Your "triggers" for analogs - knowing is half the battle, share yours!

[trouble2k]

Break times at work have been the biggest hurdle for me so far. I work at an elementary school where there is absolutely no smoking allowed and breaks come at times are not set in stone. Over the years, I have learned exactly what time is perfect to sneak to my secret spot and break all of the rules!! I just watch the clock until I can make my move. And, you never want to be the one to "accidentally" breaks that routine and makes me miss my golden opportunity. I could get awfully cranky

Also, it was that one last cig before I took off...either to work or any other place I knew there would be no smoking. These are the ones I've been weaning myself off of the past week. So far, so good...

 

[christina7]

@christina7 - I can totally relate. Right now most of my triggers are:

When my son-in-law comes over and says 'wanna have a smoke?'
When my other half wants to yell at me for some reason or another.
When I have a couple of drinks - but this is going away, as I just vape like crazy.
Being around other people that smoke seems to be a trigger as well.

I'm only 2 1/2 days into this, so i'm sure (hoping) that it will get easier. However, I went from smoking a pack a day or more of analogs to about 1/2 an analog a day in the last two days, so i'm thinking this will be a good thing.

you can call me plain ol 'christina' : ) and 1/2 an analog a day is awesome! I'm finding the phrase "getting easier" not even an issue for me. I'm just preferring vaping to smoking now. You'll see.

good work!
c.

 

[Pheisty]

I'm one of the 'blessed' ones who didn't really crave a cig after I started vaping (and I smoked a PAD or more--camel lights--for 16 years). The first three days were a little touch-and-go, but I started out with a 6mg nic to just get the withdrawals out of the way right away. It worked for me, but I dunno if it would work for others.

My triggers the last time I tried to quit (cold turkey) were particularly after meals, in the morning with my coffee, and driving. Driving was my biggest fear that I'd go back to smoking when I started vaping. (You know, the whole, "I'm already in the car and can just pull into that convenience store over there and pick up some smokes...I can smoke 'em in the car and no one will even know!" LOL) I promptly hooked myself up with a passthrough so I could chainvape in the car without having to worry about dying batteries. I highly recommend getting one.

Congrats on your decision to start vaping! I'm sure you'll find, like many of us, that you prefer it to smoking. I know I do.

 

[Sainted_S]

Call me crazy, but it doesn't even feel like I have stopped smoking. I mean I guess I have the privilege of saying "No," when asked if I'm a smoker, but it just doesn't sit right. How can I be considered a non-smoker when I love vaping even more than I did analogs. I made the change for the economic savings, but it is so much more enjoyable and pleasant than I imagined it to be. I am a chain vaper, I have to cut the nic out totally in the middle of the day because I can vape so much without the side effects that smoking used to give me. I am sure this phase will pass with time, but it is pleasant, vaping a great quantity and not feeling sluggish and sick like I did with analogs. I have went through the times when I craved an analog, but at those times I just filled up a cartomizer with some smoke high nic juice and I didn't feel I was missing anything at all. I also give myself personal permission to smoke, I can at any time I want without feeling guilty, but I much prefer my VR rootbeer float or DIY mixes to the taste of analogs. I've only been vaping about three weeks now, but I've had a very stressful time. My daughter might have to have eye surgery and the doctors can't even see into the eye to see what's going on because it is filled up with blood from being shot with a bb gun, just awful. Still, even with that I haven't had an analog. I did sneak a drag of my step-father's one day but it burned my chest and that was enough for me.

 

[Buck]

Mine is coffee in the morning on the front porch, and after meals.

The one thing I have noticed is every other time I tried to quit smoking, I would eat anything that was not nailed down. I would put on 5 or 10 pounds. This time is like I didn't quit, I read where someone said you didn't quit you just changed brands. I have not had the cravings for food.
I am so thankful I found vaping!!!

 

[MTSea]

When I wake up, after I get off from work, and right after dinner. Not very hard to get over, just more of a practice of habit than anything. Just pull out the eGo and let go =)

 

[lordikka]

For me my hardest is reading. I read for a solid hour or two before I got to bed every night and when I was on analogs, I'd chain smoke the entire time. Now I chain vape!

Went out to a bar a couple of weeks ago and went out to the "smoking area" with some friends, and my goodness cigarette smoke stinks! I feel so bad for my wife having to put up with it for all of these years.

 

[watadork]

My trigger is a little weird, whenever I watch a movie or tv show that has someone smoking I suddenly want an analogue.

 

[Timothy Cullen]

watadork i totally understand and it doesn't help my favorite movie is thank you for smoking lol good damn movie but really just been vaping and i dont know why somebody didnt invent this sooner i can taste what i eat and what im vaping i dont even wanna think about going back to smoking analogues for real. they just make you feel disgusting and sluggish when i vape im always just moving and doing whatever dont have to worry about lighters, ashtrays, ashes, having the money for inflated cig prices, and yellow stains on my fingers. i guess im weird because just the thought of a analogue sounds horrible.

 

[JWolf]

I just started vaping friday, and I still have leftover analogs, and I keep them in my pocket. I vape a lot though it seems, and have a bit of an oral fixation (which is appeased much more with this than with analogs). I'm thinking of just giving them away since I haven't had any cravings for them and throwing them out seems a waste. Maybe Ill just extract them into a juice and see if there is a difference (since some of the additives might make it into the solution).

 

[Timothy Cullen]

throw them out, find a analouge smoker and give them away (better yet convert them) but dont make and extract u dont wanna waste a perfectly good atty with eliquid full of fire safe chemicals and flame ......ents or cancerous additives lol. just lose them trust me i got half a can of top tobacco and far as im concerned it can sit till its dust blueberry is amazing. if your looking for good tobacco flavors try bobba's bounty for aveliquids.com or look at some reviews lol
just my thoughts

 

[tinstar15]

This is a great thread!! I was wondering what other people's "triggers" were so I could figure out if mine were all that uncommon or not. I was mainly a habit driven smoker as opposed to a nicotine needer. My habits developed over almost 20 years of smoking. I started with one or two cigs a day and after a few months was up to a pack a day. After 5 years I settled into a 2 pack a day routine. I dumped regular cigs and went to vaping a little over a year ago but found that I had "triggers" out the wazoo. I still follow the same routine just with vaping instead of smoking.

For me:
1) Waking up. As soon as I'm out of bed, I grab the PV.
2) After eating.
3) Driving.
4) Pretty much anytime I'm not doing something where vaping would cause problems, i.e. dealing with customers.
5) Paperwork, studying, tinkering, goofing off, cleaning, fixing something.
6) Any time I have to relax, focus, and make a decision about something.
7) My biggest one...being around someone smoking.
8) Being at bars, nightclubs, etc.
9) Yardwork.
10) Just before hitting the sack.

I could go on but it would be easier to say that I pretty much lived with a cig hanging out of my face almost constantly for a good chunk of my life. Now I do the same, just with a PV. On the up side, my wife doesn't mind me using it inside. No more sitting on the porch every time I wanted to puff away.

 

[capecodjim]

I like to have some 36mg juice on hand for moments when I am really stressed and feel I need a cig(rather than just wanting one).

I was a roll-your-own (I wasn't gonna pay $8 a pack when a pouch was a couple bucks and went a long way) and then I found vaping and never looked back. I can't even smoke a fire stick now....

I started with 36mg because xhigh sounded good and I didn't know any better but I quickly lowered it .... haven't found the right level yet but it should be less than 36mg.....

I have a DSE103/ BE103 / RN4081 x2... with 240 mAh batteries and they work great! I have the Smoke 51 Trio x2 but haven't figured out what that's compatible with yet.

 

[WomanOfHeart]

Right now, work is my biggest trigger for wanting an analog. I think if I bump the nic to 24mg I might be okay. My other big trigger is going downstairs to our "smoke room". Our lease prohibits us from smoking analogs in the house, but we are allowed to smoke down there. Lately, we've been taking our PV's down there and it's cut our analog use way back.

 

[Heatherport]

Talking on the phone/being on the laptop
Reward for finishing/accomplishing something (i.e. cleaned the kichen, sit down have a cigarette)
Stress solver (i.e. am stressed over kids/ex/Mom etc....need cig to "calm" down, lol)

 

[Heatherport]

Oh, I should add seeing someone smoke on tv. Gets me every time.

 

[Heatherport]

Drinking alcohol/coffee
forgot after eating, lol, how could I forget THAT ritual????

 

[Heatherport]

and ANY time I was going to be outside for ANY reason

 

[brittneyyyann]

I pretty much had a cigarette after any and every activity during the day. After I woke up, after I ate, I'd smoke when I was hungry and couldn't find anything to eat, while reading, while on the phone, during a commercial break on tv, after doing laundry, talking on the phone, after a shower, etc. I've realized I used having a cigarette as a little reward to myself after I did ANYTHING, even watching tv for ten minutes.

 

[tee6395]

Amen sistah! ^

That's exactly how I am. My PV will supposedly arrive today and by this weekend I hope to be analog free. It is such a surreal thing to me. Smoking has been such a huge part of my life. I bond with people over smokes. It's my reward system. It's my friend. It is what I turn to when happy, sad, anxious, upset, nervous, hungry...Can I really do this? So many of you have I can't imagine that I'm that much different than all of you. I haven't thought about how many years I've smoked until now. I started smoking on the sly at 13 and was a full-time smoker at 16. OMFG! That is 27 years!! Oh the shame. : ( I can't wait to begin again as a non-smoker - super-vapor! I'm surprising my DH. He knows absolutely nothing about this. I'm sure he'll cry. He threatened not to marry me if I didn't quit. In the end...he gave in. He has been disappointed in me ever since. He HATES smoking. I can't wait to see his face!

Thanks for sharing your stories. The honesty and the overwhelming genuiness of these postings are really helping me and I'm sure sooo many others.