When you quit smoking...When do cravings stop ?

[JerryA]

To the ECF vets:

Now I have not quick smoking just yet but I have started the process. I have noticed though that as I have been cutting down on analogs, I crave them more and more every day. For example, I used to smoke about a pack to a pack and a half a day but as I tamper down on analogs I find my body craving the cigs it normally would consume . Now my question is, once i get to the point where I have quit completely does the craving go away after the first day, or the first week? I have heard once you get through your first week the rest is cake, is this true? Can anyone relate to this?


Thank You for your time

 

[Hoosier]

I'm sure some can, but I cannot relate.

I vaped when I could and smoked when I had to. I kept trying different nicotine levels until I vaped a bit more than I was, but I still vaped when I could and smoked when I had to. I kept trying different flavors, but it wasn't until I started trying flavors that just sound too weird to be any good until I found one that gave me satisfaction like smoking. I still vaped when I could and smoked when I had to.

I never fought the cravings because when I had one, I smoked. One day, after all this vaping when I could and smoking when I had to while trying different juices, I discovered I had forgotten to smoke the day before and haven't had a cigarette since. Did I have any cravings after discovering I had forgotten to smoke? Yes, but they were tiny ones like I would get for a DQ butterscotch dipped cone when I see a DQ, just a quick passing thought.

I even carried around that last pack of cigarettes for months just in case I had a real craving, but it never came and I gave the pack away to a homeless man along with my lighter when he asked to bum a light.

That's how I switched to vaping and also why I don't use the term "quit". First, I had quit smoking a number of times, but something always happened and I would go back to smoking sooner or later. Second, I've been called many things over the years, but I've never been called a quitter. I have no cravings, no desire, nothing gnawing at the back of my head when I smell burning tobacco, so it is more like I never smoked in the way it feels, so I just can't call it quitting.

 

[atavanhalen]

Hey Jerry,

I think that this process affects everyone differently but I can share my experience. When I first started vaping I continued to smoke, I smoked much less than I had previous but was still smoking none the less. Then I got to a point, after a few months where I would only get that "i need a cig" craving maybe once or twice a day, and since I worked with multiple smokers I would cave to the cravings. Then a couple months after that I started saying no to those freebie smokes from co-workers because I realized that I just did not want them anymore. I think I prolonged the cravings by smoking one or two a day but either way I havent smoked a cigarette in over two years so I am happy. I cant say for sure how long it will be until you do not get the cravings but for most people, they will pass. Stick with it and you will be happily vaping in no time.

 

[nanovapr]

Hi Jerry, you didn't say in this post what your PV equipment was. Smoking is a complex addition. The nicotine, the ritual, the tactile feel, the physical sensation, the visual sensation. Different parts of this are important to different people. The mental parts can sometime be as difficult to kick as the physical nicotine addiction. In general, it's good to start with a fairly high level of nicotine, 18-24 mg per ml.

If you address the physical nicotine addiction first, it makes it easier to deal with the other aspects. What strength of liquid are you vaping?

Vaping is a whole different kind of ritual to learn, and if your devices aren't working well, that can be stress, and stress want to make us smoke, and then we feel guilty because we smoked............................... and so forth.

It's OK to smoke while you are getting the hang of all this new stuff. I don't think there is a set point for everyone where "I don't want a cigarette anymore" happens. When you stop smoking even for a while, it takes your body from a few days to a week to physically detox from cigs, but that doesn't mean you might not still want one. Don't beat yourself up because you might think you aren't quitting fast enough. Every cig you do not smoke is doing the right thing!

Stick with it, and let us know what you are using. I have an uncle that cold-turkeyed ten years ago, that good-naturedly jokes with me about vaping "So, when are you going to quit that?". He then told me that if he smoked one cigarette, he would be smoking again. I thought how horrible it must be, to still have that hanging over your head.

Once I got my devices sorted out, and found juice I liked, I don't want to smoke now. There are no cravings anymore. You've got to try a few things, and find out what works best for you.

 

[throatkick]

Hi Jerry!

The shortest way to go about this is to ask: What's missing? I get a craving because...............

I took a bit of a different approach than most. While smoking, I slowed the entire process down to frame by frame speed. I wanted to know why I was reaching for cigarettes, what I enjoyed most about cigarettes and what I could substitute the entire process with.

As it turns out, I disliked everything about smoking but loved the throat hit. I searched around for the models that people spoke highly of and that covered throat hit well. I bought two PVs and 36 mg nic. It recreated the smoking experience (as I used to relate to it) quite well. Eventually, I was able to fine tune my vaping equipment and now vaping is more pleasurable than smoking. Sometimes, I purposely test myself by going out to the smoking area but not once had the desire to smoke. Smoke actually is quite repulsive to me at this point.

Fine tuning can involve but is not limited to:
1. Using a variable voltage or higher voltage device
2. Using higher nicotine
3. Trying different flavors
4. Using a different atomizer or cartomizer
5. Dripping (assuming your setup allows for this)

Everyone is different and only you can define "craving" as it relates to you. I'm simply trying to help you pinpoint what's missing and the various things you can try in order to more closely re-create the smoking experience so as to curb the cravings.

All the best!!

 

[Kurt]

Everyone is different. Some pick up their first pV and never look back...but that sure is not the case for everyone, and PV, voltage, juice flavor, and nic levels can be quite variable in what people might need. And some simply cannot quit entirely with vaping, but have found satisfaction with Swedish snus.

I would say the statement that once you get through the first week the rest is cake is NOT in general true!! Certainly wasn't for me. Be patient with yourself. If you are at least cutting back on the analogs, that's a great start! If you are really having cravings, up the nic level. If you are at 12 mg, try 18 or 24 mg.

I primarily use a Boge LR cartomizer on a 4.2V battery, like a Riva or Echo, and I use a drip tip. this way I generally have enough juice to vape as much as I want, but I can drip in a few drops of high-nic juice to give me some hits of the goodness when I need them. For me there is no one nic level that I am always happy at. I vary from 6 mg (late at night before bed) to 36 mg (when I am really craving). Most of the time I am 16 - 18 mg, but much depends on the flavor too, as Hoosier said. There is no set formula. Do what you think is right for you.

I also found when I started to make my own juices that the activity and immersion really makes me forget about smoking. I also treat myself with the money I save in not buying cigs, and buy some new toys, the best of which do not cost more than what I was smoking up in a month, and they will last for a LOT longer.

On average I would estimate that it takes 3 -4 months of really active searching and changing to settle in to what you really like. In the meantime, don't beat yourself up! Vaping, no matter what you hear, is NOT meant to be a cessation method, its a smoking alternative. If you don't like something you can sell it here in the classifieds or trade it. Someone will like what you do not.

Good luck, and let us know how you are doing! Vape on!