619c quitlog

619C

Hi
I have been a smoker now for 35 years. I have smoked cigarettes most of the time, sometimes cigars and at the moment 'roll your own' tobacco.
The RYO tobacco is powerful stuff - lots of coughing and wheezing and so on.
I visited the doctor last month and requested an XRay at the local hospital because I know that I have damaged my right lung.
Yes I know people say you cant feel damage in your lung but I can.
Smoking is affecting all of my life. I really want to quit.
I have tried the cold turkey method and was able to stay off them for a few days at a time but not long term.
I get a rash from the patches and the chewing gum damaged one of my teeth.
Last year I read about electronic cigarettes.
I got a few of them to try out. I was doing very well but the batteries and vapourisers kept going faulty. I was puffing away like mad to make up for the loss of cigarettes. So as a result of other problems and the battery situation I went back on the cigarettes once again.
Today I have ordered a Screwdriver MK1 from Trog.
I will keep you posted...

619C

Sunday 2nd May
I am waiting on the e-cig to arrive. My friend rang me last night on his return from the Canary Islands. He has a box of cigarettes to give me. I doubt if I can smoke them all between now and when the e-cig arrives.
Maybe I will gradually introduce the e-cig, I dont know yet, will have to wait and see.
I just know from experience of using an e-cig that the sooner you give up normal 'analogue' cigs totally and just use the e-cig that you have a better chance of staying off them alltogether.

Ouijaboard

Best of luck, keep us posted. I think success with the ecig comes down alot to finding the right flavour juice and the right hit...i.e nic content...and also a fair degree of patience. You've some level of experience with them so you know a bit of what to expect.
I'm off fags a few weeks now and solely using the ecig so it can be done, tbh it was a completely seamless switch-over, it just required a small push to do it. Nothing like patches gum etc. Quite a few people are critical and I suppose I have yet to get into the idea of quitting nicotine in the future but for now I couldn't care less what people thing. Obviously cold turkey is the ideal way but not all people have the resolve for that. Absolutely more than happy to be off the cigs and thats good enough for me.

619C

Thanks Cougar1 for the reply - yes I have had some experience with the ecig in the past but I am looking forward to a time when I have a more reliable one with lots of 'consumables' like switches and atomisers - just in case and maybe a few spare batteries too!
I was actually at a stage where I could forget the ecig if I went out for a short while and it did not bother me but I really want to forget about ordinary cigarettes totally.
I am glad to hear that you are off the cigs and that it was seamless for you - it was the same for me in the past and I hope it will be like that again tomorrow or the day after when the new ecig arrives.
In reality they are brilliant - yes I know you are still on nicotine but the advantages totally outweigh any possible drawbacks in my opinion.
Will keep you posted.
By the way what are your favourite flavours in the juice dept.?

Ouijaboard

I think the screwdriver will help you a bit alright, battery power is very good,
maybe about 8 hrs of continuous vaping but I don't use it like that so it lasts me several days before needing a recharge.
I have 2 screwdrivers and just rotate them with several extended batteries in the 510. I have about 5 ecigs with all with different flavours on the go at home so works great for me.

As for favourite flavours, I'm still in the testing stages I was a golden virginia roll yer own smoker so I tend to go for stronger type and less sweet tobacco flavours, I found drum from oksmokey quite good, oddly their 'golden virginia' flavour was not great, the drum is about the best on their site.

I lately love the cigar flavour from ecigs.co.uk, really nice smooth lite cigar like flavour more nutty and woody than sweet. Also found the riskee yuice and johnsons creek tennessee cured from that site very good also.
In the past wk aswell I've ordered a dozen or so flavourings from libertyflightsuk and a selection of stuff to try put some of my own flavours together...its been hit and miss so far, some very strong flavours there and difficult to get the balance right but could be very cheap in the long run if you can manage to mix up a few keepers

Anyway keep us posted and best of luck knocking the old analogues.

Orion

I'm one of those who's suspicious of the value of e-cigs. But it's horses for courses. If it helps you quit then I'm all for it.

Best of luck and make sure to keep us updated. My quitlog helped me more than anyone can know. Having that thread to vent made it so much easier. Hopefully this thread will help you too

619C

cougar1 wrote: »

I think the screwdriver will help you a bit alright, battery power is very good,
maybe about 8 hrs of continuous vaping but I don't use it like that so it lasts me several days before needing a recharge.
I have 2 screwdrivers and just rotate them with several extended batteries in the 510. I have about 5 ecigs with all with different flavours on the go at home so works great for me.

As for favourite flavours, I'm still in the testing stages I was a golden virginia roll yer own smoker so I tend to go for stronger type and less sweet tobacco flavours, I found drum from oksmokey quite good, oddly their 'golden virginia' flavour was not great, the drum is about the best on their site.

I lately love the cigar flavour from ecigs.co.uk, really nice smooth lite cigar like flavour more nutty and woody than sweet. Also found the riskee yuice and johnsons creek tennessee cured from that site very good also.
In the past wk aswell I've ordered a dozen or so flavourings from libertyflightsuk and a selection of stuff to try put some of my own flavours together...its been hit and miss so far, some very strong flavours there and difficult to get the balance right but could be very cheap in the long run if you can manage to mix up a few keepers

Anyway keep us posted and best of luck knocking the old analogues.

Thanks for the info cougar1 - its great to get views on the juices out there.

619C

Macros42 wrote: »

I'm one of those who's suspicious of the value of e-cigs. But it's horses for courses. If it helps you quit then I'm all for it.

Best of luck and make sure to keep us updated. My quitlog helped me more than anyone can know. Having that thread to vent made it so much easier. Hopefully this thread will help you too

Hi Macros42,
I was and would be suspicious too.
The best way I can describe it is that it does all the 'good' things of a normal cigarette but none of the bad things.
I hope you are still of them?

619C

Hi All,
Well there was no one here on Friday morning at home to get the package from the postman.
I got the parcel form in the letter box but the sorting office cant give me the package until the next working day which is tomorrow, Monday.
So its in a van or a sorting office somewhere at the moment.
I am still determined to give up this way and am actually looking forward to using an ecig that will have the ability to last a full day battery wise.
So I pick it up early in the morning and I must go to Waterford in the morning so it will be a good chance to try it out in the car.

619C

Hi All,
This morning I went to the sorting office and got the package.
It was registered which I did not realise - it would have fitted through the letterbox as there is no cardboard packaging only bubble wrap which is fine.
In the package there is a letter describing how to use the device and some fault finding techniques which may come in useful later on.
The battery charger is 110-240VAC which means it can be used anywhere - but I did not get the USA Pin to Irish/UK 3 Pin adaptor with it.
I got a shaver socket and that has fixed that problem nicely.
I have one battery in it now at the moment and have it fired up and its looking good
The other spare battery is now on charge and I will wait until that is charged before I head away for the day.
I still have a few 'analogue' cigarettes left and have not yet decided what to do.
I think that I was anticipating to stop fully on Friday last but because I did not receive the SD (Screwdriver ecig) on that day that I might find myself in the 'making excuses' mode but I will have to wait and see.
I picked it up from the sorting office at about 11 am and already I have not smoked any ordinary 'analogue' cigs.
So thats it for today - I am doing a 3 hour car round trip now shortly and tomorrow I am in a hazardous chemical plant all day so here goes ecig.
It can only get better now.....

Miss Fluff

How did it go today for you OP?

619C

Miss Fluff wrote: »

How did it go today for you OP?

Hi Miss Fluff,
Well yesterday (Tuesday) I drove to Waterford from Cork.
The ecig was very relaxing for me on the road. The only problem really was re-fueling the cartridges with liquid. I will have to prepare them beforehand and have them ready - although it can be done at traffic lights !!
While on site at a job in Waterford in a totally non-smoking plant I was able to have a quick puff here and there without any fears. It removed the 'what time are we going to have a cigarette' issue.
On the way home I called into Aldi/Lidl in Dungarvan and even had a puff or two in there on empty aisles.
Last night I had some really vivid dreams and very little sleep but I think that is a different problem! but I have heard from some other 'quitters' that lack of nicotine or a change in nicotine supply from one form to another does initially cause some sleep problems.
I was up early to go to work and I already notice that I have more energy.
Today I was using the ecig most of the day while on site working and no problems although I did purposely avoid the 'smoking room'.
I am beginning to feel now that I am a 'non smoker' but I feel I must keep on my guard especially for the first few weeks and watch out for pitfalls.
I did have to change the battery due to low amounts of vapour but that was ok.
I have a few different types of juices and I find that I need a high nicotine content for after meals but in the evening if I am relaxing then I prefer to use a low nicotine mixture. I hope to experiment with glycerine to make my own fluids but its early days yet for that.
I still have a nearly full box of cigs. A friend called last night and he was smoking and I had no interest in trying one.
I had to look for an ashtray because I had them all in the dishwasher!
I gave him a try of my spare unit with a new cartridge and he wants one.
I have read too about the new type of 2 part ecig which just has a battery and a atomiser combined cartridge. This is a kind of a throw away ecig.

I am finding that I am more thirsty now when using the ecig and I presume its because I am taking in more air but I guess drinking more water wont be a problem.
I have no problem drinking coffee/tea or anything like that but I do seem to be drinking less coffee and for me that the link was that I would have a cigarette and then look for coffee rather than the other way around.
I have blank cartridges on order from a Galway guy and I will be picking them up in the morning. For some reason he sent them registered post.
I hope to use a new blank cartridge every 2 days.
I must organise myself soon and get spare batteries, atomisers and more juice.
Well its late again and more work tomorrow -

Miss Fluff

So you're in to Day 3 of being a non-smoker now. Good stuff.

619C

Miss Fluff wrote: »

So you're in to Day 3 of being a non-smoker now. Good stuff.

Hi,
Yeah day three already and still a non-smoker !
I dont know what the milestones on a non smoking road are but I suppose when I complete a week, month etc. will be days to look forward to.

I am looking forward to a money saving of over €8 a day
That is/was nearly €60 a week
I will of course have to keep my ecig consumables up to date and I am going to make a list of what I have spent so far and what I need to spend to keep me off the ordinary cigarettes and on the ecig.

Miss Fluff

This is useful to dip in to

http://quitsmokingjourney.blogspot.com/2009/06/milestones-in-quitting-smoking.html

You should also look at putting (truthfully), the amount of money you would normally spend every day on fags in a glass jar. You won't believe how quickly it will accumulate!

You're doing great!

619C

Miss Fluff wrote: »

This is useful to dip in to

http://quitsmokingjourney.blogspot.com/2009/06/milestones-in-quitting-smoking.html

You should also look at putting (truthfully), the amount of money you would normally spend every day on fags in a glass jar. You won't believe how quickly it will accumulate!

You're doing great!

Thanks - I am happy with my progress to be honest.
However I am aware that I also need to cut down my NRT Nicotine and I will be active on that soon.
Yeah - the money side is good - I dont have to go to a shop/garage every day and so I dont spend on other things - And already I have noticed the money situation.
I was reading more info on the harmful effects of smoking and one of the sites that help is whyquit.com
I feel that I have ignored all of this information all my 'smoking life'.
I am still off them and hopefully will be for good but I am aware that I am now an ex-smoker and need to be on my guard not to 'have one puff'.

619C

Hi,
I have found this program http://www.silkquit.org/stop-smoking/quit-meter.aspx
and I have set it up - here is my results...

Three days, 21 hours, 54 minutes and 28 seconds. 78 cigarettes not smoked, saving €33.26. Life saved: 6 hours, 30 minutes.

Miss Fluff

Wow - 4 days! Brilliant!

619C

Miss Fluff wrote: »

Wow - 4 days! Brilliant!

Thanks Miss Fluff here are my stats for now

Five days, 1 hour, 12 minutes and 31 seconds. 101 cigarettes not smoked, saving €42.92. Life saved: 8 hours, 25 minutes.

I feel good today - I might even cut the grass in the garden!
I find that I am eating more healthily - maybe because I have more money.
Still using the ecig as a crutch but only when I need to.
At work yesterday I was in the office and outside in their 'enclosure' were the smokers. I was talking to one of them (not about smoking) and it did not bother me at all.
I really hope that the longer that I am off them the less likely that I will start again.

619C

I went to supervalue earlier to get a couple of bread rolls and a few other items.
At the check out it all came to €8.17 only 3 cent off the price of a box of fags.
This was just a coincidence but it did strike me so I said I would post it here.

I got

4 slices of ham
4 slices of turkey
2 bread rolls
1/2 litre milk
and 2 yop drinks

2 of us had a nice lunch for it and milk for the tea afterwards.

Five days, 8 hours, 42 minutes and 15 seconds. 107 cigarettes not smoked, saving €45.58. Life saved: 8 hours, 55 minutes.

Miss Fluff

You'll be hitting the week mark tomorrow OP!:)

619C

Miss Fluff wrote: »

You'll be hitting the week mark tomorrow OP!:)

Geez I know - still off them anyway - cant wait for the week milestone to be honest as it will hopefully give me more reasons to stay off cigs for good.

My stats so far are as follows:

Six days, 9 hours, 2 minutes and 22 seconds. 127 cigarettes not smoked, saving €54.20. Life saved: 10 hours, 35 minutes.

Six days, 13 hours, 0 minutes and 45 seconds. 130 cigarettes not smoked, saving €55.60. Life saved: 10 hours, 50 minutes.

619C

Hi
I am still off them!
I was tempted to go and get one last weekend but busied myself and forgot about them.
Still using the ecig but with less nicotine now.
I must get a bottle or 2 of the low and non nicotine juices for the atomisier.
So I am over a week off the cigarettes now and I feel a lot better
Must keep it up!!

One week, one day, 3 hours, 29 minutes and 57 seconds. 162 cigarettes not smoked, saving €69.23. Life saved: 13 hours, 30 minutes.

Orion

Good stuff. Keep it going

619C

Macros42 wrote: »

Good stuff. Keep it going

Thanks guys for your support.
I am still here and delighted to be still off the cigs.
I am not thinking as much about them now as I used to. I must get more ecig juice - the lower nicotine ones as I feel I am still 'keeping it going' when I use the higher level juice.
If I get a big crave now I just get up and do something - anything !! and of course it goes.

Miss Fluff

619C wrote: »

If I get a big crave now I just get up and do something - anything !! and of course it goes.

Great that you are overcoming that obstacle. I know in the first week or two for me every single craving felt like it was a day long in duration. Each craving DOES pass and with time you get used to them. Very good idea on doing something when you get a craving. I used to play a game in my head "name a vegetable beginning with A" or "a country beginning with A etc etc". By the time I got to H or I the craving was usually gone.

You're doing really well!

619C

Hi Miss Fluff,
Thanks for the compliments!
I do really feel better each day now.
Anytime I feel a longing for a cigarette I also look up smoking websites and there is nothing these days but bad news for smoking.
The latest one is http://drgood.org/
and a strange one is http://www.smokinganimals.com/

For me at present its just great - yes I do get the odd craving but I am staying away from the pub at the moment and I think for me that is a good idea as I really just dont want to leave my guard down and become a smoker again.
Jeez - even the smell of them now !!!

I still have the 'silkquit' thing running and here is the stats

One week, three days, 7 hours, 3 minutes and 31 seconds. 205 cigarettes not smoked, saving €87.50. Life saved: 17 hours, 5 minutes.

ceduffy

well done 5 weeks off them and felling great

619C

ceduffy wrote: »

well done 5 weeks off them and felling great

Great - well done ceduffy!

To be honest I am feeling great too!
I am working a lot more - more energy

OK I am still using a 'crutch' as in an ECig - but I am ordering very low nicotine levels and some non-nicotine juice too.

I can breathe properly - first time in years !

I can taste toothpaste - its very minty! ha ha

Miss Fluff

How are you doing?

619C

Hiya Miss Fluff,
Not too bad thanks - still off them despite being under pressure at various times when I thought I would 'crack' and go out and buy fags.
Honestly I cant stand the smell of them now and know that I was poisioning myself slowly with them.
The ecig really helps me.
I got some new juice today but its not great - I am getting the kit to make my own juice concoctions soon and am aware that I will have high strength nicotine in my possession!
But now its just 'vaping' and I am happy with that.
I am off them over two weeks now - 3 weeks on Monday next and still going strong.
The danger for me might be drinking so I am avoiding that also!!
I really have noticed the money aspect of it all - I am spending some money on keeping the ecig going - I got new batteries and atomisers but I dont mind as long as i can keep off the dreaded burning of tobacco and inhaling it...

How are you doing ? Hope you are still off them?