stop smoking with electric cigarette? (x-ray, pains, chantix, surgery)

[norcalmom101]

Anybody have any experience with this?
I had chest pains while gardening this weekend, so ran out and bought one, want to start with best foot forward when I use the thing for the first time : )
Thank you!

[J Arp]

I have one and I enjoy it quite a bit. I quit smoking regular cigarettes but I smoke the e-cig like a fiend. I go through those refills like no tomorrow. It used to be more expensive but now since taxes on real cigarettes went up it is pretty much equal.

[norcalmom101]

So you like it....I bought the only one they had, it's bigger than a regular cigarette and I took it out to show a coworker, I think I hit the thing way too hard!

[ttz]

It is said that it does not actually help you quit, as you are still smoking a cigarette. You are doing the same physical habit and you are still inhaling nicotine.

But with that said, it is much healthier than a real cigarette.

Some do say that you can wean off the nicotine cartridges (from Hi, Med, Low to Zero), but you still have to fight the physical habit after that...

[hothulamaui]

quitting smoking takes good luck as well as educating yourself about the addiction. there are tool you can use to help you through the quit process. I am sorry I don't know anything about electric cigs as a nicotine replacement but you could also consider using the patch and having the nicotine gum handy when you felt you needed a bit more to get you past a crave. figure every puff of a cig you take you will have to detox it out. there are several kinds of withdrawal you go through when you quit. the mental and the physical. using the patch, gum or with the help of wellbutrin and chantex can help you get past the hard part so you can deal with the mental urges that hit you months later. pm me I can give you lots of info to help you quit as well as a few websites that are great.

[J Arp]

Originally Posted by ttz

It is said that it does not actually help you quit, as you are still smoking a cigarette. You are doing the same physical habit and you are still inhaling nicotine.

But with that said, it is much healthier than a real cigarette.

Some do say that you can wean off the nicotine cartridges (from Hi, Med, Low to Zero), but you still have to fight the physical habit after that...

That is exactly what I did. Hi -> Med -> Low -> 0.

You're still "smoking" but you feel so much better. Good alternative for smokers that are trying to get into a jogging/running habit.

[Connecticut Pam]

Originally Posted by norcalmom101

Anybody have any experience with this?
I had chest pains while gardening this weekend, so ran out and bought one, want to start with best foot forward when I use the thing for the first time : )
Thank you!

Whoa....get to a Cardiologist and leave the electric cigarette thingy alone!! Why would you buy one of these things while you were having chest pains??? PLEASE...GO SEE A HEART DOCTOR.

I have been cigarette free now for 2 years and have never felt better. My story is kind of a scary one as I did have an issue with an aneurysm in my upper aorta that was discovered AFTER I had already quit. I had no chest pains, minimal shortness of breath from having smoked for 40 years but absolutely no symptoms other than this. I went for a physical and my doctor suggested I go for a chest x-ray as she did detect a heart murmur which I have had for years. I got a phone call a day later that I had an upper aortic aneurysm and I was immediately referred to a surgeon at Yale University Hospital.

When I finally did quit smoking, I took Chantix for 10 weeks. The dr. recommended 12 weeks but I was done with it in 10. It worked for me with the only side effects being vivid dreams..bright blues and greens, reds...wild stuff but not scary stuff.

Good luck with your quitting smoking; it is not easy. I tried 5 times to quit and the 6th time was a charm. Now with all the surgery and valve replacement I have had I can never, not ever smoke again. Stop before you have an issue like mine...please...and be sure to se a Doctor soon!!

[ttz]

Originally Posted by J Arp

That is exactly what I did. Hi -> Med -> Low -> 0.

You're still "smoking" but you feel so much better. Good alternative for smokers that are trying to get into a jogging/running habit.

So what happened once you were off the Nicotine? Do you still smoke the e-cig and find you have the physical urges a lot still? ie after you eat, driving a car, with coffee, etc...

My thought is you have to quit the "habit" to be able to be successful. Seems to me, vaping on an ecig daily will not help you quit smoking for the long run...

[norcalmom101]

I am a nicotine Junky, straight up. Been using the ecig without any real smoking since Wednesday, 3-4 days. Nothing like an electric nicotine delivery device to bring yourself face to face with your chemical addiction. This is a great step for me. I am not going back to cigs, hope to stop sucking on a battery by this time next week, just hoping can get through the withdrawals without freaking out too badly on anyone.

[virgode]

Never heard of these or have seen them, could someone tell me a bit about this? Quit for 5 years, must have had amnesia, picked up the habit again like I never stopped.