Electronic Cigarettes

[byyygrace]

Has anyone tried the electronic cigarettes? If so, what were they like? Did you like them and did they help you stop smoking? What brand did you try? Any advise? I know they are not completely safe, but safer than smoking tobacco.

My neuro is telling me that smoking is making my symptoms 3 times worse! My "cape-like pain" I asked about is MS related. I am now losing sensation in the same areas. GOT TO QUIT SMOKING!!! Do I have a witness, or am I all alone in this?

Colin

[byyygrace]

Sadly, it is a year later and I still haven't quit or given the E cigs an honest try. My neuro tells me that smoking makes symptoms three times worse...I would love to feel three times better! We have a new vapor shop near by-I really, really need to do this!

Thanks for the encouraging reports!

Colin

[mariedc]

My brother who has COPD has had huge success on this.  He could barely leave his apartment and so bought all his food at the 7 11 across the street. He was declining fast.

He is covered by VA.  The VA was a lengthy bus ride away  and all they offered were twice a week stop smoking classes.  He told his doctor he just didn't have the stamina to make it and the doctor suggested ecigs.

He is now able to buy actual groceries and cook.  He is able to go to church again and sing in the choir, his great love. He is gearing up for a flight across the country to attend his 50th high school reunion.  Ecigs gave him back his life.

Good luck on the ecigs!

[Cann1980]

My hubby went psycho on champix too!! Years ago! He is the nicest person u would ever meet .. And then he took that.. He was a crank!!!

So vaping!! ... I have 2 friends who have been vaping for 1.5 years ... They were a pack a day at least smokers before going to vaping exclusively. They are doing well but I think they are only down to the level 8 so far.

My husband has begun ... Slowly... He has been doing this with smoking for about 2 months ... He has 4 days in now with only vaping. He is using 24 mcg which he thinks is too high. He is going to get the 18mcg already.

I am a social smoker... My husband smokes and in the right time and place I like to smoke along too.
We had a vacation to Cuba planned so I bought the zero nicotine vanilla icing flavour and it was great!!! I still had a few cigarettes but far less than I would have sitting in a beach with free drinks in my hand haha :)

I am all for it ... The brand we have is EVod and I bought that in my friends recommendation. (They have tried everything) it is heavier like others say but you get used to it.
I have to say as well I could not believe how many people in Cuba were vaping!!!

[gypcwmn]

I'm with Mustang. I to went psycho on Chantix

[Mustang0064]

I went psycho on Chantix lol...never again!!
\

[tamster812]

I do a lot of googling and have found that there are different purities of ejuice, nicotine and pg and vg that are used.  If you are interested in more information on this... ask me or google.  I found that when I went to ecig shop every person buying didn't seem concerned on what was actually in their eliquids (ejuice).  They were more concerned with the fact they were not smoking cigarettes but vaping instead.  Me want to know everything...  this is all just IMHO...

[tamster812]

Tomorrow will be one week smoke free afther 30 years and I have ms.  I bought the Vision Spinner at 1 of 2 ecig shops in Minnesota.  Although I still think of smoking cigarettes at times... I have not bought any.  Since I have started the ecig my health has improved.  I am assuming not all the toxins that I was inhaling.  I have more energy and my balance for walking has increased.  Still using my walker but getting around my house much easier.  I have also noticed movement in my legs has improved and yesterday walked more than I have in years and didn't have leg weakness and aching the remainder of the day as a result.
  I have been researching nicotine use (not by tobacco smoke) and found there are studies being done that seem to point to improved certain diseases ie:  Parkinsons ADHD, and Alzheimers.  
So in conclusion... there is no study I found that indicates any proof that nicotine (without tobacco smoking) is a cure all or totally safe.  But I do feel a difference in health going from Analog cigs and the electronic cigarette.  If anyone responds to this post... I will give updates on week 2.  This is in no way suggesting to anyone that they should do what I am doing.  I don't know for fact any concrete health benefits.  Tammy

[fortywhat2]

Hi...
If you have health ins check with them some policy's cover the nicotine patch, the nicotine inhaler, chantex, and or the "fake" cigarettes   I found the nicotine patch worked for me... Don't get me wrong after 33 years it was tough to stop but it can be done!  GOOD LUCK

[PastorDan]

Well...

1. I'd love to see Nashville.  I'd love to live in a warmer climate, too!  I'm sick of gray skies and blustery winds on my birhtdays!

2. Quitting smoking was the hardest thing I'd ever done until I had to bury my wife of over 26 years.  For me, it took lots and lots of prayer and Nicorette.

3.It also took several tries, and no, I did not limit myself to the instructions on the box.

4. I will pray for success for all y'all.  I know that cigarettes were killing me slowly.  I am now something like 15 to 20 years smoke free, and I was hooked on those nasty thing for over 25 years.

5. I forgot what else I was going to say.

[LilMinnie]

The ones my friend uses have different nicotine levels all the way down to vapor only, which is what she is doing now. She said she likes the motion of smoking.

Hey, we just may need to do that!  When I was a teenager I thought Nashville was kinda corny but now it is pretty cool :)

Minnie

[byyygrace]

stillnoanswers, I saw that finally got an answer! I'm so sorry for your diagnosis, but glad you're here. I've smoked 30+ years too. I want to try just one e-cig before I make a commitment. I saw online that you can choose nicotine strengths down to zero nicotine-that's my goal! Is this what you did? I'm happy for your victory! I quit for 3 weeks once so that I could go to Nicarauga for a mission trip-maybe I need to go on another one?

lilminnie, maybe we can meet up after we get settled.

Blessings,
Colin

[stillnoanswers]

I personally have been smoke free since Dec. 28, 2012 (30 yrs of  smoking). I would recommend vapor instead of these wanna-be fake things you can get at a gas station.  The whole idea is to break the habit and quit smoking, not pretend to smoke.  This does not break the habit part.  Vapor cigs taste good, almost any flavor you can think of.  And you can step down as needed on the nicotine.  Your Dr is correct, smoking does make symptoms worse.  Good luck to you.

In Christ,
Jen

[LilMinnie]

Well howdy soon-to-be-neighbor! I believe you'll like it here. I was born and raised here. My father is Canadian and came here to Nashville in the '60's for the music, of course ;) My mother is from Nebraska and grew up listening to the Opry and after she graduated high school moved here.

There have been lots of improvements and renovations made to the city and there are all sorts of things to do, from the symphony, hockey and football (they're hosting the men's SEC basketball tournament now) and of course the honkey-tonks ;) I think it's fun to watch the Nashville show and be able to identify the locations. I didn't know if I'd like it or not because the media tends to portray us as hayseed Hicks.

Meant to say before that the e-cigarettes I mentioned are available in many convenience stores so you shouldn't have any difficulty finding them.

Have a great day, Minnie

[byyygrace]

Thanks everyone! I think I will buy a disposable one at the convenience store tomorrow and try it out. Supermum-I'm sorry you can't try them in Australia yet, maybe someday! The patches leave marks on me too and are very uncomfortable for the 1st couple of hours. I always end up smoking and using the patch too-not very safe, lol! Good luck with this attempt-I pray it will be your last.

Sllowe, I wonderered about the heaviness of it-hopefully I'll be successful and not need it for very long! I think I get "bored" and like to have something to do with my hands. Like Supermum, if I'm busy or working, I rarely think about smoking. We haven't smoked in the house for about 7 years. My husband and I are a sight sitting on the front porch drinking coffee and smoking when it;s 20 degrees outside! lol-let me know how you do, please.

torikat32, I've had Buproprion, but insurance would never pay for Chantix. I have a whole bunch of it left. I really feel it took the physical craving away AND I was not hungry although I had really bizarre dreams! Thanks for bringing up the Chantix-maybe with the pill to block the nicotine receptors and the e-cig to have something to do with my hands and mouth it might work this time for me!

Lilminnie, thanks for sharing your friends experience, that's inspiring!I think I can do this! Last Summer my mom's oyxgen level dropped to 47%-the doctors said she should have been dead or severely brain damaged. She has smoked forever- and still does...that's the scary and sad part of this addiction. I really don't want to be on oxygen 24/7, have no energy or breath to do anything, and Still puffing on a cigarette! BTW, just got home from Nashville a couple hours ago-I ended up taking a job in Brentwood which I start next week and have been trying to secure a place to live. We'll practically be neighbors!

Thanks again everyone, I'll keep you posted if you'll do the same!

Blessings,
Colin

[LilMinnie]

I have a friend who had very good luck with the 21st Century Smoke brand.  The starter kit includes one battery (which looks like the white part of the cigarette), charger, and two cartridges (equal to about 1.5 packs of cigarettes each) for $20.00.  You can buy 6 packs of cartridges which are easy...you just screw them onto the battery, for 12.99.  Some brands you have to mix stuff together, although the other brands have flavors, like French Vanilla.

She has not had a cigarette in 6 months.  You can reduce the cartridges nicotine level until you are just inhaling vapor, which is what she did.  I think these work well for people who enjoy the "motion" of smoking.  Plus, the doctor told her that her oxygen level improved to 99%, which is apparently optimal.  From what I understand you don't want your oxygen level to be at 100% (there has to be some carbon monoxide in there from what I gather, a sort of yin-yang type of thing).

Hope this helps,
Minnie  :)

[torikat32]

Just started taking chantix las week my quit date is saturday. I will be picking up a few of those disposable cigs just in case but really want to make this work my husband is doing it too. My ex husband quir sucessfully using the e cigs he bought it online think it was 80 $ for the kit and had to get the refill cartidges its been since sept for him and he hasnt needed the e cig in 2 months. I feel its best to try than not try at all if even if it means several tries.

Best of luck to all who are trying

Kathy

[sllowe]

Hey there,

Smoking will make us worse I'm convinced.

I have the E cig! The one I have is the Eon Smoke, and they sell it in our 7-11s for a good price. That E has fancy lettering if you end up seeing it. There are so many to choose from. But, it's a good one.

I find it to be super convenient. You are getting vapor vs smoke so it's definitely different, but no less of a hit if you are worried about that. I also feel as if I don't smoke it like a regular cigarette - I smoke less with it. My goal is to go with it full time (right now I'm not) and then quit.

It's a bit heavy, so holding it in your lip like you usually do is out of the question. That throws me off a bit. Other than that it serves my purpose and for me one purpose is to have less.

Do what you can - and keep trying - that's what I'm doing. Let me know how you make out and I'll do the same.
-shell

[supermum_ms]

Hi Colin,

I've not tried electronic cigarettes because in Australia they are not available, they have been banned but in quit forums people say you can imported for private use but that doesn't seem that legal to me. I happen to have allergic reactions to every quit product available here, i've not been fully successful with cold turkey quitting but thats really all i can do.

I am 'again' in the process of cutting down so cold turkey has a better chance at working for me, i did attempt the patches again but this time the welt was huge, painful and i could only go a couple of hours before i had to take it off, lol took nearly two weeks for the welt to go down and you can still see where the patch was. Its not a very common reaction but its a recognised reaction, i'm just one of the unlucky people, everyone i know who has done the patches has been successful!

I've tried a couple of times to quit for just 'me' but I smoke or use cigarettes as a distraction for medium levels of fatigue, pain, tremor etc etc finding the alternative 'distraction' has been more difficult this time around. I find if i'm doing something physical (busy work) i dont even think about smoking or 'needing' a smoke, its always been that way for me and i can/could go all day and not even notice.

Not being able to do something is my down fall, lol i try to keep my packet of smokes at the other end of the house, it may not seem like much but when you dont have the energy to get them, it sort of helps on the cutting down part. I haven't noticed an appetite, i dont have one to start with so i was hoping i'd finally get the reminders to eat but alas nothing so far, i've also been expecting PMT type of days but again nothing. Though i'm down to half of what i was smoking only a few weeks ago, my plan is to half it every week and so far i'm hitting my mark, so my fingers are crossed that this time I will be successful!

Good luck with what ever avenue you try!

Cheers........JJ