Trying to quit smoking

Options
24

Replies

  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
    Options
    I have a vape with 6mg nicotine, manic mango flavored. I have never touched a cigarette in my life but love this little doodad.
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
    Options
    you have to really want to quit. i smoked for years and finally one day decided i was done.
    THIS!! I had the cough and chronic bronchitis, and decided I was DONE (that was two years ago January).

    I used the patch, and it worked pretty well. Breaking the physical addiction isn't that hard...its the mental side that you have to work on!
  • rsoice
    rsoice Posts: 212 Member
    Options
    I smoked for 30+ years, and have quit for over 4 years now using e-cigs. Not the convenience store kind though. You need something better. This message board is full of info!

    http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/

    E-cigs are the best thing that ever happened to me. I had tried cold turkey, classes, gum, the patch, and nothing worked until I used an e-cig. I think for me the fact that it takes care of the hand to mouth thing was just as important as the nicotine.

    I smoked about a pack and a half a day. On the advice of one of my MFP friends I tried the e-cig and have not had a real cigarette in over a month. I started at the highest level of nicotine and am already down 4 levels. Straubrey is correct though, don't get the disposable convenience store ones. Like Blu or Njoy. I would recommend looking to see if they have a vapor cig store near you. That way you can go down there and they are really good about helping you get started.

    Any recommendation on brand? I think both the O.P. and I would be interested
  • oregonzoo
    oregonzoo Posts: 4,251 Member
    Options
    Let me give you my step by step plan
    (have not smoked since 12.31.13)

    1. Feel a sick coming on
    2. Buy E-Cig and a pack of regular smokes.
    3. Get roaring drunk smoke all reguar smokes.
    4. Wake up hung over and sick. Not smoke that day.
    5. Still sick, use E-Cig this day
    6. You have bronchitis and never smoke again.
    7.(a month later) throw e-cig away as you never use it.
  • jasonmh630
    jasonmh630 Posts: 2,850 Member
    Options
    Unless you are getting an e-cig with 0% nicotine you are pretty much just transfering your addiction from one form to another. Yes, you aren't getting the tar and all the other horrible things that are in actual cigarettes, but in my opinion the only way to quit is cold turkey. I also recommend that if you do slip up and have a cigarette, don't beat yourself up about it. Just keep trying and you can do it. Good luck!

    While I agree that quitting cold turkey does work, the above statement about addiction transferral isn't completely accurate. Yes, e-liquid does have nicotine in it. BUT, the nicotine concentration in E-cigs are not nearly as bad as an actual analog cigarette. An e-cig is just a different vessel for cessation (quiting). It's really no different and no more harmful than the patch or the gum.
  • Swaggs51
    Swaggs51 Posts: 716 Member
    Options
    Yes E cigs work
  • mummma
    mummma Posts: 402 Member
    Options
    i gave up the same day i started logging here. 63 days ago! i bought an ecig, i used it for about 2 weeks max, less and less everyday because, lets face it. its not the same. it was just a substitute for the hand motion and the smoke inhalation for me.

    63 days down the line this is where im at...
    1,299 cigarettes NOT smokeD
    £461.50 SAVED
    389 HOURS of my life REGAINED
    pulse - NORMAL
    oxygen levels in blood - NORMAL
    carbon monoxide - ELIMINATED
    nicotine - EXPELLED
    taste and smell - IMPROVED
    breathing - IMPROVED
    energy levels - NORMAL

    circulation, coughs risk of heart attack, lunch cancer etc all improving every day of not smoking.

    the e-cig for me was a small transition.

    download an app that will help, i did. it gave me all the above info.

    YOU CAN DO IT!
  • HerkMeOff
    HerkMeOff Posts: 1,002 Member
    Options
    You know what works?

    Just quitting
  • jasonmh630
    jasonmh630 Posts: 2,850 Member
    Options
    I smoked for 30+ years, and have quit for over 4 years now using e-cigs. Not the convenience store kind though. You need something better. This message board is full of info!

    http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/

    E-cigs are the best thing that ever happened to me. I had tried cold turkey, classes, gum, the patch, and nothing worked until I used an e-cig. I think for me the fact that it takes care of the hand to mouth thing was just as important as the nicotine.

    I smoked about a pack and a half a day. On the advice of one of my MFP friends I tried the e-cig and have not had a real cigarette in over a month. I started at the highest level of nicotine and am already down 4 levels. Straubrey is correct though, don't get the disposable convenience store ones. Like Blu or Njoy. I would recommend looking to see if they have a vapor cig store near you. That way you can go down there and they are really good about helping you get started.

    Any recommendation on brand? I think both the O.P. and I would be interested

    Check out www.halocigs.com

    All American made and EXTREMELY high quality. Plenty of starter kits as well as many flavors.
  • donnaat27
    donnaat27 Posts: 5 Member
    Options
    Not to give up as I quit 10 years ago but since the kids are older now, I've been going out more often an have had the odd social cig. I realised it was becoming more regular and I found myself going out just to have a cig so I turned to e-cigs. If you find the right one (I did 2nd try - V2 e-cig vapouiser but it's quite slim and feminine) it's great. After a normal cig I found exercising hard the next morning but no problem with e-cigs. It also stops me over eating as I tended to snack when at the computer otherwise.
  • xHelloQuincyx
    xHelloQuincyx Posts: 884 Member
    Options
    *BuMP

    I've heard that ecigs can (depending on brand etc.) have just as bad of stuff in them. some that they sell at gas stations (forget the brand... fuji or something- non refillable) even said on the side that it had formaldehyde and it wasn't regulated by the FDA or any standards... The refillable ones seem like the best option for me. wondering if it is even worth it (for my health and my wallet) or if I should just man up and go cold turkey.

    IF anyone quitting would like to add me feel free! I could use the motivation.
  • maillemaker
    maillemaker Posts: 1,253 Member
    Options
    My mother smoked for 30 or so years and quit using Chantix.
  • LassoOfTruth
    LassoOfTruth Posts: 735 Member
    Options
    I quit smoking for the new year. I had about 2 Black & Milds a week to compensate for not smoking for the first two months. Around March, I stopped cold turkey. Mood swings, increased appetite most definitely arrived... but, I'm OK now. It passes, you just have to keep going. Around April I eventually just didn't want one anymore and the cravings stopped. I have been cigarette free for 127 days! Yes, I keep a counter on my phone. I'm a dork like that. Lolz.

    My boyfriend also quit for the new year. He DID use eCigs. They helped him, and he was able to go down gradually on Nicotine level so his symptoms weren't as bad. Around March, he stopped using them as well. They worked for him, just remember that they are a substitute and eventually you should be going down in Nicotine levels.

    Good luck!

    Edit to add that I used to smoke a pack and 1/2 a day. I smoked for 13 years!
  • vms4evr
    vms4evr Posts: 106 Member
    Options
    Took Chantix. It's brutal, it works. 30 year smoker. Quit in 2008. End of story.

    Took Chantix for a month in 2008. Stopped for about a year, Had a relapse. Took Chantix for a couple of weeks and stopped. Haven't touched on since 2009. Have no interest or desire. Don't miss it. Can walk in a room of people smoking and not care. Gone.

    The other incentive I had is 2 back surgeries. The first minor one I was told to stop smoking and did. Then had the relapse. Needed a second surgery which was major. Surgeon would not do fusion unless I was smoke free and agreed to stay that way during fusion. Signed contract and agreed to let them do blood test on day of surgery for nicotine. He was a hardass about it but has great success rates. He summed it up as smokers failure rates post op, especially for fusion, is bad. Finally had an ultimatum to stop. I did,

    After 5 years I still have some lung issue from being stupid for 30 years. But mainly cleaned up. I can pass a hard stress test on my lungs and heart and pass with flying colors. You'll thanks yourself someday for wising up and stopping.
  • darkguardian419
    darkguardian419 Posts: 1,302 Member
    Options
    I have a friend who switched to e-cigs... it's worked for him, but it didn't "hit" hard enough for me.

    Currently I'm on day 4 of switching from smoking to chewing, because for me, chewing is a lot easier to quit.
  • LetsTryThisAgain54
    LetsTryThisAgain54 Posts: 381 Member
    Options
    I quit back in 97 using Nicorette gum, then I got addicted to the gum and had to wean myself off of that. Lol. I wish you luck. Just try and stay strong and kick its *kitten*!!!
  • MizTerry
    MizTerry Posts: 3,763 Member
    Options
    I smoked for 32 years before I quit two years ago. I used Chantix, but the meds made me so loopy that I had to quit THAT cold turkey too and I was only three weeks in.

    Cinnamon sticks. I bought a bottle for my car, a bottle for the house, a bottle for my office and a bottle at my moms place. I also went to the health food store and bought chewing sticks. THOSE helped me, the cinnamon sticks and the chewing sticks. No matter what you do, it's a struggle. I told my family if I ever start back smoking, I'll never quit again, but it's been two years and three months and x amount of days since I quit, and I'm in better health now than I ever was. Yeah, I'm a little heavy, but I can BREATHE.
  • branflakes1980
    branflakes1980 Posts: 2,516 Member
    Options
    Unless you are getting an e-cig with 0% nicotine you are pretty much just transfering your addiction from one form to another. Yes, you aren't getting the tar and all the other horrible things that are in actual cigarettes, but in my opinion the only way to quit is cold turkey. I also recommend that if you do slip up and have a cigarette, don't beat yourself up about it. Just keep trying and you can do it. Good luck!

    While I agree that quitting cold turkey does work, the above statement about addiction transferral isn't completely accurate. Yes, e-liquid does have nicotine in it. BUT, the nicotine concentration in E-cigs are not nearly as bad as an actual analog cigarette. An e-cig is just a different vessel for cessation (quiting). It's really no different and no more harmful than the patch or the gum.

    I agree patch and gum are the same. I was simply saying that while there is a huge mental addiction to smoking, the physical addiction is to the nicotine. If you "quit" smoking cigarettes and start smoking ecigs, you are merely transferring the nicotine addiction from one form to another. The only way to truly "QUIT" is to do just that. . . Quit!
  • Tiernan1212
    Tiernan1212 Posts: 797 Member
    Options
    i wouldn't use them!

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/03/electronic-cigarettes_n_3818941.html

    "There is no evidence that vaping produces inhalable exposures to contaminants of the aerosol that would warrant health concerns by the standards that are used to ensure safety of workplaces" From the article above ^^

    As a smoker (going on 30 years) I've tried just about everything short of hynosis and believe that as others have noted there is the duality of will power as well as physical addiction. These are my next step. The irony is that I don't believe that they can be any worse than what I'm smoking right now.
    The link above has 9 points of which only 2 have anything to do with actually using them. The rest are about taxes, advertising and availability.
    I say we can try them together and good luck to you because I think I'm finally ready to quit!

    I thought the same thing about the article. And I know in the 3 stores I shop at that only carry e-cigs, they all say you must be 18 to purchase (on each bottle of liquid, on all the boxes of cartridges, on the front door, etc, etc). I'm not saying that they're safer than smoking nothing, but they are certainly safer than smoking an actual cigarette.

    Anyway, I smoked for almost 20 years, a pack to a pack and a half a day. Like some other people I tried patches, gum, Chantix, cold turkey, etc. I could not stick with anything. I haven't had a real cigarette in the almost 4 months since I switched to my e-cig. Other advice was great, do NOT go with a gas station brand (Blu, NJoy, etc, they're awful). I bought my startup pack, which included the battery wand, a liquid tank, and a pack of cartridges for $64. I have since switched to the liquid just because I like it better, and a large bottle will last me almost a month (for only $25). This is the longest I have ever gone without smoking (with the exception of my pregnancies).

    Whatever you decide to go with, I wish you the best of luck!

Categories