I'm doing well... am I?

[nsd_user663_59506]

Hello everyone,

I survived day one, it was easy, maybe because I still use my e-cig. Am I cheating? Or is it ok in the first few days/weeks/months?

Anyway, I'm proud, 35 hours since my last "normal" cig.

[nsd_user663_54332]

Hello everyone,

I survived day one, it was easy, maybe because I still use my e-cig. Am I cheating? Or is it ok in the first few days/weeks/months?

Anyway, I'm proud, 35 hours since my last "normal" cig.

Hiya

Yes you are doing well!!

Don't worry about the e-cig, you can come off that and at least it's not stinky like fags and won't kill you!!

[nsd_user663_57259]

Well done!!! I too have used an e cig. I stopped smoking the real thing almost 4 months ago. I gradually reduced my nicotine on the e cig until I packed that in about 3 weeks ago (just after te 3 month mark). Unfortunately I have picked up the e cig again temporarily while on holiday but plan to pack it in again when I get back home. I don't use it excessively though - one cartridge a week or so. Hubby still on a cartridge a day which I don't think is great but I'm leaving it to him to sort himself out. At least neither of us have had a puff of the real thing!!

I think the e cig has been fantastic at helping me quit but just try not to use it too much as otherwise you are just swapping one addiction for another.

Good luck!! We are all here to help.

Sarah

[AngryBear]

Hey Loranta, you'll deal with the e-cig in time, and it WILL have to be dealt with, but you are doing wonderfully, you sound positive too so stick with it if it helps you, and above all keep posting

[nsd_user663_54305]

Hello everyone,

I survived day one, it was easy, maybe because I still use my e-cig. Am I cheating? Or is it ok in the first few days/weeks/months?

Anyway, I'm proud, 35 hours since my last "normal" cig.

Loranta,

Well done on your achievement - as others have said, anything beats sucking foul tobacco smoke into your lungs As for cheating, I'd say ultimately you cannot cheat anyone other than yourself - it's your quit, it's your rules, there is no one on this site who will judge you, only offer advice and encouragement.

I'd like to ask you a question which you may or may not have thought of before, and this is just my view, which you or others may disagree with (in fact I know there are others who will disagree with this but as I said it's just my view).

This is a site to quit smoking (the clue is in the title of the site:D) - BUT what exactly are you trying to quit? Are you trying to quit using tobacco, or are you trying to quit your addiction to nicotine?

To me this is a fundamental question. You will see some members on this site who have stopped smoking tobacco months ago but are still battling with nicotine addiction (yes, I know some say nicotine is 'the drug that never was', but really:rolleyes:). These are all people who stopped smoking using NRT. I am absolutely not trying to undermine their achievement, which is marvellous, just trying to highlight the 'fact' [my view] that the bottom line is that we are all drug addicts and our ultimate goal must be to put our addictioin into remission for good.

From a physical health point of view, of course the most important thing is to stop using tobacco; but so long as you continue to use nicotine, be it e-cig, patch, gum, inhaler or spray, you prolong your active use of nicotine and you remain very vulnerable to a relapse back to using tobacco. Once you address the core issue of nicotine addiction, and put that into remission, then the tobacco problem goes away by definition.

We are drug addicts, just like alcoholics. Can you imagine an alcoholic who goes to his doctor and says 'help me, I'm an alcoholic, I'm drinking a bottle of Scotch a day' and the doctor says 'of course, here's my prescription, drink a bottle of Vodka a day instead'. So the addiction to Scotch has been sorted, but it it was never an addiction to Scotch that was the problem, it was an addiction to alcohol. How ludicrous is that? But to me, that is exactly what NRT offers.

Just as cigarettes are great for 'big tobacco', NRT is great for 'big pharma' - both are pedalling addictive products which are a great long term revenue stream for them, so I'd be very cynical of any advertising propaganda issued supporting NRT (witness the current advert for Nicorette 'minis' - stops craves within three minutes!! How long does an average crave last if going cold turkey - three minutes!! I find this advert beyond belief).

I'm not for one moment saying it's easy, but I do think it helps enormously to think through very clearly the problem you are facing, and for me, the above was my thought process and has helped me get to where I am today.

I wasn't strong enough to go cold turkey, I took the Champix route (which itself carries health risks as some of us know to our cost) but at the end of the day, this was the route which enabled me to put my addiction into remission. I broke free from nicotine and as a result I broke free from tobacco - and I'll treasure that freedom forever; I've fallen from a long term quit in the past, so I now know the freedom from addiction is very hard won and absolutely priceless, and it is this thought (amongst others) which will stop me falling again.

I'll never stop being an addict, I can only keep my addiction in remission; and it's the same for all of us who have ever smoked. You never can have 'just one' because if you take one back you take them all back - that's addiction for you, and you'll carry it forever.

You must think very long and hard about stopping smoking, it can't be done on a whim. This is where sites like this one (and others) are so very valuable - read other people's thoughts, look through the archives, understand the points people make and take on those which work for you and cast aside those which don't make sense. Almost everything you read is personal opinion, so just take on what makes sense to you and build your own strategy in your own mind.

I wish you success but I don't wish you luck, as luck has nothing to do with it - this is something which is completely within your control and is a battle you can win. You may not believe it yet, but have faith in yourself - YOU CAN DO THIS!

[nsd_user663_37244]

Conratulations

You are not smoking keep on not doing that. The end. feels great doesn't it

[nsd_user663_59506]

Thanks everyone for the kind words and support, special thanks to AnEggIsAnEgg for the detailed one.

Before my answer, let me tell you all first, that I am not English, and my English is not perfect, it takes me a while to put words together and create sentences. Posting here is just as hard for me as quitting smoking Just kidding. Anyway, I thought I should mention this, so that you all know, why my posts are full of grammar mistakes and incorrect terms. It is not the side-effect of quitting!

But let's get back to the topic. Dear AnnEggIsAnEgg, I see your point, I was thinking about it and my answer to your question is the following: of course eventually I want to quit nicotine entirely. But I am not strong enough so it will be more steps for me.

First step: quit tobacco, using e-cig, so that I can still have the ritual. That's why gums and patches wouldn't work in my case, I do need the ritual (e.g. cig with morning coffee, etc, you all know these).

Second step: gradually decrease nicotine to zero. After this point I guess I can leave behind the e-cig easily as well, what do you think? Anyone who had a similar strategy?

So that's my plan. And oh yes, I've prepared a lot in mind, I already knew last year, that "I am going to quit next year", that is in 2013. 15 years of smoking, that's a nice anniversary I thought. I needed an extra 5 months after the "planned date" (15th March) to find something really motivating, but I've found it finally, and it is working well so far. But that will be an other story.

Tomorrow is my 7th day, maybe I'll visit the Day 4-7 section to celebrate

[nsd_user663_54332]

Thanks everyone for the kind words and support, special thanks to AnEggIsAnEgg for the detailed one.

Before my answer, let me tell you all first, that I am not English, and my English is not perfect, it takes me a while to put words together and create sentences. Posting here is just as hard for me as quitting smoking Just kidding. Anyway, I thought I should mention this, so that you all know, why my posts are full of grammar mistakes and incorrect terms. It is not the side-effect of quitting!

But let's get back to the topic. Dear AnnEggIsAnEgg, I see your point, I was thinking about it and my answer to your question is the following: of course eventually I want to quit nicotine entirely. But I am not strong enough so it will be more steps for me.

First step: quit tobacco, using e-cig, so that I can still have the ritual. That's why gums and patches wouldn't work in my case, I do need the ritual (e.g. cig with morning coffee, etc, you all know these).

Second step: gradually decrease nicotine to zero. After this point I guess I can leave behind the e-cig easily as well, what do you think? Anyone who had a similar strategy?

So that's my plan. And oh yes, I've prepared a lot in mind, I already knew last year, that "I am going to quit next year", that is in 2013. 15 years of smoking, that's a nice anniversary I thought. I needed an extra 5 months after the "planned date" (15th March) to find something really motivating, but I've found it finally, and it is working well so far. But that will be an other story.

Tomorrow is my 7th day, maybe I'll visit the Day 4-7 section to celebrate

If you hadn't said I wouldn't have known English isn't your first language

You can quit that way - know Sjt on here has done it that way, but the problem with e-cigs is that because they keep the ritual of smoking going even though you might use zero nicotine refills, you will still miss that. Not as hard as quitting the real ones though so if you're tough with yourself you'll get there!!

I'd say to make sure you use the e-cig when you *need* it not when you just *want* it then you won't end up massively dependent on the thing!!

But, the important thing for now you're not inhaling a load of stinky smoke.