Tell Your Vaping Story Here

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Pugzley

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Sep 7, 2009
1,062
10
USA
I saw a suggestion in another thread that we need a place to tell our story about vaping and I think it is a wonderful idea.

Here's my story.

At the end of May of this year, my husband was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. He smoked maybe 2 cigs at night, sometimes a few more if he was stressed. He quit cold turkey immediately. But I, being a heavy smoker, didn't give mine up because of many reasons. First, I didn't want to. I liked smoking, even though it was starting to take it's toll on my body.

We are proactive when presented with a problem. So, the first thing we did was join a gym and started going 4x a week. We've not skipped a beat yet, that was 5 months ago next week. The other immediate thing we did was ditch all sugar and high fructose corn syrup and processed foods out of our diet and are sticking with that.

Through all of this, I continued to smoke. I couldn't get the results I wanted through diet and exercise, I started to realize how bad the cigs were and had no idea how to get off of them without going insane, gaining 200 lbs and dying of a heart attack from obesity, even with the diet changes, I KNEW I would have a horrible time with weight gain. I've tried quitting before, no matter the method, I gained weight as fast as a freight train can rumble down railroad tracks.

Enters the miracle. A friend of mine called one day and told me about the e-cig. I was skeptical. I said if it works for you, call me in a month and let me know and then I'll think about getting one. So, sure enough, she called me back and she had quit cigs. So, she hooked me up with a mod and all the stuff I needed and the sources to get them. I ordered.

When I got the mod, I didn't believe it would work. No way, not when nothing else worked before. But the past does not equal the future, so I tried it.

The first day, I was down to about 4 cigs a day. I had some battery issues and ended up smoking a lot of cigarettes for a few days. Oh, man, I could tell it in my lungs and everything else. Once, my battery issues were fixed, I could vape with confidence, that I wouldn't have to fall back on cigs. So, I managed to cut out all cigs but 2 a day with my coffee. I went to war with myself over those 2 cigarettes in the morning and hung onto them for a whole month before giving them up.

One day, I just said: Self, let's try to pick up the vaporizer and not do the cigs, and I promise if it's too hard, you can smoke the cigs.

Well, I did it and it was fine. That was 26 days ago today and I've been completely smoke free.

Of course, the story didn't end there. I found V4L and am REALLY loving the vaping now, the convenience, the caring customer service and the great support on this board are everything I need to keep me off cigarettes forever.

I truly believe that this has saved my life and freed me from the worry of pulling an oxygen cart or dying a lingering death from lung cancer or emphysema.

I will never smoke again, as long as I have my e-cigs to pull me through.

If I couldn't have my e-cigs... it would be the most tragic thing that could possibly happen to my health as of today.

None of us know what the future will bring for sure, but as someone's avatar says on the e-cig forum: For more information on lung cancer, continue smoking cigarettes. (paraphrase)

I'm so happy to have found the friends I have on this board. You are all so wonderful and helpful and kind.

Thank you.

(sorry post is so long).
 

martha1014

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Apr 8, 2009
1,961
37
72
Delhi, LA USA
I guess most stories are about the same. I never wanted to quit smoking no matter how it affected me. I had already developed COPD and was on breathing treatments 4 times a day. Every time I lit a cigarette I would have a coughing spasm. I pretty much coughed all the time. My husband is an ex smoker and was overly concerned about my health. A few years ago I developed pneumonia with several complicatons and stayed in ICU on a ventilator for 11 days. They really didn't expect me to live. I didn't smoke for a month mostly due to the fact I was in the hospital most of that time but as soon as I got home I started smoking again. My husband actually left me when I started smoking again. Of course he returned but never quit complaining.

Then finally my husband found ecigs. He discussed it with me and I was no even listening to him. He went to the local Pilot and bought me one. I agreed to at least try it. I found out that it wasn't that bad. I still smoked a regular cigarette once day. Then I decided to do my own research. I found this forum. I began to read and learn. I switched from my initial Nipro and to Joye 510. I loves it and never smoked another cigarette.

I love to buy ecig stuff. I have been vaping 6 1/2 months and have spent over 5000.00 and I am still buying. My husband and family are so proud of me. There never thought I would quit smoking.

Ecigs have been a life saver for me. I continue to read the forum and learn something new every day. Thanks to all of the dedicated members of this forum. I can't express my graditude for all of your support.
 

AZAndy

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Sep 3, 2009
266
0
68
Prescott, Arizona, USA
I had already quit smoking, on January first, but hadn't given up tobacco. I was getting my nicotine from smokeless and nasal snuff. Was introduced to the e-cig on 09/01 by an Njoy rep (I'm the tobacco-category buyer for a chain of c-stores), who set me up with an Ncig (801). I continued to use both tobacco and the Ncig through September. Found this forum and read up on the two-piece type. Got a VK around 10/01 and haven't used tobacco since. (Also retired the 801 immediately; jeez, what a pain in the .... that thing was; bad wicking, so I had to drip while driving all the way from AZ to OH and back.)

Thanks to the various posts in this subforum, I've learned to clean and refill cartomizers and have about 400ml of juices stockpiled.

Now that I'm in the V4L cult, I have found equanimity, reside in peace, and am one with the cosmos. I have also developed psychic powers, like knowing when it's time to place another order.
 

Sheryl

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Aug 30, 2009
1,021
34
Minn., USA
I've talked about my health in other threads, so won't put you through that again. I started with the 510, and still use it as I try to master the VK. They are totally different machines, so have to get over the learning curve. I love the PT with the VK, the warm vapor is exceptional. I like the vapor with the 510. I just have to perfect operation of it. My hubby quit smoking 10 years ago, (1st g.child was born) he has been after me forever to quit. Following health problems, then non-stop pneumonia like symptoms, I knew I had to do something. I actually learned about this on the gold box page of Amazon, came to the ECF, and the rest is history. I really like the 2 pc system, I need to get the use down, then I will give my 510's to my sister to see if she can stop smoking.
 

Fiberweaver

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Oct 2, 2009
111
0
IL
I’ve been a heavy smoker for 46 yrs. 2 packs on good days, to 4 on stressful days. No one ever knew how much I really smoked. If asked I would say a pack, didn’t want the lectures. Let me put it this way, not one friend or family member ever expected me to quit, I was a hard core smoker and would have a cigarette in my hand when I died.

Oh and did I mention I was coughing up a storm, whizzing and forget taking a deep breath???

In July the Dr gave me Nicotrol, 165.00 later that is sitting in the closet collecting dust. Tasted terrible!!!! On Sept 14th I started doing research online. I spent hours each day reading forums and websites watching videos. Each time I would think I found the right e-cig and company to buy from I just couldn’t place an order. The bottom line of why I couldn’t push that submit button—if this didn’t work I would have failed and I would never ever attempt to quit smoking again, this had to be the right choice for me, my life depended upon it. Thankfully on Sept 26th I found the V4L sub-forum and I think I read every post. Sounded like V4L was a company that really stood behind their product, they are located in IL (I live in IL) and if this was all a scam I could find them… What meant the most to me was reading about all the others on the V4L forum who had quit smoking. How great the service and warranty was and everyone seemed to love Steve and Mark. You don’t get that unless you are doing things right. Reading others stories gave me a little hope.

I placed an ordered on the 29th of Sept with V4L. I got my order Oct 1st at 1:30 pm. Charged it up and at 2:30 pm I started puffing. 2 hours later I actually started to cry because I new right then that I could stop smoking. I have been smoke free now for 24 days and I told a friend yesterday that I will never ever smoke another cigarette again in my life. I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful I felt after saying that.

Oh and did I mention I haven’t coughed in 22 days no whizzing and breathing so much better now!!!

One of the things I discovered about me was I had to get all the cigarettes out of my house. Not to play mind games with myself like, I could keep them in the car in the garage and I wouldn’t touch them. Not me. I did go for my cigarettes late at night in the dark. The e-cig was working for me but it was that wonderful old friend wanting to be back in my hands. My nicotine needs, hand to mouth, and seeing the smoke coming from my mouth addiction was totally covered by the VK. People have smoked around me over the past few weeks, one did it just to see if I would say give me one, I did not even think about it and thankfully I hated the smell.

Thanks to a wonderful simple to use V4L e-cig, a great bunch of people on this forum and an outstanding company who cares that we quit smoking, I have become a non-smoker. In fact I have turned a few of my friends on to V4L and they are now smoke free and here in our little town (1200 people) we are spreading the word and people are asking for info so much so that we will be soon known as Vaporville IL.
 
Last edited:

JenJen

Vaping Master
ECF Veteran
Aug 27, 2009
3,247
432
Sunny Arizona
Well, I smoked roughly a pack a day for more then half my life. I was one of the lucky ones I guess since I had no health issues to speak of, but I hated the control that smoking had over my life. And since it is now almost legal to stone smokers to death here in California, even when I was smoking it wasn't enjoyable. But I couldn't stop. I quit several times, once for 3 years, but always went back to the smoking. My mother is one of those obnoxious anti smokers so I never smoked in front of her. I didn't want to hear it lol. She was head nurse in ICU and would tell me about people who had to have their larnyx removed and would still smoke through a hole in their neck. Sadly, I could easily see myself being one of those people.

I went to a smoke shop to pick up a carton of cigarettes and spotted an e-cig. It was a pen style, I still have no idea what brand it actually is lol. It didn't do it for me, but I could see the potential and the $150 was money well spent in my mind since it made me start researching and brought me to the ECF. I immediately bought a 510 starter kit and was off and running. I even bought 2 more for my brother in laws. Over 300 dollars later, I realized that the 510 was way more work then I wanted, although it did get me off the cigs. More investigation and after reading posts from others here (Phoenix and Sym in particular, and of course Fisherpals bra video lol) I decided to jump in and order the Vapor King. That was the best decision I ever made! I loved it! Even more so when they came out with the manuals and the extra long manual. I loved the VK so much more that I couldn't bring myself to give my brother in laws the 510s, so bought them each Ultimate Ultimatium kits. Also bought mini PCC kits with extra batteries and cartos for my sister, my aunt, and 2 friends. I just wanted everyone I care about to discover these and stop smoking! I lend out batteries and cartos to people I know so they can try them too.

V4L provides wonderful customer service and you feel that Steve and Mark really care! That is huge! An extra perk is the support and friendships I have found here on the V4L forum! You are all very special to me, and I am happy to be able to share and learn from you all!

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it! ;)
 

Sheryl

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Aug 30, 2009
1,021
34
Minn., USA
I don't mind, but I'll add to it. I smoked Kools for 40 years, anywhere from 1-3 packs a day. The day I rec'd my e-cig, I quit smoking. I still had urges, but don't anymore. I'm a nurse, I've watched many people suffer/die from COPD, it isn't a pretty sight. The e-cig takes care of the need for hand to mouth, watching "smoke" after dragging, etc. My oncologist was happy that I took this route vs cont. smoking.
 

leeshor

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Aug 6, 2009
1,295
45
Norcross, GA
Not sure about what the rules are about printing things off the forum is so, I will ask--I need to take some good stories about smokers with me tomorrow to my Dr. so he can give them to his mom who smokes as much as I did. Would those of you who posted to this thread mind if I printed out your stories?

I think it's great that you asked, but in reality this is a public forum and as such none of the content is protected, (that can be good and bad at the same time depending on your perspective).

In reality I think nearly everyone participating in this sub-forum would be more than happy to find out that their story helped someone else to quit.
 

lady9ball

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Aug 5, 2009
132
0
Iowa
What a fantastic story, made my eyes well up reading it! Congratulations to you!!! If only the rest of the world realized what a life-saver these things are.

I’ve been a heavy smoker for 46 yrs. 2 packs on good days, to 4 on stressful days. No one ever knew how much I really smoked. If asked I would say a pack, didn’t want the lectures. Let me put it this way, not one friend or family member ever expected me to quit, I was a hard core smoker and would have a cigarette in my hand when I died.

Oh and did I mention I was coughing up a storm, whizzing and forget taking a deep breath???

In July the Dr gave me Nicotrol, 165.00 later that is sitting in the closet collecting dust. Tasted terrible!!!! On Sept 14th I started doing research online. I spent hours each day reading forums and websites watching videos. Each time I would think I found the right e-cig and company to buy from I just couldn’t place an order. The bottom line of why I couldn’t push that submit button—if this didn’t work I would have failed and I would never ever attempt to quit smoking again, this had to be the right choice for me, my life depended upon it. Thankfully on Sept 26th I found the V4L sub-forum and I think I read every post. Sounded like V4L was a company that really stood behind their product, they are located in IL (I live in IL) and if this was all a scam I could find them… What meant the most to me was reading about all the others on the V4L forum who had quit smoking. How great the service and warranty was and everyone seemed to love Steve and Mark. You don’t get that unless you are doing things right. Reading others stories gave me a little hope.

I placed an ordered on the 29th of Sept with V4L. I got my order Oct 1st at 1:30 pm. Charged it up and at 2:30 pm I started puffing. 2 hours later I actually started to cry because I new right then that I could stop smoking. I have been smoke free now for 24 days and I told a friend yesterday that I will never ever smoke another cigarette again in my life. I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful I felt after saying that.

Oh and did I mention I haven’t coughed in 22 days no whizzing and breathing so much better now!!!

One of the things I discovered about me was I had to get all the cigarettes out of my house. Not to play mind games with myself like, I could keep them in the car in the garage and I wouldn’t touch them. Not me. I did go for my cigarettes late at night in the dark. The e-cig was working for me but it was that wonderful old friend wanting to be back in my hands. My nicotine needs, hand to mouth, and seeing the smoke coming from my mouth addiction was totally covered by the VK. People have smoked around me over the past few weeks, one did it just to see if I would say give me one, I did not even think about it and thankfully I hated the smell.

Thanks to a wonderful simple to use V4L e-cig, a great bunch of people on this forum and an outstanding company who cares that we quit smoking, I have become a non-smoker. In fact I have turned a few of my friends on to V4L and they are now smoke free and here in our little town (1200 people) we are spreading the word and people are asking for info so much so that we will be soon known as Vaporville IL.
 

Fiberweaver

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Oct 2, 2009
111
0
IL
I don't mind either. :)

I just want everyone to discover this because if I could quit using this, anyone... and I mean ANYONE can! I tried everything else, and this is IT!

Oh JenJen I am right there with you... We need this thread stickied to the front page so that new people can find it right off and get that they can quit smoking. If I can I feel like anyone can because I kinda felt like I would be the last person on the planet to stop smoking.
 

lady9ball

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Aug 5, 2009
132
0
Iowa
I've told mine before but I think having this stickied would be a great idea, so here it is again...

I was a 1-2 pack/day smoker (sometimes more) for 30+ years, lights or ultra lights. My husband, Tom, smoked 2-3 packs per day, full strength cigs.

I didn't really intend to quit. Tom has been unemployed for 12 of the last 18 months. When the hours were running out on his last temporary job, I knew that we had to find a way to save some money. Cigarettes were eating up $400/month (a conservative estimate) and we simply could not afford them anymore. I figured I would pave the way for both of us by trying an e-cig after learning about them from a friend. After so much research my head was spinning, I finally settled on the 510. I received it near the end of July, had some battery issues the first week but on July 27th I was done with analogs. I did try one 2 weeks later, it tasted awful and it was my last cigarette ever!

The 510 putsy-ness started to weigh on me, but I still really liked it. However, I knew that Tom would never put up with all the dripping, cleaning, charging, etc. So I set out to find him the simplest e-cig out there - that's when I discovered the VK. I didn't know if he would go for it, and I didn't ask him if he wanted to try it. I just went ahead and bought him a kit and gave it to him. He complained about this and that, but he kept using it. A couple of days later I was going out and asked him if he needed any smokes knowing he was almost out. I was so thrilled when he said no, he was sticking with the VK!

He's a battery's worst nightmare though, so keeping up with lost and/or vaped-to-death batteries is a challenge. But we are still saving money (or will be eventually!)

Oh, and I am a full-time VKer now myself. I gave my 510 to my daughter's boyfriend and he is working on becoming analog free as well (they have a new baby, my first grand-son! So that adds to the incentive.) My mom, who is 77 years old, is also interested and I will most likely be ordering her first kit very soon. My nephew tried my VK last weekend and didn't seem interested, but his dad (my brother) will nag him until he at least gives it a fair shot. My brother (a long time ex-smoker who had never heard of e-cigs) said this: "Let's see, I could save money and live, or spend money and die. Seems like a very easy decision to me!"

So that's our success story. When you read through the forums you will see so many of these, and very few "un-success" stories! What a life-saver! Next step - new life insurance policies as NON SMOKERS!!!

Congrats to everyone in the VK family, and a huge THANKS to Steve and his accomplices for making it such a pleasant experience!!!
 

Fiberweaver

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Oct 2, 2009
111
0
IL
I also tried everything, patches, Zyban, Commit loz., Nicotrol inhaler, Chantix. None of it worked, I think in my case it's the hand to mouth obsession. (the vape as well, it still seems like you're smoking, so maybe tricks the psych part of our brain)

Sheryl, with me it was the hand to mouth 99%, having something in my hand (it was my pacifier) and when stressed man, that cigarette had better be there. What I found was the actual smoke did matter a lot to me after I got the VK. Color me surprised. The Nicotrol inhaler was a joke and a big waste of money. I knew patches wouldn't do it. Hand to mouth is all I could think about.

My biggest problem now is I will vape all day because I have the VK in my hand most of the day. I now have it on a eyeglass chain so I will let go of it. :pThat has helped a lot... Can't wait for my Leaford Lanyard to get here.:wub:
 

leaford

Vaping Master
ECF Veteran
May 1, 2008
6,863
432
Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
Sheryl, with me it was the hand to mouth 99%, having something in my hand (it was my pacifier) and when stressed man, that cigarette had better be there. What I found was the actual smoke did matter a lot to me after I got the VK. Color me surprised. The Nicotrol inhaler was a joke and a big waste of money. I knew patches wouldn't do it. Hand to mouth is all I could think about.

My biggest problem now is I will vape all day because I have the VK in my hand most of the day. I now have it on a eyeglass chain so I will let go of it. :pThat has helped a lot... Can't wait for my Leaford Lanyard to get here.:wub:
For me, it's both the hand to mouth habit, AND the vapor. :D
 

Fiberweaver

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Oct 2, 2009
111
0
IL
I would like to thank all of you who said I could print out your stories. I gave the stories, a print out of the V4L website and lots of cards to my Dr. yesterday for his mom and I must tell you he looked like I just gave him the best present ever. He actually seemed excited. As he was looking at the printed pages from the V4L website he spotted the cigar cart he said he really likes cigars. Anyways, As I was waiting for the nurse to come in to give me my shot, the Dr. comes back into the room and tells me that he just got an email from another patient wanting to talk to him about quiting smoking. Guess what he is going to be giving the man????

Oh and he also said HE will be ordering the kit for his mom... He also will be dropping by here at the forum if he hasn't already.

Then I go over to the Yankee Candle Store and comment to the sales person things smell different since I stopped smoking. Of course I was asked how I did that. Out come the cards as a second sales person comes up, both smoke. Both seemed very interested in getting off the cigs. So now I pray they follow through.

I have to remember to ask for more cards... I am OUT now. I gave all but 2 of them to the Dr. And ended up giving my last two to the sales people.
 

roxinal

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
May 22, 2009
289
0
69
marshalltown iowa
I saw a suggestion in another thread that we need a place to tell our story about vaping and I think it is a wonderful idea.

Here's my story.

At the end of May of this year, my husband was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. He smoked maybe 2 cigs at night, sometimes a few more if he was stressed. He quit cold turkey immediately. But I, being a heavy smoker, didn't give mine up because of many reasons. First, I didn't want to. I liked smoking, even though it was starting to take it's toll on my body.

We are proactive when presented with a problem. So, the first thing we did was join a gym and started going 4x a week. We've not skipped a beat yet, that was 5 months ago next week. The other immediate thing we did was ditch all sugar and high fructose corn syrup and processed foods out of our diet and are sticking with that.

Through all of this, I continued to smoke. I couldn't get the results I wanted through diet and exercise, I started to realize how bad the cigs were and had no idea how to get off of them without going insane, gaining 200 lbs and dying of a heart attack from obesity, even with the diet changes, I KNEW I would have a horrible time with weight gain. I've tried quitting before, no matter the method, I gained weight as fast as a freight train can rumble down railroad tracks.

Enters the miracle. A friend of mine called one day and told me about the e-cig. I was skeptical. I said if it works for you, call me in a month and let me know and then I'll think about getting one. So, sure enough, she called me back and she had quit cigs. So, she hooked me up with a mod and all the stuff I needed and the sources to get them. I ordered.

When I got the mod, I didn't believe it would work. No way, not when nothing else worked before. But the past does not equal the future, so I tried it.

The first day, I was down to about 4 cigs a day. I had some battery issues and ended up smoking a lot of cigarettes for a few days. Oh, man, I could tell it in my lungs and everything else. Once, my battery issues were fixed, I could vape with confidence, that I wouldn't have to fall back on cigs. So, I managed to cut out all cigs but 2 a day with my coffee. I went to war with myself over those 2 cigarettes in the morning and hung onto them for a whole month before giving them up.

One day, I just said: Self, let's try to pick up the vaporizer and not do the cigs, and I promise if it's too hard, you can smoke the cigs.

Well, I did it and it was fine. That was 26 days ago today and I've been completely smoke free.

Of course, the story didn't end there. I found V4L and am REALLY loving the vaping now, the convenience, the caring customer service and the great support on this board are everything I need to keep me off cigarettes forever.

I truly believe that this has saved my life and freed me from the worry of pulling an oxygen cart or dying a lingering death from lung cancer or emphysema.

I will never smoke again, as long as I have my e-cigs to pull me through.

If I couldn't have my e-cigs... it would be the most tragic thing that could possibly happen to my health as of today.

None of us know what the future will bring for sure, but as someone's avatar says on the e-cig forum: For more information on lung cancer, continue smoking cigarettes. (paraphrase)

I'm so happy to have found the friends I have on this board. You are all so wonderful and helpful and kind.

Thank you.

(sorry post is so long).

Great story Pugzley I am so happy for you:)
 

Pugzley

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Sep 7, 2009
1,062
10
USA
Fiberweaver, I lost track of this thread. I sure don't mind if you use my story, probably too late, now, sorry about that, I hope you printed mine out even though I missed it. :)

Thanks, Roxinal! I'm doing my part to spread the word that people can quit with these devices, so far I've gotten 2 people off them and they are very happy.

This whole experience is SO FREAKING AMAZING! I just wanna jump up and down about it, I don't think even us ex-smokers realized how much we wanted to quit until we found a way to do it.

Jen, you are so right about practically being stoned in public here in California if you are a smoker, it's really pathetic that people who are addicted to nicotine are treated with less tolerance and more animosity than a crack or ...... addict out here. We are addicts just like they are, but they get sympathy and medical attention if they indicate they want to quit. We are simply told to quit. Period. It makes me really upset with the anti-smoking zealots.

Whenever we go shopping, I see these people exiled to their corner, far away from everyone, who are on their break at the grocers or Wal-Mart, just about anywhere so they can smoke their analogs. I just want to run up to them and stick a battery and a fresh carto and a V4L card in their hands and say: Try this! It really, really works!
 
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