Quitting Vaping & Nicotine

[lobeydosser]

However, returning to the OP of cutting down on e-juice strengths to the eventual quitting using nicotine altogether, whilst a lot has been said about how easy it is to stop having a Nicotine Addiction and the initial successes that many experience, virtually nothing has been said about the failures that the majority experience of 9, 12, 15 and 18 months into their new regime, yet 95% of nicotine quitters fail to reach the magic 2 years Nic Free.

Perhaps if more were informed about just how addictive nicotine actually is and why it is one of the hardest drugs to get 100% free from, more people would not be fooled into thinking that just because they can "cut down and then stop" for a few months, then they will never need nicotine again as long as they live.

This world is full of failed quitters and the pharmaceutical companies who produce NRT products are rubbing their hands with glee at the thought of all the extra money they will make flogging their ineffective products to all these depressed failures.

Just because there are a lot of adverts on TV at the moment telling folks how "easy" it is to cut down and then stop smoking, does not mean that these adverts are wholly true or correct. It is what is not said and not promoted that is the real truth.
Nicotine is as addictive as Heroin and just as hard to break the long term dependency on it. So let us be quite clear about this. If you are looking towards vaping as a method of cutting down and then stopping using Nicotine altogether, for ever and ever, then you will have to make it an all time commitment and really work at it.
If it is just something you think you could try because you now have the means to do so. Forget it and carry on enjoying your vaping.

I am an Alcoholic and Alcohol took me further down than I wish to disclose here.
26 years ago I made a commitment to stop drinking the stuff, joined AA and I have not touched a drop since.

Even as an Alcoholic, stopping drinking was easy peasy compared to stopping smoking.
The truth is that after 15 years of trying, Vaping is the only way I have found to stop using cigarettes.

Common sense tells me that if there had been an E-Drink around 26 years ago and I could have somehow been able to Vape my Alcohol without drinking it, that I would still have been a Practising Alcoholic and still be heading for the gutter, the local mental hospital or an early death. Actually I would have died 24 years ago.

To those of you who are using e-cigs to cut down and eventually stop your dependency of Nicotine, from the bottom of my heart, I wish you every success.

But I most respectfully suggest that after you quit altogether, for the next 2+ years you carry an e-cig with a substantial strength of e-juice in it. Far better if, when you feel the need for some Nic, that you can have a quick couple of vapes rather than going and buying a packet of fags and a box of matches.

[siffy]

I have been thinking about this thread all day, at work.

It's something I would love to be able to do, quit using nicotine, on my bucket lists of things to hopefully do before I pop my clogs. I am surrounded by elders, in my family, that have stopped smoking (and happily stayed stopped) from 30 years to the lastest member of that club who stopped smoking 10 years ago. I would one day love to belong to that club too. I have no plans yet, none at all, but when I do feel I've had enough of vaping I think I will re read my Allen Carrs easyway book again. It has never gelled with me before as I seriously thought I was someone who could never quit. Feel very different now and next time I do read it I will absorb the info, and challenge (one of his instructions) the info, rather than just reading each word. No plans to read it yet, but one day...

[siffy]

lobeydosser, I wonder if it is far more tricky for people depending on what group the fall into?
www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blogs/dvap/644-madame-psychosis-summary-pt-3.html

I think you give good advise to have a PV and juice handy, just in case.

[lobeydosser]

Aug 8, 2013 15:15:27 GMT siffy said:

lobeydosser, I wonder if it is far more tricky for people depending on what group the fall into?
www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blogs/dvap/644-madame-psychosis-summary-pt-3.html

I think you give good advise to have a PV and juice handy, just in case.

I have been approached by a number of "local worthies" about e-cigs and how I find them and I have given them the best advice I can.

Now some of them, I have felt that they really did need to get onto e-cigs to help both their health and their finances, although I kept these opinions to myself ofcourse.

Others I felt were just trying to make cheery conversation and hadn't a hope in hell's chance of actually doing anything about it.

Well blow me and the ones that needed to change are still puffing away on the fags and still "thinking about it" while the "cheery chatters" are showing me their fancy shiny e-cigs and boasting about the number of e-juice flavours they have stashed away at home!

The reasons behind why some people take to e-cigs and some do not are as complex as to why some people can drink alcohol and not be bothered by it and yet some take alcohol and become addicted to it.
The serious study of alcoholism by some very learned people has been going on for over 100 years and yet we are no closer to the answer than we were when they started.
So I am not expecting any answers soon to the e-cig/ciggy question.

[siffy]

Aug 8, 2013 15:56:28 GMT lobeydosser said:

Aug 8, 2013 15:15:27 GMT siffy said:

lobeydosser, I wonder if it is far more tricky for people depending on what group the fall into?
www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blogs/dvap/644-madame-psychosis-summary-pt-3.html

I think you give good advise to have a PV and juice handy, just in case.

I have been approached by a number of "local worthies" about e-cigs and how I find them and I have given them the best advice I can.

Now some of them, I have felt that they really did need to get onto e-cigs to help both their health and their finances, although I kept these opinions to myself ofcourse.

Others I felt were just trying to make cheery conversation and hadn't a hope in hell's chance of actually doing anything about it.

Well blow me and the ones that needed to change are still puffing away on the fags and still "thinking about it" while the "cheery chatters" are showing me their fancy shiny e-cigs and boasting about the number of e-juice flavours they have stashed away at home!

The reasons behind why some people take to e-cigs and some do not are as complex as to why some people can drink alcohol and not be bothered by it and yet some take alcohol and become addicted to it.
The serious study of alcoholism by some very learned people has been going on for over 100 years and yet we are no closer to the answer than we were when they started.
So I am not expecting any answers soon to the e-cig/ciggy question.

Yes, as you say I have a drink now and again but can go months and don't give it a second thought. I do hope I can, one day, be one of those that can stop the nicotine though, just then it no longer has that mental hold over me, as for me I truly believe it is all in my mind.

[ckc]

For three months I was on 1mg.Not much but so close I could see an end but that for me is scary. I don't want to get to the day were I no longer vape because that day could be followed by a bad day were I pick up a cig and that is something I never want to do again. Stopping may be the right goal for some people but for others vaping is and always will be a better alternative to smoking.

[xs2man]

I have pondered this thread over the last couple days before submitting my reply. Now the reply is still off the cuff despite the pondering, so don't be expecting any ground-breaking insights, lol.

I will likely either still be vaping, or back on the cigs in 5 years. I can't see a long term future where I am not using nicotine.

When I first took up vaping, a whole 23 days ago, I had no real intention of giving up cigarettes. I visited some friends, and their parents had given up and went on the ecigs, and it started from there. I decided to give it a bash and see what happened.

Since then, I have had no desire to smoke a real cigarette in place of vaping, although I did have 2 cigs after a night on the booze, where my tanks started leaking, and I had to get home. So on the way, my emergency pack of cigs came into play. I am not disappointed with myself in any way for smoking them. But they weren't as pleasant as I had remembered them to be. Bonus.

But as my attitude to vaping is so blaze, and I understand this, and realise many of you are doing this with full intention of giving up the stinkies, I just don't have the want to give up the nicotine.

In the meantime, if I can (eventually) save some money, and improve my health, whilst at the same time acquire some shiny stuff, with little to no extra expenditure than normal, then happy days.

To be perfectly honest, I'm sure my relaxed attitude to analogues is helping me here. If my sole intention was to give up stinkies, drop my nic, and eventually quit altogether, I'm convinced I would find it harder. As it is, I don't care either way, and it helps me that I can get into something like DIY mixing and other sorts of complications, to help arouse my interests somewhat.

[kailey]

I think of myself as "an accidental quitter" (of analogues). I virtually chained smoked, enjoyed it and had no intention of quitting. I quit several times during the last 30 years via pure willpower, one time lasting several years but I always returned to smoking. One day I tried an e-cig and my vaping journey began.

I started vaping at 18mg. Now I vape at around 14mg and sometimes I vape zero mg and sometimes higher strength if I need it. It just depends on how I feel. I enjoy vaping at the moment but have thought about cutting down on the nicotine and going completely over to zero nic one day but as vaping is so much safer than smoking (new study here: New study confirms that chemicals in electronic cigarettes pose minimal health risk) I do not put myself under any pressures. It is good to know that if I do quit the nicotine and wish to return to it I can do so via vaping instead of tobacco so my smoking days are well and truly over. This alone delights me no end.

It seems everyone is different and it has been interesting to read the responses. I wish you well whatever you decide to do.

[trellentor]

Like many others I have thought long and hard about this. I liked smoking. Not the harm or smell etc but the act and the habit were enjoyable for me.

Since switching to Vaping I have managed to switch my enjoyment from the Cigs to the Ecigs. Now I get to vape pretty much as little or as much as I want without anything like the harm I was doing to myself before.

I don't have the internal guilt that went with smoking, nor do I suffer with chest problems anymore. I get to try out different flavours by the bucketload and I am currently having a lot of fun experimenting with DIY on the flavourings etc.

About the only thing I don't like with Vaping is the fact that like it or not I am still addicted to Nicotine so I plan over time, to reduce the levels I use. I am currently on 18 MG and started on 24. Now I am DIYing a lot I will when I feel ready reduce my intake in small increments. There is no hurry and no planned time to do so however I will just do it when I feel comfortable with the idea.

Vaping itself is becoming a hobby and I enjoy comparing kit and juices with others who also Vape. I liken it to model building or cooking in that I can be creative in making stuff and can get a slight buzz when I do a good job. I can also share my triumphs with friends.

I do not wish to stop vaping. If I can continue the bits I like and reduce or eradicate the bits I do not like, then that is just great. The fact that it is a much cheaper option is also a bonus.

I consider my Vaping no different to those who like a drink of beer or wine with their meal or of an evening when they are relaxing.

Ideally I would like to get rid of the Addiction and keep the habit if that makes sense.

[zeldamum]

Just done a quick stock take of my juice.

Almost out of 24mg which I use as my daytime Vape.

Time to reduce to 26mg for 1st thing in the morning from 28mg, daytime 24mg to 20mg, evening 20mg to 18mg.

[lobeydosser]

Instead of reducing the strengths of my e-juice, I reduce the Wattage.

My normal wattage is 7.5, but if I am grafting, like digging the garden or mowing the lawn or the like, then I up it to 8.5 or 9w.
However as soon as I stop, it goes back to 7.5w.
If I am still vaping my all day tobacco e-juice, then in the evening I reduce it to 6.5w.
However if I have changed to a fruit e-juice, then it stays at 7.5w for the evening as this, I find, gives me better taste.

[lal]

Interesting thread. I really don't mind being addicted to nicotine. It's not causing me any health problems, I can afford it, it's not killing my kids or harming people round me. I enjoy vaping. I intend to keep vaping. I don't see this as a competition where vaping lower nic means I'm winning. I'm not smoking, so I'm winning already.

[lal]

Having said all that, I managed to justify smoking to myself for 18 odd years..... I think my turning to vaping is my way of sticking 2 fingers up at all those folk who've spent years telling me how bad smoking is (I work in nhs)

[Deleted]

My main reason for reducing my nicotine is that it can have an adverse effect on blood pressure and as I already have high blood pressure I'm hoping to improve the situation. Dave

[oxo]

Aug 11, 2013 20:23:50 GMT lal said:

Interesting thread. I really don't mind being addicted to nicotine. It's not causing me any health problems, I can afford it, it's not killing my kids or harming people round me. I enjoy vaping. I intend to keep vaping. I don't see this as a competition where vaping lower nic means I'm winning. I'm not smoking, so I'm winning already.

Ive been addicted to nicotine for over 35 years.
I think Im right in saying the competition is about not getting trapped with incoming legislation, and not about out dropping other vapers.
Im now on 3mg and still addicted, I dont feel Im winning, but I do feel Im in control.
I could still be vaping 4mls at 24mg per day or the 4mls of 3mg per day,It feels the same once your body gets used to it.
Ecigs are versatile and enables any one that wants, set the level of nicotine tolerance they are happy with.
I can see myself still addicted in 2016 when e-juice becomes a medicine and 4mg is looked upon as a chronic nicotine habit to be cured by high taxation.