An unexpected benefit to quitting nicotine

@RopinTexan nope. So while I was smoking cigarettes, I went with an electric cigarette. Inside the house smoking was extremely extremely frowned upon. So I figured, if I'm inside, and my door is shut, I should be okay smoking this electronic cigarette. The one day I remember putting in fluid that was 6 mg of nicotine. So I figured okay, if I can sit here and chain smoke a whole pack of cigarettes in 4 hours in front of the computer, let me try with this electronic cigarette.

It didn't work so well because I got more of an actual cigarette than I did the electronic cigarette. I was really only smoking the electronic cigarette because I had a fireball flavor in it.

So it wasn't really a transition, I was smoking cigarettes, figured I could try out this electronic cigarette, but it really didn't do anything for me, and then when I quit smoking cigarettes that meant quitting everything including the electronic cigarette. That's why I say I've been smoke free for the last 8 years. Because when I quit in 2014 in February 23rd, that was the last time I smoked.

@twiigss Gotcha. Thing is for me, I never was a true cigarette smoker, more of a social smoker. I’d smoke cigars every month or so, but I wouldn’t inhale. And if I was outside at a bar (on the porch), I’d occasionally bum a cigarette off someone. But I was never addicted. So then a friend told me I should try vaping.

I tried, enjoyed it, but mostly just did it when drinking at home. From there, I noticed how well it woke me up in the morning, so I put it on my night stand and took a drag every morning. Then I started vaping at night too because, hey, it’s already there in my room. Then from there, I started vaping right before dinner, and then after that, I started bringing it to the couch with me when I watched TV. Then I was officially addicted.

I’m glad you were at least able to keep it down to 6 mg. I was hooked on the 6% pods for the Vuse Alto, which I believe is 60 mg. Quitting that cold turkey is pretty much impossible, so I had to back myself down to 2.5% and then 1% before I could quit.

@RopinTexan In my case, I tried smoking cigarettes when I was in 10th grade (before vaping was invented) but I didn't know how to inhale. When I met my GF in 1996 she smoked. So here and there I'd offer to light her cigarettes for her, and at that point I was inhaling, and I became addicted for the next 18 years. At about the 15th year of being addicted to cigarettes, I had heard about these e-cigarettes. So I bought one and thought I'd give it a try.

And the e-cig for me wasn't about getting off smoking or getting off of cigarettes, it was more about, I still need my nicotine, how can I do it inside without getting yelled at, but at that point I would have times where I'd lock my door and smoke regular cigarettes in my room, just because I was too lazy to go outside.

The reason I chose 6mg nicotine is because that's all I could find. If I could have found a 30mg nicotine, I would have went with that instead. The way my e-cig worked was, what was supposed to be the tube that holds the tobacco, that was the battery, and what was supposed to be a filter on a cigarette you could unscrew, and it had cotton in it. You would put a couple of drops of whatever liquid it was you had on the cotton and screw it all back together.

So I tried chain smoking this e-cig with the 6mg of nicotine, it didn't do anything for me. It was as if the 6mg of nicotine wasn't even close to help my cravings. But when I took that smoking cessation class, the instructor told us that when you quit smoking cigarettes, you quit all of it, including vaping.

I breathe so much more better, and I'm not coughing up phlegm all the time either. But I tell you, if I could have a cigarette right now, it'd be so great. But I can't. I had a time where I saw a fresh, unlit and unused cigarette lying on the ground. I walked right past it in the parking lot at work, I guess someone must of dropped it while getting out a cig and didn't realize it. I sat there in my car, contemplating taking it, and smoking it. But I just drove home instead and tried to forget about it.

But I haven't had an e-cig or cigarette since 2/23/2014.