Hello there this is my first post! My name is Courtney, I am in my early thirties and I am ready to break free from nicotine addiction! I have been puff free for 5 days now and it hasn’t gotten much easier yet. (days 2-3 were the worst though!) I started smoking cigarettes when I was in college and smoked for about 7 years. I got my first vape pen 8 years ago that was shaped like a cigarette and came with cartridges. After a while I needed more of a hit so I started going to refillable vape pens and then to larger ecigs with tanks and large batteries. After so many years of smoking ecigs I had this phlegm that coated my throat and had me constantly clearing my throat. I knew I needed to give them up soon. Then I saw a few news articles about people getting irreversible lung disease from smoking ecigs and that sealed the nail in the coffin for me (hopefully figuratively). I was so addicted to my ecig it was crazy. I would not go anywhere even when at home without it in my hand or in my pocket. I smoked it all day at work at my desk, then all night at home in the front of the tv. I was never as addicted to cigarettes as I was to vaping and now I was spending $150/month on juice and coils. I would hit it every 5-10 minutes all day long! Back when I smoked I usually only smoked around 3-5 cigarettes a day. I started off with 18mg nicotine and have been using 3mg for the last year and even went down to 1.5mg the past few months. My husband and I gave up drinking 2 years ago in July and that was a cakewalk compared to giving up vaping since the device had basically become an appendage.
I was so sick of having something controlling my life and costing me so much money! And to be honest, I was scared of all the recent reports of respiratory issues of vaping and I noticed that my teeth were getting sensitive which could be related to vaping. I quit on 9-9-19 and I have noticed that my anxiety and panic attacks have almost been nonexistent so part of me thinks the constant flow of nicotine is what caused it in the first place. The first 2 days my body felt great it was just tough coping with giving up the physical addiction of having my ecig wherever I went (similar to a cell phone). On day 3 and 4 I have noticed that my throat is very sore, my nose is congested and I am having difficulty breathing. I think it might be my body trying to clean itself of this film that has coated my lungs and throat. Question: Has anyone else who has been vaping for a long time experienced this? I'm really hoping it will get better with time! The following helped me quit: nicotine gum, cinnamon gum, mints, exercising everyday, drinking lots of water/tea/seltzer water, constantly staying busy, having little yells/grunts to get you through a bad crave, and taking a lot of deep breaths while chanting little mantras like “This too shall pass.” Best of luck to the other former vapers! I hope you can break the chains that are holding you captive. 
-Courtney
Welcome, and thanks so much for sharing your story! Have you read through any of the blogs on the site? https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/people/AnnetteMM/blog/2019/09/08/how-to-quit-juul-or-vaping-in-ge... for instance? I love that you've already started and you're really paying attention to how you feel. You are certainly on your way to freedom
As for the throat and nose congestion, yes it is a symptom of healing. We tend to feel worse before we feel better. Soon, though, you'll take a deep breath through your nose and smell all the wonderful smells!
Beautiful first post
