Hello people, Here's my wee conundrum: - Quit Support

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Hello people, Here's my wee conundrum:

Elemjay profile image
Elemjay1 Month Winner
15 Replies

This is the tenth morning of Ecigs.

Not a single shred of tobacco had passed my lips in that time.

I only really had one evening when I mentally craved an analogue, which I put down to being stressed and in a grumpy mood anyway. .. (my darling teenager, you know what THEY'RE like).

However, I'm feeling guilty that I'm still technically smoking. Am copping out and deluding myself that I'm a non-smoker? I'm still ingesting nicotine, albeit in a less harmful manner.

People I've talked to, family and friends seem somewhat underwhelmed by what is, to me, a massive shift.

I'm interested in the views of my fellow members. .... Or perhaps just looking for validation

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Elemjay profile image
Elemjay
1 Month Winner
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15 Replies

Hi Elemjay,

I know exactly how you feel. I'm still very much in the practice stage of quitting and have only done 2 days smoke free. In those days I've relied 100% on my ecig to get me through and as a result feel that I've quit nothing. Same habit, different tool. All I will say is the fact that we feel guilty about still feeding the nicotine monster must be a good sign that we're preparing ourselves for phase two of this courageous thing we are looking to achieve and that is being being nicotine free as well as smoke free. Feel proud of the shift you've made and have faith in the little steps. One day they'll lead to a big leap!

Elemjay profile image
Elemjay1 Month Winner in reply to

Thanks Marchy, very good point! I hadn't looked at it from that angle.

And 2 days! Well done you!!!!

Briarwood profile image
BriarwoodAdministratorDucky in reply to

Good for you Marchy xx

jillygirl profile image
jillygirlAdministratorQueen Bee

Hi Elemjay, First of all well done on reaching 10 days smokefree. animations.fg-a.com/congrat...

As for being proud of yourself you should be. You may be still taking in the nicotine, but at least your not feeding your body with the 1000s of toxins. All the nrt products have some nicotine in them , but you will gradually reduce to zero.

So keep positive your doing great. :)

Elemjay profile image
Elemjay1 Month Winner in reply tojillygirl

Hi Jillygirl,

Two years smoke free... what a woman!

Thanks for the validation, it really helps.

monky profile image
monkyAdministratorCake sniffer outer

Good morning Elemjay and a big warm welcome to this lovely quit site :)

You be proud of yourself for being smoke free for 10 days :) :) as Jillygirl has said, ok your still taking in nicotine, but not all those other nasty chemicals which you get in real cigs eh :)

Take it 1 stage at a time, get used to not smoking first, then when your happy with that, THEN start cutting your nicotine intake down bit by bit eh :)

Your doing ever so well, you stick to it and keep focused :)

Speak soon, Pete :)

Elemjay profile image
Elemjay1 Month Winner in reply tomonky

Pete, thank you.

I think I'm perhaps afraid I've just swapped one addiction for another however you've put into perspective what I'm already achieving and what I can aim for.

Well done on your four weeks... that'll be me one day!

Briarwood profile image
BriarwoodAdministratorDucky

Hi Elemjay, like everyone has said you're doing a great job. 10 days is a great achievement. We all have to start somewhere. From little acorns grow great big trees so well done and keep up the good work. I'm on ecigs too and my aim is to go down in strength but it's early days yet, just 3 weeks for me. So one step at a time for us and we will get there. Keep up the good work x x

Elemjay profile image
Elemjay1 Month Winner in reply toBriarwood

In it together Briarwood.

I've decided if I'm still vaping a year from now it's still better than the cancer sticks and I should feel proud of myself!

ChrissieG profile image
ChrissieG

Hi Elemjay, I have been going through exactly the same thoughts as you, until I had my chat with my daughters last night. I was actually kind of apologising to them for still being on the e-cig and saying how I planned to cut down etc, but they both said I should stick with the e-cig for as long as I wanted/needed. They were just so happy that I wasn't smoking cigarettes anymore, and my eldest said she wouldn't care if I was still on the e-cig in a year or longer, just as long as I wasn't smoking tobacco which is so harmful to my health!

So don't worry about using the e-cig to help you, just celebrate that fact that you have reached Double figures in your stop smoking journey and be really really happy and proud about that! It's a fantastic achievement! :)

Elemjay profile image
Elemjay1 Month Winner in reply toChrissieG

Thanks Chrissie, I think that says it all!

I shouldn't feel bad, I SHOULD feel proud!

yellowsnowdrop profile image
yellowsnowdrop

One of the reasons I stopped using my ECig was because I felt exactly the same as you. I had joined an American website for people who had stopped smoking that actually disapproved of anyone using an ECig (didn't stay on that one too long!!) But I think as others have said you've ditched the cigs and all of the chemicals they contain,you need (for a while anyway) to replace your nicotine just to keep you relatively sane until you figure out how to totally get free & anything that helps you achieve this is fine.I used my ECig for 4 months before I got rid of it,I've been nicotine free for 13 weeks,you'll get there but just be patient.

Elemjay profile image
Elemjay1 Month Winner in reply toyellowsnowdrop

Thanks for taking the time to read and for your reply.

First of all, congratulations!

Second of all, your words are exactly what I needed to hear.

A wee bit of me (my evil Marlboro Gold voice) was saying "it's not ENOUGH to just swap to Ecigs, so you might as well just smoke ME!"

You know what?

My family may be underwhelmed but I am proud of me. I HAVE taken a huge step in the right direction!

Pinkiezoom profile image
Pinkiezoom26 Months Winner

Elemjay Hi

I am also an ecig user.

Firstly you havent failed or copped out at all hun, its just a 2 pronged attack with us ecig users. I am so proud i am smoke free, as you should be too. So i see getting smoke free my first hurdle, and then reducing the nic over time to get me completely free of the slavery of it all.

My son still hassles me about the fact i am on nicotine, but just point out all the rubbish he eats, and he shuts up lol!

Stay strong hun, you are doing brilliantly x

majestictime profile image
majestictime

You should be congratulating yourself,i'm sure you know that Nicotine is the worst addiction in the world to break free from.

You are choosing your own way to work your way through this smoking nightmare,which is exactly the way I did.

I had been smoking since my school days,and now i'm in my sixties. I started on Ecigs @ 26 mg making my own with USB chargers and Nicotine Juice,I wasn't in a hurry to pack up after most of my life smoking, so I was quite pleased in a few weeks to reduce the mg to 18 mg, which I didn't find too stressful.

Later on I reduced again to 14 mg, again thinking it's going to get hard very soon,so I didn't push myself, there was nobody more surprised than me to be sending off for 6 mg juice which turned out to be like puffing fresh air.

The last juice order was for 2 mg ,and then I realised that such a small amount was a waste of time,and that's when I dumped the whole lot,Charger, juice etc.

In the early days many people don't give them a fair chance, in my view it's best not to use them as a mental prop unless you plan to use them to give up that Nicotine eventally, otherwise it's exchanging one habit for another.

I didn't think I had much will power,but COPD is a big wake up call,and if I can do it,I'm sure you can too.

It's been 2--years and 6 months since my last Ecig, My one regret was not giving up sooner !

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