Trying to quit smoking

*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.

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!

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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*!!!

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!

I don't really care if I quit nicotine or not. It's causing me zero health issues. I'm in better health than ever, and not in any danger of going back to cigarettes, as long as I have my e-cig. If getting off nicotine is important to you, for health reasons or whatever, go for it. For me it's just plain not worth it.

Edited to add: My doctor approves! Nothing is 100% safe, but for sure e-cigs are safer than analog cigarettes.

I quit cold turkey 2 - 3 years ago, after smoking for 4 years.

I was too stubborn to allow myself to fail. Having friends and a S/O who don't smoke helps too.

i wouldn't use them!

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

Did you actually read this article? The first point states that they have "toxic" chemicals. Really? Like what? And cigarettes have rainbows and unicorns flying out of them?

The rest of the points are all about marketing and selling to kids / minors. Nothing about health.

The fact that you put this on here with no knowledge about the actual product and how many people it has actually helped is REALLY disturbing.

YES ECIGS WORK!!! Bro i used to smoke a pack a day, got an ecig and i havent smoked in 3 months. And saved tons of money. I would recommend going to reddit.com/r/electronic_cigarette and read some stories about how many people have quit. There is a great community there. The media makes ecigs look bad, they are not. they just say that so the tobacco companies can keep there 100 billion $$ income each year from people dying. Get a decent ecig (i have a itaste mvp 2 for 60$) and get some juice, and you will not regret it!! 100% recommend getting an ecig. or just quit all together, but ecig is much easier, and no cancer

I bought mine at www.v-ecigs.com and it works great. Haven't smoked in about a year now.

http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/drugs-alcohol/nicotine-health-benefits.htm

Found this article rather interesting! Thanks for the links, I'm shopping now.

Smoker of 27 years, been on an ecig for 3 months now and feel MUCH better. And food tastes incredible. I can smell things better. There's so many pluses. But we're not here to talk about me.. this is about you.

Here's what you need to ask yourself with all honesty: are you REALLY ready to quit? Physically, yes I would imagine you are. But it's the psychological part that keeps us coming back for more. And that's the real hurdle to get over; faith in yourself to follow through.

Don't hold it against yourself if you slipped up in the past on your previous attempts. For crying out loud, these things have thousands of chemicals in them, many of which are intentionally designed to keep you hooked. So allow yourself the possibility to err, but don't beat yourself up over it. We're human.. we screw up.. it's the one thing we really are good at.

Another thing that you need to have in place is people who are supportive of your quitting. Not people who will tease you if you screw it up one time, and definitely not people who will be critical if you have a relapse. The more people you tell about your quitting, the more pressure there is on you to follow through. Everyone wants to be good on their word, so this is your pact with yourself and them.

And for what it's worth; you can do this, and you are gonna kick *kitten* doing it. Now get to it!

Another thought: No matter which brand you go with, I'd suggest starting with the strongest nicotine solution. Others may have other opinions, but I think initially it's important to make sure you're able to get enough nicotine when making the switch from cigarettes, and for most people, there is an adjustment period. The nicotine content does not affect the taste or harshness. In other words, a 24 mg solution will not make you gag. I don't think it's likely to give you a buzz either. But if you go the other route, say a 6 mg solution, you may find that your new e-cig just doesn't satisfy your cravings.

24 mg gave me headaches. 18 was a perfect start...for me. 12 is now my preferred. I can't even vape 18 anymore. 24 sure kills the craving though.

If you are a heavy smoker and the hand to mouth drives you more than the actual nicotine, I wouldn't go 24mg, I'd go 18 to start and work your way down. Just my opinion on it.

I apologize if this sounds preachy, and I realize it is a long post, and I am not trying to offend anyone, or say people are wrong. My message for those of you who don't want/have time to read the ramblings of a passionate, happy non (ex) smoker: There is an easy way that is free (go to your library!), and has a 96% + success rate. Nothing to buy, it will take you a day or two. Imagine - in a day or two you could be a HAPPY NON-SMOKER. yes, you. EVERY smoker. ANY smoker. It WILL work for you. Try it!

Don't take my word for it - listen to Ellen! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9S4ojJRP2I

(Notice how at the start she says she didn't want to announce it immediately ("I quit smoking...yesterday") but she KNEW the DAY AFTER she stopped that she was done, she only waited because of the mass perception of smokers 'always failing')

My story:
I started smoking when I was 12 years old. I worked my way up to a pack a day by 15, two packs a day by 18, where I stayed as a minimum, up to and beyond three packs some days, until the age of 26. 13 years of being a HARDCORE smoker. A cigarette break for me was chain smoking 3 or 4 in a row, lighting each one from the butt of the last! Yes, I know that is disgusting by anyone's standards!

I stopped, 'cold turkey', by using the Allen Carr Method. He was a 100+ a day smoker who managed to stop using hypnosis, but he was amazed at how, after countless miserable attempts at trying to quit, his marriage deteriorating and still not being able to choose his wife over cigarettes, the hypnosis made it easy for him. So, long story short, he figured out exactly why this was.

Nicotine is one of the fastest acting addictive drugs known to man. The nicotine from ONE cigarette is enough to cause a lifetime addiction. And that's exactly what smoking is, drug addiction.

Fortunately, it is quick acting, but it also leaves the body very quickly. The bigger problem is that the "little monster" of physical cravings/addictions, which is incredibly mild - the withdrawal 'pangs' are not even strong enough to wake most people up during their 6-8+ hours of sleep per night - this little monster sets off what Allen called the "big monster" in your head - the psychological side of the addiction, which is where the traditional 'willpower' method, and the newer 'nicotine replacement therapy' methods (NRT) fall horribly short - they do not address the psychological aspect.

If you can sleep for 8 hours without being woken by the 'terrible withdrawal pangs', why is it when you decide to quit, 3 minutes later you're pulling your hair out, or, like me, rummaging through your garbage can to find pieces of the cigarettes you just tore up because you quit? It's the same drug. The difference is when you're asleep, the physical withdrawal, the little monster, doesn't set off the big monster of the psychology addiction. The physical cravings don't wake you, you go 8 hours without cigarettes, no problem. Compare this to, say, heroin addiction, where the withdrawal pangs are very very real, int3ense, will psychically make you sick, sweat, keep you up at night, etc.

The reason why Allen's method works is because it is designed by a smoker, who very much understands smokers. Instead of doing what all the anti-smoking campaigns attempt to do - tell you why you shouldn't smoke - Allen breaks down and analyses why you do smoke. He breaks down all the myths and allows you to see smoking for what it truely is - drug addicition.

He will change the way that you think about smoking, so that you honest to god NEVER WANT to smoke again, and are super happy about it.

Does it take will-power to not hit yourself in the face with a hammer? No, of course not! So it is very easy to go about your day, week in week out, without ever hitting yourself in the face with a hammer or having to fight the urge to do so. Once you understand smoking, once you change the way you think about it, you will not want to smoke ever again. So it will take no will power not to. It would actually take will power for me to smoke again at this point!

The problem with NRT (e-cigs, patches, gum, lollipops, etc) is that (1) they do not address the real issue - the psychological aspect, and (2) you are constantly feeding that little monster - your nicotine addiction.

Would you advise an alcoholic to keep a flask of vodka when trying to stop drinking, just to have a nip here and there to fight the urges? The first week he could have a mouthful, the next week half a mouthful, the third week less, and so on. OF course not! Because we understand that alcoholism is an addiction, and by giving the addict their drug, you are maintaining that addiction! This is exactly the same as NRT.

E-cigs are, at very very best, a waste of money to maintain your nicotine addicition while still paying big tabacco your hard earn dollars to slowly kill you.

In reality, they are keeping you a drug addict, who at any time might be triggered to smoke 'just one' cigarette if they have a bad day/drink/break-up/whatever.

I am not saying people can't or don't quit using them, I am saying that their is an easy way to do it, where you will be PERMANENTLY FREE OF SMOKING AND IT WILL BE ENJOYABLE AND EASY!!!

I hate to sound like that sanctimonious ex-smoker, I knew that guy, lots of those guys, and they are a**holes! I sincerely believe in Allen Carr's method is the only way to stop smoking for good. I have no affiliation with the company, I am just one of the over 10 MILLION people he has helped. They have something like a 96% success rate!

He has three ways of delivering his method - a live seminar, an online 'webinar' (pre-recorded videos), and a book - The EASYWAY to STOP SMOKING.

My honest, sincerely, I truly want people to be free of this addiction advice? Go to your library, check out the Allen Carr EASYWAY to Stop Smoking book. Read it *as a smoker* (the method expects and encourages you to keep smoking until the final cigarette at the end of the method - like I said, this is a smokers way of stopping smoking!), smoke your final cigarette, get on with your life as a HAPPY NON-SMOKER.

Again, sorry, HUGE post. I am just *very* passionate about this method because IT FREED ME from being a slave to nicotine.

Have a great day!

Honestly, the way that worked for me was Cold Turkey. It was tough but I wanted to get rid fot he mettalic rattle in my lungs and feel better than more than I wanted a cigarette. My will power was not strong so I had to stop going out to bars or parties for a while until I was better able to control myself. My last cigarette was October 13th of 2012 and I have never regretted it. Honestly I am completely disgusted by them now to the point where I get annoyed when someone lights up around me. There will be stages you go through, I actually got depressed and was EXTREMELY moody for a long while but then it gets better. It's rough but worth it.