Your experience switching from cigarettes to e-cigs?

[whatagem]

Mainly, I started with the e-cig because it seemed like a superb way to quit smoking--as I've tried everything else over the past few years. I'm still learning how to play with it, testing liquids, etc. I do notice that when I'm home, if I make an effort to use the e-cig instead of smoking cigs, I smoke about half as much.

Please tell me about your experience in being done with tobacco altogether. Was the transition easy, rough?
Do you occasionaly crave cigarettes?
How many packs a day did you smoke before quitting?

Tell me everything! I want stories, good & bad as well as tips for someone who's tried everything to quit smoking.

 

[strayling]

Questions that get asked quite a lot around here Here are my answers:

Easy transition. In fact, I hadn't planned on giving up tobacco but it just happened.
No craving. I occasionally wonder what it would be like to smoke an analog but have no desire to refresh my memory.
I smoked about a pack a day for 30 years.

 

[RatPack]

I'm know I didn't smoke them all fully, but I went through about 1 1/2 - 2 packs a day. I've smoked for about 40 years.8-o

I started vaping to cut down and hopefully quit cigarettes. Well I quit the day I started vaping. It filled the need for me.

When I'm able, in car, at home on computer or watching TV, I'm vaping like it's a pacifier. I don't vape tobacco flavors anymore. I vape a coffee or capacchino flavor during the day and something sweet like chocolate or caramel, or vanilla ice cream at night.

I hate the smell of cigarette smoke now. I can smell it at quite a distance too. I haven't had any munchies in the evening like I used to. Just vaping on my sweet flavors satisfies me.

I'm glad I started and I have converted many a smoker to vaping.

 

[breakfastchef]

The third day after I started using a personal vaporizer, I stopped smoking analog cigarettes. I am around day 40 without a tobacco product. I have no withdrawl symptoms whatsoever. I cannot explain why it seemed so easy, but I am not going to argue with such a huge life success. Thirty plus years of analog cigarette smoking stopped very abruptly.

 

[LaceyUnderall]

15 years, 1 pack a day. went ecig and went from a pack a day to 5-6 cigs a day. six months later i woke up one day and that was that. no more tobacco. (jan. 21st i think? can't remember... doesn't matter...)

didn't mean to leave the tobacco behind, it just happened.

the hardest part was the first three weeks after full transition. i was missing something but couldn't put my finger on it. it sure wasn't the nicotine. had plenty of that. once my addictions to the "other" things in my tobacco subsided, i was all of the sudden fine.

i have had a drag here and there and, it's just not for me anymore.

i am even on a combination between low and no nicotine now. i need my nicotine like my caffeine. a cup of coffee in the morning and an ecig of nicotine in the evening. makes for a great day!

will i be an ecig smoker for the rest of my life? probably. why? because i want to and by golly because i am an adult so therefor i can

PS: Favorite place to vape: In bed. Because I can.

 

[Xothin]

15 years and I was a 2/3 pack weekday/weekend smoker. I've cut myself down to 3 to 5 analogs a day and am a pretty heavy vaper. The only reason that I haven't been able to put them down completely is because I haven't been able to find a liquid to satisfy my menthol craving. I just need to buckle down and quit, but I'm finding that pretty difficult. I don't remember the exact date that I switched, so I put the in date that I created the banner in my signature.

I may have gotten rid of the expensive analog habit, but now I'm completely immersed in the eCig and have spent a ton of money on it, but my wife doesn't complain because I'm feeling better, looking better and smelling better.

 

[Duckies]

20+ years, 2pk/day, full flavor menthol. I got my first PV a little over 2 weeks ago and tried to smoke later that afternoon. I put it out -- it tasted like dirt. That taste that I craved on prior quits... well, it just tasted awful. I stopped day 1. Your mileage may vary.

Best of luck to you!

 

[LuckySevens4U]

20 years a pack a day. First full day of vaping, haven't touched another analog. 23 days now. But I went into this for WANTING to quit analogs and was determined to. Crave it? Sometimes still, but haven't and won't give in. LOVE vaping better than smoking. No smell, tastes yummy, and can do it in the house. LOL I may crave an analog here and there still, but when I smell it on someone else or smell the actual smoke, it makes me SICK and does NOT make me want one at all. That's all I need.

 

[Kitabz]

I used to smoke about 25 camels a day [16 years] but I've been up over 35 a day at times when I worked at home.

And I loved them all...

e-cigs began with two weeks on the super-mini (+ mostly analogs). It was a bit disappointing to be honest. Then two weeks with the mini (+ fewer analogs). This was much better so I decided to try to cut out the analogs altogether. Nearly two months now with no analogs and it's been relatively easy compared to snuff, gum, patches, micro-tabs, inhaler and cold-turkey.

I wouldn't say no cravings but they're manageable and I haven't had a caught off-guard sudden craving moment for weeks now. I can definitely now smell when someone has just had a cigarette (and it's not that nice) although slipstream smoke still smells pretty good to me [unfortunately]. I'd love to say that things smell/taste better generally but I don't notice much difference TBH. I don't feel any healthier because I didn't have any identifiable health problems with smoking anyway.

I've added snuff into the mix now because I'm a bit concerned that I might be vaping too much and I'd be quite happy transferring to snuff full time but keeping the e-cigs as a fallback/treat - one step away from the real things. I don't have any plans to have any analogs [not even one] because I'm afraid that I might like it a bit too much.

The biggest incentive for me to stay of analogs is the knowledge that if I fail this time, it's the end of the line. It's highly unlikely that anything else will come along in the future that is such a close substitute for the real thing so if I take up smoking again, I don't really have any valid excuses [all of the official NRTs are rubbish IMHO; I cannot honestly say that this time].

 

[aspen]

forty years smoking a pack day. Ran into someone who had an ecig and took a try. There was a throat hit from just like analogs. So driving home I thought I need to look into this because I haven't even tried to quit but knew it was going to be the bane of my existence. I had thought about quitting it seems like for years but never even really attempted with a genuine effort. I really enjoyed those things immensely. OK so I order from some chinese website of course I get the one that looks like a analog, I think a lot of people do this at first. I gave it a whirl for a few days as I puffed on a few analogs in between. There is something I still miss don't know what it is but something is missing, maybe the dirty tabacco taste we all come to love. Well I continued on the smokes in between then I just said hey here is an easy way out of this pit with this replacement device. So off I was to find the one that best suited me. This took a few weeks and a considerable amount of money and time. By this time with all the money invested and thoroughly enjoying this vaping experience, there was no way I was about to give up. I did not care if I just sat around and vaped all day long as long as I could quit. Fell of the wagon a couple of times but it did not bother me because I was just reminded how awful analogs are and went back to vaping. I have now not smoked for 55 days, can you f****ing believe it!! Me of all weak knee people quit smoking for a time. I still stop and think about what a milestone this is for me. Man I feel so much better like the energy level got kicked up a notch, no nasty smells, clean teeth, no ashes or fire. I am still amazed how easy this transition was. I never thought I would quit, I loved smoking and now it seems so disgusting. Just to let you know it still is not easy just easier and there is a big learning curve and can be frustrating but keep at it and one day it will click right into place. Hope the best for you and good luck. Oh by the way I started with 36mg and am looking to knock it down with the next order to 24 mg and on and on.
Best Regards

 

[Lochstar]

I started 20 years ago and worked up to consistently smoking 2+ packs a day of analogs. I ran across vaping and decided to give it a shot.

Most of my day I'm working on the computer (or gaming hehehe) and the first thing I noticed with e-cigs is just how much I wasted of analog smokes. See while working or gaming, I'd take a couple drags, set it down for a couple minutes while I typed or something, then a couple more. I'd probably smoke half of every cig. As a result, my consumption of them increased cuz I'd chain smoke them.

With ecigs, I could set it down, do my thing, pick it up and puff a couple times, set it down, wash, rinse, repeat. No waste, no needless filling of ashtrays. It seemed a perfect fit for an e-lifestyle. The transition was easy for me. My lungs started feeling better, things started smelling better, and I wasn't worried about dropping a still-burning halfer in the garbage when the ashtray was full.

At first, the "hit" wasn't the same as an analog cig, so I still mixed them in. Gradually though, it came to be enough, and after a few days off analogs they began to taste disgusting. Not to mention... how cool is a usb passthrough? I laugh when I tell people I even am smoking my computer now. It hits my smoker and geek buttons at the same time .

 

[JohnnyNobs]

I love this thread, please keep adding to it. I'm all ears ........ Or all eyes ....... however it works !

 

[srtga]

25 years of heavy smoking. (God, that doesn't sound right...)

Anyway, I travel a lot with work so I chain smoke while driving. I ran into a truck driver at a Pilot truck stop and he was buying some carts for his Njoy. He said it worked so I thought about it a few weeks before getting an Npro- There is a trend here, seems like everyone starts out with something that looks like a cig...- So I bought one and started snooping around the net for info and found this place.

I did well for a few weeks then went back to cigs because I got lazy. That's the thing about this deal, it requires a little more WORK than smoking. You gotta round up juice and carts and keep batts charged etc... I've been lucky with equipment as I haven't had any failures yet but I'm sure it's coming.

I'm back on track now. I've had the same pack of smokes for a week now.

It's hard to see this going truely mainstream until it's about 50% easier and the equipment is 75% more reliable.

But back on subject... This is the best substitute for smoking there is.

 

[Laredo7mm]

22 years of smoking. Sometimes I smoked a pack and a half a day, and others about 3/4 of a pack. So probably evened out to a pack a day. The only thing I don't like about smoking is the cost.

I did everything, roll your own, buying 5 pounds of tobacco at a time, buying smokes from Indian reservations, heck I even grew my own tobacco in my back yard. Yes it is legal, you can grow 1/10 of an acre per adult living in the house, but for personal use only. It doesn't sound like much, but I grew less than that and I still have 75 pounds of nasty tasting tobacco left over.

I haven't had an analog since 3/18/09. No wishing for a smoke yet. I am going through 1 to 1.5 ml of 24mg juice per day.

The only thing I am scared of is how I am going to do when I go out and have a few Jack and Cokes. I may break down and have a few for old times sake.

 

[strayling]

But back on subject... This is the best substitute for smoking there is.

That sparked off a thought. I realise that I now think of smoking as a poor and dangerous substitute for vaping.

 

[LaceyUnderall]

That sparked off a thought. I realise that I now think of smoking as a poor and dangerous substitute for vaping.

or an "expensive and dangerous substitute for vaping"

 

[shadow]

my first ecig was a Dura and i just got into it straight away,after my first day of vaping i was down to 3 - 5 analogs a day,i didn't have to think about it,it just seemed to happen naturaly,after a couple of weeks one of my batteries died and had to send it back,it was gonna be at least 3 weeks for a replacement,during this time on one battery my analog intake went back up to about 15 a day,which i really didn't like and found very frustrating,so i started looking for another device and discovered the Screwdriver,it seemed to tick all the right box's for me,long battery life and good throat hit, so i ordered it,the day it came i'd already smoked about 10 analogs,it arrived about 1pm with the batteries fully charged,i fired it up and BANG that was it for me i haven't touched an analog since i find vaping much more enjoyable and do not miss analogs whatsoever,in fact they scare me now,when i smoked and tried to stop before,i used to crave that headrush you get when you haven't had one in a while,but now i know that headrush isn't just nicotine its the combination of the nic and the other chemicals in the cigerette that gives you such a strong addiction and craving for them,with vaping i find it a cleaner experience,i vape 24mg and sometimes 36mg i don't get the headrush but i don't want or need that now and although i vape probably more than i smoked there are days when i go for long periods without vaping because of work or whatever,but i don't get that desperate craving i used to get with analogs where i would be constantly thinking about it and plotting how to escape to grab a smoke,i now feel i control my habit not my habit controls me. Half the battle with vaping is finding a suitable device that suits you and a suitable nic intake, the biggest drawback i found was having to charge batteries 4 times a day and i think this as well as the cost of replacing them causes a lot of people to give up because of the hassle, i only use 1 battery a day have lots of spare atomizers and plenty of juice, so i find it relatively stress free,and now i would rather give up than go back on analogs.

 

[strayling]

or an "expensive and dangerous substitute for vaping"

Ha! Much better choice of words, thanks.

 

[V-V]

I started with a pen style, and have stayed with it. I haven't smoked a cig since I got my PV.

It's amazing.

 

[Northern Bob]

As I've said elsewhere, I smoked a pack a day for 40 years... and I was qit surprised at how easy it was to go over totally to the vape side.

I still get an urge now and then to pick up an analog but have resisted so far. I just keep saying that I've made it so far so don't give in. It helps to read others and their stories on this board too.

NB