Woodland Star

About 2 months ago I started using an e cigarette. I did do some research on the net regarding e cigarette companies etc. but there was such a flood of information regarding different views, and experiences that eventually I just sort of picked one at random. It turned out to be the trio starter kit from smoke51.

The product arrived promptly and I had no problems in getting totally immersed in the process. The e cigarette has greatly reduced my analog habit and that is all I ever wanted. I never intended to quit tobacco, but I did want to reduce how much tar etc. I was pumping into my lungs. I’ve been smoking tobacco for over 50 years so I am not all that sure that I will actually be able to quit, but with the e cigarette that possibility is starting to sound more probable. The only inconsistency I have found so far between the e cigarette ads and the actual experience is the number of smokes I can get out of one cartridge. There are a lot of claims made but for me one cartridge is equivalent to about 3 cigarettes. However, I also purchased a bottle of e-juice and this makes the entire cost very reasonable when compared to smoking analogs.

All I can say is that for me the e cigarette has been a very positive experience. I no longer wake up coughing, which I suppose is do to the extreme reduction in smoking analogs. Also, when going into town I know longer get my smoking gear together (roller, tobacco, papers etc.). Now I just pop the e cigarette into my shirt pocket and off I go.

I don’t flaunt the use of the e cigarette in public. When I do use it in a public place it is just one or two hits with the battery well hidden by my hand. I see no reason to incite the mentally challenged villagers (which is the majority of the US population).

firhill

Welcome WS,

Great to hear the PV is helping you cut back...hopefully to zero analogs at some point.

That is the thing I'm most thankful for personally...I hated that morning feeling where i was trying to supress that first cough, knowing it would lead to a bout of uncontrollable coughing.

Rocketman

After you get a little used to vaping you will probably vape openly in public. There are still a lot of smokers out there and more and more are hearing about e-cigs on the radio, TV, and at the mall. Learn all you can and be willing to show it off. I have found most are interested, even the "are you smoking in here?" freaks. You can always put it away, no need to offend anyone.

Your case is similar to mine. It took a few weeks to leave the cigars behind. The morning overdose while the coffee was brewing was the hardest to give up. Best of luck sounds like you are willing to make a few compromises to quit smoking. Those that aren't willing, have a harder time at it.

The Rocket
(Welcome, and no need to vape in the closet)

Kaye

Woodland Star, visit this forum for encouragement and, if you run into problems with your e-cig or vaping in general, let us know and you'll get lots of tips on how to improve the experience. I was a heavy smoker for over 50 years and switched to e-cigs in June when I decided to just try them and see what happened. Haven't smoke since and don't have any urge to do so at all, even around smokers. My coughing stopped and my health in general improved. Vaping beats smoking all the way around so stick with it and you'll be very glad you did! Also, nice to see another New Mexican here; I lived in ABQ for 35 years and just came back to Georgia to be with my 96-yr old mother while she's still healthy and mentally sharp... well, sharp as long as you don't ask her anything that was said yesterday and stick to what she said and did between 1920 and 2008, But I can't remember what I said yesterday half the time so we get along just fine.

Hachiroku

LOL! Good for you!

I smoked for 34 years. I have cut tobacco down to 3-4 cigs a week, and even then I think they taste like crap! I smoke them for two reasons: all my batteries are dead, or I'm pissed off because I fried yet another atomizer.

There are a couple things I notice: first of all, I'm still 'in tune' with tobacco, and feel I'm missing something, so I am almost constantly hitting the PV. Since I use the highest strength Nic I can get (VT Vapor's 35mG/mL) I sometimes get a pretty decent nic high!
Also, I am still coughing, because this is a vaporizer, and when you hit it as much as I do you're generating a lot of steam, and steam condenses, and seems to be condensing in the middle of my throat! A couple good coughs and that's finished, though. My lungs FEEL better, I breathe better, I don't 'gurgle' at night when I go to bed anymore.

It's a discipline thing. Every day I want to light up a ciggy, but I don't, and put some fresh juice in the cart and hit the PV a couple times.

Good luck.

Oh, as for using the e cig in public, I play in a band (see the links below) and take it with me to gigs. Winter time is coming, and so far I get questions from the bar owners..."What IS that?" Is it a cigarette? Um, no. Is it smoke? Um, no. What's in there? Let's see...espresso, cappucino, some vanilla and a small amount of tobacco flavor. Wanna try it?!?!

And even outside people come up and ask what is is, is it working, where can I get one (I think I'll set up a small table and take orders... )

Hachiroku

So all that said, I have a nice healthy supper with a salad for 'dessert' and then light up a ciggy!
Only took 5 hits, though...
I'm so ashamed...

piercetc

i love reading all the posts here - its really helping me - right now i am working out the kinks with batteries/ atomizers/ juice etc........... so at some point i can stop analogs totally! very exciting to think i can do that! and its thanks to all here and the ecigs when i finally do it!

Woodland Star

Thanks to everyone for some really great responses. Its nice not feeling so alone in all of this.

The e cigarette helps a lot especially because it is always there waiting which is sort of like having a friend around. I know the e-cig is just as addicting but at least it is without the lung issues from tobacco. One thing is for sure, it is hard not to notice it sitting on the table when I reach to roll an analog. I’m not pushing it though. I am trying to let it become an aide rather than a nag. I have noticed that if a major crisis event happens then I do reach for the analogs.

For Kaye: I live in Alamogordo NM just a few miles north of White Sands. Like you, I moved to the southeast a couple of years ago to be closer to my family in Alabama. I had lived most of my life in the Rocky Mountains and had a tough time adjusting to the culture of the south….so last year I moved back to New Mexico.

For Hachiroku: If not for the e-juice the whole process would be beyond my means. And also I have the same issue with the steam in the lungs. What I am now attempting to do is not inhale so much but rather let the nicotine move into my system via arteries in the mouth like a tobacco chewer.

One thing I noticed is that I seem to reach for the e-cig when I first wake up rather than the analog. The truth is I really hate the smell of tobacco smoke after it has lingered in the air for awhile. The e-cig is also really handy for riding into town and vaping in the car without having to open windows. The truth is I am not sure why I reach for the analogs. At first I thought it was for the inhale habit…the feel of relief that comes with the inhale. But now I am not so sure. I am starting to wonder if it isn’t just part of habit. I say this because I noticed that if I keep the e-cig in my hand even though I am not vaping, it seems to relieve the need to reach for the analog.

Rocketman

You two timing cheat you

Rocketman

I sit around work here with an e-cig in one hand, and my 'blanky' in the other hand. Very comforting and I don't have to get up all the time for a 'smoke break'. Hey boss, I'm being more productive.

and BTW, it is a very manly looking blanket.

The Rocket
<<<<Getting closer

And do not ask what's going on under the blanket

Woodland Star

I had the same problem but solved it with by using the French inhale..."The French inhale is a trick one can perform while smoking. One takes a deep drag, then while the mouth is open and the jaw is slowly closed to force the smoke out, one inhales through the nose, thus inhaling the smoke drifting from the mouth."

Woodland Star

Hi Rocket:

That really made me laugh...I had visions of you smoking under the blanket to get a better hit!

Dwellsouth

Hi Mr. Woodland! Why still reach for the analogs? For me, pure and simple HABIT... I keep feeling like I'm missing something. Fact is, I'm not, because it doesn't taste good anymore and the smell overwhelms me and disgusts me more than ever! But hey, old habits are hard to break and I've already decided NOT to dog myself for puffing 1 cigar a day versus 30+! Even 2.

See my post re. heart rate changes...I'm gonna take a WIN on that!

Note to ciggy smokers: The gurgling noises and hacking is extremely disgusting and a total turnoff! I'd been using those little plastic clear filters on my cigars for years now to cut that crappy stuff out and it did help get rid of it! When you rub that sappy, stinky tar soot between your fingers and it feels like syrup and imagine that inside your lungs in all your little air pockets and bronchial branches...GAGaLOT!

I like to stealth vape to see just where I can get away with it WITHOUT being noticed...latest accomplishment...wholesale tire company, sitting right there on the other side of the counter! LOL Nobody even noticed my copper colored "pen" I kept chewing on.

Good luck to you too!

Snarkyone

Good to hear that your taking the steps to get off those nasty tobacco cigarettes. I smoked for over 32 yrs and I was able to quit with no withdrawal or weight gain or any other negative effects but that's me. I am confident that if you can go a couple of weeks without touching a tobacco cigarette the rest is downhill from there. Here is what I experienced and the methodology.

Try going a couple of weeks using nothing but your e-cig no matter what the situation. Once the two weeks are up, light one up and taste it....it will taste crappy. Put it out, don't smoke the whole thing and repeat the 2 week process again.

You will now have gone a month using nothing but the E-Cig and now repeat the test, light up a smoke and take a couple of hits. Notice how the "throat hit" is not there and the "smoke cloud" is puny compared to your E-Cig? Crazy isn't it that you think a real cigarette is not giving you enough throat hit or smoke?

Now go another month without touching a tobacco cigarette, repeat the test and I am willing to bet it will bring back the weird taste and sensation from when you first began smoking!

That's what I experienced anyway, it was as if I was touching one for the first time and of course it was nasty and far from satisfying. I am now at a point where I can leave the house for trips into town and leave my E-cig at home and not panic, reduced my nicotine to a mid to low level and am within reach of my goal of being free from nicotine addiction for life.

Try not to let the search for the perfect E-Cig get you too stressed or anything. Most of the vapers I know have multiple kits or mods, myself included. It's still cheaper than 3-4 cartons of cigarettes a month and you will narrow it down to a couple of faves over time. Welcome to your new life.

Hachiroku

Hmmmm...that's what I do!!!!! But not in public!

I saw someone mention that my first day here, the day after I got my 084, and have been doing it ever since! Now I wonder why it works for you and not for me?

Hachiroku

So long as he's not playing "tent"!!!!

Rocketman

Everybody has visions, some a little different than others.

Are you making fun of BLANKIE?

Do not make fun of BLANKIE.

Hachiroku

Wow. Exactly the same experience here. I was 20 feet and one floor away from my 510, and had some cigs I made two weeks ago, so I lit one. That's why only 5 drags. I make my own with my own blend of tobaccos, and they are really good! But I could actually TASTE the gasses in a cig! I feel like I'm missing something, too, but cigs are too damned expensive to buy in the stores, and I never bring any with me. I spend up to 9 hours in a car, so I always have a lighter socket USB adapter, a USB passthru, a couple carts, a couple attys, a couple batteries and a bottle of juice.

Can you tell I was a Boy Scout??!?!

And the funny thing really is, I can smell tobacco on other people, and it REEKS!!! I am the Dell Factory rep for my area of Mass, and now I think about all the times I went to people's houses or dorm rooms, non smokers, and since I don't smoke in my '05 Scion at all, i always had a cig right before going in.

Now I smell like a rose flower! (Stolen from my ex Chinese wife...)

Hachiroku

Well said, my friend! Excellent advice.

Hachiroku

Imagine, a grown man and his Blankie!

(Of course, none of us will EVER admit we have one, too...)

BTW, I was wondering about attachments. Now I see. Here is an "Artist's Conception" of Attilla:

Attached Thumbnails

Rocketman

All the testimonials of how e-cigs have changed your lives, makes me want to cry.

Rocket humor.

Great stuff, and for you Newbies, TRUE STUFF.

It works, gradual transistion, cold turkey, however, it works, you will feel better about yourself, and "your girlfriend will like your new habit".

(Good Guess Hack)

Hoe Hoe Hoe
From the Rocket
<<<Getting closer

Dwellsouth

How long ya been quit now?
I smoked for 30 years and am now down to 1 or 2 at most a day - today 0. (I should throw away those new packs of cigars sittin in my drawer - doubtful I'd buy more!)

Rocketman

You can throw them away now that hurricane season is about over.

Dwellsouth

I have visions of you with the all new LSU SNUGGIE!!!!!!

Dwellsouth

But I a'int got no FEMA check this year yet!