Getting Back Into Vaping

hey All,

I joined here several months ago. Posted that I had done e-cigs for march to about June and then switched back to traditional and came back here for support and knowledge which I have received in spades here.thanks.

32 days ago I came down with low grade fever, 100.5 at most slights aches and fatigue..nothing major but certainly not ordinary. At the time I was back to 10-15 traditional cigs per day. But with the fever and fatigue I immediately stopped tradtional cigs--as I thought it could be Covid and honestly had no desire.

Turns out it was NOT Covid and in the 32 days I have had a total of 3 puffs from an e-cig in my desk drawer. I'm otherwise back to normal and only slightly crave a hit of e-cig and I know can use it I need it but the cravings only are short.

I think one part of this is with Covid and being in NYC--I'm not on the streets as much and I never see hardly anyone smoke or even vape. I do go to an office 4 days a week and the walk to the office is 12 minutes. And like a normal city--pre covid you'd always see people outside having a smoke or a vape and enjoying themselves and for me that's what kind of drove the cravings and addiction. now when I come home from work, I don't have a craving need.

After 32 days without a traditional cig and only 3 puffs of an e-cig --does that happen to people? In my head I have committed that I will be a non traditional cig smoker and if I need the e-cigs I'm fine with that. There is a slight concern that if we ever get back to normal and I " see" people smoke that might bring it back..who knows? Hopefully I am far along enough now that it wont' effect me. In fact I saw a bke messenger smoking at a stop light yesterday and just looking at the traditional cig kind of grossed me out. so maybe that's a good sign?

The benefits so far a my apartment and clothes smell normal. I have more energy and can breath better.

Maybe for me (and others) the visual appeal or or just seeing others enjoy a cigarette was part of the addiction?  

Hey guys,

I’m new to vaping. I have been a heavy 2 pack a day Marlboro light smoker for 20 years. I recently got into vaping and so far it has been an amazing journey!

I started with a small pod device (Caliburn) with 16MG nic salt. I found that I was still not able to quit smoking. I went back to my local Vape shop and got some 20mg nic salt juice, and that was too strong! It made me dizzy and confused and I just felt unwell. Even though @20mg I was getting a lot of nicotine I still wanted to smoke a cigarette.

On a whim I decided to give sub ohm vaping a try. I got myself a Lost Vape Thelema DNA 250c + a Freemax Mesh Pro 2 tank. I opted with 6MG freebase juice at 70/30. And sure enough it worked! I was able to quit smoking and have been smoke free for a week now!

My question though, is 6MG freebase nic @0.2 ohms (dual mesh), 70-80 watts too much? I feel fine for the most part and my cravings for cigarettes are under control. However from what I’ve read (and what the guy at my local Vape shop says) is that for sub ohm vaping you generally should stick to about 3mg of nicotine.

I know everyone is different, and you should do what works for you. But I’m just worried that with the large amount of Vapor I’m producing 6MG might just be a little risky.

I Vape quite a lot (200-250 puffs a day) and probably somewhere around 15-20ml of juice a day (at 0.2 ohms @ 70w the juice burns pretty quick). As mentioned above I generally feel fine. However sometimes I do feel a bit out of breath and like my chest is heavy. This could be gas (perhaps from inhaling so much air?). Or it could just be me adjusting from cigarettes to vaping. I don’t feel nauseous or have headaches.

Please let me know your opinions. Would really appreciate some advice from more experienced vapers!

Thanks!  

I'm new to vaping, I started vaping because I'm getting tired of people complaining about the smoking odor after I smoke. And I don't even smoke that much, maybe 6-8 cigs a day.
I started trying out the Stlth about 3 weeks ago and got used to it, so I went to a store to get the refillable stuff. I bought a Caliburn device and the guy in the store recommended a juice from his own store brand.
After I got home I put the juice in the device and tried it but I couldn't feel the throat hit at all, the juice was 3mg, the Stlth I used was 3.5mg which had the perfect hit for me.
I went back to the store and asked if I can exchange for one with a higher Nic. He told me he can't take it back because I opened it, strange that if it's his own brand, couldn't he just refill it and reseal it in another bottle? I only used about 2ml so far.
But anyway, he told me the ejuice has smoother draw that's why there's no throat hit as NIC salt, I did some more research and found that it's the opposite of what I've read, everything I read are saying that ejuice has more throat hit than Nic salt.
Sorry for the long store, the bottle he sold me was 60ml ($30) which is a big waste to throw away. Is there anyway I can salvage this bottle by mixing it with something else to give me that little bit of a throat hit when I draw?  

I would like to thank ECF, and every member here, for helping me to quit cigarettes as an involuntary lifestyle. The information gathered here has been invaluable. In no other group that I've been involved with, have I seen such a gathering of the most informed and intelligent people. Without all of you, my success would have never seen the light of day. I'd been absent for a long time, because I didn't feel the need once I had an expert handle on all of this, but the new developments have brought me back. Vaping has come a long way since I began here, and traded my cigalike in for an eGo, and ECF provided me with the arsenal to make informed choices on what works for me. Than you again.

For those who haven't read any of my posts, I have been free from cigarettes for 10 years, thanks to vaping. I wouldn't say that I'm smoke free, but it's now my choice, on the very rare occasion, to smoke a cigarette. I know some will say it's always been my choice, but for the enlightened, it hasn't been my choice since shortly after I started 37 years ago. There have been pitfalls, and strides, and today I can honestly say that if I can't vape, I will never pick up a pack of cigarettes again.  

A few month ago I was vaping 24mg juice, been doing that for a few years. I started strong to quit cigs. My biggest cravings happen when I wake up, and after a meal.

I made the decision to quit vaping so I cut the strength down to 10mg 2 month ago. Then a few days ago I cut down to 5mg. I plan do cut down further to 2.5mg a month from now, and then 1.25mg...etc. I do DIY juice so all I have to do is dilute my jar when I have 50% left.

Right now I still get some craving at trigger time, and each time I cut down, I need to puff more in the first few days.

I wonder if my cravings will decrease as my nic level decreases. Once I'm at 1.25mg I plan to quit cold turkey, and I wonder how hard it will be? I should also mention that I vape menthol, so each time I dilute my juice I'm also weakening the cooling sensation that I'm used to.

thanks  

I've been thinking on why vaping with flavored eliquid is so effective at tobacco smoking cessation.

Smoking cigarettes was more than just a physical dependence for me, it also consisted of breaking the bad habits. I wanted to stop using tobacco, but there was more to quitting, and staying quit, than I first thought.

I tried nicotine gum, patches, chantix, etc. Nothing worked until I took up vaping. Here are my thoughts on why I think it worked, when nothing else did.

Physical needs

Tobacco contains several alkaloids and chemicals, in addition to nicotine, that change the effect nicotine has on our body and brain. Some of these alkaloids and chemicals likely have effects on their own. When changing from tobacco use to ecigarettes, I know that I initially experienced cravings that nicotine did not curb. If it was only nicotine I craved, vaping would have eliminated my cravings. This wouldn't happen for me until a little later on in vaping.

Behavior, eg. Habit

Repeating an action long enough creates a habit. Some habits can reinforce an addiction, or be a part of that addiction. Breaking those habits, in my experience, is more than half the battle when quitting.

One of the hardest habits for me to break was the ritual of smoking. It went something like this; Walk into the convenience store, buy a pack of smokes, pack them on my palm, open the cellophane, remove the top of the liner, smell that fresh pack of smokes. Take a cigarette out, light it up, smoke it, put it out. Repeat part two until your almost out, then go to the store and buy another pack.

In the beginning I had to avoid going in the store and just pay with a card at the pump. Over time this impulse has disappeared.

The act of smoking itself was the other major habit I had to change. I did this by replacement.

When I quit I found that mimicking the act of inhaling smoke, by inhaling vapor instead, helped me to satisfy the hand-to-mouth habit part of smoking. Raising my pv to my lips, taking a drag, then lowering it to my side is very similar to the way I used to smoke a cigarette. The feeling of drawing warm vapor into my mouth, then lungs, substituted for taking puffs on a cigarette.

So why are flavors so important then?

Even with the habit side of smoking more or less dealt with, I still felt I was missing something. The gnawing pull of a cigarette was still there. It only abated when I was actually vaping (and shortly after), even though I knew I had enough nic in my system.

What's going on then?

Flavors

I believe that adding flavors has a twofold benefit in successfully switching from tobacco to vaping.

When I enjoy a flavor, and I mean really enjoy it, my tastebuds and scent receptors light up in a flavorgasm. The thought of cigarettes gets pushed to the back of my mind, if only temporarily, as I focus on the sensations I'm experiencing with this vapor. That moment, and for a short time afterwards, I experience true relief from my cravings. When vaping a flavor I dislike, I don't feel as satisfied and vape more trying to fill that craving.

The two main processes that I believe are occuring to provide that relief are a shifting of focus (distraction), and pleasure.

Distraction & pleasure

Replacing an unpleasant stimulus with a pleasant one is a widely accepted method of behavior modification. Pleasure releases endorphins, sex & drugs release alot of endorphins for example. Taste & smell do this as well in smaller amounts.

I stated earlier that repeating an action long enough creates a habit. After vaping for a period of time, the association that vaping=pleasure became hardwired into my brain, and the longer that I vaped, the stronger the association grew. On the flip side the longer I avoided tobacco, the greater dissociation with the pleasure response became.

Today I don't even want to smoke, it's nasty.

Sometime later on my vape journey, heavily flavored vapor became unpleasant. I think that was after my tastebuds grew back more. I found that I used less and less flavor as time went by. Oversaturation of my tastebuds is unpleasant now.

I still enjoy flavors, but the percentages I use have been cut drastically. I regularly used 15-20% when I started, now I use from 1-5% on average. Also I started on 18-24 mg per mL of nicotine, and now use 6 mg.

I know that this stuff is common knowledge to most of y'all, same as me, but I haven't seen it presented this way in the same place before. Hopefully someone can get some good use out of this somehow.  

So I heard that the ban in New York will take effect even after the small delay. I'm wondering how I will be able to cope soon. Vaping for me does great things as it keeps me off cigarettes. But one major thing it also does for me is that it lowers my stress level and it relaxes me. Being that I have vaping I have no need to try other things that can be complicated. Someone once told me that my vape is like my pacifier because I always have it in my mouth and I turn to it whenever I am stressed and have anxiety. Truthfully it's terrible that I will be forced to use my pods because Juul couldn't keep their products out of corner stores and leave them for vape shops. When these kids have health issues they blame it on vaping when their parents ask them how it happened and they wanted a high out of school. Even though there is something called deep breathing and vaping isn't done that way I know it cools me off. Many times I was stressed and sweating because, I started to vape and it had it that I was finally able to feel the temperature of the air outside. People need to understand that going with this ban is All Or Nothing thinking, things one is told in therapy to avoid. Now that "it affected a minority" people take it away completely from those who are benefiting from it. Those who are banning - please use common sense - vaping is a lot safer than cigarettes and people are constantly dying from smoke. Vaping was the best thing that has possibly happened in a really long time. Tobbaco plants had a misconception that it was supposed to be smoked until technology introduced a safe method. If it was vaped from the beginning of time people would have lived much longer lives and more people would be born. Those who are cracking down please take this into account.  

So here's the issue. After about 5 or 6 years of bouncing back and forth between vaping and smoking, something has to give.

Now I don't need advice on thich gear to buy or which juice to buy because I have all that and and am usually equipped with my DNA mods, various RDA's and Breeze disposables. But my problem is that I live with and am i. A relationship with a smoker who has no desire to quit.

I usually do fine when I'm at work and can manage not to smoke with my vaping products. But when I come home and sit with her when she's chain smoking, I need a cigarette. I'll start by taking a smoke or two from her to buying my own pack sometimes and not vapimg again until the next day. Has anyone experienced this or have any tips to break the cycle? I definitely smoke a lot less than I used to but need to be done with the cigarettes for good.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk  

I have been vaping on and off for over a year now. I have tried every strength, tons of different ejuice company's, making my own, have the best tanks and mods etc. and it just doesn't agree with me. I actually have 3mg nic right now and after two puffs it is all I can take. Everyone else I no or see puffs on them just like a smoke. I have read and heard that with analogue the nicotine is absorbed through your lungs and wuth vaping the nicotine is absorbed through your mouth and sinuses. I gave a very dry and raw miuth due to medications and have allergies so my sinuses are dry from nasal spray etc. I can smoke a pack of analogues a day no ptoblem but I JUST WANT TO VAPE!!!! PLEASE HELP  

I've been smoke-free since 21st Jan 2018 - which is when I accidentally quit smoking

Long story short:
21st Jan 2018
Completely smashed up my ankle - needed two plates inserted, along with 15 screws. I was a smoker at that time

In the ER, they told me I'd need major surgery, that I no longer smoked, and slapped a patch on my arm

Spent 8 days in hospital before the surgery, chewing nic gum, damn near chewing nic patches, and when I could handle it, crutching to the bathroom, to vape on a lil innokin Endura T18 vape pen (that my parents brought into the hospital for me)

After the surgery, a few days later I was staying at my parents recovering. My mindset being - that I had to stop smoking for a month or two til my fractures healed, then I would start again

So I vaped my head off. Couldn't do much else, so I shopped my head off I ordered a bunch of different ejuice flavours and coils.

2 weeks down the track, I was actually enjoying vaping. I was vaping inside and it tasted a hell of a lot better than smoking.

2 more weeks later - I was a convert. My previous cunning plan went complely out the window - I was now a vaper, and would stay a vaper. Screw smoking

I ordered an upgraded starter kit, more ejuice, moved back home and healed. A month later I found ECF and the rest is history