Vape for life? When is it time to give it up?

[Mike]

I think I said a long time ago that I smoked analogs for 20+ years and it would be ok if I was to vape for just as long if I felt like it.   Well, I like my vape and been doing so for nearly 6 years but know I'm thinking I just might want to let it go.  It's been great.  It got me off of the stinkies in just a couple of months.  It saved me thousands of $$$ by not buying tobacco.  I discovered VT and made lots of friends and learned how to make my own mods and juice.  Mostly everything positive but I am thinking now that I want to be done with it.  I just don't want to have to remember to have something charged up.  I want to be totally hands free.  And I don't want to feel dependent on nicotine or just the habit of vaping.   So that's my thoughts on the issue, I think I'll quit be quitting within a months time.  Can anyone else relate to this or have you even thought about it? 

[Rixter]

I've thought of that very question many times since I quit smoking and began vaping (April 8, 2012). I suppose the answer to the "when to stop vaping" question is: whenever maintaining your gear (recharging, refilling, safeguarding, etc.) stops being enjoyable and becomes a hassle to you...when it begins to outweigh the enjoyment you get from the act of vaping, it's probably time for you to quit.

[Squid]

I have been vaping since March of 2009, and have been contemplating this issue as well. I recently quit buying 12mg juice for my non-subohm tank, and using the 3mg and 4mg juice for the subs in the regular tank. I use a Nautilus mini on a VTR all day at work, 1.6ohm coil. The first couple days saw the juice go quick, but I returned to normal juice volume pretty quickly. My next order I may get 2mg and see how that goes. I have to admit, not having the worry of having batts and juice with me every time I leave the house seems nice. Having to check and be sure all the stuff is there is starting to remind me of checking the cig pack to see if I had enough for the day at work, or for the night at home. A couple weeks ago, when I left all my spare coils at home when I went out of town was way more stressful than it should have been. I enjoy vapng still, but lately it is seeming to be the same monkey on my back that cigs were, and I am not sure I want to be carrying it around any more. My biggest fear is that cigs are so easy to get, and I definitely don't want to go back to them. I'm sure I'll be carrying the VTR around with me for quite a while, even if it's just there to prevent a cig purchase.

[Mike]

Wow Squid, you've been vaping longer than me.  I discovered vaping in late Oct, 2009.  I vaped 24mg and sometimes even 36 but then went down to 18 where I'm still at.  I don't think the addictive properties of vaping or smoking has too much to do with how much nic. ur getting.  It does make it easier if ur not using as much nic but the biggest thing is the hand to mouth thing and blowing out clouds.  I've gone all day a few times to see if I felt like I would be jonesing for it and although I did think about it often I didn't have that withdrawal feeling like when I tried to quit butts so many times in the past.

[Rixter]

...My biggest fear is that cigs are so easy to get, and I definitely don't want to go back to them...

Cigarettes smell so awful to me now that even if my PV died, I don't think that a cigarette would even be an option. For me, it would be like running out of Cool-Aid and choosing to drink sewer water.

[Tam]

I've been vaping since May 2012, and it's been on my mind for the better part of this year. Making sure batteries were charged, all back ups were packed, carrying extra juices... I didn't mind for the longest time, but in the last several months I've been finding it to be tedious. Also, when I go out, vaping is starting to be looked at like smoking cigarettes. Finding a place to vape that isn't imposing on others is also starting to feel like the old days.

When I first started vaping I was at 24 mg of nic. Now, it's at a steady 3 mg and dropping. Before too much longer, I may be putting my vape gear in the pay-it-forward pile. Only time will tell, but the nice thing is that there's no pressure, I can do this when I'm ready. That's the beauty of vaping, I guess. 

[Rixter]

...When I first started vaping I was at 24 mg of nic. Now, it's at a steady 3 mg and dropping....

I've noticed that I get the same nicotine calming effect from sub-ohming 3-6 mg as I do from vaping 15-18 mg through a 1.8Ω clearo on an eGo-type battery. Lower nic level doesn't necessarily translate to lower nic intake...it depends on the device you're using.

[Tam]

I've noticed that I get the same nicotine calming effect from sub-ohming 3-6 mg as I do from vaping 15-18 mg through a 1.8Ω clearo on an eGo-type battery. Lower nic level doesn't necessarily translate to lower nic intake...it depends on the device you're using.

You're right, but since I've gone from 24 to 3 using the same gear (battery and atomizer), I figure it's just a matter of time now. 

[Earthling789]

I've only been vaping 18 months, give or take... and I've noticed when I'm out-and-about, dinner, hiking, shopping, family-functions, etc, I rarely hit my devices... actually I left one in the car the other day for 8-hours and didn't even think about it until I got back to the car!  Last night, we went hiking to the peak to watch the sunset, and my vape stayed in the backpack until I got back to the car and started driving home... went without a single hit for 6-7 hours?  I do vape more (and heavily) when I'm working, but that was the same for my smoking... stress relief? Habit?

I've cut back my Nicotine to 3-6mg for the most part, but still have plenty of 12-18mg laying around... I guess, like everyone else, when vaping becomes more of a hassle than pleasure, I'll start paying my gear forward and maybe hang onto a couple of Aerotanks and a small APV, just in case?

[iQuit]

I have only been vaping around 18 mos.  Well, less than that if I count the 3-4 mos that I quit vaping. For me there were no preparation letting go of vaping. I just woke up one morning and left my gear at home, and continued doing it for a week before deciding to PIF all my gear away. Maybe it was my nic level that made it easier. I was at 0-3 mg, but started around 18mg, and was a 2PAD smoker for 25+ years.

Obviously it is difficult since I am back vaping.  I made no conscious effort of going back to vaping too. Just  ordered new gear one day because I know it wouldn't be long before I'd pick up a pack of stinkies.... and actually light one up. 

At least now I know I can quit vaping altogether, and with careful planning like keeping a couple of back-ups for emergencies, I can most likely stay off of it much longer. But at the moment, I am enjoying newer gear, and when the novelty wears off, or when it is no longer fun, I might do it again. 

Edited September 6, 2015 by iQuit

[Bebop]

Wow.. Great topic. Maybe because I've been in a similar frame of mind lately.  I've been vaping now for about 30 months. My original idea when I started was to quit smoking.  And I've accomplished that with no reservations. Even if I quit vaping, I know I will never go back to smoking. 

Using simple devices I weened myself down to 6mg in about a year. Then I dropped down to 3 or 4 with sub ohming and even that seems too much. I definitely have times when I mindlessly vape but over the last couple of months I've gone for longer and longer stretches without vaping. And actually not missing it. 2 years ago, if I forgot my kit or didn't bring enough juice I would have turned the car around and gone back, lol.  These days, not so much. More and more I find my self taking a couple puffs and I'm good. 

Recently my wife said she's feeling done with it. She announced she wants to stop vaping by next summer. I know her. She'll be done in a few months.  I'm starting to entertain the idea bit I don't feel any pressure one way or the other. I still kind of enjoy it, especially at certain times. I just don't have the fever any more, and I'm totally ok with that.  

[aufin]

Well, well, gee whiz, golly, wow guys n gals, seems e cigs actually are a cessation device ...... imagine that!!

I've been thinking about quitting everything myself lately. Just have to wean myself down to a low nic level first, tho.  50+ years of burning nasties before finding vaping a couple years ago makes me wonder just how difficult it might be to one day be totally nondependant.  Guess there's only one way to find out.  

[spydre]

I've actually been considering it for quite a while now.  First, we have the 1/3 cut in a small income (for a household of four) to begin with.  Then we have my neurological issues.  Because of the MS, I have lesions or damage in the two areas of the brain where smell is centered.  I don't notice it much - and I should have known it was from the MS, because I never noticed it all when I had seizures before - just a slight decreased amount of smell, but the effect on my sense of taste is enough to change how I taste vape after a neurological event - usually, seizures, but this last MS flare was a prolonged one (and probably centered in one of the affected areas of the brain) and it totally screwed up what I could taste as far as vape.  And two flavors that I decided I liked DURING the MS flare (which one of them I really couldn't stand even in the first week of the flare - I should have figured this result would happen) I don't like now.  Not to mention, every time I have an "event", the voltage or wattage that I can vape at without the juice tasting burned - depending on the juice/tank/device - has lowered.  Before my first seizure after I started vaping, I was vaping at 8+ watts.  For the past year and half, after several seizures, it was down to 6 watts.  Then when the flare started, I started having to lower farther than that.  When my Zmax died, I switched over to my husband's mini Provari, and for some reason, with a lot of juices, I couldn't get up to 5 watts.  Got myself an SVD 2, I can get almost back up to 6 watts for whatever reason (thank goodness for DNA chips that allow .1 wattage increases) - except for a couple of juices - using Kanger tanks.  The only tank I've been able to go higher with has been a Nautilus, and I'm still not sure I like the change in flavor I'm tasting between the Kanger and the nautilus.  Still having trouble finding the "right" juice after this last flare, although my former main vape I can vape again (after weeks of not being able to taste it all, or it tasting foul), but it tastes different, even though I'm finding I like it.  

I'm still at 12 mg, I guess because of habit.  And vaping, like smoking, is another hand to mouth habit.  If I'm using my hands a lot, it sits, unused.  It's when I'm not, when I'm, less occupied, less mentally involved in anything  - I'm more likely to hit it, and frequently.  But it's, again, like many of you mentioned before you decided to cut down, it's becoming almost the same, if more much time spent actually doing it, as smoking was - not to mention equipment.  Thank goodness Nautilus gives you a replacement tank in the box, because I was taking my almost brand new nautilus apart two days ago and dropped it my sink, and the glass broke.  Then the coils, making sure you order juice in time so you'll get it before you run out.... I replaced the Zmax, had to replace my charger because it was malfunctioning, and just had to order new batteries.

Edited September 6, 2015 by spydre

[jonnoh]

I'll consider it when at the pub I don't still watch others casually whip out their packs and offer around and feel the temptation to take one.  If I didn't have the vape, I think to this day I still might succumb, even after two plus years.  I know intellectually from my slips in the early days how awful and unsatisifying they are but I'm as yet not over that temptation.  I am one of the few that still loves the second hand smoke.  I still follow smokers on the street like a sniffing dog in heat   I still in smoker's lounges in airports, admit I have a second hand smoke deficiency.  I know now from personal experience that nicotine isn't as addictive as the idiot FDA would have you believe.  I'm sure its the other components of tobacco smoke that keeps us hooked.  I really don't miss vaping when it's not possible but sure do in those group bonding smoking places and times.  

[Mark Vape]

I think I said a long time ago that I smoked analogs for 20+ years and it would be ok if I was to vape for just as long if I felt like it.   Well, I like my vape and been doing so for nearly 6 years but know I'm thinking I just might want to let it go.  It's been great.  It got me off of the stinkies in just a couple of months.  It saved me thousands of $$$ by not buying tobacco.  I discovered VT and made lots of friends and learned how to make my own mods and juice.  Mostly everything positive but I am thinking now that I want to be done with it.  I just don't want to have to remember to have something charged up.  I want to be totally hands free.  And I don't want to feel dependent on nicotine or just the habit of vaping.   So that's my thoughts on the issue, I think I'll quit be quitting within a months time.  Can anyone else relate to this or have you even thought about it? 

I also thought many time to quit all these but every time when I changed my flavors it always gives me a new experience,my opinion is totally opposite to your views but you must extend your limits and try out something new.

[bcartervol98]

I am not sure I will ever quit but never say never. I like nicotine the same way I like a good glass of bourbon. As far as being enjoyable not sure I would describe it that way. For me it is enjoyable to not smoke cigarettes, be able to dip into the bathroom in a restaurant, business or airport and get my nic fix without risk of being caught smoking or missing a flight or having to go outside in the cold with smokers but dealing with the equipment, filling tanks, ordering stuff has ALWAYS been a hassle. Now regular equipment is in the minority....just try and find a tank now that is not sub-ohm and not a KPT, Nautilus or the becoming hard to find Davide. Everything is becoming so geared to the subohm user, the cloud blowers and the hobbyists that I feel us "regular" vapers are being left in the cold a little. For the "Single coil standard equipment same flavor for over two years" demographic our options at the suppliers I use get less and less and I have to wade through 40 new style (ugly imo) Sub Ohm tanks to find anything I would use.

 

For me it was always about a healthier option and saving money. I order my liquid 240ml at a time and that lasts about 2 months. I order my coils 100 at a time for 85 cents but the quality control of KPT single coils has never been worse. If anything would ever force me to just 'quit" vaping it would be when I cannot do it in a manner that saves significant money over smoking. At this point I would never go back to cigarettes but feel like if I wanted to I could drop the vape anytime but I just do not want to. There are times where my tank floods when driving or I am somewhere and go hours and hours without thinking about it but at my desk at work it is within reach and I vape away.

[GRLSNGR]

I'm a newbi here, so I hope ya'll don't mind if I jump in.  Vaped a couple of years back, but went back to analogs.  Had to have my Provari fixed, and now that it's home again, I'm vaping instead of smoking.  In 2 days have gone from 1.5 packs a day to 8 ciggies in two days.  I'm definitly vaping to quit smoking, but have no idea if I'll ever put my vaper down.  I'm at 24m now, and sure want to bring that down.

[bcartervol98]

I'm a newbi here, so I hope ya'll don't mind if I jump in.  Vaped a couple of years back, but went back to analogs.  Had to have my Provari fixed, and now that it's home again, I'm vaping instead of smoking.  In 2 days have gone from 1.5 packs a day to 8 ciggies in two days.  I'm definitly vaping to quit smoking, but have no idea if I'll ever put my vaper down.  I'm at 24m now, and sure want to bring that down.

Good luck! I did 24mg most of my first year then dropped to 18mg where I am today and for the foreseeable future. Will be analog free 3 years in April and out of all my accomplishments dropping the smokes is one of those I am most proud of. That plus the savings basically make my boat payment lol.

[GRLSNGR]

Thank you so much for the good wishes. If I can give up analogs, it'll change my life.  

[Barry Hoffman]

Vaping is an alternative to smoking. It’s like smoking minus several of the adverse effects of the latter: no bad smell and bad breath, no cigarette burns, no more dirty ashtrays, less likelihood of getting cancer and other smoking-affiliated illnesses – you get the drift. 

Edited January 9, 2016 by barry35

[jme5374]

I starting vaping back in 2010 when the price of a decent cigar got to be unaffordable. Since I typically would partake of 2-3 a day got to be a expensive endeavor. Started with nicotine levels in the 18-24mg and have steadily worked down to 3mg to a occasionally vaping with no nicotine at all. Since I mix my own liquids I've been able to lower the cost to less than a $1.00 per 10ml bottle which is pretty affordable, every couple of months I purchase a bunch of concentrates and blend to my hearts content and store them in the humidor that once held my high priced cigars. I've found that I'm enjoying the the flavor more than the need for any nicotine and will most likely mix more with 0mg. Using a tank where you can rebuild your own coils also helps in keeping the cost down. So for me, replacing a battery every so often or buying a roll of wire is far more appealing than what I once used. On a side note, I recently had a cigar, my first in quite awhile, with a friend to celebrate an event and couldn't handle the harshness, pulled out my Segelei 75w with a Kangertech tank filled with a blend of Don Hill and touch of Bourbon and enjoyed the rest of the evening.