Trying to quit but need some help guys

[kc104]

Hi Guys. So I've been clean of real cigs for over 3 years now. But ever since I started e-cigs I have been addicted to them. Started off with 11mg now all I vape is 18mg. Go through a 30mg bottle(size) in 2 weeks (which I think is a lot).

So 2 days ago, just decided to stop, been clean of ecigs for 2 days

Just don't know if I can continue though. You know, I would not mind if someone told me that vaping 18mg was not harmful to my health. I could accept being addicted to nicotine as the only side effect. But I don't see any real studies going on about the health risks. Now I'm sure many users on here will say, no worries buddy, no need to give up vaping, it's safe, no side effects, but how do they know. Usually they'll say something like, hmm heard bad things about e-cigs, that will be the real cig companies spreading rumors. Maybe sometimes it is.

I try and think about it a bit more literal. You intake a substance into your lungs that is exhaled and looks white. you get a throat hit and it feels good. Surely that is doing something to the lungs, they are supposed to breath fresh air. Do they not constrict.

I guess the other obvious question is what effects does nicotine in a gas form have on the body. What makes it hard for me, (and I'm sure many others) is what you associate with smoking. I like going for a drive maybe 3 times a week. On my own, maybe 30 mins, get some tunes on go down some nice scenery roads and of course, vape my e cig. Just Like I used to with the real cig. When I'm bored, e-cig, watching a movie, e-cig - all the things i used to do with real cigs. Then of course there is stress. Hard day at work, wow those first 3 vapes on an e-cig that is ripe (you know when you get a good erm, suck and puff) better than a real cig sometimes.

How am I going to break all these bad habits learned over 10 years. It makes me feel sad and angry as I guess what I am really saying is I am to weak to take control and just give up.

 

[Thrasher]

well for starters you can serve the hand mouth addiction my vaping 0 level nic.
then while not true studies there is some research going on that says some nic may actually be beneficial to fighting off a few problems, cant remember what or find the links but it really isnt all bad.

then theres the maybe vape just when you have it bad, as someone who smoked 2 PAD for 35 years I had to finally be honest and realize its not the nic, I just cant stop smoking, some days I vape flavor for hours before I notice any nic cravings and think so maybe this time I can just stop that too ,,bbbbzzzzzzzzzt wrong answer, so maybe just vap some flavor and see if that helps.

and if you do go back to vaping i would def say up the nic level and you will slow down on juice intake.

 

[Absintheur]

You are still addicted to the nicotine and quitting cold turkey will be as tough as trying to quit cigarettes cold turkey. The studies that show nicotine in beneficial in moderate amounts means unless something else crops up I doubt I will stop. I have cut back on nic content, went from 24 to 18 to 11 now and am considering dropping another 30% or so.

I would say cut back on nic content rather than going cold turkey.

 

[GreenEyesDon'tLie]

The problem with research into the effects of nicotine on the body is that most of it is actually focusing on the tar that nicotine bonds to in analogs. But any research I've seen that focused on nicotine by itself indicated that it's basically harmless unless you have certain medical problems, and may actually help treat some diseases. It is a mild stimulant, but less so than caffeine. It also isn't actually that addictive (physically) on its own, the addictiveness of analogs comes from nicotine interacting with other chemicals. The only real risk of nicotine use is the relatively low overdose level, but it's safe if you stay below that point and recognize the symptoms of getting nic-sick.

If you want to quit, I wish you the best of luck.

 

[Zergling76]

I personally went from 24 -> 18 -> 12 -> 6 -> 0. I mostly vape zero just for the pleasure and occasionally vape some 6 or VERY rarely vape 12 if i NEED it. Which i never do. It is better not to vape than to vape. I would try whittling down your nic content slowly letting your body adjust. In my case it was smooth sailing to zero.

 

[zuzette]

If you are really concerned about it - slowly weaning yourself to 0 nic is probably your best bet. You could even drop flavor out of your juice and just vape unflavored juice so that you know you are only focusing on the nicotine.
Honestly - i dont have any links to actual studies about nicotine use (without the tar and additives of tobacco) but I too have seen the studies that show nicotine is largely as safe as caffine. I dont have links because I choose NOT to try to convince anyone of the safety of nicotine.

However, I would honestly be more concerned about the flavorings. Sure - flavor is "fda approved for use in food and pharacuticals" but like the e-cig its self, no one has done any studies on the effects of the flavors on the body when inhaled long term. We are simply using flavorings in a way that was not intended (or thought of) when they were created.

My own doctor, when I asked about using nicotine gum long term said "fine, its not harming you".

Also - you dont actually have to inhale the vapor from e cigs. The linings of your nose and mouth will absorb nicotine just fine (thats why chew- smokeless tobacco and snus, work so well for a nic fix too).

 

[RoseB]

Hey kc. If you feel you need to quit go for it. That is a personal choice and there is nothing wrong with making that choice. Wish I could give you some advice, but I really lack success with quitting the nicotine. Check out the zero nicotine and quitting vaping part of the forum. There are some really inspiring success stories. Best of luck!

 

[Aizen-sama]

The linings of your nose and mouth will absorb nicotine just fine (thats why chew- smokeless tobacco and snus, work so well for a nic fix too).

Indeed, cultures around the world have relied on the buccal ROA for stimulant intake for thousands of years. Not even just nicotine, consider the long history of use of betel and coca quids in East Asia and Latin America, respectively. Fun fact: the immediate caffeine buzz you get from your first sip of coffee in the morning actually comes from buccal absorption of the caffeine (digestion takes far longer to produce an effect). I had a friend who would even "dip" eliquid when his gear broke.

As for vaping, zuzette is correct that you could simply inhale the vapor into your mouth and not inhale. However, if OP were to do this they might want to consider using a higher nicotine liquid (think of cigars), especially if juice consumption is a concern.

As others have said, nicotine is a fairly mild stimulant and has not been conclusively demonstrated to cause health problems on its own. A caveat is that if you have a family history of heart problems I might consider staying away from stimulant use in general. Vaping is fairly new so the facts may be limited, but the base liquids (PG & VG) have been used for decades in fog machines at laser parks, concerts, and other venues and have yet to be linked to any diseases in the people who work at or frequent these places. The flavorings and colorings might be a concern, but I haven't really looked into it too much considering how little of the liquid they compose.

Vaping is still a risk, however small, and I think the real question here is what value do you place on vaping and does that outweigh the potential (perhaps yet unobserved) risks you are exposing yourself to by continuing to use? In my case, I think it is clearly a better decision than traditional smoking by any metric, and before I found vaping I had no alternative or desire to stop smoking cigarettes. I still don't have a desire to stop vaping, but it's a risk I am willing to live with for pleasure.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck.

 

[klynnn]

Nobody can make choices for you. You will do what you want to do. if you are smart you take the best option at the moment and live with it. I personally think nicotene will be found to have great benefits just not in the way it has been used previously in cigs.

 

[SissySpike]

You are 100% correct the safest thing is to quit all together. All of the suggestions above are good. I don't think 30ml every 2 weeks is a bad consumption rate.
I think you should lighten up on your self, enjoy life quit making guilt trips on your self! One thing is for certain none of us will make it out of here alive. If you enjoy Vaping do it accept that it might not be the best thing you can do for your self and live with it or quit.

 

[DC2]

Go through a 30mg bottle(size) in 2 weeks (which I think is a lot).

It's definitely not a lot, and in fact is well on the low side of things...
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/polls/153112-how-much-juice-do-you-use-per-day.html

 

[Drael]

I am going to hazard a guess here, and be brutal about it: vaping is not ideal for the lungs (the pg/vg/flavours would be the culprits here, gunk in your lungs is never what ur body wants), and the nicotine is not ideal for your blood pressure or circadian rythm etc.

Its not going to kill someone who is healthy, but it might not help certain existing illnesses, like lung problems, blood pressure problems, mental illnesses, sleep disorders, anxiety etc.

Its _much much much_ better than smoking, and low on the health effects scale compared....but I can easily estimate that its not the healthiest choice, given all available choices.

The healthiest choice is just to eat unrefined whole foods, drink water, get lots of sleep, sunshine, hugs and lots of exercise and live a meaningful life without even inhaling any substance, or taking any drug, or drinking etc. Ie to live 100% naturally.

Vaping is something we use to get off a tremendously powerful addiction, to minimise that addiction and its HUGE health effects.

I think a natural next step, for anyone that is game for it, after a time stabley vaping, is to taper the nic, wta's whatever, and eventually stop, or try to become a "casual vaper".

Thats one of the advantages of vaping, is you can control the content and what you absorb, to a fine degree.

I think your thinking clearly about this. You just need to break the task up into managable bits.

You can lower you nic, fractionally every so often. You can get a battery with a puff counter, and try and minimise your puffs. Just like the choice to go to vaping instead of smoking in the first place, you dont have to do it all at once (And its probably more realistic/easier not to)

A good idea though, is to get some new rituals. Thats a part of any drug habituation is the ritual. Some ideas: going for a walk, or brewing a tea/coffee/herbal tea to drink. Alot of non-smokers use hot beverages as a "stop point" (also drugs, and also with health effects, but relatively minimal if you dont go completely nuts on the tea/coffee etc). You could do a hobby. Gardening, modelling etc. Basically you want to fill up whatever extra time with a new behaviour that serves a similar purpose.

 

[thinkingaboutit]

I agree with the others who say wean yourself off if you are looking to quit.

You are still addicted to the nicotine and quitting cold turkey will be as tough as trying to quit cigarettes cold turkey.

I totally disagree with this. There is so much more about cigs that are addictive than the nic.

Example. I fly a lot. I used to RUSH outside to smoke. I used to smoke between connections. I do hit the restroom in the airport at times...but going hours upon hours without vaping is a million times easier than it ever was with cigs.

 

[Robino1]

30ml in 2 weeks does seem to be on the low side. I WISH that was what my intake was Someday perhaps. I do feel it in my chest when I inhale a lot. My rutine is now, inhale in the morning when I NEED that nic. Just hold it in the mouth and let it out without inhaling for most of the day unless I really need the nic (after eating etc...). Evening, I do more inhaling but with a lower nic level. My lungs let me know when I have had too much. I do have some concerns about what is going into my lungs, but it is nothing compared to what I WAS getting with the cigs.

To Thingingaboutit: OMG I soooo remember that airport sprint to get to the outside for that smoke after a flight!!!!!!!!!! Hubby would almost have to run to keep up with me! And to subject myself to the security lines during layovers.......I don't miss that one bit!