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Give and get support around quitting

Giulia
Member

What was the transition like?

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I've never heard anyone on this site (during the 12 years I've been here), ever describe what the transition from smoking to vaping was like.  Most just usually say I smoked and then vaped and the cravings are the same or worse or whatever.   But nobody has ever described what it felt like to go from buying a pack of cigarettes and lighting up, and buying a pod or a JUUL or ???  Certainly there was an odd transition time.  No?  Never having vaped, I'm curious about those who used vaping as a method to get off smoking.  Part of the "hook," other than the simple addiction to nicotine, is the hand-to-mouth ritual behavior, I would think.  Imagining myself as the smoker I was, almost 14 years ago, I imagine that switching to an electronic device from a  cigarette would be rather odd and not feel comfortable at first.  Or did it?

What was the transition like for you?  Weird for a couple of days? And then - like you'd done it all your life?   For those who smoked, vaped, and then went back to smoking - was it because of the feeling of the cigarette in your hand versus the feeling of an electronic device?  Assuming you get the same amount of nicotine in a vape as you do in a cigarette - why did you go back to cigarettes?  Was one more comfortable than the other?  Easier to deal with?  Less expensive?  More interesting flavor?  More natural?  Or - none of the above?

Just - curious about it all for anybody who wants to chime in.  (Also, just thinking about why we do something can help us overcome it.)

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AnnetteMM
Member

Didn't I? https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/people/AnnetteMM/blog/2019/09/08/how-to-quit-juul-or-vaping-in-ge... 

But I'll describe it now anyway.

I bought all the equipment ahead of time. After I smoked my last pack of cigarettes, I threw out all the ashtrays and lighters.

I started using Juul, and although I liked it a lot, the transition wasn't entirely smooth. Probably if I'd still been working at the time I'd have bummed "real" cigs from co-workers. The throat hit isn't the same, you see.

Smoking cigarettes you get a big hit when you inhale. Compare it to the burn you feel if you have a shot of whiskey, for instance.

Juuls, and other vapes, try hard to imitate that with the glycerin vapor and chemicals. You do get used to it after awhile and then it feels pretty good.  The actual taste of the vaping liquid is better than cigarettes.

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sweetplt
Member

Great question Giulia .. I look forward to the responses...vaping, ecigs never were enticing to me...not sure why? 

Inquiring minds would like to know ??? ~ Hope all is well in your world dear lady...~ Colleen 674 DOF 

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AnnetteMM
Member

Didn't I? https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/people/AnnetteMM/blog/2019/09/08/how-to-quit-juul-or-vaping-in-ge... 

But I'll describe it now anyway.

I bought all the equipment ahead of time. After I smoked my last pack of cigarettes, I threw out all the ashtrays and lighters.

I started using Juul, and although I liked it a lot, the transition wasn't entirely smooth. Probably if I'd still been working at the time I'd have bummed "real" cigs from co-workers. The throat hit isn't the same, you see.

Smoking cigarettes you get a big hit when you inhale. Compare it to the burn you feel if you have a shot of whiskey, for instance.

Juuls, and other vapes, try hard to imitate that with the glycerin vapor and chemicals. You do get used to it after awhile and then it feels pretty good.  The actual taste of the vaping liquid is better than cigarettes.

Giulia
Member

Glad you put that link up to your blog.  It's a great blog and very informative.  But your description here is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for!  Thanks.

Slowonder
Member

Years ago my boyfriend, a nonsmoker, asked me to give vaping a try to see if I'd like it enough to switch. I think he thought it would be a healthier option for me and I'd smell better to him. I got an inexpensive kit and had low expectations but the switch was pretty easy, immediate, and permanent for me (until I quit all nicotine, of course). Vaping did taste better and was far easier to mask than smoking was. I liked that I didn't smell as strongly. It was also less expensive than cigarettes where I live. By then I was beginning to feel like a pariah for smoking so vaping "helped" that, though being able to vape in more places reinforced my addiction because I let it be basically constant. For example I've never once smoked in bed but I had no qualms about vaping in bed. Yuck. I'm so glad to be done with all of it.

Giulia
Member

I'm so glad you're done with it all too!  I'm lucky I was unaware of vaping when I quit.  I think I would have become hooked on that instead very easily.  Especially if it had yummy flavors.

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intervention
Member

After trying virtually every method possible to quit I resigned myself to dying a smoker. Then an addictions counselor gave me a vape. I set a quit date, started vaping and have not smoked since.

   It took a bit of getting used to. When I started the technology was primitive and it took a lot of fiddling and battery changes. I think it would be easier these days because the technology has made it so much simpler and cheaper, not to mention the nice variety of flavors we have these days. With vaping, tobacco is an added flavor just like all the other flavors, so I encourage folks who vape to use non-tobacco flavors in order to help learn to hate the taste of tobacco and reduce the chances of relapse. 

  

There are side effects. I don't cough anymore, can taste and smell again, don't stink, can walk up stairs, and saved lots of money. 

Vaping was developed by smokers for smokers. It has saved my life, and I have seen the miracle in many others. 

Of course vaping is not the perfect way to quit smoking. But as Voltaire said: "perfection is the enemy of the good". I help people quit smoking in whatever way works for them, Vaping is one of the tools in the toolbox because it has been proven ("evidence-based") to be effective and at least 95% safer than smoking. It is harm reduction tool, just like vaccines, seat belts, masks, etc. 

Thanks to vaping I am happy and free. I pray everyone here finds whatever method works best for them. 

Giulia
Member

Thanks for the response.  Glad you feel happy and free.  May your vaping choice never come back to bite you.

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Thesegoto11
Member

Excellent post.  Glad it's working for you.  

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