How did u go about stopping smoking?

Vape Freaks

Great post and well done to both of you.

Ole Rodrigo

With all due respect - although from your tone I'm not so sure you deserve it - I thought this thread was a place to discuss how best to give up smoking ? As such, I figured folks reading it could benefit from the experience of others who have done it.

If you think its an opportunity to rant about replacement devices, quoting the skewed data analysis their vendors use to market their products, knock yourself out.

I doubt there is anyone who wouldn't trade all their devices for giving up cold turkey, if they could figure out how best to do it for themselves. Anyway I've read enough and wish you all the best.

grindle

ror_74 wrote: »

With all due respect - although from your tone I'm not so sure you deserve it - I thought this thread was a place to discuss how best to give up smoking ? As such, I figured folks reading it could benefit from the experience of others who have done it.

If you think its an opportunity to rant about replacement devices, quoting the skewed data analysis their vendors use to market their products, knock yourself out.

I doubt there is anyone who wouldn't trade all their devices for giving up cold turkey, if they could figure out how best to do it for themselves. Anyway I've read enough and wish you all the best.

Ehh? You're in the Vaping sub of the Giving Up Smoking forum... The OP was asking how vapers stopped using cigs once they'd started vaping and you started banging on about not using anything at all.
Reading comprehension - > try it out, it's the new "in-thing".

My data doesn't come from vendors or their analysis of studies, it comes from peer-reviewed studies I've read myself and the 90-95% failure rate of cold turkey is considered as factual as a studied conclusion could be at this stage. There will be variations but the average has stayed the same.

As for your final supposition - Hello. I have nary a want or wish to give up vaping. I'm certain many other feel the same as it's been said many many many times before.
If somebody wants to quit cold turkey, good for them - if (but most probably when) they fail they can now vape, wean themselves off nic over time and then kick the vaping if they so wish. Much easier and not even a dash of the holier-than-thou quit-or-die approach.

Dulchie12

Thanks for all replies. Interesting debate going on! I can understand where ror74 is coming from, in that cold turkey, if it works, is probably better than vaping for quitting. But for me and countless others, it might as well not even be counted as an option when our willpower has failed us over and over, making it harder each time to even contemplate going through it again for nothing. But I suppose it's why I originally posted. I am afraid that I'm quitting one addiction for another and will never be 'free' of smoking in one form or another. So vaping for me is the much much lesser of 2 evils. Tomorrow at 6pm ill be one week off the cigs, something I haven't been able to achieve in 15 years. I have to tell myself to take one day at a time. E cigs are fairly new so time will tell if they're really an effective quitting tool, but from the stories I'm reading its looking like they are. So although cold turkey might be ultimately the best method, lack of willpower for most people makes it a non runner.

Vape Freaks

Great post, well done and the best of luck.

I gave up smoking 32 years ago. I had a small cardboard calander and marked off each day. When I felt weak, I looked at the calander and gained strength from the increasing number of ciggie free days. I also took up knitting, to keep the hands occupied and gave up drink for about 6 months, as that was when I felt weakest.

Vape Freaks

Well done, it's not easy and I think everyone here respects what you have accomplished and wishes you well.
Thanks for posting and the best of luck.

masonchat

1 month off the stinks tomorrow : - ) . WAS a smoker for 20 years was 40 a day, down to 20/day last 7ish years.

Longest i went cold turkey was 3 months and was happy out to be honest apart from the fact deep down i didnt REALLY want to quit, so ended up slipping back onto them.

I got seriously addicted to sugar, Yes SUGAR during that 3 months , i was eating bags of hard sweets a day , and was finding if i didnt have a sweet for say an hour i was getting cravings that were worse that nicotine cravings.

So i went about finding out how addictive sugar really is , and also surprising fact a lot of sugar also used in stink stick production.

So i said fark that bye bye sweets, i swear to god the next 2 weeks were worse that any nicotine withdrawal. I thought i was having a breakdown tears running down my face for no reason severely over emotional craving alcohol (again SUGAR and alcohol strongly intertwined a lot of alcoholics will crave sugar when on the wagon) got over the sugar and remained off smokes for a further 6 weeks.

That was about 5 years ago and couldnt muster the will power to make another attempt, until NOW thanks to e cigs.

Taste buds back smell back no longer stink chest and sinus much clearer , falling asleep a lot easier at night , often took me hours to drop off to sleep, no loner since quitting the stinks, so far have spent the same as i would have smoked, but when all my current orders arrive, i reckon im good for at least 6 months of vaping, and that includes a smokegreen premium kit a ego c starter kit and nem clone

I will admit i havent got the usual energy boost id normally get when i gave up the smokes, but im really really enjoying vaping and have no intention to give it up (why would i) i enjoy it, its 1/10 of the cost of smoking its infinitely LESS harmfull to me and everyone else.

THERE AINT NO GOING BACK NOT THIS TIME

Vape Freaks

Yeah, sugar was my crutch too after quitting once.
I would happily devour chocolate and ice cream, even though I never had a sweet tooth before!

kikidelvin

Having smoked for 45 years I was rolling my own and smoking about 40 per day.On the 09Jan.I had my last smoke and started using the green smoke cig.I felt a lot better within 2 days no more coughing first thing in the morning etc.I now use the Itaste134 and various ego with different liquids and so far so good.I will not smoke again.

Thespoofer

Dulchie12 wrote: »

Hi guys, well I bought a nicofresh starter kit on Thursday to try stop the smokes. I bought it just to try, I hadn't given much thought to actually quitting the fags! I'm finding the ecig really good. Yesterday I smoked 5 cigs, that's down from 20 a day. However I still have this fear of actually stopping the fags. I'm not sure what to do next. How did you do it? Did u stop the smokes cold turkey or wean yourself down? Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!

Cold Turkey. Wasn't easy be any means but if you really want to do it just go for it.
I smoked for 15 years and am now free over 12 years now, its as like I never smoked in my life now.

csi vegas

I bought a Smokegreen kit on the same day as my usual two packets of (then lovely) menthols, got home, tried the kit for a few hours, smoked a cig, felt sick, kept on with the kit, smoked some more, extra sick and around two months later still had around thirty out of forty cigarettes left. They really worked for me, never thought they would.
Moved on to other 510 type batteries with refillable cartridges after that and then on to Ego types (so as to be able to use a larger amount and whatever flavour I wanted of liquid, in clearomizers). Haven't smoked a cigarette in sixteen months and never will again.
You don't get the same/if any real cravings for an e-cig that you do with an analogue - like first thing in the morning/from stress/after food/with coffee. Least I don't anyway.

Engine No.9

When I started vaping, I had been on rollies for about a year getting through... I wanna say 2 pouches a week but it might have been 3, I've been off em over a year now so I can remember fully. But I do remember that I was smoking boxes of fags before that and I'd go through 10 boxes in a week, easy.

But I got a mate to get me a starter kit as I hadn't a clue. Got me a Joyetech eGo-The. Haven't looked back since. Instantly off the rollies. Now, having said that, if I go over to my ex to pick up the kids n she offers me a fag, I'll more than likely accept. A few months ago I decided I was having no more of that so got her a starter kit. She's on the electronic ones now.

So it's a vape filled future for me. I don't think I'll be smoking fags again so long as these yokes stay legal (and I'm not plied with copious amounts of booze )

JH_raheny

my story is very similar to some of the above, I'm 40 and have smoked since I was 14, I did manage to quit in 2005 and stay of them for 3 1/2 year, then some **** happened and I went back ( ****ing stupid it was )
I bought an ego c kit last year and used it for a few days and it worked sort of ok but of course it ran out of power while I was in the pub and I left it for a while when on holidays, decided to give it a go again in December so bought an extra battery and charger, first 2 days I started using it at work and got through the day no problem so decided on day 3 that it was going to be the end of me paying for ciggies again, didn't take long before I decided to upgrade to a proper MOD so bought a Tesla VW and some better batteries than the one it comes with, haven't tried different clearomizers I find the Aspire Nautilus the best ( unfortunately it also one of the more expensive ones at 32 Euro ) however it sort of evens out when the coils/atomizers for it last very well.
Haven't had a ciggie since 16th December and I smoked an average of 30 a day, the freedom of being able to have a puff in the pub and in the office is just great and it doesn't bother anyone, then there is the added benefit in not having to go and pay the GP and pharmacy to get rid of Bronchitis once or twice a year.
I switched from the 24mg juice to 16 after 2 months and sticking with that for now, plan is to drop to 9mg when I come back from my next holiday ( the holiday that the ciggies have now paid for )

Dulchie12

Hi everyone, love reading your stories! I'm off the fags 11 weeks now, not a bother on me I don't miss them at all. At the beginning I couldn't see how I would ever get the courage to stop completely but it was kind of easy. I'm still using the ego battery with a kanger evod clearomiser. I'm happy enough for now but I might look into upgrading when the batteries are done.

I kind of feel like I'm cheating or something, like I'm not really off the fags? Anyone else feel like that? I'm on 6mg now and I will try 0 soon, but I still crave the ecig just like the fags. I'd love to stop the ecig but I can't see it ever happening! Maybe if they ban them 😭

RossFixxxed

Dulchie12 wrote: »

HI kind of feel like I'm cheating or something, like I'm not really off the fags? Anyone else feel like that? I'm on 6mg now and I will try 0 soon, but I still crave the ecig just like the fags. I'd love to stop the ecig but I can't see it ever happening! Maybe if they ban them ��

Few things that have occured to me on this front:

1) it is better than cigarettes! That's still very important and relevant!
2) Yes it is a bit of swapping addictions, and you do feel you're not a non/ex smoker yet to be fair.
3) You are dealing with addiction here, so your brain is shouting HAVE A SMOKE, and the addiction is saying: these ifags are lame, you're still taking nicotine, just have one last cigarette, go on... you know you want to etc. Keep that in mind as it is easy as hell to lose sight of what you are trying to achieve here.
4) Focus on every cigarette you DON'T have along the road!
5) Addiction sucks.
6) F*** cigarettes
7) It is a bit silly sucking on a big battery and a bunch of liquid in something resembling a hypodermic yeah. I always feel like I'm lying to myself etc, but hey lighting up a bunch of leaves on fire and stucking it in your mouth isn't the most sensible thing either!

Berch

Similar story here, I am 52 been smoking since I was 16, was never able to give up I tried all the patches, gum, will power you name it. Then just before Christmas I was in Dublin With the wife and came across a VIP e-cig kiosk, on impulse bought there vaping kit and have been off the fags since January 1st this year. I have has no desire to smoke a real cigarette since. Not bad for a twenty a day man. I still use the VIP menthol juice and their batteries but just started using the CE8 cleromiser with replaceable coils, much better than those supplied by VIP and cheaper. Not sure what to do next really , the juice I use is 12mg the lowest they supply, but I mix it with some zero nicotine menthol now so getting a lower intake of nicotine, need to find a nice zero nic juice now I guess

kikidelvin

there are lots of zero juices around and great deals .check out some of the vendors and see what they have .

dePeatrick

Berch wrote: »

Similar story here, I am 52 been smoking since I was 16, was never able to give up I tried all the patches, gum, will power you name it. Then just before Christmas I was in Dublin With the wife and came across a VIP e-cig kiosk, on impulse bought there vaping kit and have been off the fags since January 1st this year. I have has no desire to smoke a real cigarette since. Not bad for a twenty a day man. I still use the VIP menthol juice and their batteries but just started using the CE8 cleromiser with replaceable coils, much better than those supplied by VIP and cheaper. Not sure what to do next really , the juice I use is 12mg the lowest they supply, but I mix it with some zero nicotine menthol now so getting a lower intake of nicotine, need to find a nice zero nic juice now I guess

First purchase I made was from a VIP booth in a mall....worked well enough to know I would stay at vaping, second was a set of Egos and clearomisers and now I am completely hammered with drippers, and kayfun clones, etc etc.....main thing is that I will never smoke again...ever......don't worry about the nic level, that is not what kills you, the crap in a cigarette is what does and as long as you are vaping you are relatively free if that......vape on bro.....:)

Calibos

For those in a transitionary period between vaping and smoking (ie. still having a few cigs a day) something which helped me and those I told was to remember that for god knows how many years and how many times/cigs a day, your brain was primed to picture a cigarette when it felt the nicotine craving. You don't break that neural programming overnight. You need to realise that when the craving hits and your brain pictures the cigarette, it's only doing so out of habit. Its not telling you that it really wants a cigarette rather than a vape(why am I still craving real cigs?). It's simply telling you 'nicotine please' and using the image it's used to signal craving 20-40 times a day for nearly 20 years (in my case). For some people it takes a few weeks for their brain to start picturing their EGO twist and patting their pocket for a fresh cartomiser instead of patting their pocket to find their cigs and lighter. It's at that point that you realise that during the transitionary period you weren't craving a real cig at all.

DubTony

I tried to go cold turkey about six months before buying a VIP kit in the Jervis Centre. It was the strangest three weeks of my life. Initially I just felt a little strange as I'd nothing to do with my hands, but then the weird sh*t kicked in. After 4 days I woke up and couldn't feel my arm. Well, that's not quite true, what I couldn't feel was the area between my bicep and my wrist. It was crazy. It felt like my elbow was missing. This lasted for 4 days and then the sensation (or lack of) moved to my thigh. It was as if my hip and leg from the knee down weren't connected. As if there was a gap. After a couple of days of this it moved back to my elbow and then within a week it stopped happening. Then on week 3 it started again. I had no problem using my hand, it was just I felt like I'd no elbow. Bought a pack of smokes and it was fine in an hour.

Six months later in November 2012 I bought the kit, upgraded to an ego T kit within a week and have happily vaped away on ego batteries and kanger and iclear clearos ever since. I had two pulls of cigarettes early on after swapping, and was disgusted by the taste and smell. Can't see me ever smoking again.

johnno1970

well done

ChalyIE

I'm off cigarettes since February 2013 using eCab and eGo. In the beginning it was really hard and I needed 2-3 months to quit. To lower the nicotine over the time, I made it step by step and I'm still working on it. If there is a wish for a real cigarette sometimes I think about the advantages of vapering like doing it in the house or in the car. Works for me very well.

aoshea83

ChalyIE wrote: »

I'm off cigarettes since February 2013 using eCab and eGo. In the beginning it was really hard and I needed 2-3 months to quit. To lower the nicotine over the time, I made it step by step and I'm still working on it. If there is a wish for a real cigarette sometimes I think about the advantages of vapering like doing it in the house or in the car. Works for me very well.

I'm like you with regard the house and the car, the only thing I find myself chain vaping in those situations

ChalyIE

The same for me and I constantly try to fight against this. I was smoking for 34 years, so the switch to e-cig was hard. To lower now the nicotine and reducing the frequency of vaping is the next challenge. I'm sure it is the same with being a former alcoholic - the fight will never end.

Reebrock

Ecigs. Got on mine and lasted 6 monthsd without smoking, which was the longest in 10 or so years actually. Was feeling great and happy with myself.

Broke up with my girlfriend, started smoking again for two months. Just started back with the E cig and I'm already feeling better. If I can go a full year on it, perhaps longer, I can't see me ever reverting back now.

bodhi085

I just stopped in December 2006 because I had a bad cold and sore throat. Never went back on them when it cleared up and haven't even touched one since.

Calibos

Reebrock wrote: »

Ecigs. Got on mine and lasted 6 monthsd without smoking, which was the longest in 10 or so years actually. Was feeling great and happy with myself.

Broke up with my girlfriend, started smoking again for two months. Just started back with the E cig and I'm already feeling better. If I can go a full year on it, perhaps longer, I can't see me ever reverting back now.

Had a months 'blip' July 2013 after being off them and vaping since August 2012. The night coughs and coughing up foulness was back straight away. Equally though, after the month when I got back into vaping the coughing went away again just as quick. Just hit my 365th consecutive day vaping this month but in total I'm at 730 days minus those 30 days of July 2013.

I am feeling like I'm at the point of being able to knock vaping on the head too now though.

Reebrock

bodhi085 wrote: »

I just stopped in December 2006 because I had a bad cold and sore throat. Never went back on them when it cleared up and haven't even touched one since.

Yeah, suffering from a cold is good for quitting. I used to go a couple of weeks nicely without a smoke back in the day.

JH_raheny

ChalyIE wrote: »

The same for me and I constantly try to fight against this. I was smoking for 34 years, so the switch to e-cig was hard. To lower now the nicotine and reducing the frequency of vaping is the next challenge. I'm sure it is the same with being a former alcoholic - the fight will never end.

That bit will be easier than you think, I'm 8 months vaping now, did about 3 months on 24mg, then about 2 months on 16mg then 11mg and the last 4/5 weeks been on the 6mg - the step down to 6mg being the only one I actually felt a difference and vaped a good bit more the first 2 weeks