What is YOUR Smoking / Vaping History & Greatest BENEFITS??

[LaZeR]

Post YOUR story here!! And, TRY including:

• What encouraged or prompted you to quit smoking &/or start vaping, why did you want to, any catalysts or escalating reasons, health, social, sports, smell, ...?
• Did you have any goals in mind, or plans, like Cold Turkey, or just cut down on cigarettes, etc?
• How were you introduced to vaping and eCigs ~ internet, friend(s), co-worker(s), family, etc?
• What are Pros, Cons, what do you like, dislike, etc?
• What are impacts, or results, in your life &/or health?
• Anything else you’d like to add, or want to hear from others?!

OK ~ here's some reasoning ~ right now I'm not sure, and cannot pinpoint exactly "WHY", I want to ONLY vape, and NOT have a few cigs per day. I'm doing it more so coz for me smoking is a waste of money, at 3/4 pack per day (that's 3 quarters of a pack), social aspects, ashes, and my SPORTS activities. THAT's why I want to hear others' reasons from here on this forum.

THANKS!! PS >>> if you might be interested my "story" is in my profile.

 

[Letitia]

Post YOUR story here!! Including the following:

• What encouraged or prompted you to quit smoking &/or start vaping, why did you want to, any catalysts or escalating reasons, health, social, sports, smell, ...?
• Did you have any goals in mind, or plans, like Cold Turkey, or just cut down on cigarettes, etc?
• How were you introduced to Vaping and eCigs ~ internet, friend(s), co-worker(s), family, etc?
• What are Pros, Cons, what do you like, dislike, etc?
• What are impacts, or results, in your life &/or health?
• Anything else you’d like to add, or want to hear from others?!

THANKS!!

Are these posts part of a survey of some sort?

 

[LaZeR]

Are these posts part of a survey of some sort?

Nope ~ just inspiration.

 

[Letitia]

Nope ~ just inspiration.

For who?

 

[LaZeR]

For who?

Everyone.

 

[muth]

Are you hoping that newcomers will benefit from our stories or do you need inspiration? Are you falling off the wagon?

 

[muth]

Nevermind, you just replied.

 

[Letitia]

Everyone.

This whole site is an inspiration.

 

[Electrodave]

Here's a freebie! My smoking/vaping history is part of my signature below.

 

[Electrodave]

NVM

 

[YorkMan]

That’s a lot of effort!

 

[Rossum]

I've posted just about all of this before, so I don't mind sharing it again:

What encouraged or prompted you to quit smoking &/or start vaping, why did you want to, any catalysts or escalating reasons, health, social, sports, smell, ...?

The side effects (smokers' cough and incessant low-grade bronchitis) were starting to get to me. In addition, even I was starting to notice the stale smoke smell in the hallway outside my office when I'd been gone from there for a bit.

Did you have any goals in mind, or plans, like Cold Turkey, or just cut down on cigarettes, etc?

I wanted to see if I could cut down some. Imagine my shock when I cut down to zero in less than a week.

How were you introduced to Vaping and eCigs ~ internet, friend(s), co-worker(s), family, etc?

I had encountered a couple of people who had quit smoking using then (2013) current eGo style vapes. I also came across quite a few articles in the media that were lamenting the fact that the FDA was not doing its job by regulating these things. So I though: Maybe I should try this before the goobermint gets around to ruining it?

What are Pros, Cons, what do you like, dislike, etc?

Pros:

• Got rid of all my side effects.
• Got me feeling and (according to my wife, looking and acting) 10 years younger (I was 54 at the time).
• I've not spent ~$27.5k on cigs since the end of 2013. OK, I probably spent $10k on vape goods in the first few years, but I'm set for life now. The one and only thing I expect I'll need to buy in the next 10 years is a few fresh 18650s once every few years.

Cons:

• I can't really think of any, at least none that persisted.
• OK, early on, I had a problem with my digestion being very slow to move for a few weeks. Some dietary adjustments fixed that.

What are impacts, or results, in your life &/or health?

I'm a much happier person. I was feeling like smoking was slowly killing me, but I had pretty much given up on being able to quit. That was not good for my outlook on things. The first week or so that I wasn't smoking, I had this huge grin on my face, because I felt like a miracle had occurred.

 

[stols001]

I just tell people what I tell everyone. I don't think a heart attack or fear of one would have stopped me smoking. I probably would have managed cancer, not gracefully but managed.

The first time I saw an old grey person attached to an oxygen task on wheels and asked, "WTH is THAT?" and the answer was "COPD" I was like, "The threat of that is the ONE thing that could get me to quit, maybe."

Vaping made it possible, but A VERY SPECIFIC death threat was what gave me enough MOTIVATION.

The rest are very lovely side benefits but I don't see how this helps YOU. My reasons were MY reasons, and as an individual we all have to decide our own.

I mean, you are welcome to BORROW mine but I really am not sure how much good they will do you unless you have an absolute TERROR of COPD and are nearing diagnosis.

I kinda like to think God was like "Okay Anna, here is your (almost) diagnosis, the rest is up to you."

It was not easy.

Anna

 

[ENAUD]

I tried vaping to satisfy my nagging wife, she suggested it because some colleagues had quit smoking via vaping.

I had no idea how it would work out, but three days in I quit the cigs entirely.

I was hacking all day and night, being a 2.5 PAD smoker, and it was obvious to me and all who knew me that my time was not long if I kept on smoking, I had a hard time climbing a flight of stairs, was overweight, and had a general malaise about me.

six years into vaping, My health has improved vastly, I've shed about fifty pounds, and yesterday rode my bicycle 45 miles in about three hours time...so yeah...I'm gonna keep on keepin' on with what has been a life changer for me, an accidental quitter of the smokes because I tried vaping, and liked it...

 

[AngeNZ]

• What encouraged or prompted you to quit smoking &/or start vaping, why did you want to, any catalysts or escalating reasons, health, social, sports, smell, ...?

I fractured my ankle in 3 different bones. It needed major surgery to fix it. I was in hospital for two weeks due to this.

In the ER they slapped a nicotine patch on my arm, and told me I could no longer smoke. A few days later, the surgeon explained that smoking inhibits bone growth - I would have to spend an extra month in a cast if I smoked, plus face complications which may lead to bone non-fusion, which may lead to amputation

• Did you have any goals in mind, or plans, like Cold Turkey, or just cut down on cigarettes, etc?

My goal was purely to stop smoking for the 2 or 3 months it took to heal the fractures, and then go back to smoking

Parents brought me a vape pen while I was in hospital, so I used that, along with patches and gum.

• How were you introduced to Vaping and eCigs ~ internet, friend(s), co-worker(s), family, etc?

My parents - they had bought me an innokin t18 vape pen for Christmas (1 month before my accident). It had stayed in it's box, until I used it in hospital

• What are Pros, Cons, what do you like, dislike, etc?

Once out of hospital, I vaped my head off. I loved using the pen device and loved the flavours. There were no cons.

• What are impacts, or results, in your life &/or health?

After a month, I realised I actually preferred vaping to smoking. Although I had only planned to stop smoking for a few months, I found that I much preferred being a vaped over being a smoker.

The obvious benefit: My ankle healed perfectly. In fact mg surgeon was completely blown away with how quickly I healed. 18 months later, I have a perfect ankle.

My lung capacity also surprised me. A 2 mile steep hill climb that as a smoker, I'd really struggle catching my breath as I walked up it. Now I don't even get out of breath during the climb up.

• Anything else you’d like to add, or want to hear from others?!

What worked for me at the beginning: I thought of my vape pen as just a different way to smoke. Told myself it was exactly the same as smoking, just tasted a lot better
Keep your nicotine levels as high as you need them to be. I quit while using 18mg ejuice, and I absolutely chainvaped it.

 

[Tabac man]

Too many to list. Cost was obviously a biggy but wasn't the biggest. I would smoke three or four with my coffee in the morning and just hit the deck. No energy, lethargy, I just felt like shoit. Then my lungs started to hurt. I was only firing on one cylinder. Went to college in my forties to do a Diploma course and needed a new lease of life, a burst of energy, to complete the course, and the money, so I quit. I find as I get older it gets harder to ignore the obvious.

 

[Izan]

Post YOUR story here!! And, TRY including:

• What encouraged or prompted you to quit smoking &/or start vaping, why did you want to, any catalysts or escalating reasons, health, social, sports, smell, ...?
• Did you have any goals in mind, or plans, like Cold Turkey, or just cut down on cigarettes, etc?
• How were you introduced to Vaping and eCigs ~ internet, friend(s), co-worker(s), family, etc?
• What are Pros, Cons, what do you like, dislike, etc?
• What are impacts, or results, in your life &/or health?
• Anything else you’d like to add, or want to hear from others?!

OK ~ here's a reason ~ right now, I'm not sure, and cannot pinpoint exactly why, I want to ONLY Vape, and NOT have a few cigs per day. I'm doing it more so coz for me smoking is a waste of money, at 3/4 pack per day, social aspects, and ashes. THAT's why I want to hear others' reasons from here on this forum.

THANKS!!

Ouch... 3 to 4 packs a day IS a lot.

1 and 2: I wanted to be able to smoke anywhere I liked. (and we had some kids)
3 vaporbrothers box vape
4 love everything about it.
5 no smell, no ash, no burnt clothes
6 Love nicotine, not planning to quit.

Cheers
I

 

[United States]

I forget who, but back around 2010 somebody said "you gotta try this e-cig thing" so I did. I took a drag and coughed my head off but… I did not want another cigarette for hours. That won't like me at all back then 'cause I was a heavy smoker.

Man that Fuma was awful. I bought 3. And for a couple of months hardly smoked at all. I didn't want a cigarette except after meals. Mind you I was not even trying to quit or cut back yet that torturous e-cig was replacing my cigs and for about 1/3 the cost as a pre-filled cartridges were a 2 day supply for about a 2 dollars. The battery part would fail every week or so but again a new one was the cost of a pack of smokes (or thereabout).

Eventually the novelty, the lack of dependability, the leaking cartridges and the tortorous drag got old. I figured, eh nice idea here and hopefully it'll catch on so folks can improve these things.

Later my brother vaped with pens and mods, built coils and all that but way too much hassle for me. "do they leak?" I asked. He'd reply "yeah but"… heard enough, don't want no part of it. He'd show his gizmo to other family who'd fell off the wagon. They'd take a drag and cough their head off. Nope, not for me.
I thank my brother mountainbikermark for being one of the crash test dummies for the last decade.

Why I resumed vaping is because of a heart condition called tachecardia. (spelling?) I've worked construction for decades. Summer heat began taking its toll a few years back. Mostly due to chronic bad habits like improper diet and not enough of the right fluids. Smoking was the match that lit the fire though. After being overcome by heat a few times I just considered my body was used up. Along the way I was gaining unexplained pounds and feeling tired all the time. Doc put me on a thyroid pill which helped until I was exposed to heat. My endurance was getting worse. Was it smoking? Of course not I told myself.

It all came to a boil in the spring of 2018. I began getting dizzy and blacking out in the sunshine. ER's and dox in boxes all said "your diet sucks, you're dehydrated and you smoke too much". Other than that we see no reason for you to be passing out.

My family doctor put me on a heart monitor for one month that broadcast my ekg to somewhere in Texas where some lab technician would notify me if my heart went wonky. After a few notifications I began to notice patterns. Morning coffee was an issue. Smoking 3 in a row was an issue, and things like that. Then one day the lab guy in Texas notified some dude in Richmond VA to tell me to go to an ER right away. I felt fine actually. But the little radio said otherwise. Then they called my wife. Uh oh……

They explained to her I was in no danger but advised me to see a heart doctor asap. So she made me an appointment that day. I was 3 hours away from that fellows office so I drove home, picked up the bride and went to this doctor. He said "you're diet sucks, you're overweight, you're dehydrated and you smoke too much". He said to quit smoking and get more excersize.

I forgot to mention, on the way home I stopped in a tobacco store and bought a Cue vape pod system. I show it to Mrs States who coughed her head off after taking a drag. Yup, more torture means less smoking I thought. When doc said stop smoking I was prepared. Mrs States wanted to help but was having no parts of that awful Cue thing. Polyglycol makes her lips erupt with blisters and she wanted better. So I consulted my crash test dummy brother who reccomended max VG juice. Mrs States tried a Joyetech Penguin while I continued the Cue torture for a few days.

After a week I kept puffing on her delicious fruity Penguin swearing tobacco flavor or bust for me. None of that girly fru-fru for this manly man. I found a compromise. Grape. The Cue was replaced by my own Penguin covered in manly man decals and filled with a grape bubble gum sauce. But it was plagued with dry hits when chain vaping. I poked holes in the 'filter' thing you guys call a wick. Ah, better but… then I started getting that grape stuff in my mouth plus that fire button thing and I could never quite get in sync. Oh how I longed for the 2010 Fuma e-cig, torture and all.

By now it was late summer and doc had put me on a pill that played nice with my thyroid pill and the tachecardia was all but a bad memory. I had all but quit smoking but cigs were slowly beginning to win again. 5 a day, then 10, then 15 then 20. The vape thing wasn't working. For the next year I tried device after device. Close but no cigars. I found a working Fuma e-cig and decided it was either that or nothing. I was vaping for two as Mrs States was also trying device after device to no avail.

Speaking of avail, local vape shop of the same name had the new Renova Zero. That was finally it. I bought 3. They helped a lot. For a few months my smoking was reduced greatly. My brother was seeking an alternative to pints of e-juice per day from a giant box while his wife complained of their house reeking of cocoa puffs e-juice. He tried a few pods too and found he liked the VapeAnt E8 over his guzzler. By now Mrs States was not vaping at all.

I won a contest Vladdin held and from day 1 the RE has been my Fuma e-cig minus the torture. Mrs States digs the E8. It's only been a few weeks but our smoking is down significantly. Neither of us wants to stop all together, yet like the Fuma e-cig did our chosen devices has us choosing a yummy puff of vape over a cigarette pretty often.

I've lost 20 pounds and counting. It would be more if the wife would stop keeping the freezer stocked with ice cream bars but I'm saying no to them now a couple times a week. I can climb two flights of stairs quickly and don't get winded where a year ago two flights seemed like Mt Everest. The tachecardia began to creep back in when I vaped nic salts so I'm using a low strength freebase with good results.

My goal in 2018 was to stop smoking by Christmas. I did not pick the year though. Perhaps it'll be 2019 with the help of a Vladdin RE. But my long term goal is to be nicotine free and stop inhaling anything but the air around me.

 

[LaZeR]

Ouch... 3 to 4 packs a day IS a lot.

Thanks ~ just to put things in context ~ I was never at "3 to 4 packs a day" (which btw is psychotic), and never exceeded 1 pack. "3/4 pack" means "3 quarters of a pack", and this was before I RE-started Vaping a couple weeks ago, and now still smoke 3 or 5 cigs per day (reason for my thread here), just to get an additional hit complementing vaping.

 

[Izan]

thanks for the clarification.

Keep up the good work.


Cheers
I