e-cigarettes?

[TimG]

I have this new thingy to try to reduce smoking; an e-cigarette.

 

 

I was wandering if anyone here tried it already and did it help?

 

For now I can't get a hold on filters with nicotine, which is a pity, but occasionally I try to take this e-cigarette now to try and reduce real smoking.

 

[Jay87]

Hi there - it totally changed things for me. I'm now a 'vaper' and not a smoker because these helped so much. They're safe, odourless, clean and blow out nicotine and water vapour, not smoke.

 

Would really recommend it. That brand you got up there is the one Katherine Heigl likes. I vape a brand called '10 Motives' and I refill the cartridges with oil because it's cheaper than buying new cartridges all the time.

 

Any specific questions, just ask. 

 

But yeah - ecigs worked for me and they're how I quit the real baddies. 

 

Very best.

[RedCedar]

I haven't gotten one myself, but I have taken a few drags of my friends'. My friends have had varying success with it, but I think that also has to do with their commitment to quitting. I know two folks that have switched entirely to the e-cig, and three that gave up on it. 

 

For me, they satisfied the physical aspects of my habit, the oral fixation and act of smoking, and worked well on the social front as well (I'm was a big social smoker) but when the cravings got really intense, like that kind of stressed when you just need a f***ing cigarette, it didn't quite cut it for me. The vapor felt... empty. 

 

 

I quit smoking this summer, by picking an end date and ramping my smoking down as it got closer. As the date got closer, I quit buying cigarettes. Then I quit carrying a lighter so it wasn't as easy to bum, then I set a rule I couldn't ask, and the last step was practicing saying "no thanks" if anyone offered. I was also hiking and backpacking quite a bit, and I could tell the difference just a few days after I quit. I slipped up over the holidays a few times while I was visiting old friends, but I haven't felt derailed and am still considering myself "quit". Being a non-smoker/former smoker feels so good!

 

 

Congrats on taking the steps to quitting and good luck on your journey! Hope my experience is helpful 

[Basement Cat]

Hi!

 

E-cigarettes are a very hit and miss thing. It works for some and it doesn't for others. It didn't work for me because it fed the psychological aspect of my addiction. It really depends on the person. Go ahead and try them though. If it works for you, great!

[TimG]

Thanks all for the feedback. 

 

I'm going to try it out then, to see if it fits for me.

But without the nicotine filters it's going to be difficult I think (I think nicotine cartridges are not allowed in my country, why that is, is a big mystery to me).

 

Jay, are there a lot of differences between cartridges and oil? 

 

I feel you when you said that the vapor was empty RedCedar. I tried nicotine patches before but missed the action of smoking big time. I hope in time to reduce real smoking with this.

 

It seems I got a lot on my plate this year; losing weight, changing drinking and eating habits, slow down on smoking ...

I'm planning to take it slow though, not like last year, with some magnificent results, but it was too rough to maintain.

 

Thanks again for the feedback and I'll see you around!

[Jay87]

Jay, are there a lot of differences between cartridges and oil? 

 

Yep, there can be a lot of differences - depending on what you want.

 

​So, you could buy five 'Smokestik' branded cartridges for your rechargeable cigarette battery up there. Then, when these SmokeStik cartridges run out, you could get a 16mg nicotine 'USA Mix flavoured oil' for example to drop into those cartridges and refill them. Or you could get a 0mg nicotine vanilla flavoured oil if you fancy something different. There are LOADS of flavours to choose from if you just search online for 'e-juice.' You could even get an oil that's made to taste the exact same as whatever your fav brand of real cigarettes are. So you could get a Marlboro Light flavoured 'e-juice' as it's called if that's what you normally smoke.

 

Also, check out this vid to see a guy putting new oil into his rechargeable electronic cigarette. It shows you what the oil is and how to put it into a used cartridge for your ecig and it'll probably help explain some of the above too : 

 

Basically with the oil, you get more variety and more product for your money. But you obi need the cartridges also to the the oil in and screw onto your cig. 

 

Hope that helps!

[Jay87]

So you can buy different flavour oil AND different strength nicotine in that oil. 

[TimG]

Thanks a lot for the info Jay, 

I'm going to try it out for sure!

[World'sFinest]

One of the big differences between the cartridges and oil is that the cartridges are, I believe, water vapor. I have a friend who's an EMT, and has warned me that overuse of the water based stuff could very easily lead to pneumonia. I don't know how much would qualify as over use, but it seems we've got a few people here who might.

 

I have one of the pens, with the oil and the tank. It's certainly a different experience to have to charge your cigarette, and filling it with oil has it's share of inconveniences as well. But I've stopped buying smokes, and only have 1 or 2 a day at invitation, so it certainly helped me.

[TimG]

One of the big differences between the cartridges and oil is that the cartridges are, I believe, water vapor. I have a friend who's an EMT, and has warned me that overuse of the water based stuff could very easily lead to pneumonia. I don't know how much would qualify as over use, but it seems we've got a few people here who might.

 

I have one of the pens, with the oil and the tank. It's certainly a different experience to have to charge your cigarette, and filling it with oil has it's share of inconveniences as well. But I've stopped buying smokes, and only have 1 or 2 a day at invitation, so it certainly helped me.

 

Ooh, I see. I'm definitely trying oil then. But is it suitable to use water vapor cartridges with oil (just like in that video)?

thanks for the reply and congrats on your progress so far, I would sign for that deal to have only a couple of real smokes a day.

[Jay87]

But is it suitable to use water vapor cartridges with oil (just like in that video)?

 

Yup, this is fine, and I think it's actually what most people do, including myself. So, we buy the e-cig, we buy a few pre-filled cartridges for that e-cig, and then when these pre-filled cartridges run out, we refill them with our own oil. We then do that 5/6 times until the polyester in these cartridges won't absorb any more of our own oil, and then we get a few more pre filled cartridges and repeat.

 

Hope that helps and happy vaping!

[TimG]

thnx Jay, the problem right now is finding that oil, but once I do I start vaping away 

[TimG]

I found me some oil and started vaping away ;-)

 

I started off with apple but can't really taste the apple that much to be honest :/

A very good thing is that you can feel inhalation in the back of your throat sometimes, just like a real siggy with these oils with nicotine :-)) 

That is a very good thing :-))

 

Just maybe this is the first step to reduce smoking after all ...

 

thanks all for the info, and especially a big ty to Jay for showing me that vid of how to refill those empty cartridges :-)

 

[Kaylya]

A coworker has been using an e-cig to cut down for perhaps the past year - he says it's really helped. I gather the nicotine containing cartridges aren't approved in Canada, but aren't so hard to find either. As someone who finds the smell of cigarettes disgusting, I can attest that the e-cig vapor doesn't smell bad at all.

 

I think the public health authorities are conflicted about them - there's not much research into the health effects of them, and if them becoming popular causes more people to consume nicotine, it's probably a bad thing - but if people who currently smoke move to them, and it doesn't encourage people who don't smoke to start with the e-cigs, then it could be a good thing.

[Jay87]

Ah glad you found the oil! 

 

And, yeah - enjoy that throat-hit...that was what made it work for me. I mean, it's basically nicotine replacement therapy (as you'd get with a patch/inhaler) but in the form of something that resembles a real cigarette as closely as possible. You can get a proper 'puff' with these things and that makes it really hit the spot like nothing else I've come across. 

 

If you do manage to make a complete switch-over to e-cigs (or find that the e-cigs help you cut down the real ones significantly), don't be surprised if you develop a little bit of a cough for a week or two - it's just your lungs starting to detox out all the tar and carbon monoxide built up from the real things. It will pass and it just means your lungs are starting to clean themselves.

 

Very best and do experiment with different brands / flavours  

[TimG]

True Kaylya,

I see it as an attempt to reduce/quit smoking in the long run, not as a toy or gadget, especially when nicotine is involved. 

 

So I understand the gov and hesitation in this field a bit. In my country the idea has been formed that this only can be sold in pharmacy's ... 

 

But what is better: keep on smoking or try vaping as an alternative?

I choose the second because the tar isn't around any more, way more healthier compered to regular smoking.

 

 

And yeah jay, I'm going to try my best to reduce real smoking and am prepared for these coughs. To be honest I have had these nasty coughs every morning lately that really started to trouble me big time ...a real wake up call to try and look for alternatives.

Just maybe that e cig is the deal for me. Let's find out :-)

[TimG]

Well, so far so good ...

 

Whenever I go away I try not to bring smokes with me but I try to vape away. So far with success.

 

Also when I do smoke a real cigarette, I miss the subtle apple flavor and tend to go back to my e cig.

 

My coughing is reduced a little bit,

 

 

bottom line, this is going better then expected so far.

 

My next plan is to try other flavors and hopefully reduce real smoking even more.

[Jay87]

Heya

 

Great news!

 

Another thing I do, now that I only vape and don't smoke (as of about a year now), is have some spare batteries on reserve. I'll keep one battery plugged into the wall on charge while I'm using the other. This stops me getting caught out and reaching for the real things purely because I'm out of battery power. I simply alternate the batteries on my cartridge. You may not be using yours enough to need two on charge like this, but if you do ever try to make the complete shift to only e-cigs, it might be something to consider, depending on how much you 'need' the e-cig to make the transition. It might be more at first because it's the only throat hit you're getting. I guess it's just about being mindful about whatever might make you reach for the real thing, and gradually putting contingencies in place. That one works for me. In fact I have a whole drawer full of spare batteries, chargers, adapters in case I go away, cartridges and oils etc so I don't get caught out.

 

Over prepared? Moi? Lol  

[TimG]

 

Over prepared? Moi? Lol

 

Haha   Hi there Jay :-) I was thinking the same thing

 

Right now I have two batteries but I already found out that this wont be sufficient when I would completely quit real smoking.

So I'm planning to buy another one, hopefully with a larger oil reservoir in it too. (I have seen some reservoirs upto 20ml oil storage around if I'm not mistaken)

 

So that makes 2 e cigs and 4 batteries ...I think that will do for now :-) 

 

ps: Right now I'm calculating +-10ml oil a week ...is that a lot? 

[Jay87]

Fab - sounds like you have the supplies in hand

 

 

ps: Right now I'm calculating +-10ml oil a week ...is that a lot? 

 

10ml oil per week doesn't sound like a huge amount. I guess it depends on the nicotine strength of the oil and how heavy a smoker you are / were to begin with. I was on at least 20-30 cigarettes a day (eek! however did I also manage to breathe with that lot?) so when I first started on the e-cigs and quit the real ones I could hoover up a 30ml bottle in a week. I've gone down now, though and the 30ml bottle of oil lasts me a good three or four weeks. I've also gone down on the nicotine strength. One day I may indeed be vaping 0mg nicotine oil...

 

This is a good outfit I've got supplies from in the past if you're exploring flavours and places to get stock from. They have a pretty big selection and have always delivered well for me: www.anycig.com

 

There are hundreds of places to choose from, though. See what works for you and enjoy the apple flavoured stuff! 

 

Very best

[TimG]

Same here Jay, I haven't counted it (I rolled them myself lately) but I was smoking one after another.

Right now I combine the two (and the balance is moving towards the e-cig) but once I would switch over completely I guess I would vape 30ml easily too.

 

I found two kinds in the market place, one with around 12mg (if I'm not mistaken) nicotine, and one with less.

Since I'm starting this I chose the 12mg.

 

I was a bit worried that I was vaping too much though. Thnx for the reassurance. 

 

gj on your progress btw! I hope to be saying the same after a while.

[Quickdraw]

My brother was smoking the better part of a pack per day and switched to one of those hard-core giant ecigs, the kind that's not even pretending to be an actual.  He's totally laid off the actual cigarettes with no transition time.

 

I only have the occasional cigarette, but the times I've tried ecigs, I get a serious burn in the back of my throat that ends up feeling like a majorly sore throat the next day if I've vaped enough.

[TimG]

My brother was smoking the better part of a pack per day and switched to one of those hard-core giant ecigs, the kind that's not even pretending to be an actual.  He's totally laid off the actual cigarettes with no transition time.

 

I only have the occasional cigarette, but the times I've tried ecigs, I get a serious burn in the back of my throat that ends up feeling like a majorly sore throat the next day if I've vaped enough.

 

I have one of those too nowadays, the ego ce5:

 

The feel (kick in the throat) is a bit too rough for me at times, + I experimented with other oils (like fruit mix and lemon)

Apple still is my fav. 

That fruit mix is just too bombastic for my taste. In fact that e5 is just too much really too ...the taste is too bombastic, it sometimes feels that you are inhaling a cigar lol

[Samus]

I wondering if anyone else on this forum had used e-cigs to quit smoking.

 

I love being a vaper instead of a smoker. I've gone through a lot of different models over the years, I currently use a box-mod.

 

Right now I vape on the iTaste MVP, but I'm soon going to upgrade to this beautiful monster:

 

 

I personally love the box mods and as far as juice I highly highly reccomend "Black Mamba" made by pink vapor spots. In general pink vapor makes great flavors :-)

[JCDenton]

One thing I like about them is that they're a lot easier on the respiratory system than regular cigs. I've been using them for months and I can sing with my full range again.

 

Still, I see where I'll give them up pretty soon. Quitting smoking is actually pretty easy; I've done it several times. The first 48 hours are the hard part.