# e cigarettes



## bughut (Aug 18, 2007)

Stopped smoking 3 weeks ago today. For the first time in so many times I'm finding it relatively easy. The e cigs are giving me the nicotine that the patch and chewing gum did, but im getting a hand to mouth thing too. Whatever your thoughts on the subject, I'm not smoking and that's got to be good

Here in the UK shops are sprouting up all over, specialising in electronic cigarettes and accessories for "vapers" Seems it's big business. What's weird is that non smokers are taking up the habit... That's just weird. Is it the same in USA?


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## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

RIGHT ON BUGHUT!  You can do it!  Just one day at a time, I know you've probably heard this many times over...

As a former-smoker myself, I can testify, it’s not easy to quit. 

I used the patch on my fourth go-around. 

It seems to me that I had the mind-set this time to finally say, NO MORE!  I feel so much better, my little ones that visit don’t tell me, ‘EW, you stink’ anymore. 

It’s been four years for me and I still get the urge now and again to grab a ciggy out of some teenagers hand and tell them, you don’t need that, give it here to Granny.

I say, friend, whatever gets you through the night without picking up a cigarette, more power to you!!


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## pollopicu (Jan 24, 2013)

I smoked for a very long time, and quit a billion times before actually really quitting for good. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life. Both my parents were smokers and so I adopted the habit too. I am now 5+ years smoke-free. I mean 100% smoke free. Not a puff since. Once I decided to quit, I never looked back, but it was a painful process. I had a lot of emotional ups and downs for quite some time. I had to change a lot of things in my life, for example how I had fun. Not drinking anymore. Going to bars wasn't the same..Staying up late all hours of the night was pointless. It forced me to change many other things (for the better) including diets, sleeping habits, exercise, etc.

There was an online app that really helped with with the minute to minute struggle, because yes, every minute was a struggle. It's called quit-O-meter. I'd like to share it with you.

http://www.quitsmokingcounter.com/your-quit-smoking-counter/

You enter your quit date, and it tracks how many minutes, hours, days, years you've been smoke-free. It sounds kind of corny, but it helps you be proud of the progress you've made so far. There's even an online support group, but the people in it are angry. lol if you cheat once, they are on you like white on rice.

I tell you, it feels wonderful to not be a slave to cigs/****.

Just keep up the good work, and no matter what don't pick up a cig, not even when you are the most stressed. That's when you'll know you have really kicked it. Took me at least 2 whole long months before I didn't crave them all the time, and a year or so before i was able to not even think about them at all. I wish you the best of luck!


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## pollopicu (Jan 24, 2013)

Oh and I used the patch. I only did steps 1-2 tho.


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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

Congrats bughut!!

I quit a couple of years ago. I think you'll find that not smoking makes your palate and your nose MUCH more receptive to taste and flavor. So if you enjoy cooking and eating, get ready to enjoy it... even more!

There's also this powerful and wonderful general feeling of freedom: just.. no longer being a slave as Pollopicu puts it. Give it a few months and then when you see a friend ready to drive 2 miles just to go buy some cigarettes, that'll sound completely ridiculous to you! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif


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## pollopicu (Jan 24, 2013)

So true, there's a sense of pride that comes along when you see people freezing their asses outside just to smoke a ciggy.

That reminds me! when my husband and I went to Paris, oh my goodness everyone and their mother smokes! it was disgusting and I couldn't walk 2 feet without inhaling someone's second-hand. It put a huge damper on our trip. There were times I had to walk with my scarf cupped around my face to avoid the smoke. You'll get to that point too, which is pretty cool.

I'm not a nazi about people who choose to continue smoking tho, I totally respect their choice, and they will quit when they're ready, if they ever are. Just PLEASE don't smoke around me. That's all I ask.

I love being smoke-free.


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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

French are definitely behind the U.S. in the race against smoking. Even U.S. anti-tobacco ads are much more shocking and creative than the French ones.

France has come a long way though. I remember 15 years ago in Paris after they passed a law that required EVERY restaurant and bar to have a "non-smoking" zone: I went to a bar, fairly large bar, I don't know, say 1,000 sq ft or so. At the back, the counter, and to the left of the counter, a pinball machine against the wall. The pinball machine is only about 1 foot away from the counter, so there's a space that's 1 foot wide and the length of the pinball machine, between the pinball and the counter: THAT's the non-smoking zone! Ridiculous. Of course all pinball players smoke and lay down their lit cigarette on the glass top while playing...

Now the law says you can't smoke at all in any bar or restaurant in France. Well this past Xmas I walked into a bar in a smaller village and one guy at the bar was smoking unfiltered corn husk cigarettes (the absolute worse smell any cigarette ever produced). The bar stank so much I had to walk out right away. 

Yeah it's going to take a while to convince ALL French people that smoking is bad. 

Hey there's worse: i took a bus in turkey and my wife sat next to a young woman who was breasfeeding her 3 or 4 month old who was on her lap. She pulled a pack of cigarettes, offered one to my wife (who refused) and lit one up for herself. Poor baby!!  But in Turkey everybody smokes, from 8 year old boys to 95 year old grand-mothers and everything in between.


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## paul alfred (Nov 18, 2011)

I smoke occasionally, but usually only when my friends and I go to a hookah bar.  I've never attempted quitting because it's a rare enough thing for me to do...a good friend, and mentor of mine smoked for years, however, and told me that is was quite a thing to try quitting smoking after so many years.  He tried the medication that the military provided for him, and it helped, but he said breaking the nicotine addiction was easy.  I believe he said that within three months or so he no-longer felt the "need" for nicotine.  He said it took about a year or more before he broke the psychological addiction to it though.  He's been smoke free for almost 6 years now though, and said it was totally worth the bother of quitting.  Based on my friend's experience, and my (admittedly limited) knowledge of e-cigs, I would think that they would do the opposite of helping you quit.  They still provide you with nicotine, and they continue to enforce the physical habit of smoking.  Still, I believe that like smoking a hookah, it is likely healthier than smoking cigarettes all the time.


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## slypig5000 (Jan 16, 2013)

I quit 5 years ago with one relapse about three years ago. I was a really heavy smoker, like a pack and half to two packs a day heavy smoker. I used a pill and it worked great, stopped the cravings and it wasn't like the patch or the gum where you just satiated the need for nicotine for a time. After I quit I took up running and generally started living healthier. I grew up in a family of cooks but I actually tried to start cooking healthier, and I think that I've kept to that ideal. I run at least 3 times a week on average, and where I live we have have a wonderful trail downtown that goes around a river. I can't imagine missing a run, every time that I wont a cigarette I just think about the fact that if I smoke I can't run. I know that people do but it has been my motivation to quit, and it works for me. Keep up the good work, I always suggest to friends that quit, to try picking up some sort of physical activity.


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## pollopicu (Jan 24, 2013)

I respect cultural choices, even if that means people smoking like chimneys. I so wanted to embrace the image of smoking French people on sidewalk cafe's, because after-all, it's the romantic ideal I've always envisioned, but it was romantic for about 2 days, and I quickly became fed up with it. There was only one restaurant where we could enjoy the sidewalk cafe smoke-free, and it was a pizzeria. Every single sidewalk cafe people were smoking a foot away from all the other tables, and they didn't even try to be considerate smokers. We just couldn't do it. It was so in-your-face and totally unbearable. We didn't even get to have the sidewalk cafe experience because of it. Couldn't do it. But, that was MY problem. I was in THEIR country, and that's totally ok. It's more a shame for their health than a concern for tourism sake. I actually admire the French smoking attitude. Don't think for one second I didn't want to make an exception and join everyone and let loose for a couple weeks I was away on vacation, but I knew if I picked up a cig, I would go through months, possibly years of having to quit again. It wasn't worth it.

I hate when i see people smoking around children, or even around their pets. I did it and am so ashamed, but it was ignorance.

Paul, I wish I had the discipline to be an occasional smoker, but with me it's all or nothing. I used to smoke a lot too. A pack a day, two if i was drinking. I was hardcore.


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## pollopicu (Jan 24, 2013)

slypig5000 said:


> I quit 5 years ago with one relapse about three years ago. I was a really heavy smoker, like a pack and half to two packs a day heavy smoker. I used a pill and it worked great, stopped the cravings and it wasn't like the patch or the gum where you just satiated the need for nicotine for a time. After I quit I took up running and generally started living healthier. I grew up in a family of cooks but I actually tried to start cooking healthier, and I think that I've kept to that ideal. I run at least 3 times a week on average, and where I live we have have a wonderful trail downtown that goes around a river. I can't imagine missing a run, every time that I wont a cigarette I just think about the fact that if I smoke I can't run. I know that people do but it has been my motivation to quit, and it works for me. Keep up the good work, I always suggest to friends that quit, to try picking up some sort of physical activity.


Sly, I picked up running too. One time I ran over 8 miles straight. I haven't run in a couple months because I live in New England region and it is bitter cold right now, but there isn't a day I don't miss a workout in my yoga room. I became such a health nut after I quit. I can't imagine ever going back to my old ways. It really does change you as a person. Not just physically, but mentally too.

It's almost like you have to replace one habit with another, because otherwise you go nuts.


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## slypig5000 (Jan 16, 2013)

Pollopicu said:


> Sly, I picked up running too. One time I ran over 8 miles straight. I haven't run in a couple months because I live in New England region and it is bitter cold right now, but there isn't a day I don't miss a workout in my yoga room. I became such a health nut after I quit. I can't imagine ever going back to my old ways. It really does change you as a person. Not just physically, but mentally too.
> 
> It's almost like you have to replace one habit with another, because otherwise you go nuts.


It was kind of funny and stupid but I always used the excuse that I smoked so I couldn't exercise, that was back when I drank way too much as well. The first time i went out I ran i think a half mile coughing and weezing the whole way, but it felt great, so i just kept at it. I live in Texas so I don't have the *wicked cold*  to fight with, but July and August are always interesting. All around though I do agree, something about quitting smoking and then later drinking really changed my outlook on health. I still enjoy red meat, but it's kind of fun to think about how much has changed for the better, I guess I am a bit of a health now.


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## munchie1 (Feb 7, 2013)

Good for you, Bughut!  Soon you will notice how much more delicious everything tastes.  And one day you will be so grateful that you no longer smoke.  I quit on June 30, 2011 and had an overwhelming feeling of sadness, as if I had just lost a friend.  Didn't expect that!  The experience was not as challenging as I had feared it would be.  Good luck!  Keep it up, you'll get there!


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

Yay, bughut /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

I quit last May. I replaced cigarettes with e-cigs with the idea that maybe I'd quit nicotine altogether. I got a good quality kit (Halo) and I found I liked other brands of the liquid better than Halo's. I started diluting more and more with 0-nicotine liquid, until I got down to just about 0, and then I quit the e-cigs. No more need for nicotine--what a relief!

Success for 9 months and I will never smoke tobacco again.


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## bughut (Aug 18, 2007)

Thank you so much for all your support. It's been 3 months with just 1 wee puff weeks ago  to reassure me i dont wanna do it again

I've crossed the rubicorn kaneohegirlinaz. The river I cannot go back over

I can so relate to your experiences Pollopicu. Change is difficult. I have my own quit-ometer and the results have been both encouraging and scary. Thanks for the thought

Ahh Frenchfries. I never thought the French woud buckle, but even Chez Fanfy, our tiny village bar has the guys outside for their puff in all weathers. I can relate to the Turkish mum. 30 years ago i had the baby bottle in one hand balanced so i could smoke.

Paul Alfred I too relate with your friend. I'm on nicotine free e cigs and i would say its the equivalent of a security blanket/ dummy/ thumb-suck. Given time, i'll forget and be fine. 

You're absolutely right Slypig, but I'm just not at the stage yet where i can think of physical activity. Unfortunately I'm at least 20lbs heavier and feel like a beached whale... this too will change

Ahh Munchie1 I know what you mean. I have a real sense of loss too. mostly i used to look forward to each smoke and thats gone now. good to know that too will go. Thank you

Hey Yeti. Using Halo too. On 0 nicotine now which is fab looking forward to following your example

Sorry I didnt get back to you all sooner. France is relatively new and absolutely no contact with the outside world for 2 weeks every 6. broadband is, as i write, being put in motion, so come June, i can keep in touch all the time. Scotland or France.

Your support is something I value. Humungus koudos to you all and very best wishes for a happy healthy future xx


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## kjente2 (Sep 24, 2002)

you can do this! Old tapes can start to play tooooo easily. You're passed the drugs in your system and in the old tapes part. things that really helped me was rubbing my thumb and forefinger together for a little bit, brushing my teeth more often, and going for a brisk walk. You just need to get past that remembrance for 10 seconds if that. My husband and I stopped ten or 11 years ago - he calls it his smobriety date ;-). Cheering you on!


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## chef mattos (Apr 23, 2013)

Im an ecig user too. I dont know if its any better or not but I like it better and it doesnt stink and theres no tar. 

I quit smoking traditional cigs 3 years ago and I was a pack a day smoker for 20 years.

I just wish I didn't enjoy it so much or else I could give the e cigs up...


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## bughut (Aug 18, 2007)

e-cigs have given me a way out... originally they were a cure, but now i like them. They have all i liked about smoking without the fear.

Im on lowest nicotine with nil when my tongue gets nippy and i just thank goodness that i don't have to smoke any more. felt bad going back onto low from nil, but i was missing the buzz and what the hey! until they tell me ecigs are bad for me i'll carry on enjoying them and be a happy bunny

its been 4 months off cigarettes and I AM a happy bunny


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## petalsandcoco (Aug 25, 2009)

French Fries said:


> Hey there's worse: i took a bus in turkey and my wife sat next to a young woman who was breasfeeding her 3 or 4 month old who was on her lap. She pulled a pack of cigarettes, offered one to my wife (who refused) and lit one up for herself. Poor baby!!  But in Turkey everybody smokes, from 8 year old boys to 95 year old grand-mothers and everything in between.


Did you see anyone with a Hookah ? I was walking along St. Denis last night and it appears that Hookas are all the rage.

@ Bughut: I am very happy for you. You can do it ! Years ago when I decided to quit I cut up slices of lemon and had bowls of them all over the house and at work. Whenever an urge hit, I reached for the lemon wedge and bit on it. It took the desire away really quick. In four days I had quit smoking.


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