Two Months Today.

This past week marks 5 years since I smoked a cigarette. It honestly doesn't seem that long, it seems like yesterday I was huddled out in the cold at work with the smokers. I had been a smoker for 28 years.

Unlike many I see posting here, I cannot say vaping helped me quit. I quit cold turkey, and never tried an ecig until about a year after I quit smoking. At that point I was still doing well as a non-smoker, I didn't physically crave smoking, but I missed the 28 year habit of lighting up, having something to fiddle with, and just the relaxing feeling of the inhale/exhale. I had been eating a lot more to make up for the void, and having been underweight all my life I started packing on pounds (too many!). I sorely needed a non-food substitute for the comfort I was missing, but wasn't about to go back to smoking.

I tried a junky convenience store ecig after that first year, and thought "if this was what they were like than forget it". I continued on not smoking, but still missing the habit. About two years after that I began seeing the new advanced products coming out, and did a lot of research. I bought my first starter kit in 2013, and slowly advanced up to bigger and better gear.

People ask why would start vaping after I had already kicked the cigarette habit, and I say, "Why not?". Other than nicotine I'm not getting any of the negative things I got with cigarettes. And in my opinion, there's really nothing wrong with a little nicotine. Nicotine is not what was killing me, it was the smoke that was delivering the nicotine that was killing me.

So I'm 5 years smoke free, I no longer hack in the mornings, my chest never hurts and my clothes, car and hair don't stink anymore.
I have no intentions on giving up vaping, as it has no negative impact on my life, and i enjoy it, so why stop?

I have since gotten my son, my step-son, and his wife to all trade vaping for smoking, so bonus points for saving all their lives too!  

8 years without a puff of smoke, also...
8 years without bronchitis or even a chest cold
Go figure

I dual used with a Green Smoke kit for a couple of weeks and smoked my last cancerstick 3/28/13 when I bought a Mini Vivi Nova on a VV ego battery & all the 24mg/ml Ginger's E-Juice Atomic Fireball the (closest) vape shop 35 miles away had.

3/28/13


I bought a backup rig as soon as I could afford it. Probably a week later.


This morning's typical 2021 daily rotation


Thanks ECF - I can now afford to have my cake & vape it too
.  

Recently, I developed a pretty nasty cough, and I suspect vaping, since it usually happens right after I exhale, and at night when I'm in bed, it's a LOT worse. The problem seemed to start shortly after I got my Kanger SubTank Mini, which was about 4 months ago or so. I've been using 50/50 liquid for the past year or two and haven't changed the flavor in a couple years. I've also been using the same brand for about 4 years. The cough is brutal, and sometimes it hurts and makes me feel like I have to throw up. It's a lot like that tickle in your throat you get when you have a cold.

Things I've tried to remedy this:
- Gone all the way down to 20% PG, suspecting this may be a culprit.
- Tried many different coil lengths. I've built everything from 0.3 - 1.5 ohm.
- Tried using the OCC heads that are built for the subtank mini
- Changing airflow on the tank
- Building "looser" coils
- Building coils with different diameters

None of these have fixed the cough. The last step I guess I could try is a new tank or something, but I don't really want to do that.

Also worth noting, sometimes it's completely fine. No coughs.

Any ideas?  

I have been vaping regularly as a smoking alternative (got me off 6yrs of cigs) for about 5 years. 3mg nic all the way with rda's, full kanthal fused claptons, CBP cotton, and usually 70/30 vg/pg juice.
Recently I had my gallbladder removed (26yr male..bs) and I've developed allergies for the first time in my life (also some serious bs). Ever since, vaping has been a burden to say the least. Something I once loved SO much now has me seriously contemplating quitting all together.
Every time I vape I feel incredibly sick. It makes my symptoms noticeably worse especially at night. It's like a solid minute or less after I put my vape down my dry cough gets way worse and more frequent, I get slightly nauseous, head and chest hurts, and just a over all weak/ill/flue like/just smoked a pack of cigs and some 70's ditch weed feeling.
This is really not fair because like I said I LOVE to vape, as most of us do. I used to be able to sub ohm chain vape pretty much any juice and never had a single problem. but finding juice I can tolerate is near impossible now and I can't keep wasting money on juice I can't use. Even juice I can tolerate isn't necessarily good and the way it makes me feel just isn't worth it anymore *cries quietly*..
I've gone from dual FC coils to a single FC, turned wattage way down (that's obviously not the issue) and even considered going 0mg but it's coming down to not being able to inhale at all..your boy got the Clinton curse over night and I'm so sad man.
Never thought it would happen like this. If I ever did quit I always thought it would be in my control but it's looking like that wont be the case at all. This might soon be the end for me boys and girls. Wish me luck. And if you pass me on the street, blow a cloud to my back please, as the smell and sight might break my already black and blue heart...or make me sick evidently
*quiet crying intensifies* lol :/

Disclaimer:: this is not to say vaping makes you sick in anyway because that's so not true. This is my own personal experience. That makes no sense to me whatsoever honestly..vaping saved my life and the lives of many many other smokers. This is not intended to put vaping in any sort of bad light at all.
I'm just curious if anyone knows what's going on, can relate in any way, or has any suggestions.  

I wasn't completely convinced about the safety of e-cigs in the first place, but now I'm pretty sure it's having negative effects on my health.

I'm not in the best physical shape, but health wise I've been pretty resistant to sickness for most of my life. Other than the common cold, or an occasional strep throat (from smoking) in recent years I never get sick. I've rarely seen the doctor, and have never had to take off work due to sickness.

I switched to vaping on June 7th of last year, so it's been about a year. I was able to stay off the stinkies, but to do it I would have to vape at a very high rate. I also found myself more addicted to vaping than I ever was with cigarettes. I mean before I was smoking one every couple of hours, but I didn't smoke at home, so I was only smoking about half a pack a day and closer to a full pack on the weekends. When I switched to e-cigs I was pretty much vaping all day, every day.

Anyways, when I first switched I had the common side effects. I felt like I was getting more acne, and got a canker sore on the inside of my mouth where the vapor used to enter. That went away after a week or two. I posted about it on here originally, and people would just say "oh, it's just your body ridding itself of toxins from smoking."

About 4 months into it, I got my first eye stye. I avoided going to the doctor, and it eventually caused my eye to almost swell shut. It went away after about a week after I was put on antibiotics and drops. A month later, through contamination, I got another stye. Same process and it was gone.

Around that time I also noticed that when I had weekends of heavy vaping out of boredom, I would develop bumps, almost like cold sores on and around my lip area.

So I posted again, and people said oh, you need to clean your drip tips better. So I started doing that pretty much every day. I will admit I think it's gotten a little better, but I do still get acne and occasional bumps around the mouth area.

I actually went to a consultation to get Laser eye surgery done so I wouldn't have to touch my eye as much with contact lenses, but the person refused to do it because of a pimple/cold sore I had from heavy vaping the weekend before. She said I'd have to go on meds for a month, so I said screw it.

About 3 months ago, my cheek started swelling up under my lip and close to my jaw. It started off feeling like a regular pimple, but eventually that side of my face started turning numb. I went to the doctor again, and told me my cheek was infected and put me on antibiotics yet again. After about another week it looked like a regular pimple on my face.

Fast forward to last week and I notice I've got what looks like a pimple on my gums, a little bit under my teeth. It was yellow just like a pimple on your face, but on my lower gum line. I've gargled with mouth wash and gave it time, but it hasn't gone away. At this point, I was pretty tired of going to the urgent care doctor, and just wanted to wait it out, but I can't because......

I developed another stye on my eye last night. That's the 3rd time since November. Going to be my 4th doctor visit since November after not going to one for almost 15 years. The stye isn't huge yet, but I know what one feels like by now and it's definitely swelling up again.

I googled "vaping weakens immune systems" and it looks like studies have actually shown that vaping does actually weaken it. I never had these types of issues when I was a smoker. Articles say that e-cig vapor weakens the body against bacteria, which I feel is causing all these infections all of a sudden.

So yes, I do like breathing better, smelling better, and the vaping is keeping my heart rate elevated, so people constantly have been telling me I'm losing weight even though I don't really exercise that much, but I've come to a vaping crossroads here.

Let this be yet another reason for those vapers that somehow feel entitled to vape inside public places that some of these chemicals are toxic and have side effects. If even 1 person in the world can be affected by second hand vapor, it should be banned from doing inside despite the inconvenience to people.

I'm headed to the doctor yet again today to get some more antibiotics. Don't try to tell me this is a PG/VG allergy again, because allergies don't cause repeated infections to different parts of the body.

Maybe I can keep vaping, but I'm going to have to turn into like a germaphobe or something. I already started trying to wash my hands even more regularly than before. I bought disinfectant wipes for my isticks, remote controls, and keyboard/mouse that I clean from time to time. Dunno if I can do much else.

Thanks for reading. Just wanted to share my experience, and maybe put a stop to these people that are absolutely convinced that vaping is completely safe somehow. I know most of the community isn't ignorant enough to make such statements without long term studies to back it, but I've read some of the threads about people openly vaping in supermarkets, disregarding the health of others, and feeling that they are somehow entitled to do it, that just annoy the crap outta me.

Maybe I'm an isolated case, but there are people like me out there.  

I smoked my last cigarette at 8:05am on May 5, 2014 . I didn't know then if it would really be the day I finally quit, but I told myself to really try to go 24 hours without smoking, a goal I had never achieved. And I made it! So then I told myself, if I could go a day, I could truly make it.

I started smoking at a very young age, and smoked 35 years. I made numerous attempts to quit going back to my college years. I tried cold turkey, cutting back, the patch, gum, a nicotine inhaler, Wellbutrin and Chantix. No matter what, I couldn't break that 24 hour goal. I would go through ashtrays and light up every disgusting butt for 1 or 2 nasty drags.

My last few years of smoking I was under a PAD, but only due to financial reasons. I just wouldn't let myself have more than 1 cigarette per hour, but I certainly smoked the heck out of each one. The filter would be collapsed by the time I was finished.

Thank you, ECF. I was so clueless when I started vaping. I didn't know which was 510 and which was ego threading on my batteries. I didn't know an atomizer from a clearomizer. I didn't know what rebuildables were, or that the ones I saw online were clones. I kept googling different things, and kept ending up here to read. Finally after 3 months of lurking, I joined.

The journey has been amazing! The technology changes alone in the 14 months I've been vaping are mind boggling. And I've met some truly kind and generous folks here, from those who give their time all day to help others, to those who give hardware and juice to those in a financial crunch. Thank you, all  

Yup, two years since I set fire to a tobacco tube, after 46 years of a 2 pack-a-day habit starting at age 14 ...

My dentist in Mexico gave me a cigalike after pulling two molars on May 10th 2013, it worked for me from day one ...

I am a practiced stealth vaper, enjoy my new hobby everywhere and anywhere with complete satisfaction. At home and in my car I enjoy 50 percent VG juice and a modest cloud. But in public, recognizing the "brittle people" who have been thoroughly conditioned to openly attack anything that "looks like smoking", I vape 100 percent PG juice with total impunity. No evidence, no "crime" ...

After two years of vaping, my lung function has vastly improved, and Parkinsons symptoms are noticeably diminished. Now retired and with more energy that I have had in years, I can enjoy my free time thanks to 24 months of detox from tobacco additives ...

A salute to all of those on the front lines of the battle to protect vaping, and to expose the blatantly false media campaign to demonize this life-saving innovation ...

Join CASAA and make a contribution to a noble cause !  

2 short years ago today I finished off my last stinkie (a PAD on average for many, many days----more than I care to remember) and switched to full-time vaping. At the time, I was vaping some high-nic 'Vivid Vanilla' on a Blu-Cig. (Actually, it was probably a few days earlier that I realized that the Vivid Vanilla was absolutely DELISH, I KNEW at that point that I could finally quit, had no desire for a stinkie at all after some heavy vaping, and that I was SURE I was gonna dump the cigarettes once and for all, but I went a few days of dual-use to just 'ease' myself into it a bit.)

Things have changed much since then: I can run again, I can work out again, and life has improved dramatically overall. Life is DAMN GOOD! It's amazing how life can change......

Most importantly, I absolutely owe a deep debt of gratitude to all of the ECF community here, which I found in a matter of days after quitting, for unselfishly sharing their knowledge and experiences with all the terrific products, gadgets, gizmos, and juices that I continue to take in at every opportunity. I can't even begin to thank you all, explain how easy (and FUN) you have made it, or explain how much you have helped along the way. This place is simply a FANTASTIC wealth of knowledge and experience!

Here's my stats since then:

2 years (730 days)
14,600 cigarettes not smoked (that's a load of tar and chemicals......)
$5,475 not spent on cigarettes (that's conservative, better than mere pocket change, and allows for junk snacks that I DON"T buy EITHER anymore when picking up smokes at the convenience store.....)

Thanks to you all !!!!.........................  

I'm only about three weeks into vaping and I love it. But I think I am overdoing it with chain vaping. I'm retired so I don't really have much to do and for the past three weeks I've been sitting at my computer and researching all kinds of stuff about equipment and juice and DIY etc, sometimes well into the night. It's become second nature for me to vape while I read. Now keep in mind that although I was a PAD smoker till three weeks ago, I never smoked at my computer - didn't want to spend all day in a stinky atmosphere. With vaping I am taking liberties - maybe far too much than what's good for me.

For the past week I have been sneezing occasionally, coughing up sticky mucus, getting a blocked nose. I'm pretty old and never suffered from any type of allergy. It could be a slight head cold but I don't feel sick at all - more like hay fever symptoms. Mostly I vape a 50-50 mix at 6mg but I do have a few liquids that are higher PG.

So will this pass or am I really overdoing things? Should I lay down some rules as I used to do with my smoking?  

Seen it mentioned over and over here that after vaping for a variable period
of time analogs start tasting 'nasty' to many (most?) people. Happened with
my father in law after about two months. Has not yet happened with a coworker
who vapes and still smokes. Think he has vaped over a year total and at
least four months with a proper rig.

So, exactly how can vaping while quitting change the taste of cigarettes when
cold turkey or the patch do not? At least they did not in the past, wife and
I quit and started back at least four times each before we finally
succeeded. Final time was almost six years ago so we were well before the
fire retardant / carpet glue was added.

Anyone quit and restart via vaping both before and after fire retardant was
added? Was the nasty taste absent back then or less pronounced?

Curious to hear from from anyone who has quit and restarted with different
methods and how the taste differs. Have read that Chantix and similar also
can cause a nasty taste. Is it the same as from vaping or different?

Never seen or found a thread devoted to this so though I would start one.