you didn't really quit smoking because you're vaping...

[p-doze]

I would have quit cigarettes years ago if i could sit at home, alone, with a punching bag for the first 5 days! Taking that much vacation time never made sense, and I was a huge grouch to be around if I went a few days without a smoke. So I quit for a couple days a bunch of times, a few months because of bronchitis or other ailments. I can count on one hand the # of cigarettes I've had this year thanks to vaping, and don't plan on ever becoming a smoker again. That being said, if regulations make vaping an inconvenience, or majorly limit options of devices, mods, and juices, I hope I can stay off the cigarettes.

 

[Commie]

I went cold turkey 20 years ago.
My cardiologist told me not to do that.

I quit cold turkey as well, 4 times. Now it actually worked.

 

[DC2]

FWIW,people that know me don't even go there. They know my reaction would be 'mind your own business'. I don't tolerate others presuming they can manipulate me with their words. My wife loves it & that's all that matters. I play well with others till they try & 'push'. Also, I didn't want to quit cigs, I needed too.

I'm worse than you... I don't tolerate manipulators either, but I also do not suffer fools very well.

 

[patkin]

Interesting. What was his reasoning? Another factoid - "cold turkey" is probably the most successful way most people quit smoking. If you think about it, ALL methods of quitting are cold turkey, because eventually you have to stop using whatever product you're using (NRT, anti-depressants, Chantix) and you're on your own. I've quit 3 times (during each pregnancy and while nursing) and every time it was "cold turkey."

I truly believe the difference is WANTING to quit. Even though ANTZ claim nearly 70% of smokers "report they want to quit," my theory is most SAY they want to quit because they know they SHOULD quit or they are being pressured to quit. That also means that over 30% of smokers DON'T say they want to quit. The CDC reports 6.2% of smokers quit every year, even though 52.4% make the attempt. That means around 17% of those smokers who say they want to quit don't even try. But those 6.2% that do succeed prove that people who truly WANT to quit CAN quit.

That is why e-cigarettes are becoming popular so quickly. Smokers who say they "want" to quit, but really don't want to just know that they should are finding e-cigarettes allow them to have their cake and eat it, too. (ie. "Since smoking is bad for me and I know I should quit, but I really don't WANT to quit, e-cigarettes are the perfect compromise!") That's also why so many vapers are shocked to hear that the ANTZ oppose e-cigarettes. It flies in the face of everything they've been told about why they should quit smoking.

That was 20 years ago before all the PCness that even doctors have fallen prey too... but, it was right after a stress test and he was discussing the results of that with me. He asked how much I smoked and I told him I was considering going cold turkey when he said not to. He didn't say NOT to stop but just not cold turkey. He suggested, if I recall, up to 3 months to taper down to none. The onlything he mentioned was stress and that it has the same affect on the body as fright. I guess he said it that way because he was quite angry with the GP who sent me to him as he had frightened me a lot (very insensitive type). I had not been able to sleep because of it. He told me what that doc said to me was inappropriate. Maybe the cardio wouldn't have advised as he did me had I been younger... I don't know... nor had the condition I was there for in the first place but I was way past child-bearing age anyway. Being much older than that now, I do know our bodies can deal with a lot more when young than they can when wearing out.

Edit: also, remember these were still the days when a doctor also told me that smoking under 10 cigs a day was the same as not smoking. Now if you say you smoke two a day they want to put you in smoking cessation class or give you meds to stop. Money greases even the medical wheels.

 

[GreekLion]

well, you didn't really quit smoking because you're vaping

I 100% agree with this.

I didn't start vaping and decide to stop smoking, I decided to stop smoking and start vaping to smooth the transition. Its subtle but theres a difference. If you give someone an e cig and dont tell them to use it to quit, they probably wont.

 

[Bullette the Cowdog]

...
I didn't start vaping and decide to stop smoking, I decided to stop smoking and start vaping to smooth the transition. Its subtle but theres a difference. If you give someone an e cig and dont tell them to use it to quit, they probably wont.

I didn't DECIDE to stop smoking and start vaping. I started vaping & FORGOT to smoke.

 

[pcrdude]

I started vaping with no intention of quitting smoking. I liked smoking, and didn't care about the health costs.

After trying vaping, I liked it so much better that I didn't want to smoke.

I have an appointment with a new PCP next week, and I don't really know what to put on the form where it asks if I am a smoker.

I think I'll put "ask me", or NRT.

 

[RosaJ]

I didn't DECIDE to stop smoking and start vaping. I started vaping & FORGOT to smoke.

That is exactly what happened to me. One day I realized I hadn't touched a cigarette the day before and immediately lit up. First puff tasted awful, second puff gave me a nasty feeling in my stomach, third puff I gagged and put out the cigarette and threw away a half pack I had left. I smoked a pack and a half for more than 40 years. That was a year ago today and have not had a craving since. I don't even think about it.

 

[kristin]

I 100% agree with this.

I didn't start vaping and decide to stop smoking, I decided to stop smoking and start vaping to smooth the transition. Its subtle but theres a difference.

So, then you are basically in agreement with people who say you really haven't quit smoking until you've quit all nicotine use? You don't believe you have really quit smoking until you quit vaping, too? Are people who don't smoke but use smoke-free tobacco products like snus "smokers?"

If you give someone an e cig and dont tell them to use it to quit, they probably wont.

Won't quit what? If they switch to e-cigarettes 100% instead of smoking then they HAVE quit smoking. The point about e-cigarettes is that you don't HAVE to quit nicotine and the FEELING like you're smoking but you aren't inhaling the toxins and carcinogens in smoke.

I don't understand how people have gone from knowing that the reason to quit nicotine is to stop smoking and not the other way around? If you're using nicotine but NOT smoking and you are otherwise healthy, why should you have to quit? It's the SMOKE that is causing all of the smoking-related diseases, NOT the nicotine. Quitting nicotine was supposed to be the means to an end, not the end goal itself. Like I said before, if nicotine didn't keep people smoking, doctors wouldn't have any more problem with it than they do the caffeine addiction that millions of Americans have. If our ancestors had made tobacco tea and drank the stuff instead of starting to smoke it, we wouldn't even be having this discussion!

Saying you haven't really quit smoking when you switch to vaping is like saying that you haven't really quit drinking coffee when you've switched to Avitae water because they both contain caffeine.

 

[metropolitan]

i have a new response:
"so if you don't approve of me vaping, would you prefer i go back to smoking?"
i can't imagine anyone actually telling me that going back to tobacco cigarettes would be a better choice.

 

[cspidermx]

..... The point about e-cigarettes is that you don't HAVE to quit nicotine and the FEELING like you're smoking but you aren't inhaling the toxins and carcinogens in smoke .....

I have received so much grief about this by ex-smokers that it's not funny.

I'm a happy vaper, an ex-smoker, and the fact that after 3 months I feel a lot better is validation enough for me.

 

[cspidermx]

i have a new response:
"so if you don't approve of me vaping, would you prefer i go back to smoking?"
i can't imagine anyone actually telling me that going back to tobacco cigarettes would be a better choice.

For the first couple of months of my "vaping journey" I found that response too aggressive, rude, tacky, you name it... After experiencing the "you haven't quit smoking" rhetoric, I find it barely adequate.... -.-

 

[kristin]

How about:
"Well, I've reduced my health risks by 99% by switching to e-cigarettes. If I needed to lose 100 pounds to be healthy, but lost only 99 pounds, would you tell me I haven't really lost weight because I still have that 1 pound to lose?"

 

[Mac]

I start by asking them if they drink coffee. Then I ask them how much basic chemistry they understand. Then I launch into a very verbose and long winded technical explanation of how ignorant they are.

 

[TheSneakerHoarder]

One co-worker of mine quit using the Blu line years ago when they first came out. He is constantly telling others curious to what I'm doing that he used them "correctly" by tapering off and stopping all together.

Keep in mind I've been at 6mg-0mg for months now.

Some will never see vaping as an oral fixation--the same reason he ALWAYS chews gum.

 

[cspidermx]

I do understand where some of those comments are coming from... the smoking stigma is very big, add to that the fact that we are feeling good about quitting a very bad habit and you get the perfect recipe to what feels like really nasty commentaries on an activity that looks a lot like smoking, even if it's nothing like it.

The mind is a very powerful thing, I've seen a lot of people react to vapor as if I was blowing analog smoke at them, and start coughing for real until they perceive the sweet aroma of [insert fruit flavor eLiquid here], all of those people make a certain face that's a mix of surprise, incredulity and worry. You can see on their faces the whole train of thought:

1st. This [expletive] is trying to kill me! *cough*cough*cough*
2nd. Is that Strawberry?? What the .......???
3rd. How is it that his smoke smells good?
4th. No way I'm enjoying the smell of a death stick!!!!
5th. Am I loosing my sense of smell?

etc, etc, etc.....

 

[NickSteel]

Early December, my daughter (non-smoker with allergies) presented me with a couple cheap disposable e-cigs. Seemed ok with me, so I ordered a Spinner/Clearomizer kit based on information here. Haven't wanted a cigarette since! In fact, it was so painless to transition, that I gave kits to my wife, sister, son and 2 nieces for Christmas. All have not had a cigarette since. I was very surprised at how easy it was to break a 40 year 1 1/2 pack a day habit. I realize it is substituting one vice for another, but we all feel much better now. Strange that I can hardly stay in the same room with someone who smokes anymore. The smell is very strong when you no longer smoke.

Our doctor, while not endorsing e-cigs, just changed our files to "non-smoking" and said that smoking addiction had two components: nicotine addiction and behavioral addiction. He feels that avoiding the tar and chemicals in tobacco was the most beneficial thing we could do, short, of course, of completely quitting everything.

I know that the six of us have managed to avoid cigarettes for a couple months now. We have all tried numerous times in the past to quit, including going cold turkey and using patches and pills.

At this point, I couldn't care less about the opinions of others. So what if I'm too weak to just quit. This has no secondary smoke and is odorless. That's enough for me and will just have to be enough for others. I really can't go back now, as I can't bear the health risks, taste, odor, ashes and burned clothing. While I didn't quit for cost reasons, spending about $20/month is nicer than $300! No brainer.

 

[akatina]

Our doctor, while not endorsing e-cigs, just changed our files to "non-smoking" and said that smoking addiction had two components: nicotine addiction and behavioral addiction. He feels that avoiding the tar and chemicals in tobacco was the most beneficial thing we could do, short, of course, of completely quitting everything.

^^^ THIS ^^^

In fact, in my non-medical professional opinion, smoking is multiple addictions: nicotine, the act of smoking, and the physical addiction to all the other junk in cigarettes. Quitting cold turkey means giving up three addictions (or 4003!) all at once. No wonder that was a pain in my ....... Switching to vaping let me keep 2 addictions while detoxing from all the other chemicals in smoke. After a month and a half I'm in the process of weaning my nicotine down. When and if I get to 0 nic I'll be left with the final behavioral addiction.

Why would I choose to jump off the cliff when I could pleasantly parachute my way down?

 

[Commie]

I realize it is substituting one vice for another, but we all feel much better now.

I don't see a problem with this substitution. It's kind of like substitution a weekly drinking binge with a morning cup of coffee and a beer on the 4th of July

 

[NickSteel]

^^^ THIS ^^^

In fact, in my non-medical professional opinion, smoking is multiple addictions: nicotine, the act of smoking, and the physical addiction to all the other junk in cigarettes. Quitting cold turkey means giving up three addictions (or 4003!) all at once. No wonder that was a pain in my ....... Switching to vaping let me keep 2 addictions while detoxing from all the other chemicals in smoke. After a month and a half I'm in the process of weaning my nicotine down. When and if I get to 0 nic I'll be left with the final behavioral addiction.

Why would I choose to jump off the cliff when I could pleasantly parachute my way down?

My biggest problem has been behavioral. I'm a retired computer programmer and project controls analyst. I realize now that smoking was largely an excuse for taking breaks from intense keyboard sessions. Just spending a few minutes each hour away from the grind helped keep my head straight and prevent burn out. I wish I had e-cigs much earlier!