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IrishGirlVA posted 6/20/2014 09:26 AM

I have been smoking ever since I graduated from high school. So, a loooong time! Never once have I tried to quit my (almost) one pack a day habit.

On Monday I got to talking to a coworker about vaping. He and his wife switched over a few months ago and never went back to smoking. So on my way home Monday I stopped at a local vaping store and got hooked up with what I needed.

Since Monday, I have gone from smoking almost 20 cigarettes a day to one. I'm still having trouble letting go of my morning ritual.

Anyway, I LOVE IT. I love that my hair and hands and clothes don't have a lingering smell of smoke. I love being able to keep my windows closed in the car. I love my house smelling nicer and food tasting better. I love buying all these different vaping flavors like pancakes and chocholate chip mint ice cream.

BUT -- am I trading in one vice for another? Vaping still gives me the nicotine I crave but I hope to ween myself off eventually.

Has anyone else switched from smoking to vaping to eventually quitting? Do you still feel as if you haven't really given up smoking?

TrustedHer posted 6/20/2014 09:39 AM

My son (DS31) did it.

He loved smoking, and was never inclined to give it up. Then he took up bike racing, and didn't have the wind to keep up with the pack leaders.

When he switched to E-cigs, his weekly expense went down by half, he kept his nicotine fix, his exposure to tar and other chemicals went down, and he got his wind back.

Then he had a 10 day "vacation" in the county lockup, and couldn't use his e-cig, so he gave them up.

So far as I know, he hasn't smoked or vaped since. It's been about a year.

purplejacket4 posted 6/20/2014 16:39 PM

From a medical point of view we are fine with vaper over smoke. Most of the COPD damage is from smoke exposure and all the carcinogens are cut down with the vapor. We also don't care about nicotine. It can raise blood pressure, etc. But is really no worse than caffeine.

Crescita posted 6/20/2014 17:04 PM

I know a handful of people who have been using them (ranging from 9 months - 2 years). They've all cut back on smoking tremendously, but still use some nicotine, and occasionally cheat with cigs. But all the cold turkey quitters I've known have cheated at some point too. It's more the decision to quit than the method I think that makes the biggest difference.

Good job cutting back, and good luck! Less is better as far as I'm concerned

Too_Trusting posted 6/20/2014 20:04 PM

From a medical point of view we are fine with vaper over smoke. Most of the COPD damage is from smoke exposure and all the carcinogens are cut down with the vapor. We also don't care about nicotine. It can raise blood pressure, etc. But is really no worse than caffeine.

Bless you Dr. PJ!! I was a lifetime smoker of 35+ years when I laid down the smokes when my 2nd sibling died of lung cancer. That was 2 years ago this month. BUT, after about 8 months, I found myself cheating more often than I should.

Couple this with a Dx of COPD, and I just knew I couldn't smoke cigarettes. Ever. It was still so damn hard, tho.

Enter the e-cig and some great advice from Eranda. I've been vaping for at least a year with ZERO traditional cigarettes. I have felt guilty that I couldn't seem to quit the e-cigs, and have wondered if I was just trading one vice for another.

THANK YOU, DR. PJ for alleviating my guilt!!!

[This message edited by Too_Trusting at 8:05 PM, June 20th (Friday)]

Clarrissa posted 6/22/2014 16:20 PM

H and I switched to vaping a couple months ago. Before, we were both at nearly 2 packs a day, spending upwards of $100 a week on smokes. Since switching we've smoked *maybe* 3 packs total and that may be a high estimate.

We're still at fairly high nicotine levels but some flavors are about midrange and we like to experiment with mixing flavors - like one mix that approaches creme de menthe and vanilla creme. The only down side that's not a big deal is buying the coils every couple weeks but we knew going in that they didn't last long. And we're lucky in that vape shops are popping up all over town so we're not limited in where we can go.

ETA I've been smoking since age 13, so nearly 37 years for me so even if it's trading one "vice" for another, the savings are worth it.

[This message edited by Clarrissa at 4:22 PM, June 22nd (Sunday)]

IrishGirlVA posted 6/23/2014 07:19 AM

Thank you all so much for responding!

Kudos to you, Too_Trusting and Clarrissa, for giving up the smoking habit and turning to an alternative like I did!

And YES -- thank you Dr. PJ for responding. It makes me feel better that vaping is overall better than smoking. I have read so many differing opinions on the internet. I know vaping is relatively new and long term affects may not really be known yet but I have to believe that vaping is a better choice than smoking.

Thanks again for your responses.

tushnurse posted 6/23/2014 10:47 AM

Hey it's the first step to quitting.
Yes I have several friends, and several patients that took this path to quitting, and it worked for them. I have one that still vap's daily, but without any nicotine, still gets the oral fix without the bad stuff.

It's way better than smoking. I say go for it.

Clarrissa posted 6/23/2014 16:49 PM

The vape shop where we usually go has nic levels from 24mg all the way down to 0. Right now we're getting flavors in the 16 to 18mg range. Hopefully we'll soon be down in the 6 to 12mg range. But like I posted earlier, the cost savings alone make it worth it. And the flavors are a bonus.