When you knew it would work...

[MMarie]

Normally, I'm pretty easy-going; the type of person who doesn't get very charged up one way or another except for one thing: computer problems. Back when I was smoking, a frustration with the computer would drive me to chain smoke until I figured out the problem or just plain gave up.

Last night, around 8:30, my computer crashed. Hard. Not only that, my backup external hard drive decided to tank, too. It took me 6 hours to get them back up and running, and another 6 hours to burn 120 GB of data to discs (I didn't sleep). I would be lying if I said I didn't think about a cigarette, but the thing is: even though I thought about one (and I still have three packs in the freezer, so it would have been easy to have one), I didn't want one.

I've only been vaping a little over a month and although I've been pretty sure this time it would stick, last night was the first time I genuinely knew it was working.

So, all you veterans: did you have a similar epiphany? Any particular time when you had that "ah-ha" moment?



.... or do I just need to get some sleep?

 

[Beccca]

After all the smokes in the freezer were gone and I didn't go out and buy anymore....I still am tempted when things go wrong...but haven't bought anymore. If they are not there I cannot smoke them.

 

[Rachy_B]

I received a rather shocking piece of news about the chap I was seeing. It was the kind of news that makes you feel like you've been kicked in the stomach. I called it 'cheaty-non-cheaty' because he both did and didn't cheat because we weren't all that serious but there was a whole lot more to it than that...(until I know the full picture of what a total jerk he was, I shall remain vague!). I'd have chain-smoked my way through that usually. I'd have walked for miles and miles outside, chain-smoking as I went and wondering how anyone could become such a jerk. That was within the first two weeks of vaping too!

I did, however, crack (as I've said in other posts) when my 1TB HDD was wiped by a different jerk! It's with the repair guys as I type this, having the data recovered as it's a pin (or something) that holds it in place that was broken by being tossed around by the looks of things. I had 4 cigs that night and then jumped straight back on the wagon with vaping...even keeping it to my regular 12mg! I wouldn't have had the cigs if the tobacco hadn't been in the house and it was a 'self-destruct' reflex which I'm all-too prone to. Its an experience to learn from but I think making it through these two bad experiences has really shown me what I'm capable of!x

 

[macdo]

I'm happy to hear that you didn't smoke. Computers make me crazy too!

I think the first time I realized that vaping was going to work for me was when I would go work out of town. It was a 6 hour drive through the country. Nothing but trees and lakes. Beautiful drive. I would normally smoke about 20 to 25 cigarettes during the drive. Then feel really crappy onece I got to work.

I've been vaping for over a year now and I don't get any cravings.

Keep up the good work

 

[AutumnWolf]

I have a very stressful job - most of my time is spent dealing with angry people - VERY angry people. When I was a smoker, I would always go have a cigarette after speaking with (or rather getting cussed out by) an angry person. Shortly after I quit (maybe 2 months), I had a call like this and about 30 minutes later realized that I had not even thought about going outside to smoke after. I already knew before that vaping was going to work, but at that moment I really KNEW. I haven't looked back since then!

HAPPY VAPING EVERYONE!

 

[Ken62]

I needed (or thought I needed) an analog in the morning to kick start my nicotine. The Sunday morning that I realized that I never had my "smoke" by 9am was the day that I knew I was done with them forever.

 

[DC2]

I knew after my first drag off an electronic cigarette that it would work.
It was exactly what I had been waiting for.

The rest was just a matter of me buying my own and getting it working properly.

 

[NickyBlade]

I knew it would work on the ride home from the e-cig store. My husband and I did finish our open packs of smokes because we hate being wasteful. He finished his before me and I made him help finish my open pack. We both wanted to vape instead, but open packs will go stale. lol. We never smoked indoors and I'm loving vaping at my desk! We still have 30+ unopened packs of smokes in the house... I suppose we can barter them for TP in the end times.

 

[JudeD]

I fly often (about once a month) and I think my first Ah-hah moment was the first time I flew--normally, I would be leaning forward in my seat trying to help the plane fly faster and checking my watch every few minutes until I could get off the plane and have a smoke, but I was relaxed. My flights are generally only 2 to 2 1/2 hours, so going without nic for that long was no problem, it was always the fear of being stuck on the runway for hours before takeoff or after landing and not being able to smoke that got me. Once I started vaping, not only could I go much longer without nic, but I also knew that if the unthinkable happened, I would be able to stealth and suddenly, flying was no biggie.

Another Ah-hah moment was recently when my luggage with my juice was delayed and I went from store to store trying to find a disposable e-cig to sustain me until my bag arrived, but not once in any of those stores did it even occur to me to pick up a pack of smokes, just in case. Just like I never would have bought nic gum if they didn't have my brand of smokes, I wouldn't replace e-juice with a smoke just because they both have nic. When I smoked, if I couldn't get my smokes, I'd buy a different brand of smokes and since I didn't have my e-juice, I was looking for a temporary e-juice system. That's when I knew I was no longer a smoker or even a smoker replacing cigs with e-cigs--I am a vaper.

 

[Iffy]

First vape... no mas cig!

 

[MarleysChains]

I'm definitely not a vet, but the moment I realized that vaping would work was about a week and a half in at the end of the day I realized that I hadn't had a cig and didn't panic. Like Rachy B, I caved once both out of convenience (my wife still smokes and cigs were in the house) and I think I may have that self-destructive reflex as well. It was at the end of a really really bad day at work, one of those days where I almost just walked out. But I too got back on the wagon and haven't wanted one since. I think caving actually helped me realize that I no longer want or need cigs

 

[Grimwald]

It was my 2nd day vaping. In the middle of the morning, I just non-thinking lit a cigarette from my pack laying on the kitchen table. That's where I always kept them so I would at least have to get up a get one to smoke. I didn't want it or need it, so I put it out immediately and laid it in the ashtray. It sat there all day, looking all lonely, and finally late in the afternoon, I lit it and smoked it. Better than letting it go to waste, right? As I finished it, I realized that it wasn't any better than vaping...it wasn't special...it was just another way to get nicotine. That's when I realized I didn't need them anymore.

 

[subversive]

I was an accidental quitter. I was using lozenges for a week or two because I had bronchitis so bad that I couldn't smoke for the first time in my life. They kept the nic fits at bay, but didn't satisfy. I honestly just wanted a substitute until I could get back to the real thing. I tried out a disposable and within days I ordered a kit. I picked up a cigarette after I got better, and I realized I no longer liked the taste. I couldn't finish smoking it. It was a light bulb moment. I hadn't planned to quit smoking, but it definitely seemed very pointless and foolish to start again after weeks of satisfying abstinence. Once in a great while I will think about a cigarette, but I all I have to do is remember how the last cigarette I smoked tasted (there were a few more during my transition, but I couldn't finish any of them). I honestly prefer vapor. Annnndddd - no bronchitis or sinus infections since then. I used to get them all the time. I am thankful I got as ill as I did because otherwise I would never have put the cigarettes down long enough to give the e-cig a real try.

 

[guppy]

I always chain smoke when I drink beers so I figured that would be the best test for me. If I could make it through the night without smoking a cigarette, then this thing would work for me. so I gave it a try and didn't smoke a single cigarette that night and after that night, I knew I can drop it.

 

[peakcomm]

Within 20 minutes of my first vape, I knew. Vaping not only satisfied my nicotine craving, but gave me all the familiar rituals of a 30+ year smoking habit.

As they say, I always knew I could quit smoking -- because I'd done it DOZENS of times! This time, success has been painless. Seriously, absolutely painless. OK, it's only been 10 days without an analog, but I feel no craving, no stress, no worry about how I'll get through the day. And the shopping for flavors has been delightful great fun!

 

[akatina]

I was always a stress smoker. In the 2 weeks I've been smoke free I've had a death in the family and learned I may have a genetic condition that predisposes me to early stroke. I figure if I can make it through these two weeks without analogs I can make it through any of them.

FWIW I've had two dreams about smoking analogs in the past week. They tasted foul in both of them

 

[kiwivap]

The big test for me was a few months ago when some-one drove into my car while I was driving. In any stressful situation before I vaped I would have grabbed a cigarette. Straight after the accident I sat in the car chain vaping. That felt very good. And that's when I knew vaping really had completely replaced the cigs for me.

 

[serenity21899]

I'm still fairly new but this last week has been stress-filled. I chanined vaped rather than chain smoked. All the while putting up with my "issues" with Blu, and I still haven't smoked. So I think I will hang out for awhile.