Quitting smoking and ECigs (Vaping)

2

Replies

  • Nicotine is as harmful as caffeine. So not very really!
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,300 Member
    blueskies, are you seriously saying drinking coffee is as harmful as smoking cigarettes?????
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I can't imagine being addicted to anything. That sucks.

    Yeah, it's a *****...and it never goes away. i'm almost a year and a half smoke free and I still get those urges, and often they are strong. There have been numerous occasions where I've considered just going and buying a pack just to have one cigarette and promising myself I'd throw it out after that one...but deep down I know that's now how it would go...so I just look into my kids eyes and find my strength. It does get easier, but it never goes away completely I don't think...

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  • seamonster1203
    seamonster1203 Posts: 118 Member
    I smoked for 15 years
    Vaped for 2 years

    Currently nicotine free for almost 3 months!!! I used the taper down method to stop. My body never noticed i was trying to quit :)

    I disagree that it never goes away. I've bee craving free for about 2 months. about half the people I've known quit say they craved forever, the other half stop craving.
  • sisterlilbunny
    sisterlilbunny Posts: 686 Member
    Haven't bought tobacco since mid Jan. Haven't had a "real" smoke for about two weeks now. I'm the kind of smoker that doesn't want to quit smoking but doesn't want the addiction so vaping has been awesome for me. I'm looking at backing down the nicotine to the lowest level this paycheck and going no nicotine in about a month. Though I will say, there's a heck of a lot more that goes into picking up vaping. Who'd have thought that VV/VW made all the difference in the world taste wise???
  • sad_kitty
    sad_kitty Posts: 84 Member
    I've been vaping a year and 2 months now and I could not have stopped tobacco otherwise. I had tried literally everything to no avail. I started with a 510, upgraded to an Ego, now I use an SVD and rebuildables when I'm at home. I have cut my nicotine in half since last summer, and plan to drop to 6mg this spring. Because I can't find many higher VG liquids I like, I do a lot of my own DIY, which saves me considerable money. Just started exercising last week after a few months of being quite inactive and I'm so happy to report that while 2 years ago, I would have been winded just trying to keep up with the lady in my workout DVD, yesterday I did the whole thing without a single wheeze.

    While I wouldn't advocate non smokers to try vaping, I honestly feel it is a healthier option than tobacco smoking.
  • I see this is an older post but just reading some of these comments I must add my 0.02..particularly with the last 2 comments...First, its not wise to comment on a subject you have little knowledge on...particularly like jam and deez..Vaping is not smoking..the definition of smoking is intake of tobacco products which Vaping does not consist of...yes you can purchase Vaping liquids that contain nicotine (1 component of cigarettes) but tobacco is absent, along with all the deadly chemicals that cause cancer and various other diseases. When you smoke cigarettes you are also becoming addicted to a multitude of addictive chemicals, not just nicotine. When someone quits smoking that means they quit smoking tobacco. Vaping is called Vaping because you are inhaling vapor, not smoke. So yes, those who stop smoking cigarettes are quitting smoking and starting to Vape, plain and simple. Comments below are just plain ignorant and should be ignored. Vaping goes much deeper then those Blu e-cigs, which incidentally create a false impression by using the term "E-Cig" because they aren't cigarettes at all. Mainstream Vaping tools like Blu are designed and marketed with that E-Cig term to merely help potential customers relate to their cigarette addiction, but in reality it is a personal vaporizer. Vaping is saving millions of lives everyday and will become mainstream culture in the near future due to its amazing harm reduction characteristics. I smoked analog cigarettes for 18 years and "QUIT" cold turkey when I switched to using a personal vaporizer with a liquid juice (produces the vapor-either PG or VG along with various levels of nicotine OR without nicotine completely ....PG stands for Propylene Glycol, while VG stands for Vegetable Glycerin. These two components are what make up most of the e-liquid. Both of these main components are essentially non-toxic, meaning that they are safe for the use of human beings.)
    If you are interested in quitting and love to smoke then this is the answer. Go and research the culture first, do not just go and grab the first E-Cig you find at your local drugstore because they more than likely won't help you. Buy a personal vaporizer that uses e-liquid, you will quit immediately as it gives you the same sensation as a real cigarette, i.e. throat hit, exhale...but with zero odor or toxicity. And folks, lets not be negative and down people for switching from cigarettes because the whole point is for people to stop killing themselves. Mark my words, Vaping will eventually KILL big tobacco, as soon as people wise up. PM me if you want some good links.


    THIS THIS THIS

    +1

    I switched to vaping almost a year ago, and haven't been interested in a cigarette since (after 30+ years of smoking). I had no interest in giving up smoking. I just got an e-cig to play with, and that was that. I shocked myself (as well as my friends)! And not only is it a helluva lot cheaper, but my god does it make exercise easier when you don't smoke! It's great, and I agree, vaping is the future. :-)


    I also vape. Best decision of my life!!
  • Lesa_Sass
    Lesa_Sass Posts: 2,213 Member
    I see this is an older post but just reading some of these comments I must add my 0.02..particularly with the last 2 comments...First, its not wise to comment on a subject you have little knowledge on...particularly like jam and deez..Vaping is not smoking..the definition of smoking is intake of tobacco products which Vaping does not consist of...yes you can purchase Vaping liquids that contain nicotine (1 component of cigarettes) but tobacco is absent, along with all the deadly chemicals that cause cancer and various other diseases. When you smoke cigarettes you are also becoming addicted to a multitude of addictive chemicals, not just nicotine. When someone quits smoking that means they quit smoking tobacco. Vaping is called Vaping because you are inhaling vapor, not smoke. So yes, those who stop smoking cigarettes are quitting smoking and starting to Vape, plain and simple. Comments below are just plain ignorant and should be ignored. Vaping goes much deeper then those Blu e-cigs, which incidentally create a false impression by using the term "E-Cig" because they aren't cigarettes at all. Mainstream Vaping tools like Blu are designed and marketed with that E-Cig term to merely help potential customers relate to their cigarette addiction, but in reality it is a personal vaporizer. Vaping is saving millions of lives everyday and will become mainstream culture in the near future due to its amazing harm reduction characteristics. I smoked analog cigarettes for 18 years and "QUIT" cold turkey when I switched to using a personal vaporizer with a liquid juice (produces the vapor-either PG or VG along with various levels of nicotine OR without nicotine completely ....PG stands for Propylene Glycol, while VG stands for Vegetable Glycerin. These two components are what make up most of the e-liquid. Both of these main components are essentially non-toxic, meaning that they are safe for the use of human beings.)
    If you are interested in quitting and love to smoke then this is the answer. Go and research the culture first, do not just go and grab the first E-Cig you find at your local drugstore because they more than likely won't help you. Buy a personal vaporizer that uses e-liquid, you will quit immediately as it gives you the same sensation as a real cigarette, i.e. throat hit, exhale...but with zero odor or toxicity. And folks, lets not be negative and down people for switching from cigarettes because the whole point is for people to stop killing themselves. Mark my words, Vaping will eventually KILL big tobacco, as soon as people wise up. PM me if you want some good links.

    He saved me from having to type all of this, very much this! ^^^^

    And for those who are trying to claim that these are bad for you, trust me when I say traditional smoking is way worse. I do not know why anyone would smoke traditional cigarettes anymore.

    I took up ecigs to replace my traditional cigs and was not planning on giving it up, but one day I realized I had not hit it in a couple of months.

    I also gained 8 lbs when I stopped smoking due to my incredible appetite. I found that bee pollen helped me suppress my appetite with out making me feel like I was on drugs, it also helped with allergy symptoms when spring rolled around.

    For all of you that want to throw out your opinion and tell people not to go the ecig route, just stop it. There are people that will keep smoking traditional cigs when people start spouting that crap. An addict will use any excuse they can to keep up with their bad habits. I was talking to a woman on oxygen at Costco last year when she was picking up her COPD meds. I could smell the smoke on her and I told her about the ecig, to which she replied she heard they were bad. Seriously? You are on oxygen and still firing up?
  • I can't imagine being addicted to anything. That sucks.

    Nice to know there's a saint in the MFP community. Congratulations on being perfect, and I'm sure everyone is grateful for your helpful post.
  • StraubreyR
    StraubreyR Posts: 631 Member
    Another Vaper here, since October 2010. Never thought I would be able to quit cigarettes, but honestly I'm not even tempted anymore. I may try to dial down the nic, but I just find I hit the e-cig less frequently anyhow, so not too worried about it. I use REOs box mods, and mix my own liquid. Sure e-cigs may not be perfectly safe, but NOTHING in life is. It's magnitudes better than analogs.
  • I can't imagine being addicted to anything. That sucks.

    Yeah, it's a *****...and it never goes away. i'm almost a year and a half smoke free and I still get those urges, and often they are strong. There have been numerous occasions where I've considered just going and buying a pack just to have one cigarette and promising myself I'd throw it out after that one...but deep down I know that's now how it would go...so I just look into my kids eyes and find my strength. It does get easier, but it never goes away completely I don't think...

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    congratulations on that smoke-free year and a half! hang in there, the cravings become less and less frequent the longer you go. best of luck to you!
  • sad_kitty
    sad_kitty Posts: 84 Member
    Always good to see someone overcome smoking.
    Pharmacologic wise, there are a ton of options with a wide array of dosage forms: nicotine TD, NS, lozenge, inhaler, e-cigarette/atomizer, and gum, bupropion, varenicline, and then clonidine and nortriptyline both off-label use.

    The problem is always getting the right dose form and finding what best suits the person compliance wise!

    I agree with you. Those products are all valuable tools for the folks they do help, but not all smoking cessation therapies and NRT's work for all people. Ditto for pharmaceuticals. I'm genuinely happy for anyone who's successfully quit using any method. It's such a difficult thing to do for a lot of us.


    I have tried the majority of NRT's with poor results, and not for lack of giving it a good try. By the time the Quick Mist came out, I was already vaping. The patch was too strong at 21 mg, and not strong enough at 14mg, adding in the gum/lozenges/inhalers alone or combined with 14mg patches just caused my throat to get very sore and glands to swell up (I now know I have a sensitivity to Propylene Glycol, and use Vegetable Glycerin e-liquids instead of ones with PG). I also tried both Champix and Zyban. Champix worked, but it made me suicidal within 3 weeks of starting it (and then fell back into smoking from the stress of feeling so low), and Zyban didn't reduce my urge to smoke at all, though it did make me forgetful and spacey. Being forgetful and spacey scared the crap out of me because I was working as an RN (respiratory medicine, ironically) at the time, and I felt it was really not the safest thing for my patients, so I quit Zyban and went back to patches and gums and smoking and self depreciation. Cold turkey worked for me twice (6 months each time), but I always stupidly went back to smoking. Then I found e cigs.


    There is a remarkable amount of positive peer reviewed material coming to light that is proving how valuable these devices could be for smokers' health. Dr Konstantinos Farsalinos in the EU has been doing a lot of research into safety and eficacy of e cigarettes, and you can find some of his peer reviewed and submitted abstacts here if you're interested: http://www.ecigarette-research.com/web/index.php/research, as well as some other research abstracts/links here: http://casaa.org/Clinical_Research.html.

    As someone stated above, it's likely not as safe as not vaping, but it's proving to be safer than smoking.
  • daybehavior
    daybehavior Posts: 1,319 Member
    .
  • Lesa_Sass
    Lesa_Sass Posts: 2,213 Member
    Always good to see someone overcome smoking.
    Pharmacologic wise, there are a ton of options with a wide array of dosage forms: nicotine TD, NS, lozenge, inhaler, e-cigarette/atomizer, and gum, bupropion, varenicline, and then clonidine and nortriptyline both off-label use.

    The problem is always getting the right dose form and finding what best suits the person compliance wise!

    I agree with you. Those products are all valuable tools for the folks they do help, but not all smoking cessation therapies and NRT's work for all people. Ditto for pharmaceuticals. I'm genuinely happy for anyone who's successfully quit using any method. It's such a difficult thing to do for a lot of us.


    I have tried the majority of NRT's with poor results, and not for lack of giving it a good try. By the time the Quick Mist came out, I was already vaping. The patch was too strong at 21 mg, and not strong enough at 14mg, adding in the gum/lozenges/inhalers alone or combined with 14mg patches just caused my throat to get very sore and glands to swell up (I now know I have a sensitivity to Propylene Glycol, and use Vegetable Glycerin e-liquids instead of ones with PG). I also tried both Champix and Zyban. Champix worked, but it made me suicidal within 3 weeks of starting it (and then fell back into smoking from the stress of feeling so low), and Zyban didn't reduce my urge to smoke at all, though it did make me forgetful and spacey. Being forgetful and spacey scared the crap out of me because I was working as an RN (respiratory medicine, ironically) at the time, and I felt it was really not the safest thing for my patients, so I quit Zyban and went back to patches and gums and smoking and self depreciation. Cold turkey worked for me twice (6 months each time), but I always stupidly went back to smoking. Then I found e cigs.


    There is a remarkable amount of positive peer reviewed material coming to light that is proving how valuable these devices could be for smokers' health. Dr Konstantinos Farsalinos in the EU has been doing a lot of research into safety and eficacy of e cigarettes, and you can find some of his peer reviewed and submitted abstacts here if you're interested: http://www.ecigarette-research.com/web/index.php/research, as well as some other research abstracts/links here: http://casaa.org/Clinical_Research.html.

    As someone stated above, it's likely not as safe as not vaping, but it's proving to be safer than smoking.

    I smoked for 27 years and tried it all, cold turkey, gum, patches (gave me night terrors) and lozenges....you name it, I tried it nothing worked for me until I got my ecig.
  • blueskies, are you seriously saying drinking coffee is as harmful as smoking cigarettes?????

    Of course not. Read it in the context. Having nicotine (and only nicotine- as in from an e-cig, not a cigarette filled with tar and chemicals) is as equivalent to caffeine. Both are addictive, but cause minimal side effects. And actually there is nicotine in most vegetables, so everyone has it to some extent!
  • rockmama72
    rockmama72 Posts: 815 Member
    I got an e-cig six weeks ago and stopped smoking regular cigs. Used it for three weeks until I realized I could go without, and now I'm freeeeeeeeeee!

    I do so enjoy reading the old comments from the people who don't smoke and had something discouraging or negative to say. So cute!
  • I am new to this site and new to quitting smoking. It's been 2weeks since I had a cig! Also new to vaping, I started and never picked up a cig again. However now, I have the worst sore throat ever, it feels like I have something to cough up but it won't budge. I have a joyetech ego c tank, which I loved in the beginning! The juice is 18mg, 50% pg 50% vg. This has been happening for about 3-4 days, my dr says it isn't me getting sick. The vapor store I purchased my stuff from said it's normal, but they keep talking about it in your lungs I can breath deeply in my lungs through my nose but not through my mouth because of the irritation. I'm so tired of this pain I'm so tempted to go back to cigs but before the throat issue I was so proud of myself and felt great. Any info would help. Also let me ad I was a pack a day sometimes a pack n a half a day smoker. For roughly 15 years
  • d3m1urge
    d3m1urge Posts: 38
    Those who claim ecigs and vaping are worse than cigarettes or toxic need to have a nice long lie down and think about what they've said

    100% idiotic
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,021 Member
    Biggest issue IMO is the "glamorizing" of vaping with teens. Though not shown to be "harmful" (due to short study), addicting a teen to nicotine shouldn't be the goal of ECIG sellers.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • gotolam
    gotolam Posts: 262 Member
    Biggest issue IMO is the "glamorizing" of vaping with teens. Though not shown to be "harmful" (due to short study), addicting a teen to nicotine shouldn't be the goal of ECIG sellers.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    Who says that's the goal of ecig resellers? But yea, we should definitely hold them to a higher standard than say, the glamorization of alcohol towards teens. Because teens never die from alcohol.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,021 Member
    Biggest issue IMO is the "glamorizing" of vaping with teens. Though not shown to be "harmful" (due to short study), addicting a teen to nicotine shouldn't be the goal of ECIG sellers.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    Who says that's the goal of ecig resellers? But yea, we should definitely hold them to a higher standard than say, the glamorization of alcohol towards teens. Because teens never die from alcohol.
    Right because alcohol can be drank on school grounds:laugh: .......... whereas the loop hole right now for schools is that vaping isn't smoking, so teens have been doing it..........legally. Point is that with what teens have to deal with socially, etc., nixing one less thing off the board isn't doing a disservice to anyone. Except for people that see the "advantage" of ecig usage.:wink:

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • I only got a few posts in before I had to comment. Nicotine is addictive, sure, and vaping is just as bad, etc.

    I don't think it's the nicotine at all that is the problem. I also noticed that I was never as panicy about needing to vape as I was with cigarettes. I was easily able to cut out the nicotine, so that I am vaping 0 nicotine. Have been for quite a while, in fact. I could go entire days without picking it up at all, but I chose not to. It's clearly a psychological addiction rather than a physical addiction to nicotine. Only a few years out from smoking, but I'm afraid of picking up the habit again. After years of feeling my lungs clear and healthy, I have no doubts as to which is better for me physically. I'm sure vaping is not healthy either, but I'm ok with it taking longer to quit, if it means I never smoke again.
  • mg1123
    mg1123 Posts: 69 Member
    After researching on electroniccigarettereviews.net, I bought my boyfriend his first kit about 4 years ago. He has no desire to quit inhaling, but he is completely off of tobacco and only vaping. I wish all smokers would switch, instead of listening to all the harbingers. The idea that someone won't switch because they heard it was bad is ridiculous. Cigarettes contain hundreds of chemicals, many carcinogenic. I wouldn't suggest that anyone take up vaping who does not already smoke, but I think that anyone who smokes tobacco should switch.

    If you think it isn't a big deal, you should try going for a walk as I do, and come across some inconsiderate a**hole who knows people walk the loop, who decides to walk back to his office smoking cigarettes. Or the people who have to get their fix and light up immediately outside store doors, forcing me to walk through the smoke. The smoke clings to my skin and hair and gets in my lungs. The exhaled vapor never even makes it to me when someone is vaping outside.

    Most of those "they are toxic" warnings have to do with kids getting a hold of it, the rest have to do with warning of inhaling vapor. Which I suppose means people need to stop using vaporizers (and how many people use vaporizers in their kids' rooms, and don't use distilled water or disinfect the machine frequently?). People who leave anything out thinking their kids won't get into it are idiots. It's the parents who need to be responsible adults, not the fault of responsible people who buy and sell the liquid.
  • SynDiet13
    SynDiet13 Posts: 10
    Vaping is so much better...If you look at it basically a cig. is burning,,on fire & inhaling that smoke///ouch!!! w/ e-cigs it;s just vapor not smoke !!
  • peggymdellinger
    peggymdellinger Posts: 151 Member
    I am new to this site and new to quitting smoking. It's been 2weeks since I had a cig! Also new to vaping, I started and never picked up a cig again. However now, I have the worst sore throat ever, it feels like I have something to cough up but it won't budge. I have a joyetech ego c tank, which I loved in the beginning! The juice is 18mg, 50% pg 50% vg. This has been happening for about 3-4 days, my dr says it isn't me getting sick. The vapor store I purchased my stuff from said it's normal, but they keep talking about it in your lungs I can breath deeply in my lungs through my nose but not through my mouth because of the irritation. I'm so tired of this pain I'm so tempted to go back to cigs but before the throat issue I was so proud of myself and felt great. Any info would help. Also let me ad I was a pack a day sometimes a pack n a half a day smoker. For roughly 15 years

    It could be the propylene glycol (PG) that is bothering you. OR, it could be normal smoking cessation symptoms which can include increased coughing, build up of phlegm, etc. You could wait a couple of weeks and see if the symptoms disappear (try drinking extra water) or, the best thing to do IMO, would be to go with a 100% vegetable glycerin (VG) e-liquid and see if that eliminates your symptoms. If it does, you probably have a PG sensitivity.
  • HipsterWhovian
    HipsterWhovian Posts: 195 Member
    I've been vaping for a while, and I love it. I've cut smoking cigarettes down almost completely - was a PAD smoker - and only smoke cigarettes when I'm drinking, or when my vape dies. I will soon cut the nicotine strength down, but unfortunately still reliant on the strong stuff!
  • TenderMoon
    TenderMoon Posts: 29 Member
    I was a PAD (often more) smoker for 58 years. Yes, you read that right....58 years. The only time I didn't smoke was when I was pregnant for my two daughters and only because I couldn't stand it. As soon as they were born, the first thing I wanted was a cigarette.

    In December I decided that it was time to quit and maybe I'd luck out and live a little longer. I took up vaping and lasted about a week and went right back. In March I decided that this was it and that those $%#& cigarettes were no longer going to get the best of me. I began vaping again and have now been smoke free for 137 days. I'll never say I'm cured but like an alcoholic I will refer to myself as a recovering smoker. I've been tempted at times but I refuse to give in. I think I finally have this so, yes, vaping does work. Don't think I would have been successful without it.

    Two months ago I decided that I didn't want to be one of those smokers who quits and gains 20 pounds on top of the 20 I was wishing to lose. I'm happy to say that I'm down 10 pounds with 10 more to go. I never really considered myself a disciplined person but maybe I am. :smile:
  • Just wanted to say congrats to those who have quit by vaping. Just reading it makes me happy.

    For those claiming it's as bad as smoking cigarettes... Shame on you! I can only assume you've never seen a dying loved one gasping for breath even on the maximum oxygen the hospital can give. How reckless and careless can you be? Almost like purposefully discouraging someone from making the switch to an alternative that could add decades to their life. Any NRT is better than smoking. In implying otherwise, I can only assume you do not only not care about the well-being of others, but are possibly trying to hurt people.

    I know some of these replies are old, but I hope the negative responders see this anyway.
  • misskarne
    misskarne Posts: 1,765 Member
    I can only assume you've never seen a dying loved one gasping for breath even on the maximum oxygen the hospital can give.

    Yes, I have. My grandfather. My wonderful, loving, grandfather, who was fit, healthy, ate well, walked every day, and never picked up a cigarette in his life. But he was once an engineer in the navy and loved to go down into the boiler rooms of the ships, where the asbestos was flying in the air like snow.

    And the day I saw him for the last time, he was unable to speak, barely able to breath, couldn't even lift his arms to give us a hug. I stumbled out of the hospital in tears - right into a cloud of cigarette smoke from the non-dying, seemingly happy smokers.


    My great-grandfather quit. It was as simple as: he kept a packet of cigarettes in his pocket but never had one. Whenever someone said, "Want to grab a smoke?" he'd pat the pocket and go, "Nah, I'll grab one later." Later was never. He quit that way and lived to be many years older than my beloved grandfather was when he died.
  • kotomli0530
    kotomli0530 Posts: 10 Member
    Im interested in trying to vap as a way to quit smoking cigarettes.. just curious as to where everyone is getting theirs?