Give and get support around quitting
Vape or nah
I know 4 people who tried (or are still trying) and failed. I know one who did finally succeed. It took him 14 months.
no, i didn't, but my brother tried for 3 years with vaping. he is now dying from lung cancer.
I'm sorry about your brother.
Thanks. The 1st few days were hard but now I dont even want a cigarette or the vape, actually. I mostly do it out of habit now I think. I'm steady coming down on the levels, so maybe that'll help too.
Welcome to our community!
Reducing the levels will help you get off the nicotine and thus the physical withdrawals should be lessened - but you still will have the associations/triggers to get past. This addictive behavior has two parts - the physical and psychological. I think the psychological is actually more difficult than the physical. Getting off the vaping will require the same preparation, planning and commitment as quitting smoking. Here is my welcome to newcomers to our community. Every place it says, "smoking" or :"cigarette," you should just substitute vaping! It will require effort on your part - but it IS doable! Get reading to understand how!!!!!
You should read the posts here and perhaps go to the pages of folks who you think might be helpful. You might visit whyquit.com, quitsmokingonline.com and livewell.com for the good information contained there. @https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/best-of-ex has lots of blogs written by members of this site with their experiences and guidance. You should also do the tracking and separation exercises suggested in My Quit Plan http://www.becomeanex.org/my-quit-plan.php
The idea is to change up your routines so the smoking associations are reduced. Drink your coffee with your OTHER hand in a place different from when you smoked. Maybe switch to tea for a bit. If you always had that first smoke with your coffee, try putting your tennies on right out of bed, going for a quick walk, then taking your shower and THEN your coffee! Rearrange the furniture in the areas you used to smoke so the view is different. Buy your gas at a different station. Take a different route to work. Take a quick walk at break time where the smokers AREN'T.
You need to distract yourself through any craves. You can take a bite out of a lemon (yup - rind and all), put your head in the freezer and take a deep breath of cold air, do a few jumping jacks, go for a brisk walk or march in place, play a computer game. Keep a cold bottle of water with you from which to sip. Don't let that smoking thought rattle around in your brain unchallenged. Sometimes you need to quit a minute or an hour at a time. You will need to be disciplined in the early days to distract yourself when a crave hits. Get busy! Here is a link to a list of things to do instead of smoke if you need some fresh ideas:
https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/Youngatheart.7.4.12-blog/2013/02/25/100-things-to-do-instea...
The conversation in your head in response to the "I want a cigarette" thought needs to be, "Well, since I have decided not to do that anymore, what shall I do instead for the three minutes this crave will last?" Then DO it. You will need to put some effort into this in the early days, but it gets easier and easier to do.
Stay close to us here and ask questions when you have them and for support when you need it. We will be with you every step of the way!
Nancy
Thanks Nancy, this is very helpful
Vaping nicotine is still a form of addiction. You are still putting nicotine in your system and you are mimicking smoking. It may be more difficult to quit this way. If you are still smoking you are doing it correctly.
I used vaping in the first month of my quit, doing like you , decreasing the level of nicotine, before I joined this site. I had a "quit" date set , but everything I learned here made me stop vaping in less than a week. Once I started paying attention to what smoking/vaping is doing to me, from the mouth of real people, real ex-smokers, I quit any device which was helping me stay in touch with the addiction.
Stay around, read (Nancy gave you a bunch of materials), read other blogs, all of these will help you gain the right state of mind to make your quit stick!
Welcome and congrats on making the best decision for your future health!
Thank you so much. You all have really helped alot