Key point from the article:
"Any smoker considering e-cigarettes should switch completely without delay."
"Any smoker considering e-cigarettes should switch completely without delay."
1) Find a flavor of e-liquid that you like well enough to use regularly.
2) Start off at the nicotine concentration that most closely replicates your smoking habit (for me 18mg ~ 1.5 packs/day)
3) Continue vaping at each concentration for a minimum of 2-3 months to ensure you are fully acclimated to one level before proceeding to the next.
4) Slowly reduce the nicotine level over time by buying liquid with less nicotine in it. (I went 18, 12, 9, 6, 3, 0. I mixed a 50/50 concentration of 12 and 6 to make 9.)
5) The transition from 3mg to 0 will be difficult, as this is the step where you're really leaving the nicotine. It's ok if you're sucking on the vaporizer nearly constantly.
6) Once fully accustomed to 0mg, putting the vape down altogether will be the hardest part. I replaced it with sugarfree chewing gum. I was very angry for the first couple of weeks, but it got better.
For me the ability to separate the nicotine from the smoking and conquer each addiction separately was the key to success.
I like the chewing gum idea. I'm not necessarily an anxious person, but I always need to be doing something. E.g. if I don't have my vape in my hand, I'm chewing my nails. Really sucks.
Everyone is different. The strategy that's ideal for me may be wholly unworkable for somebody else, but we seem to be in the same ballpark.
So vaping should continue to be banned everywhere that smoking is banned. Most people do not consent to breathing other peoples second-hand drugs.
> The review concluded there was "overwhelming evidence" they were far safer than smoking and "of negligible risk to bystanders"
And isn't this just a strawman? Are people proposing indoor vaping laws?
I'm not a vaper, never have been never will but I'd rather deal with the faint smell of strawberry than cigarette smoke any day.
Martin Dockrell, tobacco control lead at Public Health England, said: "E-cigarettes are not 100% risk-free but they are clearly much less harmful than smoking."
You could just survive 24 hours without smoking, after which physical challenge is over. From there on it is just a fight against your brain, and also being aware of the root issue that made you pickup smoking.
- ex-smoker
I think ecigs and nicotine gum/lozenges should be encouraged if someone wants to quit. Many people have found them useful bridging the gap between smoking and cessation. Going even a few hours without anything is enough to cause some people give up. Having help might give them confidence to eventually follow through.
Trading addiction to cigarettes for addiction to vapes or gum is a step in the right direction, but I agree eventually you have to pay the piper.
* High lasts the shortest duration (a few seconds after the last inhale)
* High has a high physical factor (relaxation) but a low psychotropic factor (mood-altering effect like alcohol or mj), which is the opposite of something like psychedelics (which can be useful in curing addiction)
* High requires a physical adaptation (smoker's hack) to be felt most fully
* That physical adaptation is challenging to undo and takes at least 1 month (in my case 2) before cravings are replaced by disinterest or dislike
So the last 2 points were key for me. If anyone reading this is struggling, I highly recommend intermittent intense physical activity as a way to hack the physical adaptation process.
For me, squats work best. Go to the gym and try to get 15-20 reps of a weight you can manage, for at least 2 power sets. Something like: 95x10, 135x20, 135x15. I find if I do those at night and come home, my body rejects the thought of smoking because I'm already high on life. It also rejects alcohol to some degree which is nice for weight loss.
Once you've felt that lifter's high (not sure what to call it), you start feeling in control of your body's repair process. Then you notice it on the fun days too, like chest day. After 2-6 weeks, you'll likely find that cigarettes don't do much unless you smoke a couple in a row, but then they mostly make you sick, and you might find yourself going a day or two and forgetting to smoke.
Hope this helps someone.
I stopped smoking after a long pack a day habit with almost no difficulty. No serious physical withdrawal, no serious sustained cravings that persisted past a day or two.
I've had issues with other substances, so it wasn't my amazing willpower that made it easy
If you have spoken about quitting with other people who have quit or are still quitting, you would have found out that it is much harder for them than what you are proposing. That, or some vanishingly small chance was hit and you have only people around you who found quitting easy but somehow still smoked a lot before doing so.