One week tobacco free! Yippee!

[moriah]

I posted last week before I got the thing, but I switched to an electronic cigarette. I'd given myself permission to smoke real cigarettes if I wanted them until the official quit date I set (February 11, a week from now) but have not really wanted a tobacco cigarette, and my craving for nicotine is satisfied when I use it. Even around people who were smoking at the time. The last time I tried to quit and was around smokers I tried to inhale their 2nd-hand smoke for a fix! Now... their second-hand smoke smells gross -- being around them leaves a burning smell in my nose that doesn't go away for awhile.

It's also been nice to not have to empty ashtrays, not be tempted to litter, not have to open a window in the car when it's snowing.... heh. Plus my peak flow meter results have already shown improvement!

I am hoping to keep using the e-cigarette until I don't even think about wanting a tobacco cigarette anymore (I've thought about it a few times but it was *very* easy to just pick up the ecig), then gradually cut down. But I'm not going to stress if I don't cut down the nicotine dose, at least so long as my blood pressure stays in the normal range and my heart testing still comes back good. I've only been smoking for eight years, but I was asthmatic when I started (so STUPID! of me) and my lung function has gone way downhill since I started. I'm kind of focusing on improvement there first, because the last thing I want to do is stop this too soon and go back to smoking.

I also found a supplier who makes the nicotine liquid from all US-made products -- he doesn't have a GCMS report on his stuff like the place in the UK that also does not import the nicotine liquid from China, but he's about half the price of the UK supplier. I am not against China per se, but I have no desire to inhale lead or melamine or other nastiness (hence why I'm not smoking cigarettes anymore, talk about nastiness!)

BTW: My favorite flavor so far is a mix of cappuccino and caramel flavoring. It sorta tastes like chocolate to me...

[bigwillq]

1. Good for you!

:toast: I haven't had a smoke in 19 hours. I cut back drastically since August. Still smoke a few a day but much less than the pack and a half I used to smoke. I am hoping to eventually kick the habit altogether. I tried at first to go cold turkey and it didn't last. So, for now, I am trying this route, and although I am still smoking a few, I can really feel the results of smoking less. Feel better, can breathe better, etc.

Good for you. Keep it up!:bounce: :hi:

[SoxFan]

2. I'm picturing that old Bloom County strip...

The one where Steve Dallas quits cold-turkey and proceeds to chase Opus with an axe while tied to a chair.

[Aristus]

3. Congrats! Keep up the good work!

:bounce: