Disclaimer: This is a personal story. Although I do mention some products inside, I'm not paid to promote them. I do not say that vaping is completely harmless. It is less harmful than tobacco products, but not 100% innocent. These views are my own, through personal experiences. Please do not pick up vaping if you are not addicted to nicotine, and if you do start vaping without being addicted to nicotine, please make sure you choose eliquids with 0mg nic.
I started smoking while in high school. It was the era that "smoking is super cool" and while there were studies about smoking & cancer, the antismoking campaigns were not that big as today. I started with one cigarette per day, and ended up 30-35 cigarettes per day. My lungs were not very happy about this! Given that I had a lot of bad times in my life, every time something made me feel bad, sad or whatever, it ended up adding a couple more cigarettes per day. I won't examine the amount of money I was giving every day, it's not the point of this post.
In 2011, while I was on a cafe with friends, one of them pulls out a mysterious device pressed a button and started inhaling it.
- What is this?
- An ecig!
- And what's its purpose?
- Well, to quit smoking, or at least cut down on my daily number of cigarettes
- Oh, I see. How much does it cost?
- I bought the device for €50 and the eliquids for €5 per bottle (10ml).
- Tell me where, I want one. I smoke way too much.
I did my own research and bought a similar device. I ended up vaping the first 10ml bottle in less than 24 hours! Dude, that's expensive! But it's for a good cause, so I don't care.
I ended up smoking 5-6 cigarettes per day (from 35!) and using 4-5ml of eliquid per day. But the device wasn't that strong (it's like the one on the image above) and I gave up vaping because "it is not satisfying me" after 8-9 months. Another friend told me where I could by cheap eliquids from a store about 10 minutes from home (didn't know that shop!) and I started it again. I spent countless hours in online forums reading about eliquids, and I found "DIY" - Do It Yourself liquids. But still, didn't have a good atomiser and I quit it again. Of course, when I stopped vaping, I started overcompensating with cigarettes. A 50g pouch of roll your own cigarette tobacco wouldn't get me through the second day!
I found a better atomiser that had a lower resistance rating (meaning more vape, throat hit and satisfaction). I reduced once again my number of cigarettes to 10 per day. But still not 100% perfect for me. To make matters even worse, when my grandpa died, I couldn't get sad (well, "Men don't cry" they say and after listening to this phrase over and over again at home, at school, at almost about everywhere out there, I had to keep it inside me) so I started smoking more, without cutting back on vaping.
A few years later (about 1,5 years ago), after my lovely pet bunny passed away, a friend gifted me a regulated mod (Joyetech eVic-VTC mini) and I bought a better atomiser (an Eleaf GS Tank). A few days later, I almost stopped smoking. I was having a cigarette with my coffee in the morning before work and one while returning home. That was about it. Still not 100% perfect for me, but it was a huge improvement. I became friends with the owners of the store and we tried to find the perfect atomiser for me. Whenever they brought a new atomiser, they told me to try it.
When Joyetech's Cubis Pro was released, I believe in June or July of 2016 in Greece, I found the perfect atomiser. I completely quit smoking a few days later! That's almost lie, I was having a cigarette once or twice a month with a beer, but even doctors will tell you that 1 or 2 cigarettes per month will not do you any bad (that is, unless your body is already full of problems). But still, I was smoking 25gr of tobacco per day and I managed to almost quit it with an ecig!
I haven't had a cigarette for 2 months now. My breathing, my taste, almost everything got better for me. I can see it, I can feel it I'm healthier. I no longer pant when I walk long distances.
If you are a heavy smoker, please do a favor to your loved ones, and at least try to cut down on your cigarettes. Ask a professional for guidance, or pick up vaping. It has a learning curve, but it worth it. Go to a store that have demo of their products to try (not only eliquids, but atomisers as well). If you put your mind at it, you will make it. Of course, if you can completely quit smoking without vaping, do that instead, that's the best for you. But if you are like me, and you can't find the will to quit it altogether, vaping is the path to go.
There are a lot of "studies" that conclude in something like this: "Our results suggest that e-cigarettes might be just as bad as cigarettes" and if you read more carefully, the most studies state "[...]most vapers where also smoking regularly". Do your own due dilligence and decide for yourself.
Sorry for the long post!
Image sources:
Vaping pic
Second vaping pic
Smoking pic
