What IS the allure of analogs?!

[murrajes]

I've been vaping for about 3 weeks now. Really happy with it. Yet....last night on the way home, I stopped and bought a pack of Newport 100's!? I smoked one....didn't get the normal buzz of being off cigarettes like I typically would. Picked up my PV and puffed that all the rest of the way home. Got home, made a drink and went outside to smoke the analog again! It doesn't taste good by any means and I didn't seem to get any particular pleasure from it like I do with my PV. So, all in all, I smoked about 5 last night. Now I'm stuck with the rest of that $7.00 pack that I really don't want. Yet, they still call me. I'm hoping this is a normal bump......very confused here.

 

[singu]

I stoped smoking a couple of days ago and like you still having the desire to smoke one every now and then. It's not strong desire just a thought that goes trough my mind once a day. i can control myself and not take a puff but if there was no PV around i would definently smoke one. I know i don't have the will power to stop could turkey.I really don't know what is it about smoking...i'm just glad there are PVs in this world

 

[Bootsand]

Been vaping for quite a while now, and every so often I'll have a desire for a menthol cig. Usually it will taste pretty terrible if I fall off the wagon, and I'm right back to vaping. It happens fairly infrequently so I don't worry too much about it, but cigs really are a PITA sometimes lol

What you're going through is completely normal, and it gets much easier in time Keep at it, my friend!

 

[Beans]

Why do that to yourself? If it tastes bad, ditch the pack. I know it sucks throwing money out but really it will only cost you more in the long run. Your doing really good on your quit, truly you are, you just about had all the other chemicals out of your system. Once those are gone it will get much easier.

 

[AlmightyGod]

I spotted your problem right away!

You smoke Newports!

 

[The Rebel]

Keep in mind that although you haven't dropped the nicotine when you switched to vaping, you did drop the 5000 other additives that are present in analogs. Your body became accustomed/ addicted to these additives just as much as the nicotine. So it is perfectly normal to still crave a analog because of the withdraw from these additives. I keep some 36mg juice around when these cravings hit me to help work through them. Don't beat yourself up for caving every now and then and having a smoke. It's better than having 20 or 30 of them a day. Just experiment to find something to help smooth out the cravings, ie, higher mg juice, some snus, etc.

 

[LisaC]

Also, I think we are/were addicted to the HABIT of smoking. I actually was vaping on day 2, and picked up a cig to light, before I caught myself. Today is my 1 week anniv. and I don't miss smoking, but I miss the routine, if that makes sense. I just keep telling myself that this too, shall pass. Maybe like a kidney stone, but it WILL pass.

 

[Dieseler]

For me it was a routine and probably all the other junk that was in the analog for close to 40 years.
Now since May i have another routine and no more of the first one what so ever. - vaping

 

[murrajes]

Indeed! Newports are the devil!

I spotted your problem right away!

You smoke Newports!

 

[stephpd]

Also, I think we are/were addicted to the HABIT of smoking. I actually was vaping on day 2, and picked up a cig to light, before I caught myself. Today is my 1 week anniv. and I don't miss smoking, but I miss the routine, if that makes sense. I just keep telling myself that this too, shall pass. Maybe like a kidney stone, but it WILL pass.

I think E-cigs fulfills many of these rituals that we have with analogs. Something in your hand, long deep breaths, seeing the smoke leaving. All the other ways of 'quitting' lacks all of those and why they're less successful, in my mind. Patches, gum, pills all failed me. I still want cigs and have something in my hand to smoke. E-cigs aren't 'smoke' but feels and look very similar.

Got to agree that there's much more then just nicotine in analogs. Wouldn't surprise me that the manufacturers add other things to keep us addicted. Even pure tobacco has far more in it then just nicotine. Most of them very bad. But some that add to the addiction. There's just no way E-cigs can be as bad for you.

 

[Currynoah]

Perhaps you can try 18mg Cool Mint from HC to help alleviate the Newport needs.

That is: If they have stock!!

 

[spicyed]

I had cravings for analogs too at first, but now I do not crave them at all even being in a room with a few chain smokers. Which would have driven me crazy if I quit cold turkey.

 

[Calypso]

DON'T THROW THOSE ANALOGS AWAY!!
Here is a great cure for the nagging nasty habit of analogs. Take the rest of the pack and put in on the dash of your car. In a few days they will taste so bad that even an analog chain smoker won't be able to smoke one. When you feel the urge go ahead and try to smoke one. You will be lucky to get through 2 or 3 drags before you toss it. I tried this and it seems like my brain began to associate the analogs with something very nasty, not that fresh one is not nasty, and the urge for them begins to goes away.

 

[The Rebel]

Like any smoker, I have my routines as well. From the first one in the morning to the last one at night. Each analog almost had a special meaning. The after meal smoke, the driving smoke, the "oh crap I'm heading into a movie, better choke one down smoke". I still keep the routines, but I just replaced the vice with vaping. Now it's some good strong 36mg in the morning to get the system up and running, then back down to my 24mg for the drive to work and my all day vape. Plus I still step outside for a vape even though I'm allowed to do it at my desk. It's good to keep the routines to ease through the transition period. Once your past the craving stage you'll find that the old routine doesn't apply to vaping and you can change it up just for fun. The biggest thing is to find your comfort zone and stick with it. Find a PV and juice system that works for you. Find that favorite juice and always have it on hand. Then your free to explore the vast expanse of the ever changing vaping world and tinker with new PVs and juices knowing that you still have the old standby to go back to if it doesn't work out. It's a long journey but well worth it in everyway. Have fun and don't stress the occasional slip. It happens to everyone...

 

[Rascal24]

DON'T THROW THOSE ANALOGS AWAY!!
Here is a great cure for the nagging nasty habit of analogs. Take the rest of the pack and put in on the dash of your car. In a few days they will taste so bad that even an analog chain smoker won't be able to smoke one. When you feel the urge go ahead and try to smoke one. You will be lucky to get through 2 or 3 drags before you toss it. I tried this and it seems like my brain began to associate the analogs with something very nasty, not that fresh one is not nasty, and the urge for them begins to goes away.

I completely agree with this! The only thing I would add is...every time you think you want an analog try vaping for a minute, if you still want it, then go for it. You will always have them right there but as they sit they will get grosser and grosser lol

 

[JQside]

I don't even want to think and talk about analogs. I was able to quit smoking for one week without any aid. I began to use e-cigs after that. I even started counting my analog-free days. I slipped and smoked analogs during those weeks till I was back to zero analog. I remember my first analog-free day. Now I don't remember the exact day I went to zero again, but I'm certain I'm about a month and a half now without an analog. If I try another analog again I'd have to count again. Haha... I read that if you're able to do it for 2 straight years your lungs will be comparable to that who never smoked in his/her life. And that's my goal. My body is in the process of healing. I'm not going to interfere with that.

 

[Aunt Cranky]

Heh.. my ex bf (who I am still living with) has tried vaping, but it did not give him enough of a "kick" to give up his cursed Newports. I used to smoke menthols, B&H menthol lights, Camel menthe, heck on occasion I would buy Nat Sherman "Hint of Mint".
Loved LOVED my analogs... until FS cigarettes were the "norm". Then my tastebuds picked up on whatever subtle changes there were. Cigs don't taste the same to me as they did 20 years ago, and that was enough to get me to not go back.

However...

Vaping does not provide that magical "head rush" and happy "tingle" you can get with the first cig of the day, or your first drag on a cig, lighting up in the car after a particularly brutal day at work. I think some of it is habit, and some of it is some ethereal mix of chemicals that are in the analogs - esp. with menthol cigs.

Still.. I would never go back to analogs.

Oh yeah.. unexpected perk of giving up analogs - I never smoked in the house. Always going outside to light up in the dead of winter. Not anymore I can vape at my desk, in the house, in my PJs...

 

[JQside]

I was a menthol smoker in my analog life. It really didn't matter what brand. I thought I was lucky. Vaping menthol gives me the TH without the nic. The first menthol flavor I vaped were not that strong. I figured I would have to DIY and concoct my own juice so I can fine tune the strength. I discovered menthol crystals in the process. However, chain-vaping menthol or any other flavor is irritating in the mouth sometimes, so I'm forced to use other flavors. And that's where the nic comes into play for me. I can never use other flavors without nic in them.

 

[Della Cirque]

I hit a bump about 2-3 weeks into vaping too. Smoked two or three packs and then went back to vaping. Finding the right juice and pv is what finally made me confident that I never want another analog. It gets easier and now you know that you no longer enjoy the taste. Keep vaping, you're doing great!

 

[Newtkeeper]

Also, I think we are/were addicted to the HABIT of smoking. I actually was vaping on day 2, and picked up a cig to light, before I caught myself. Today is my 1 week anniv. and I don't miss smoking, but I miss the routine, if that makes sense. I just keep telling myself that this too, shall pass. Maybe like a kidney stone, but it WILL pass.

I feel this same way, even after a couple months. I sometimes wish I liked the penstyle PVs better. there are times I miss the feel of a cigarette. Though, last time I had a smoke, it tasted like pure ash.