Struggling Newbie

[MissBoo]

Six weeks ago DH came home with a new ecig kit for himself and after over 45 years of smoking he hasn't had a cig since. A week later he brought a kit home for me to try. Didn't care for the taste of the juice but I could see the possibilities. Since then I've ordered at least 12 samples but still haven't had that "aha" moment many talk about. I have a couple I'm using that aren't bad, but I'm still smoking about a half pack a day. I have smoked lite or ultra lite menthols for at least 40 years.

Any suggestions any of you fine folk have to offer? Thank you!!

 

[Chimney34]

Welcome! Congrats on being able to cut back! That is an achievement so don't forget to celebrate it! I'd suggest stepping up your nic. If you're at 18mg try 24mg. I mainly vape at 18mg but I did need some 24 when I was getting started. You may find that this works better for you in general. Also, juice is very tricky but I recommend...if possible going to a local vape shop to see if they allow you to sample juice...a lot of them do. If that's not an option place a couple orders for sample or smaller bottles so that you can try them without investing in a huge bottle to only find you hate it. And make sure you put away what you don't like right now & allow it to steep for a week or 2. You may find that you actually like it once the flavors have had time to mature. Finding the right juice can be a bit of a chore but it's worth it once you do find a few that you love.

Oh & just my but stay away from the ADV -All Day Vape hype. Over a year in & I still don't have one & why should you have to...you've smoked the same thing everyday for over 40 years. Don't give up! It's not always a one & done situation & don't forget to celebrate all of the cigs that you haven't smoked!

 

[eebant]

The V2 menthol did it for me. Now I blend it with a B&M shop's menthol for the perfect taste. I smoked Marlboro menthols for God knows how many years!

 

[k702]

look for a brick and mortar store around you somewhere and go there. Most have a vape bar where you can test out a variety of flavors. You don't necessarily have to buy all your stuff from them, but it could give you a much better idea of what you'll end up liking if you go in and sit down for a while.

Protip: ask the person at the vape shop running the vape bar what they're favorites are.. You may not like them, but then again you may.

 

[MissBoo]

Thanks Chimney, I really appreciate the kind words. So many seem to post that they started ecigs and "poof" no smokes. As noted I'm hanging in there as I can see the possibilites. I'm using 12mg nic cause DH's 24 about choked me. Maybe the 18 would do the trick.
Thank you again!!

 

[jdm1982]

anything menthol with 24 mgs

 

[MissBoo]

Thanks k702, but I live in the middle of nowhere. The only B&M is where DH got the juice that tasted like chemicals to me.

 

[MissBoo]

anything menthol with 24 mgs

Looks like I need to find higher nic that doesn't make me cough.

 

[Susan W.]

Welcome to ECF!! You're doing fine. It's reasonable to cut back gradually. Just keep at it. Might try upping the nic level and see if that helps. There's also this juice - Whole Tobacco Alkaloids - aka WTA that is juice with real tobacco extraction in it. Most juices just have nicotine added and some need a little more to get off of cigarettes. There's lots of info here about WTA's.

 

[MissBoo]

Welcome to ECF!! You're doing fine. It's reasonable to cut back gradually. Just keep at it. Might try upping the nic level and see if that helps. There's also this juice - Whole Tobacco Alkaloids - aka WTA that is juice with real tobacco extraction in it. Most juices just have nicotine added and some need a little more to get off of cigarettes. There's lots of info here about WTA's.

Thanks Susan. I've been reading ECF like crazy for the last couple of weeks and I've see WTA mentioned. I might be one of those that will need that to get rid of that last half pack of smokes.

 

[Chimney34]

Thanks Chimney, I really appreciate the kind words. So many seem to post that they started ecigs and "poof" no smokes. As noted I'm hanging in there as I can see the possibilites. I'm using 12mg nic cause DH's 24 about choked me. Maybe the 18 would do the trick.
Thank you again!!

You are most certainly welcome! That's not always the case so please don't think you're alone in that. Figuring out what works best to help you quit can sometimes take a little trial & error. I think stepping up would do some good for sure. There's no absolute math to figuring out what nic you should use but I smoked a PAD to a pack & a half and 18 was recommended to me. Keep us posted on how things are going!

 

[cbrite]

MissBoo, now that you have your 5 posts in and can travel anywhere on the forum, go to the E-liquid discussion and ask for suggestions for juice vendors and juices. That part of the forum has cost me a lot of $$, so be careful there!

 

[jdm1982]

depending on your device and tank, you could experiment with using dfferent resistance coils and play with your voltage.perhaps a little lower voltage then your vaping at may help with harshness, as well as finding a higher vg rating juices.

 

[MissBoo]

MissBoo, now that you have your 5 posts in and can travel anywhere on the forum, go to the E-liquid discussion and ask for suggestions for juice vendors and juices. That part of the forum has cost me a lot of $$, so be careful there!

I haven't posted there, but I've certainly read ALOT over there in the last couple of weeks - it's put a dent in my wallet already. I guess I feel like I'm missing something that so many seem to have found already. Thank you for your help.

 

[edyle]

Your tastebuds do change when you start vaping so it can be a struggle finding a taste you can live with; don't give up

 

[MissBoo]

depending on your device and tank, you could experiment with using dfferent resistance coils and play with your voltage.perhaps a little lower voltage then your vaping at may help with harshness, as well as finding a higher vg rating juices.

No fancy device here. DH got me the ego-t. Now that I've tried more juices I'm trying to decide if I should look at a different device. Just not sure what I'm missing. Thank you much for the suggestions!!

 

[NealBJr]

Looks like I need to find higher nic that doesn't make me cough.

The two things that makes smokers cough, is throat hit, and the fact that vapor is denser than smoke. Throat hit is that sharp feeling in the back of your throat. You get that when you smoke a regular cigarette, but ecigs have an option to increase it or decrease it. Higher nicotine will increase it as well as a higher concentration of PG (Propylene Glycol). Everyone's tastes are different, but if vaping seems a bit rough, try lowering the PG part of it and raising the other part of the Ejuice which is VG(Vegetable Glycerine)

Another thing you can try right now, is lowering the density of the vapor. Next time you're vaping, try adding a bit of regular air into your draw at the same time you're inhaling. Just open up your lips just a bit on the side to mix it with regular air.. that tends to lower the strength of the vapor, but also lowers the flavor a bit as well. Give that a shot and see if it helps some.


And congrats on the cutdown. One last thing I think you should look into, is the effects of nicotine/smoking withdraw. Many people think it's a side effect of Ecigs, but it's actually your body healing itself. I've went through it, and it gets better. My sister started vaping, and when she experienced phlem, she thought it was an allergy or something and went back to smoking...... I felt like saying DOH... cause she was almost there. :/

Anyways... good luck and I hope that helps some.

 

[MissBoo]

The two things that makes smokers cough, is throat hit, and the fact that vapor is denser than smoke. Throat hit is that sharp feeling in the back of your throat. You get that when you smoke a regular cigarette, but ecigs have an option to increase it or decrease it. Higher nicotine will increase it as well as a higher concentration of PG (Propylene Glycol). Everyone's tastes are different, but if vaping seems a bit rough, try lowering the PG part of it and raising the other part of the Ejuice which is VG(Vegetable Glycerine)

Another thing you can try right now, is lowering the density of the vapor. Next time you're vaping, try adding a bit of regular air into your draw at the same time you're inhaling. Just open up your lips just a bit on the side to mix it with regular air.. that tends to lower the strength of the vapor, but also lowers the flavor a bit as well. Give that a shot and see if it helps some.


And congrats on the cutdown. One last thing I think you should look into, is the effects of nicotine/smoking withdraw. Many people think it's a side effect of Ecigs, but it's actually your body healing itself. I've went through it, and it gets better. My sister started vaping, and when she experienced phlem, she thought it was an allergy or something and went back to smoking...... I felt like saying DOH... cause she was almost there. :/

Anyways... good luck and I hope that helps some.

Thanks alot Neal, that actually makes sense. I haven't tried any variations on the PG/VG so maybe that would do the trick. And I think you're right on the healing part too. For most of my life I've smoked 2 packs a day and for the last 10 days it's been less than 1/2 a pack a day and my lungs seem to be in shock.

 

[NealBJr]

Thanks alot Neal, that actually makes sense. I haven't tried any variations on the PG/VG so maybe that would do the trick. And I think you're right on the healing part too. For most of my life I've smoked 2 packs a day and for the last 10 days it's been less than 1/2 a pack a day and my lungs seem to be in shock.

Well, what I went through, was first, the cough stopped... that happened fairly early. But, a month later, it seemed to come back. I did the research, and found out it was normal, and stuck with it.. It seemed like I was "clearing my throat" a lot for the next two months... then... it all dissapeared.

Once you fully quit the analogs, after a week, you'll realize that your smell is coming back. I noticed that once when I was at a grocery store, and I could actually smell the wood the registers were made out of. I walked outside, and I could smell winter, and the yogurt shop on the other end of the parking lot that had been closed for an hour. It's weird, but it's a very enlightening moment, and it's when there was no doubt that vaping is better than smoking.

I never planned to quit.. I only started vaping to have an option of "smoking indoors" when I fully quit analogs, and saw the changes in myself, it was like rediscovering things I lost 20 years ago. Imagine what you could smell before you started smoking... You may not remember it. But just today, the weather was nice, so I turned off the AC and opened the window. I could smell the grass our neighbor was cutting two houses down. was a nice feeling.

Heh, keep me in mind when you have that Ah-hah moment... I want to hear about it.

Good luck.

 

[MissBoo]

Thanks again Neal. It just may take longer for this old lady!!