1.5 Years Clean And Not Looking Back

Hi my name is Steve and I'm a smokaholic. I've been clean for nearly 1.5 years and I've even converted a few people along the way.

I haven't been back here for a while but I had some questions about steeping so I logged in but I thought I report in on my journey to quit smoking. January marked one full year so I'm almost up to 1.5 years free of smoke. I'd like to eventually quit nicotine altogether but for now I'm happy to be smoke free, though I did just lower my nicotine level to 12mg, that is however in a higher watt unit. How long has it been for you? Do you think you will ever quit vaping too?  


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Is An E-cig An E-cig Because...

Because it has a coil? Because it has a tank that contains VG or PG? Because the user expels vapor that looks like smoke ? Because it has a battery? Because the tank holds liquid that contains nicotine? What if the tank does not contain nicotine? Is it still an E-Cig?

These are my burning questions for tonight while watching Modern Marvels on H2 (History Channel 2)

That and I really need to know what exactly constitutes an E-cig. I've been tobacco free, smoke free for almost two years. Vaping exclusively. I'm close to zero nicotine now. Will I still be an E-cig user when I go to zero? Obviously yes, but why ?

I really dig vaping a million times more then I dug smoking. I hated smoking. Just did it for 40 years 'cause I couldn't get off the stinkies til I discovered E-cig (24 mg/ml when I first quit smoking) almost two years ago. Still can't believe I've been smoke free for so long.

Hope you weigh in on the subject of "What constitutes an E-Cig ?"  

Five Years Smoke-free!

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!  

Question For The Ex Long Term Smoker's

I've been trying to get my dad to quit smoking for two years now. He wanted to quit using an e-cig. However, he just can't seem to stick with it. He has been smoking for 30+ years. He smokes almost two packs a day.

I think the problem really is that he hasn't -tried-. As soon as he wants a real smoke, he lights one up. He only uses his e-cig is places he can't smoke.

He says he wants something that taste like tobacco. I've tried buying him numerous tobacco e-liquids. The closest was one from Ahlusion, but he still says it isn't like tobacco. He keeps saying he'll quit, but then he doesn't.

He has an ego with a mini protank, he seems fine with that. He isn't very amused by my mech mods and RTAs. lol.

I'm just lost as to what to do. A lot of people say to just stop telling him to do so and let him do it on his own. It is hard to just sit and watch him smoke though, esp when my mom had lung cancer just over a year ago (luckily, she did quit smoking with an e-cig and went into remission after radiation treatment). When I switched, I had only just started to smoke again (I smoked 3 years, quit, then started smoking again for about 4 months, then to an e-cig). I didn't like tobacco flavors when I started and almost immediately went to fruit flavors. He's tried those too, doesn't have much interest in them.

So my question to you ex long term smokers, what helped you make the switch? I feel like I just can't relate to smoking 30 something years.  

Do You Plan To Quit Someday?

Hello fellow vapers.
Here is a topic I was thinking of lately and I wanted to ask your opinion/plans.

Generally speaking, e-cigs were invented in order to help smokers switch from smoking regular cigs to something much less harmful and eventually help people quit this (one of the worst) habit of smoking / adding nicotine to your system.

Ideal plan was to give a smoker something similar (as a process) with enough nicotine to satisfy his needs but without all that sh@t that cigs contain.
After some time this ex-smoker was suppose to start lowering amounts of nicotine in his e-juice up until he is OK with 0 mg. nic vaping.
And eventually quit vaping as well, eliminating the habit.

In reality, I'd say about 80% of ex-smokers who became vapers don't even plan to quit vaping, they have their preferred nic. level and they keep on vaping it year after year being happy about it.

So what's your opinion on that? Do you also plan to keep on vaping or you might quit it in the future?  

Miss Vaping...

I quit smoking to start vaping and have never once missed smoking. A little over a month ago I quit vaping all together after two years of slowly working my nicotine level down from 36mg to 0mg.

I quit vaping at zero milligrams of nicotine and never experienced nicotine withdrawal symptoms.

I guess these would all be good things except for the fact that I miss vaping. Multiple times a day since I quit the thought of having a vape pops in my head and just as soon as it does this weird feeling of loss follows as I realize I no longer vape. I would think by now these feeling would have subsided but they have not.

I wouldn't think much of it but since quitting I have gained 10lbs, have little to no energy, find myself easily frustrated and worst of all have found myself drinking a lot more than normal (which is probably why I gained 10lbs anyway). A huge part of me just wants to go back to vaping.

I guess my question is, Did anyone else quit vaping and experience weird side effects from quitting? If so, how long did it take you to feel normal again?  

Glad I Started When I Did

I joined ECF back in August of 2017. I was sixty-five years old and had been smoking 25-30 cigarettes a day for 40+ years. I began vaping at the same time win the hope I could at least cut down. I dual used for months, continually cutting back on cigarettes. I smoked my last cigarette on May 11, 2018 - I am coming up on my three year anniversary. When I began, I vaped 24mg nicotine. Now I alternate between 3mg and zero nic.

Given how incredibly positive vaping has been for me, I am in shock at recent events. I was down to two working mods. I have ordered four mods, some tanks and a bunch of coils. I am still able to buy some eliquids where I live - but many of my favorites from Halo have been discontinued. I still have some outstanding hardware orders that I hope get delivered.

The treatment of vaping in the media has been a one sided disgrace, and propaganda works. Over the years when I have mentioned to people that I quit by vaping, they respond, ‘so you quit smoking by picking up a habit that is even more dangerous’.

I am set for at least a year. Fortunately I have kicked my addiction to nicotine - I recently vaped zero nic for a month. If I was just starting out, it would truly be panic time, and I would go back to cigarettes for sure. I suspect that many will do just that. Happy I started when I did.  

Cheers To Ecf

I would like to thank ECF, and every member here, for helping me to quit cigarettes as an involuntary lifestyle. The information gathered here has been invaluable. In no other group that I've been involved with, have I seen such a gathering of the most informed and intelligent people. Without all of you, my success would have never seen the light of day. I'd been absent for a long time, because I didn't feel the need once I had an expert handle on all of this, but the new developments have brought me back. Vaping has come a long way since I began here, and traded my cigalike in for an eGo, and ECF provided me with the arsenal to make informed choices on what works for me. Than you again.

For those who haven't read any of my posts, I have been free from cigarettes for 10 years, thanks to vaping. I wouldn't say that I'm smoke free, but it's now my choice, on the very rare occasion, to smoke a cigarette. I know some will say it's always been my choice, but for the enlightened, it hasn't been my choice since shortly after I started 37 years ago. There have been pitfalls, and strides, and today I can honestly say that if I can't vape, I will never pick up a pack of cigarettes again.  

Anyone Down To 0% Nicotine?

Hi All! Sorry if this is long. This place is a lifesaver. I was a 30 year PAD smoker. Tried all the recommendations to quit. Resigned to smoking forever. I heard of vaping in 2013 and found this site. The day my Ego arrived in the mail on April 15, 2013, I put down the cigs and haven’t had a puff since that day. (I still smoke in my dreams every night.) I started out at 18 mg, and went up to 24 for a while. I vaped way higher nicotine than my cigs had, and much more often. I even took my Ego pen to bed and put it under my pillow to use through the night. No matter how much Nicotine I inhaled, I still went through the same withdrawals that I did when quitting cold turkey, or the gum, or the patch, or setting a timer between smokes. It was obvious I wasn’t withdrawing from nicotine. It’s from whatever chemicals are in the cigarettes.

Over the last 7 years, I’ve gone down from 18mg, to 12, to 6, and now 3. Not by choice. I was happy at 18. I started getting lightheaded, so stepped down the nicotine in levels. Not because I wanted less nicotine, but because my body couldn’t handle it. I’m now at 3mg, and starting to getting lightheaded from it. Next step is 0mg. I’ve no problem going to no nicotine, but after so long, I can’t imagine not having the inhale/exhale/hand to mouth repetition.

Has anyone gotten to 0mg and still vapes, or have you broken the habit?  

One Year Smoke Free

If you told me a year ago that I would be able to quit smoking after 44 years of inhaling a pack and a half a day I would have called you crazy. After trying everything from patches and gum to hypnotism and acupuncture to Zyban and Chantix I had resigned myself to the fact that I would be a smoker to the end.

Then my sister in law showed me her ecig and i gave it a try. Bought my own starter kit the next day and haven't smoked since. I just want to thank ECF members for their support and patience as I asked a million noob questions. I could never have given up cigarettes without the amazing people here.  

Thank You Ecf For The Best 2 Years Of My Life!

2 Years ago, I tried my first cigalike and promptly ordered a Halo Triton Kit, and have been cigarette and smoke free since.

I just wanted to thank ECF for help keeping me focused, interested and distracted with the rapidly changing technology to remain smoke free. Special recognition to the 2 sub-forums that helped me the most: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...ussion/519685-natural-tobaccos-part-deux.html and Halo . That's where I started and I am forever grateful for the help, encouragement and PIF'ing that occurred after I lost my job a month after I began vaping. It was a bad time to having just quit smoking, but because of ECF, vaping, and the folks at those 2 threads, I remain a vaper and never looked back.