Hello Again...

i quit smoking for about 3 months back in the carto tank days.

then they stopped making cartomizers. then all my juice vendors went out.

I've been struggling to find a replacement since. I've easily spent too much money on vaping. I"m getting tired of trying.

are these new pods similar to carto tanks?
I'm so lost.

I have lost interest in the clouds. I just want to stop my 30 year long smoking addiction. I miss my carto tanks. they worked for me. I'm frustrated. I'm tired. I'm lost.  

I joined ECF back in August of 2017. I was sixty-five years old and had been smoking 25-30 cigarettes a day for 40+ years. I began vaping at the same time win the hope I could at least cut down. I dual used for months, continually cutting back on cigarettes. I smoked my last cigarette on May 11, 2018 - I am coming up on my three year anniversary. When I began, I vaped 24mg nicotine. Now I alternate between 3mg and zero nic.

Given how incredibly positive vaping has been for me, I am in shock at recent events. I was down to two working mods. I have ordered four mods, some tanks and a bunch of coils. I am still able to buy some eliquids where I live - but many of my favorites from Halo have been discontinued. I still have some outstanding hardware orders that I hope get delivered.

The treatment of vaping in the media has been a one sided disgrace, and propaganda works. Over the years when I have mentioned to people that I quit by vaping, they respond, ‘so you quit smoking by picking up a habit that is even more dangerous’.

I am set for at least a year. Fortunately I have kicked my addiction to nicotine - I recently vaped zero nic for a month. If I was just starting out, it would truly be panic time, and I would go back to cigarettes for sure. I suspect that many will do just that. Happy I started when I did.  

Hi my name is Steve and I'm a smokaholic. I've been clean for nearly 1.5 years and I've even converted a few people along the way.

I haven't been back here for a while but I had some questions about steeping so I logged in but I thought I report in on my journey to quit smoking. January marked one full year so I'm almost up to 1.5 years free of smoke. I'd like to eventually quit nicotine altogether but for now I'm happy to be smoke free, though I did just lower my nicotine level to 12mg, that is however in a higher watt unit. How long has it been for you? Do you think you will ever quit vaping too?  

I keep posting the same old thing, every year. Adjust to suit!

It has been 10 years recently, since my last cigarette. I haven't been posting in recent months/years, I have been keeping up on the treadmill of life. For the last couple of years, I have been pasting this exact same thing on my anniversary. I think it still works.

Thanks to ECF for being here, to the mods for keeping it sane, CASAA for working so that we can have a future, and all of you for helping each other and yourselves!

Like most of you, I spent too large a percentage of my life killing myself slowly, and eventually spending a lot of money to do so. In my particular case, I still loved smoking, but grew disgruntled over the health realities, Big Tobacco, and the taxation of cigs. I have quit many times, in many ways, but never for more than a few months. During those few months, I was never pleasant to be around.

It's easy to make excuses to keep smoking, I made them all.

I am *not* an expert, and nobody asked me, but since I am waxing eloquent I will make suggestions about how it worked for me. YMMV

1. To quit smoking, you really only need two things. A device that works for you (charging, form factor, blahblah) and juice that you like. Three things. The desire to quit.

2. Don't feel obligated to stop smoking immediately. I was an accidental quitter. Initially I wanted to smoke some and vape some. I could save some money, and not have to stand outside in the rain. It's OK to smoke while you are learning what works for you. You can do that for the rest of your life, if you want to.

2b. Keep an idea of where you are on supplies. You need backups of everything (home, work, car). After I decided to actually quit smoking, two weeks in I had two battery deaths in two days. I only had two batteries. After 12 hours of crazy, I had to smoke.

3. Learn your device well, before you start collecting more and more! It can be convenient to wind up with a couple of different styles that work for different life situations. If you buy one every week, you will spend a lot of money and could still be deep down unhappy that "it's not working like I thought it would". Many of us as smokers can be a wee bit OCD anyway. Don't let collecting get in the way of Not Smoking (tm)

4. Don't buy a gallon of the first juice that you like. It will take a month or more before your damaged sense of taste/smell start regenerating. What you loved initially you may hate in a month. Buy lots of small samplers, to discover what you like.

5. Yes, you will save money, lots of it. See #3 and #4 above.

6. At the end of the day, all these devices are just batteries and heaters. How long they last, charging, the form factor, the ability to adjust them during use are all just variations on a theme. Some of the cig-a-likes have a lifetime of 30 charge cycles. Some larger ones can be charged 500 times. Find the balance that works for you. What *does* matter, is the actual vaping end of it. Explore attys, cartos, tanks, RBA. Try them all, this is what determines the taste and vapor production.

7. Support your local vape shop. I know you can get this stuff from China for cheap. Your local brick and mortar shop is spending a lot of money for rent and employees, and the ability to sample juice is not possible on AliBaba. They are also providing a valuable service in being a first exposure to vaping for many. Go in and hang out. If nothing else, buy some drip tips, juice, attys or doo-dads. Check out the new PVs.

8. With few exceptions, the kiosk at the mall is not a good deal, nor a good idea. Free trials online or from radio ads are always a ripoff. You will spend a lot more on much inferior equipment and then have a hard time getting it off of your credit card.

9. Don't be arrogant about vaping in public. They don't know that you are not smoking from 10 feet away. My area has illegalized vaping. With low VG juice, I can discreetly vape after a meal. It beats standing outside in the rain.

10. Don't get in flamewars on ECF about your favorite device. Yes, there are idiots here, don't be one. If it works for you, that is the best one for you.

11. Once you get comfortable with vaping, consider DIY. Juice is what costs the most in the long run. Start small, measure with precision, keep detailed notes, be safe. You know what you like better than any description on a web page.

12. Join CASAA, and do things.

13. ECF is great for support. Don't be afraid to bare your soul to kindred spirits here in a hard time, you can find a lot of strength.

#14 for 2017. Consider a banner. I forgot about mine here. For several years, I kept one going on my phone. It was a good motivator for me. I would await milestones. When I had a hard time quitting, my banner helped me. "Only two more days until <whatever exciting increment is coming up>".

#15 for 2017. Reward yourself with the money you save. I am not wealthy, but after a few months of not smoking, I realized I was not as broke before payday. Buy something fun. Take your significant other out. Buy those tires you have been needing. If you are not inclined to buy 'things', invest in something risky. Or in something conservative.

#16 for 2019. Now? I find myself mixing juice with zero flavor, a few mg/ml of nic. It's mostly ritual now. But I like it!

#17 for 2021. I missed posting last year, Covid-Crazy. My devices have all died. My beat-to-sheeit Vaporshark 40 has finally quit functioning completely a few weeks after my 10th anniversary. It has been disassembled *many* times, cleaned the switches/contact points with rubbing alcohol, that always brought it back. I never got into the high-wattage 'cloud machine' aspect. The Vaporshark/DNA/Evolv devices run at about 12-20 watts was fine. I'm 66, just retired, don't think I will replace the vaping devices. I find I miss vaping, I don't miss smoking. Attached is the old 'About' screen of my Vaporshark. It lights up, but the + button for wattage had died (and I've re-soldered the connections). At least it was 'Genuine' and not a fake..

 

Hey everyone! I've been casually vaping off and on for two years now, but I finally took the plunge and started vaping exclusively. I am almost 4 days tobacco free! It's the longest I've been without tobacco in 7 years!!! It's been a lot easier than I thought it would be.

Something that keeps me going is to think about the horrible realities of being a tobacco user.

What are the things about tobacco you are glad to have behind you? The smell? The taste? The money? What did you hate most about smoking?

I could really use the little reminders throughout the day.  

since my last cigarette. I haven't been posting in recent months, I have been keeping up on the treadmill of life.
Thanks to ECF for being here, to the mods for keeping it sane, CASAA for working so that we can have a future, and all of you for helping each other and yourselves!

Like most of you, I spent too large a percentage of my life killing myself slowly, and eventually spending a lot of money to do so. In my particular case, I still loved smoking, but grew disgruntled over the health realities, BT, and the taxation of cigs. I have quit many times, in many ways, but never for more than a few months. During those few months, I was never pleasant to be around.

It's easy to make excuses to keep smoking, I made them all.

I am *not* an expert, and nobody asked me, but since I am waxing eloquent I will make suggestions about how it worked for me. YMMV

1. To quit smoking, you really only need two things. A device that works for you (charging, form factor, blahblah) and juice that you like.

2. Don't feel obligated to stop smoking immediately. I was an accidental quitter. Initially I wanted to smoke some and vape some. I could save some money, and not have to stand outside in the rain. It's OK to smoke while you are learning what works for you. You can do that for the rest of your life, if you want to.

2b. Keep an idea of where you are on supplies. You need backups of everything (home, work, car). After I decided to actually quit smoking, two weeks in I had two battery deaths in two days. I only had two batteries. After 12 hours of crazy, I had to smoke.

3. Learn your device well, before you start collecting more and more! It can be convenient to wind up with a couple of different styles that work for different life situations. If you buy one every week, you will spend a lot of money and could still be deep down unhappy that "it's not working like I thought it would". Many of us as smokers can be a wee bit OCD anyway. Don't let collecting get in the way of Not Smoking (tm)

4. Don't buy a gallon of the first juice that you like. It will take a month or more before your damaged sense of taste/smell start regenerating. What you loved initially you may hate in a month. Buy lots of small samplers, to discover what you like.

5. Yes, you will save money, lots of it. See #3 and #4 above.

6. At the end of the day, all PVs are just batteries. How long they last, charging, the form factor, the ability to adjust them during use are all just variations on a theme. Some of the cig-a-likes have a lifetime of 30 charge cycles. Some larger ones can be charged 500 times. Find the balance that works for you. What *does* matter, is the actual vaping end of it. Explore attys, cartos, tanks, RBA. Try them all, this is what determines the taste and vapor production.

7. Support your local vape shop. I know you can get this stuff from China for cheap. Your local B&M is spending a lot of money for rent and employees, and the ability to sample juice is not possible on AliBaba. They are also providing a valuable service in being a first exposure to vaping for many. Go in and hang out. If nothing else, buy some drip tips, juice, attys or doo-dads. Check out the new PVs.

8. With few exceptions, the kiosk at the mall is not a good deal, nor a good idea. Free trials online or from radio ads are always a ripoff. You will spend a lot more on much inferior equipment and then have a hard time getting it off of your credit card.

9. Don't be arrogant about vaping in public. They don't know that you are not smoking from 10 feet away.

10. Don't get in flamewars on ECF about your favorite PV. Yes, there are idiots here, don't be one. If it works for you, that is the best one for you.

11. Once you get comfortable with vaping, consider DIY. Juice is what costs the most in the long run. Start small, measure with precision, keep detailed notes, be safe. You know what you like better than any description on a web page.

12. Join CASAA, and do things.

13. ECF is great for support. Don't be afraid to bare your soul to kindred spirits here in a hard time, you can find a lot of strength.  

Hi Guys,

I've been vaping for 5 years or so. The main reason I quit smoking and took to vaping was I confess, not for my health, but for my purse. As we all know cigs are too expensive and I actually love vaping more than I ever liked smoking.

Anyway, I'm also set in my ways. Except for a brief foray into tanks, I have used low res cartomizers and have been happy. Now, I am finding it impossible to buy cheap Boge cartos so apparently while I have been happily vaping away without hanging out in the vaping community, the world has moved on and there are all sorts of new fangled products on the market. But, most of the new stuff is ridiculously expensive! I'm just a poor girl, I don't wanna buy fancy crap. Right now I am using an Iclear 16 tank and I gotta say it sucks compared to Boge cartomizers. I use a ton of juice (I make my own juice cuz it is wayyy cheaper) and the wicks only last a couple days compared to 2 weeks for cartos.....What gives?

Isn't there a CHEAP way to vape anymore? I don't wanna buy expensive mods, I use these 10 dollar pass-through rechargeable batteries and everything is cheap and hunky dunky....

Any suggestions on a cheap cheap cheap replacement for cartomizers?

Thanks!

Annie  

I have been vaping regularly as a smoking alternative (got me off 6yrs of cigs) for about 5 years. 3mg nic all the way with rda's, full kanthal fused claptons, CBP cotton, and usually 70/30 vg/pg juice.
Recently I had my gallbladder removed (26yr male..bs) and I've developed allergies for the first time in my life (also some serious bs). Ever since, vaping has been a burden to say the least. Something I once loved SO much now has me seriously contemplating quitting all together.
Every time I vape I feel incredibly sick. It makes my symptoms noticeably worse especially at night. It's like a solid minute or less after I put my vape down my dry cough gets way worse and more frequent, I get slightly nauseous, head and chest hurts, and just a over all weak/ill/flue like/just smoked a pack of cigs and some 70's ditch weed feeling.
This is really not fair because like I said I LOVE to vape, as most of us do. I used to be able to sub ohm chain vape pretty much any juice and never had a single problem. but finding juice I can tolerate is near impossible now and I can't keep wasting money on juice I can't use. Even juice I can tolerate isn't necessarily good and the way it makes me feel just isn't worth it anymore *cries quietly*..
I've gone from dual FC coils to a single FC, turned wattage way down (that's obviously not the issue) and even considered going 0mg but it's coming down to not being able to inhale at all..your boy got the Clinton curse over night and I'm so sad man.
Never thought it would happen like this. If I ever did quit I always thought it would be in my control but it's looking like that wont be the case at all. This might soon be the end for me boys and girls. Wish me luck. And if you pass me on the street, blow a cloud to my back please, as the smell and sight might break my already black and blue heart...or make me sick evidently
*quiet crying intensifies* lol :/

Disclaimer:: this is not to say vaping makes you sick in anyway because that's so not true. This is my own personal experience. That makes no sense to me whatsoever honestly..vaping saved my life and the lives of many many other smokers. This is not intended to put vaping in any sort of bad light at all.
I'm just curious if anyone knows what's going on, can relate in any way, or has any suggestions.  

I want to thank ECF for making it fun, Joe for making it his life`s mission, and all the great down to earth people that make ECF the best place for a vapor outside of FT, :?)

Just for fun, here`s my first post on ECF:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just saying High, LOL.

Been vaping for almost 4 months now. Was smoking for about 35 years with the last ten of them smoking some strong .... cigars (Pepin, Padron, Rocky P, you know). I was never able to look at vaping as a legitimate alternative until I tried to quite the last time. I had "quite" many times in the past, but after I got into my thirties success never lasted more then a few days. Than this last time I quit (Im 48 now), I quit cold turkey for 7 days. Thought the world was going to end but "I was quitting smokes!", ha, ha. Had all those self doubts the hardcore smoker goes through. Was really fighting the lack of sanity and then somehow I got me a ecig (My wife`s ecig (that she hardly used!!) I actually snuck it, ha, ha.
And Hot damn, if that thing did`nt work. Cravings were gone, Sanity felt so much better. It tasted like the waft of a dog turd, but I did`nt like smoking either 35 years ago either, its an acquired taste you know. Quickly found out that if you are`nt committed, and if you are`nt capable of problem solving, smoking will look so much easier. But I`m not one that gives up very easily, so I figured out what was wrong (Kanger quality control pretty much sucks, LOL), tried some more juices, got a bigger tank, tried some more juices.

Its been 4 months of real fun. This is FUN! I control the Nic intake, not the smoke. I can vape a little, I can Vape ALLOT! I really like 36MG but my stomach is very attuned to being able to tell me when to put it down. Me and My better half have been able to stay stinky free for just about 4 months and since that first week, I have`nt really even thought about a smoke. I mean I`ll say it again, THIS IS FUN!! I CAN APPLY CONTROL to the mix of getting my fix. I like Nic and this is the absolutely perfect delivery system for a control freak like me, LOL.

Now I have a Vamo, a KFL, a Panzer with a hypertank. Oh, I got a brass thingy with a brass Stilare on top chucking .4 ohms. A Kcig (Kamry bomb I call it). Getting rid of the plastic clearomisers as they are just too finicky and a pita at this stage. As soon as I can I`m getting a Fooger cause I know that is going to be the ONE. But hey, my first months was spent on a twister and a PT2, so I know it will work if you really, really want to quit.

And if this government gets too high and mighty and regulates that crap out of my Nic, then I`m going to get a box of decent cigars, and a couple gallons of PG, and they can stick their regulation right up the kyster!! This government needs a enema, and I hope they get it this November. Those misguided idiots that try to stuff "Not a smoking cessation program" down the mouth of the general public really piss me off, I mean I get hot and see red when these self righteous know it all`s start spewing their self righteous know NOTHING crap!

Have I said enough? LOL.

My handle means Vapehappy Randall B. Cause that`s the first thing I think of when I think about vaping, its makes me Vapehappy. But of course it makes lots of folks Vapehappy and so we`re all vapehappy and I`ll have to settle for that amalgamation of a handle, but its all good.

Glad to be here.
Randall
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Its a new addiction, :?)  

I quit smoking to start vaping and have never once missed smoking. A little over a month ago I quit vaping all together after two years of slowly working my nicotine level down from 36mg to 0mg.

I quit vaping at zero milligrams of nicotine and never experienced nicotine withdrawal symptoms.

I guess these would all be good things except for the fact that I miss vaping. Multiple times a day since I quit the thought of having a vape pops in my head and just as soon as it does this weird feeling of loss follows as I realize I no longer vape. I would think by now these feeling would have subsided but they have not.

I wouldn't think much of it but since quitting I have gained 10lbs, have little to no energy, find myself easily frustrated and worst of all have found myself drinking a lot more than normal (which is probably why I gained 10lbs anyway). A huge part of me just wants to go back to vaping.

I guess my question is, Did anyone else quit vaping and experience weird side effects from quitting? If so, how long did it take you to feel normal again?