Vaping as a quitting aid.

I was reading through a few of the threads in here and thought I'd add my own experience.

I've previously tried everything (and I mean everything) other than hypnosis. The best success I had was with Champix which I managed three months on.

This time I decided to jump on the bandwagon with vaping (just to cut down at least). That was 7-8 months ago and I'm about 6 1/2 months completely without a cigarette now.

I would have described myself as severely addicted (20-25 rollies a day) and decided at the outset that I wasn't necessarily going to actually quit unless it happened. I decided to vape as much as possible instead of smoking but I could have a cigarette any time I wanted.

What happened is that I found that other than my really hard cigarettes to do without (first thing in the morning and last thing at night for me), I was generally pretty contented with the vaping. Before I knew it I was down to 2-3 cigarettes a day and was experimenting with different vape flavours and nicotine strengths.

As a result of only smoking a few a day my sense of taste and smell came back. I discovered that I don't actually like the taste/smell of cigarettes or the smell off my clothes that I was completely oblivious too before. I was vaping anything but tobacco flavour too and enjoying that I could have a "smoke" and have it taste nice.

Then the magical day happened on 14th of August. I lit up my morning smoke. Got half way through it and just didn't want any more. The flavour, taste and the feeling on the tongue made me want to reach for my vape instead. So I chucked the other half of my cigarette and did just that. That was my last smoke.

I still have a packet of tobacco in the car (that way it was still my choice not to use it rather than that panic that ensues from not having a cigarette nearby). In the early days I was tempted once or twice but a few puffs of stronger nicotine vape did the trick every time. It gave me the space to think rationally about whether I really wanted one or it was just habit / addiction.

So now I'm a non-smoker but I'm still a nicotine addict. I have incredible admiration for those of you who managed to get nicotine free and that's still my long-term goal. However, this is my longest period cigarette free in 28 years and I'm not going to risk going back to smoking real cigarettes. I'll be happy to settle for 95% safer for the rest of my life if I have to.

I've heard people say that they feel like they look stupid with a vape. I've heard people say that vapers look like idiots. In my mind I looked like much more of an idiot with a cigarette in my mouth. That was killing me. I had a pretty bad smokers cough all the time and far less energy too it turns out. I'd rather look like a fool that act like one!

It will probably be another 6 months before I start looking at removing nicotine from my vape completely. I'm on mostly the lowest nicotine level now anyway and I'm making my own juice so I can make it whatever strength I want. I spent 28 years walking into this forrest, I don't think a year is a long time to walk back out.

I hope this is helpful to other people like me who have struggled to give up with other methods. Vaping isn't for everybody, but it's been a Godsend for me.