True story which I always thought was funny. When I received my cancer diagnosis my mother immediately blamed it on my smoking. I said to her, "Well it's testicular cancer, how the hell do you think I inhale!?" The thought immediately led me to the old tried and true saying, "Blowing a smoker is like blowing an ashtray."

That was terrible!!

I love it. :)
Sorry, totally OT, but I got a good chuckle from that one! :P

Lots of good advice on here. Thanks, guys and gals :) I made this my favorite topic as I go through the process. Ultimately, I find cigarettes are starting to taste nasty and I'm thinking of all the money I could save if I quit. E-cigs are a transition. Even if I smoke e-cigs for the foreseeable future, I'll still save a boatload of money.

I quit smoking cigs almost a year ago (I cannot attest the long haul yet), and that shit was rough. I smoked a cig almost every hour on the hour for about 4-5 years... I got laid off and had to pick and choose between my vices to continue to live within my means. I counted 600+ hours of solid craving.. every hour I would look at my cig station (had a crank machine and bag of tobacco on the living room table for other smokers I live with) and want one suuuuuuuper bad. The constant "NEED CIG" disappeared after awhile (pretty sure it was just readjusting the progression of daily activites such as a morning cig or lighting one up before driving anywhere), but as others have said... there will be times when a cig just seems heavenly. Pretty sure the only reason I made it is because of a mild superiority complex I have toward the lowlifes in my area and love to rub their addiction in their faces ( I'm kind of a dick ).

Best advice I can give is try to ween yourself during daily activities and have a cig or puff the e-cig when you have freetime or in need of stress relief not just go through the motions of "hey, every day I pour my coffee and watch the news smoking a stogie because thats just what I do every day."

I'm working on it.

One of the problems with tobacco is that there's more enablers than usual. There's also a lot more whining, bitching and moaning by people that don't want to quit and are trying to for some reason anyways.

If you just keep the damned things out of your reach eventually you'll succeed. This isn't like alcohol where you can get seriously ill if you try to stop cold turkey. The fewer times you relapse the easier it's going to be over the long term.

The big thing to realize is that nicotine really screws with the brain, so it's still going to be fucking up your brain, even if you do eliminate the tar and actual smoke.

Hello there fellow smoker.
I have an e-cigarette at home and frankly I stopped using it.

Where should I start hmm... the way I experienced it:

Pro's:

- a LOT cheaper
- 95% 'healthier' (You inhale vapor with nicotine
- Customize your own preferred e-cigarette out of the hundreds that are out there
- Your house will not smell like smoke
- And so will you
- Your lung capacity will increase so your physical condition will improve
- You can smoke anywhere you want. In busses, trains, might even be in airplanes, stores, at your work/desk
- A sense of freedom, not being attached to those cigarettes


Cons:

- It takes research time in order to figure out which kind you want. What parts does it consist of, which liquids are out there, how much etc etc. It's almost a whole study
- It takes time refilling and you look like a drug addict while doing so. :P
- Maintenance of your electronic cigarette. Parts expire and have to be bought again. (still replacing parts is not as expensive as to continueing your smoking habit)
- You may get strange looks from people in the streets/at work/etc
- This last one is the reason it did not work out so well for me: It takes a lot longer before the nicotine you take in takes effect. You have to come to terms that you will not get a quick nicotine fix


Also: Stress is a big reason to switch back to normal cigarettes again. Don't be the idiot I am. :P

I switched from smoking 40 cigs a day to nicotine-free e-cigs on wednesday and I think they're great. The nicotine-withdrawal symptoms were minimal, I felt a bit flu-ish for an hour at work on thursday. I feel much better while cycling to work and I don't have problems with coughing/wheezing after eating anymore (although in my case that was caused by post-nasal drip which is worsened by smoking). I'm smoking them unregulated now, but I plan to cut down in the following weeks. The ritual of smoking is much more addictive than nicotine IMO.

That's the funniest thing I've read in a while!

All I can do is link to a mash article:
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/health/put-cancer-in-e-cigarettes-say-non-smokers-2014021983765

Two batteries are a minimum. You don't want to be in the situation when your battery discharges [correct word there?], You want to smoke, and You can't charge it anywhere near, and charging takes time. Two's a minimum.

Calculate how much You smoke and get the right liquid strength, while You might not feel it hitting You right, it will, esmoking is a bit different. You don't want to raise Your daily nicotine intake.

Try not to mix ecigs and cigarettes, You'll end up smoking more.

Oh, one last thing, stay as far as You can of the cheap shit. I'm looking at You, Hangsen and clones.

Have fun!:)
Ah, and DON'T PANIC! It's a great alternative though the amount of seemingly conflicting naming and information may be, and probably will be overwhelming at first. [at least that's how it looks in PL]

Is that the British Onion?

i suggest these, but am not sure if they are available in the states?
mainly due to the customer service, the realistic flavours - in fact i think its the only one that does menthol! oh and more natural weight and shape.
plus gum preferably the menthol kind such as Airwaves

Basically, yes.

try one of these, pretty good and even kid friendly: http://beepedia.wiki-site.com/images/8/8c/Lakupiippu.jpg ;)