stll trying to quit analogs

[Ryan Kelly]

hey all. if you've read my other posts you probably know that I'm 18 and I'm trying to quit my pack a day addiction to cigs using e cigs. i love vaping so much. not just as a means to quit cigs but as a hobby and a lifestyle in general. when i first got my e cig i was all for quitting and didn't touch a cig for over a week. unfortunately now i have slipped back into smoking analogs daily. i started smoking 1 or 2 a day which wasn't a huge concern for me seeing how i smoked a pack a day before but now I've begun smoking a lot, about 10 a day. i vape pretty much all day so its not like i have a craving for nicotine i just frequently have the urge to go outside and light up a cigarette. i don't understand what is making me so attracted to cigs. they don't taste as good as vaping, they make me wake up short of breath in the morning and clearly they are just terrible for my health. i still vape as much as i did before and i still want to quit cigs. does anyone have any tips for me on making the full switch to vaping? i know that 99.9% of it is self control and refusing to buy packs but everyone can use some tips and a little support. i really appreciate any help that i get. cigarettes took 2 of my grandparents from me and i realize that I'm still young and if i make a change now i shouldn't have any serious health effects from cigs later in life so for me its now or never. thanks guys. happy vaping!

 

[Renolizzie]

First of all, don't beat yourself up.

What level of nicotine juice are you using?

 

[28if]

Ryan, keep in mind that every cigarette you don't smoke is a victory. Don't dwell on the smokes you slip up on.

Vaping is the absolute best method for a lot of folks to give up smoking. However, it is not a silver bullet that once you push the button a few times your addiction is over. Time and your commitment play as large (if not larger) a role in quitting as the vaporizor itself.

As Renolizzie mentioned above, what nic level are you using? The right level will aid in the reduction of your dependency on cigarettes, too low a level may not completely squelch the urge.

You are 18 ~ so, 2 or 3 years smoking I assume?? I smoked for 37 years (a lot of uses here smoked about the same length or longer) and vaping ended my addition within a few weeks.

Give it time! Pat yourself on the back every time you vape instead of smoke and STAY positive!!!

 

[jefsview]

Hi. It's part of addiction is breaking habits, and forming new ones. Smoking cigarettes become a daily ritual for most, and the act of ritual is sometimes difficult to alter. Also, somewhere in the corner of your mind -- you don't want to really quit; you're afraid to "let go" fully and move ahead without that dependable, daily crutch.

I smoked for 30+ years before I tried ecigs. I had previously scoffed at the notion that it would have any effect. I had tried the patches, the gum, cold turkey but nothing took the edge off. Until I tried a cigalike, and knowing that there were bigger and better, i.e. more effective, gear available. Someone I followed on a Linux Youtube channel, who was a diehard smoker mentioned how he had quit with an EGO battery, so I knew they might be a viable option now. So with evidence that it helped another heavy smoker quit, I decided to try the cigalike. It took the edge off.

I went online and researched and found my EGO battery. And I knew then that I could quit. For good. I made a conscious decision that it could work, and although it was difficult, and the ecigs were fiddly, once that ego started kit came in the mail I never looked back and never smoked a cigarette again.

One year ago.

Do I miss smoking? Not now. I missed certain elements in the beginning. I hated that week with the cigalike and trying to keep them recharged, and even fell short a few times. And then a week after my Ego kit arrived and I was happy -- I lost my job.

I was so very tempted to say, "[you know]!!!!" and buy a pack on the way home. But I didn't.

Big life changing event and I made it without cigarettes 2 weeks after quitting and started vaping. I loaded up on vape gear with my last paycheck to survive the months of unemployment and was never happier.

In the end, it's a personal decision -- a moment of choice.

Best of luck and hope to see you elsewhere in the forums.

 

[Jackiej5407]

I will echo what the others have said: Don't be so hard on yourself, Ryan!

Something to keep in mind, too ... the addictive properties in a cigarette/analog are NOT just the nicotine. It's also the many other chemicals that are added in. WTA (whole tobacco alkaloids) might be something you should consider researching. But don't sweat it so much .... as long as your cig habit is cut down even a little, you've gained a great deal of your health back.

 

[Renolizzie]

Jefs - There are still quite a few days where I say to myself "Hey, you could buy a pack of cigarettes." So far, although it took me nine months to fully quit smoking, so far....I have not stopped to get that pack of smokes since May 18th of last year, it's been vape only for me. I just keep saying "Hey, vaping may not be smoking but it has done the trick. I don't really need to stop for those ciggies."

 

[Ryan Kelly]

thank you guys so much. i do feel proud of myself for at least cutting back. and someone asked to bum a cig from me when i was out earlier and just for the heck of it i gave him 3. and by the way I'm using 6 mg nicotine. i know that is on the low end but when you think about it, taking 4-5 pulls of 6 mg mic juice is way more nicotine then you would get out of any cigarette so i feel like if i go up to 12 or 18 I'm just making my addiction worse

 

[GreenEyesDon'tLie]

taking 4-5 pulls of 6 mg mic juice is way more nicotine then you would get out of any cigarette so i feel like if i go up to 12 or 18 I'm just making my addiction worse

There's a big difference in how it's absorbed between the two, so the numbers don't line up at all. I suggest any PAD smoker start around 18mg for the transition period, then move to 12 for a while, then consider going lower. Unless you're dripping at high wattage, 6mg just isn't going to scratch the itch.

And you should absolutely be proud of yourself for what you've done so far. You read a lot of stories about people who quit the first week they start vaping, but there are just as many people (myself included) that have to work for it. I've gone back and forth and everywhere in between over the last few years, but every analog avoided is a victory

 

[peraspera]

thank you guys so much. i do feel proud of myself for at least cutting back. and someone asked to bum a cig from me when i was out earlier and just for the heck of it i gave him 3. and by the way I'm using 6 mg nicotine. i know that is on the low end but when you think about it, taking 4-5 pulls of 6 mg mic juice is way more nicotine then you would get out of any cigarette so i feel like if i go up to 12 or 18 I'm just making my addiction worse

Not only are you not increasing your nicotine uptake as compared to what you smoked you are putting your body into nicotine withdrawal. Give yourself some well-deserved pats on the back for doing so well.

Nicotine absorption from cigarettes is much faster and more efficient that from using e-cigs. Dr. Farsalinos did a recent study using 18 mg. juice, Nicotine absorption from electronic cigarettes, that might help explain.

The more advanced, larger e-cigs are able to deliver almost twice as much nicotine and so are more satisfying and effective in reducing cravings, but even the advanced model used in this study delivered nicotine much more slowly and at less than half the levels obtained by smoking a regular cigarette. To put it another way, it took an hour of puffing on even an advanced electronic cigarette to obtain the same blood nicotine concentration that could be obtained by smoking a cigarette for 5 minutes.

Try some 18 mg. nic in the same flavor as your 6 mg. to see if that helps alleviate cravings. Too much nic will make you feel headachy, light-headed and/or nauseous. If the 18 mg. is too strong you can mix it half and half with the 6 mg. to get 12 mg.

 

[DKP#]

thank you guys so much. i do feel proud of myself for at least cutting back. and someone asked to bum a cig from me when i was out earlier and just for the heck of it i gave him 3. and by the way I'm using 6 mg nicotine. i know that is on the low end but when you think about it, taking 4-5 pulls of 6 mg mic juice is way more nicotine then you would get out of any cigarette so i feel like if i go up to 12 or 18 I'm just making my addiction worse

From my observation, it takes about 3mg of vaped nicotine to equal 1 full flavor cigarette, so you'd have to vape a half ml of 6mg to get what you would from one cigarette. Vaping also doesn't give you that instant satisfaction that a cig does because it lacks the additional chemicals to speed absorption. You may benefit from a stronger mix.

Some people can make the switch immediately, but I couldn't. It was a process for me. I found those last few were hard to leave behind. If you decide that that you are going to smoke a cig, put it off for 30 minutes while you vape. Then you either may lose the desire, forget, put it off longer or at least enjoy the cig less.

 

[SabrinaLHS8]

I would go up to 18mg but that's what I did. I also gave myself a Quit date for the cigarettes . Worked out great. Ive been vaping for 9 months and used both cigarettes and vape in the beginning and slipped twice since I gave them up completely. You might have set backs and So did I. I might have more in the future. But I love vaping and I love how much better I feel.

 

[Brandon_4078]

thank you guys so much. i do feel proud of myself for at least cutting back. and someone asked to bum a cig from me when i was out earlier and just for the heck of it i gave him 3. and by the way I'm using 6 mg nicotine. i know that is on the low end but when you think about it, taking 4-5 pulls of 6 mg mic juice is way more nicotine then you would get out of any cigarette so i feel like if i go up to 12 or 18 I'm just making my addiction worse

The absorption is different between the nicotine from smoke vs vapor (I won't scientist on you for the sake of length and my expertise is not biology). I'm 22 and I was a pack a day as well and at 24mg I still slip once in a while, no big deal. Just think of all the cigarettes your not smoking! You'll get there just don't give up!

 

[N00dl3s]

Definetly sounds like you need the higer nic juice. I started with 18mg myself.. Seems theres about a 2-3 week transition from cigs to vape only. Willpower is a part of it. And yes, things you do when ya go for a cig will be different. For me, the morning cuppa joe with a cig and after any meal was the hardest part. Still is to a degree, but its nowhere near as bad as it was. I didn't go with the extra alkaloid juice either. My thoughts on that were that I'm trying to AVOID all the crap in cigs but still get the nic i need.. I'm not going to add it back in.. I'll Grind it out n deal with it.. A bit over a month and a half later now, and i'm vaping exclusively. 33. years. of. smoking. DONE!!!!
Like you, I had a few here n there.. Untill after a full two weeks of vaping only, I happened to notice (amazingly enough) at just how bad a friend stank after coming back inside after having one.. Then i really started noticing it.. The stench is almost unbearable to me now.. Then i noticed food tasted better, things that smelled good smelled BETTER!!
Don't give up. Your in a far better position now than you were before. Get higher nic juice n go with it.. If I can do this after 30 years of pack to 2 packs a day, You can do this.

 

[Jahjah1121]

For me, honestly I just had to stop smoking. Sounds stupid but I held on to one or two and eventually I was smoking packs again. I had to just stop buying them all together and FORCE myself not to smoke. Not easy but accountability helps.


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[mostlyclassics]

Ryan, here's my experience with Vitamin N levels.

I had been smoking three packs per day of ultra-light 100s. At first, I tried 16 mg/ml., and that sort of did the trick. But in my first order I'd also included some 24 mg./ml. After a week of alternating between the two different strengths, the cravings were still definitely there. So, on my next order, I got some 32 mg./ml., and that worked. After about six months, I started to work my way back down to 16 mg./ml. I've tried lower concentrations since, but they don't work for me. So I stick with 16-18 mg./ml. But note that your mileage may vary and probably will.

Five very important things to remember:

1. There is almost no correlation between what you smoked and the concentration of Vitamin N you need now or will need in the future.
2. Unless you're one of the rare people with specific allergies, chain-vaping most likely won't hurt you, even long-term.
3. Overdosing on nicotine manifests with a whole panoply of alarming symptoms, all of which set in long before you even get within hollering distance of healtlh-threatening overdose.
4. Nicotine is no more harmful to a healthy person than is caffeine, and may be safer.
5. There is nothing morally "wrong" with being addicted to nicotine. About 16% of the general population is genetically susceptible to extreme nicotine addiction and there's nothing such people can do about it (lack of "will power" is emphatically not a factor — such people should consider themselves victims of their own physiology).

Good luck! You can do this!

 

[FireDragon1138]

Some things to consider:

1) cigarettes may taste bad, stain your teeth, eventually kill you... but they are much faster at delivering nicotine to your brain, and that makes them more addictive in itself

2) ordinary e-juice only has nicotine, whereas tobacco has a half-dozen psychoactive alkaloids that enhance the effect of nicotine.

3) some people may be addicted to byproducts of combustion, such as carbon monoxide or chemicals that inhibit monamine oxidase (which creates a feeling of well-being).

4) if you are going outside to smoke, you may be addicted to the break it provides, the change of pace, and the splitting up of your time into smaller segments. taking your e-cig outside might be the solution.

As others have said, e-cigs are not a magic bullet and they don't work for everyone. They seem to work best for people that have a need to always have a cigarette in their hand and a strong "oral fixation". They won't work as well for people that have strong withdrawl (such as depression or panic attacks) when they quit tobacco, which could be as many as half of all smokers.

 

[CountBoredom]

I'd also like to mention the importance of flavors: try choosing non-tobacco flavors. I think that part of the effectiveness of vaping in keeping people from going back to cigarettes is the contrast between how they taste (this may not apply to everyone, but it worked for me). To help the process, you can try to wait for your first cigarette of the day. Start the day off with vaping and see how far you can go without smoking. When you do actually decide to have a smoke, chain vape for five minutes before you do and then smoke the cig. This will make the contrast even stronger.

 

[Tom Fuller]

I'd also like to mention the importance of flavors: try choosing non-tobacco flavors. I think that part of the effectiveness of vaping in keeping people from going back to cigarettes is the contrast between how they taste (this may not apply to everyone, but it worked for me). To help the process, you can try to wait for your first cigarette of the day. Start the day off with vaping and see how far you can go without smoking. When you do actually decide to have a smoke, chain vape for five minutes before you do and then smoke the cig. This will make the contrast even stronger.

I must agree adamantly! I originally bought a few tobacco flavors and found it just wasn't the taste of a cig. So I tried a peach and easily was able to put down the cigs. I stopped trying to compare the two and just let the nic in. I find I am missing my alone time due to not smoking in the house, stepping out was a break from the wife/kids/work whatever. So I still vape in my man cave aka garage. I just choose not to pick up a cig. Stay strong and good luck young man. You can do anything you set your mind to. At least you didn't wait 25 years to quit.


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[Cloud Junky]

You need to cloud chase, you will love vaping more and stop with the stinkies, you are a youngster and have a whole life in front of you. I am 32 years old and have respiratory issues to include sleeping with a breathing machine. I started smoking when I was 17 and smoked until two years ago and the amount of money I sent would be in the millions including hospital and dental problems. Try to hang in there, if you think smoking helps with stress increase your ejuice level and invest in some good products like drippers and DNA-30 devices, smoking will not even be on your mind. Good luck and I hope you do not smoke anymore.

 

[sweetgypsea]

Some people can make the switch immediately, but I couldn't. It was a process for me. I found those last few were hard to leave behind. If you decide that that you are going to smoke a cig, put it off for 30 minutes while you vape. Then you either may lose the desire, forget, put it off longer or at least enjoy the cig less.

^^ what DKP said. Also, I want to add that nicotine cravings only last, on average, 3-4 minutes at a time. You may have a hundred of them a day, but if you can get through for 3 or 4 minutes at a time, you have kicked that craving to the curb.


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