bite the bullet and leave the pack (security blanket) at home. The car was the first non-smoking area and now my home is too. But the idea of leaving the house without a pack was terrifying at first. I survived painlessly. It was just the idea of being without a pack. It's been a crutch for so long that I think to a certain extent my identity was caught up with smoking - sorta like the ones who hang out in the back of the bus / airplane and laugh more. The non-smokers would read books, keep to themselves and were boring. The identity as a smoker was a tricky one to confront for me.

IMO, not all WTA's are equal. I had to settle on Aroma's even though the others were less $, Aroma worked better for me. I liked Whole Cigs too, but didn't cut the cravings as well. MM doesn't feel like a WTA imo.

 

[brickman7]

I smoked for over 40 years and 30 of those were habitual...meaning I had to have a cigarette. I was smoking 3 packs of Pall Mall Menthol 100s a day for the last 10 years and for the past year and a half, I stopped smoking inside and I cut down to 2 packs a day. I smoked a cigarette every 30 minutes of every hour that I was awake. On 01/05/2015 I smoked my last cigarette and started vaping 18mg strength juice. I then found out that I was as hooked on smoking situations and the act of smoking as much as I was to the nicotine. I could stop the craving of nicotine but I still had the habit of going outside every 30 minutes. Breaking that habit took about a week and I could not believe how hard that could be. I still crave a cigarette sometimes, but I vape and it stops and I've broken the situation conditioning completely. I will never smoke a cigarette again. I find the smell sickening and I can't believe how bad I stank for 40 years!!!!! I am an example of someone that tried many times and ways to stop smoking but never could. If I can stop smoking by vaping, anyone can!! Don't light that cigarette, hit your vaper, and get your mind off of what triggered you to smoke and it will work for you. YOU CAN DO IT!!!!

I have found, after buying so much juice, that SmokeCignals.com's 18mg Mans Tobacco which I mix with their 18mg Mans Menthol Tobacco (both 65pg 35vg) is the only juice that works for. I don't juice exotics, I just don't want to smoke damn cigs!!!!

 

[ShariR]

MAJOR Congratulations for 6 months!!! I knew you would get there. Keep it up.

I just wanted to announce how absolutely DELIGHTED I am to now be 6 months smoke-free. You people, WTA, and ECF as a whole, have made it possible, right along with the e-cigs themselves. I never expected to ever be smoke-free, so this is pure serendipity, and I am GRATEFUL!

Any of you still struggling, hang in there, because it's so worth it. Just don't stop vaping, no matter what.


Andria

 

[AndriaD]

I stress smoke so it just didn't make sense to add to that with expectations I'll never smoke again. That seemed to make it worse. I prefer the approach of choosing to vape over smoking - which also means an addiction to vape mail (so much for saving $). It's worth it to be smoke free (as much as poss). I also have pre-existing lung disease and the difference is amazing.

Same here, exactly -- which is why I still have that last open pack in a ziplock in the freezer (behind my nic stash! ); as long as that is there, then I have an option -- I really don't want to smoke, I'd far rather vape, but when I'm coerced, pressured, even by something like having no cigarettes in the house, I have a distressing tendency to cut off my own nose to spite my face -- get so angry about being forced like that (not having any in the house) that the first thng I want to do is SMOKE! So I won't go there; I'll keep that pack in there for 10 yrs if I have to. I choose to vape, and the presence of that partial pk is what makes it a choice.

Andria

 

[loxmythe]

 

[xena222]

Same here, exactly -- which is why I still have that last open pack in a ziplock in the freezer (behind my nic stash! ); as long as that is there, then I have an option -- I really don't want to smoke, I'd far rather vape, but when I'm coerced, pressured, even by something like having no cigarettes in the house, I have a distressing tendency to cut off my own nose to spite my face -- get so angry about being forced like that (not having any in the house) that the first thng I want to do is SMOKE! So I won't go there; I'll keep that pack in there for 10 yrs if I have to. I choose to vape, and the presence of that partial pk is what makes it a choice.

Andria

I seem to only ever want a smoke when I wake up, or when I am stressed, and well, I am about as anxious as they come...so every day takes a little effort...I keep that ancient pack of smokes in my old purse - if I tell myself never and no, I am toast...LOL, but no slips since the 4 puff ordeal. Weird thing is though, I have been having dreams about smoking!! It just started in the last couple weeks, and it is giving me a rough time in the morning BUT being me, I found a solution, I will just never sleep...sounds crazy, but I have seriously been awake almost 48 hours....not good, okay...I am going to take my nite nite pill and give sleeping a try again

 

[AndriaD]

I seem to only ever want a smoke when I wake up, or when I am stressed, and well, I am about as anxious as they come...so every day takes a little effort...I keep that ancient pack of smokes in my old purse - if I tell myself never and no, I am toast...LOL, but no slips since the 4 puff ordeal. Weird thing is though, I have been having dreams about smoking!! It just started in the last couple weeks, and it is giving me a rough time in the morning BUT being me, I found a solution, I will just never sleep...sounds crazy, but I have seriously been awake almost 48 hours....not good, okay...I am going to take my nite nite pill and give sleeping a try again

Did you ever try out the WTA? I've found that sometimes dreams are a communication between the brain and the mind -- your brain may be trying to tell you, there is still something missing, that it needs. Sometimes it's very hard to tell the difference between a "longing" -- something you miss -- and a craving -- something you need.

Recently I had one of those "smoking dreams;" in it, I was in the car, puffing a cigarette right down to the filter, and I suddenly realized -- hey, what am I doing this for, I don't do this anymore! And I have a clear memory of, in the dream, grinding it out like my life depended on it!

Andria

 

[etherealink]

Hey folks, sorry I've been gone for a while but I'm back... mostly.

Hope everyone is doing well and still counting the days.

 

[xena222]

Did you ever try out the WTA? I've found that sometimes dreams are a communication between the brain and the mind -- your brain may be trying to tell you, there is still something missing, that it needs. Sometimes it's very hard to tell the difference between a "longing" -- something you miss -- and a craving -- something you need.

Recently I had one of those "smoking dreams;" in it, I was in the car, puffing a cigarette right down to the filter, and I suddenly realized -- hey, what am I doing this for, I don't do this anymore! And I have a clear memory of, in the dream, grinding it out like my life depended on it!

Andria

Andria...dont laugh at me but I still have no idea what WTA is...LOL!!! I see it all the time, but never thought to ask....see, in your dream, you crushed it out I remember in the dream thinking I don't smoke anymore, but I had a new pack, and someone was trying to give me a box of cartons of cigarettes, LOL....I took them, but I only smoked one in the dream, so I had this box full of cartons of smokes?? LOL, I did wake up feeling like I wanted a smoke, but it passed in a couple hours, but the dream kind of stuck with me...any wisdom from the dream dictionary on that crazy thing???

 

[AndriaD]

Andria...dont laugh at me but I still have no idea what WTA is...LOL!!! I see it all the time, but never thought to ask....see, in your dream, you crushed it out I remember in the dream thinking I don't smoke anymore, but I had a new pack, and someone was trying to give me a box of cartons of cigarettes, LOL....I took them, but I only smoked one in the dream, so I had this box full of cartons of smokes?? LOL, I did wake up feeling like I wanted a smoke, but it passed in a couple hours, but the dream kind of stuck with me...any wisdom from the dream dictionary on that crazy thing???

Hmmm... Not really sure; it's always been my understanding that no one can interpret our dreams for us, we have to do it, because only we know what is REALLY going on in our heads at any given time. But just to take a wild stab... it's like something was saying, you want to smoke? Here, here's a TON of cigarettes to REALLY weigh you down -- but as I said, maybe that's just MY interpretation, because to me, cigarettes felt like a 50 ton ball-and-chain I had to drag around with me, every step I took. But only you can decide what that ton of cigarettes signified to you.

WTA is whole tobacco alkaloids... nicotine is 90%-95% of it, but the other 5%-10% are anabasine, anabatine, nornicotine, and the MAOIs harman and norharman. Those MAOIs are the likeliest culprits when one is struggling with emotional issues with quitting; depression, anxiety, stress, etc. But the other alkaloids can be stumbling blocks too; I'm pretty sure it was the anabatine that my body was craving in the aftermath of my appendectomy; there's been some studies done with anabatine as an anti-inflammatory, and I think that anti-inflammatory effect is what those with colon-type issues are getting from smoking -- IBS, ulcerative colitis, or in my case, post-appendectomy ........ that just WOULD NOT STOP -- I have IBS too, and the surgeon said that my IBS is why I had such terrible post-surgery illness, and I think it's also why the cravings hit me so hard -- any least little thing that "bothers" my colon, makes me horribly sick; cutting off a chunk of it (plus the sepsis that necessitated the surgery!), well that was just not to be tolerated, by my finicky colon!

Andria

 

[AndriaD]

I had to come and post in here, because, out of curiosity, I did the "sigbanner" thing... and was delighted to find that I have been smoke-free for 200 days!!! 4000 cigarettes NOT SMOKED! That's TWENTY CARTONS! At over $50/carton, that's over a THOUSAND DOLLARS that didn't go up in smoke!

I know I haven't spent $1000 on vape gear; maybe about $500-$600 in the year that I've vaped, and out of that $500-$600, there's at least $400 in hardware that I still have!

So, I'm only 165 days till making a year smoke-free!

Andria

 

[Thayamax]

Congratulations, Andria! You've hit a great milestone in vaping success. Keep up the good work. It'll be a year before you know it.

 

[Rotowoman]

Good on you, Andria!! I'm still struggling, and I don't really think I have any more thought processes.

 

[xena222]

I had to come and post in here, because, out of curiosity, I did the "sigbanner" thing... and was delighted to find that I have been smoke-free for 200 days!!! 4000 cigarettes NOT SMOKED! That's TWENTY CARTONS! At over $50/carton, that's over a THOUSAND DOLLARS that didn't go up in smoke!

I know I haven't spent $1000 on vape gear; maybe about $500-$600 in the year that I've vaped, and out of that $500-$600, there's at least $400 in hardware that I still have!

So, I'm only 165 days till making a year smoke-free!

Andria

Oh YAY Andria!!! I am so proud of you!! You are the comeback kid!!! So awesome!! I will be here to celebrate that 1 year mark with you!!

That dream?? hmmm..I think it does relate more to me just wanting a cigarette sometimes - when I smoked, that box of cartons would have made my day. I made all my smokes, and well, they sucked...but I couldn't afford to buy them. Maybe I should think about that WTA thing??? How does that work??

I mean, I am vaping and not smoking all the time, no smokes except for my screw up puffs...I don't really have craving for nicotine, I just can't put my finger on it, like what is my problem?? Grrr...I just miss smoking?? I may always have to feel like this, and I am not crazy about it, but I am determined anyway...that couple puffs didn't make it better, I just felt guilty...

 

[AndriaD]

Oh YAY Andria!!! I am so proud of you!! You are the comeback kid!!! So awesome!! I will be here to celebrate that 1 year mark with you!!

That dream?? hmmm..I think it does relate more to me just wanting a cigarette sometimes - when I smoked, that box of cartons would have made my day. I made all my smokes, and well, they sucked...but I couldn't afford to buy them. Maybe I should think about that WTA thing??? How does that work??

I mean, I am vaping and not smoking all the time, no smokes except for my screw up puffs...I don't really have craving for nicotine, I just can't put my finger on it, like what is my problem?? Grrr...I just miss smoking?? I may always have to feel like this, and I am not crazy about it, but I am determined anyway...that couple puffs didn't make it better, I just felt guilty...

There's those minor alkaloids and MAOIs, and some people (myself included!!!) seem just as addicted to those as to the nicotine, if not moreso -- I've never been able to vape more than 11mg nicotine without it making me sick, but for a while, and even now to a lesser degree, I just can't do without the WTA. Some people only vape it when they feel that particular whatever-it-is; I've just been adding it to everything I vape. For 5 months, it was 10% of my ejuice; January, it was 9%, this month, 8%. And I think I experienced a tiny bit of "withdrawal" pangs the other day; I was struggling a little bit with vaper's tongue, one of those days when nothing really tastes right, though at least my strawberries and cream was still ok, but it just seemed like I couldn't vape enough. Once I figured it out, I calmed down, and just vaped. If that's the worst it gets, I can deal.

There's 3 places to get WTA:

aromaejuice.com -- most expensive, but they more or less invented the stuff;
wholecig.com -- mid-priced; theirs is clear and odorless; they have unflavored, 'kiss of sweet', and 'tobacco' flavored;
mothersmilkwta.com -- the least costly, but theirs is dark and very smoky smelling, which is fine for tobacco vapes, not so much for sweet vapes.

I get the 25mg unflavored from wholecig, and the 24mg unflavored (though it's kinda smoky flavored actually) from mothersmilkwta.

Andria

 

[Rotowoman]

I'm still hanging in there. I'm not smoking any more, but I'm not smoking any less either. I'm at about half a pack a day. I'm not going to gripe because I was at 2 packs a day not that long ago. I just can't seem to let go............she says as she draws a huge puff off the vape.

 

[AndriaD]

I'm still hanging in there. I'm not smoking any more, but I'm not smoking any less either. I'm at about half a pack a day. I'm not going to gripe because I was at 2 packs a day not that long ago. I just can't seem to let go............she says as she draws a huge puff off the vape.

Some of us just take longer to let go of something that's been our "friend" for so many years. But "harm reduction," right? You've reduced a lot of your own harm, by cutting down so drastically! Don't sweat it, don't pressure yourself, that will just stress you out so much you want a cigarette! That was me, and to some extent, still is -- if I didn't have that partial pk in the freezer, I'd be here all day with no vehicle, no way to get any cigarettes, and that would piss me off and panic me so badly, I'd be demanding a trip to Walgreens the minute my husband hit the door! I choose to not smoke... but if someone took that choice away from me... I'd smoke!!! Not one doubt about that in my mind.

Andria

 

[TxTigger]

I had posted this in the New Members section and was referred to ya'll over here, so I just cut and pasted to get my basic dilemma out of the way.

Hey Everybody,
I prefer to just lurk around in the shadows and find my answers on my own but I've been doing that and I'm still not getting what i want. I really need to quit smoking but I can't seem to get the throat hit I need to give up my cigarettes. I've cut down A LOT, but I want to stop. I read that nicotine and voltage and Ohms and PG/VG ratio all have something to do with throat it. I've gone from a 510 to an EGO to a 1600mAh Vision Spinner 2 set at 3.8V or 4.3V with a 2.4 Ohm coil in a 2.5 ml ProTank that I'm vaping juices that are made up with 24 nicotine and 75PG/25VG. I changed from 50/50 to 75/25 hoping to increase throat hit and all of those things did help but it's just not enough to get me to give up those nasty analogs. I recently found out that I have a health condition that really requires me to quit. Anyhow, any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm on a fixed income so I don't have a lot of money. However, I am expecting a small refund soon. I have an old dog that has health problems too that cost me money and I'd buy his meds before I'd by me food. He's a very good dog and I don't know what I would do without him.

Sincerely,
TxTigger

 

[Topdogie01]

I had posted this in the New Members section and was referred to ya'll over here, so I just cut and pasted to get my basic dilemma out of the way.

Hey Everybody,
I prefer to just lurk around in the shadows and find my answers on my own but I've been doing that and I'm still not getting what i want. I really need to quit smoking but I can't seem to get the throat hit I need to give up my cigarettes. I've cut down A LOT, but I want to stop. I read that nicotine and voltage and Ohms and PG/VG ratio all have something to do with throat it. I've gone from a 510 to an EGO to a 1600mAh Vision Spinner 2 set at 3.8V or 4.3V with a 2.4 Ohm coil in a 2.5 ml ProTank that I'm vaping juices that are made up with 24 nicotine and 75PG/25VG. I changed from 50/50 to 75/25 hoping to increase throat hit and all of those things did help but it's just not enough to get me to give up those nasty analogs. I recently found out that I have a health condition that really requires me to quit. Anyhow, any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm on a fixed income so I don't have a lot of money. However, I am expecting a small refund soon. I have an old dog that has health problems too that cost me money and I'd buy his meds before I'd by me food. He's a very good dog and I don't know what I would do without him.

Sincerely,
TxTigger

Hiya! welcome.

more throat hit.. hmm. you could try some 1.8 ohm heads for the protank. but it will also be a bit warmer vapor. you could also try adding a drop or two (or more if you think its not enough after you tried the one drop in the tank) of PGA (not sure if ECF will tag that or not. Pure Grain Alcohol, if it doesnt tag it for mouseover) can give a higher throat hit. you can also try cinnimon flavors, some citrus flavors have higher throat hits (im looking at you delicious, pink lemonade!) or maybe a menthol? or maybe even koolada (chilling effect of menthol without the minty flavor, little bit will have a chilling effect. alot will give a burning effect [ask me how i know.. i accidently used about 15x what my recipie called for.. never doing that again!]).

id start with the 1.8 ohm coil and see if that helps, if not you could try the menthol flavors or citrus flavors.