Has anyone tried an e-cigarette?

I have a friend that uses one, he claims it works but I think he’s pulling my leg. Every now and then I catch him with a cigarette.

Isn't every now and then better than every one?

I suppose he could live a little longer then smoking a whole pack

Ok!

The reason I first posted this was to see what other who might have used an e-cig thought of it.

Wally surprisingly showed interest in it. He'd gotten down to 5 cigarettes a day, but it's a daily struggle to keep it to that. Frustrating. We ordered one via the internet, and Wally has been using it since Monday, and the results are absolutely amazing. Ok, it's only been 3 days, but it's like flipping a switch. This is a man who's been smoking camels non filter most of his life.

He's not once craved a real cigarette, which was never the case when he tried the patch, gum, cold turkey, etc.

The e cig (as those in the know call them) contains a tobacco flavored cartridge infused with liquid nicotine, and creates vapor through an atomizer when you draw in.

You order it from a choice of nicotine dosages, and he already says when he uses his starter kit supply he wants to try the next lower dosage. They go all the way from 28mg, which would be like a nonfilter cigarette, to 9mg, which is obviously light. they even have a zero mg cartridge that just creates vapor.

It also comes in a choice of flavors. Tobacco, cherry, vanilla, choclate, coffee and menthol. What really floored me was when he said maybe he'd like to try the cherry as well.

I did some research, and picked the brand (ProSmoke) based on several things, not least of which was that the cartridge is made with a vegetable glycerin base, and not some plasticy chemicals.

On top of not getting all the other horrible things in a cigarette, I no longer have to put up with the stench. Even though he would only smoke outside. Any non smoker can tell you what it's like kissing a smoker.

Honestly, this has been a dream come true.

If anyone is looking to quit or cut down, I whole heartedly endorse this.

(by the way, it's WAY cheaper than cigarettes. the cartridges, which are supposed to equal about 30 cigarettes, are around $2 a piece.)

I left something out. The WHY it seems to be working so well.

Except for the action of lighting a cigarette, you don't have to change your behavior at all, or at least significantly.

Thinking of it, taking chantix, using the nicotine patch or gum, all involve losing everything else you like about smoking. The rituals.

Plus, with the patch, since there's this steady stream into your system, you can never enjoy that jolt you get with your first drag.

With this e cig, he gets to hold it, pretend to flick and ash (I saw him absentmindedly do that, funny) the hand mouth action, see "smoke" get the taste. The whole package.

Good luck! Our two friends that use them say they do work, but they do smoke when they don’t have the Ecigarette on them.

Quade uses these. I dont know much about them other then his is the black box, but I really wonder WHAT is in them that makes them work and is it really safer then a cig?

Cigs have so much stuff in them I can not even begin to count , but how is it that all of that can be removed.....yet isnt from regular cigs? What chemicals are people inhaling , and how long has it been tested.

yes... i know.. total mood killer i am

i have to agree about the kissing a smoker thing. That is something I can not stand. Since I quit, i have only had one person in my life who smoked. Well, 2 actually but only one who was around for a while.

One was such a heavy smoker that our 2nd 'date' lasted one day because he kissed me. The other man smoked but never around me. I didnt really care too much because I knew that it was not going to be a long term thing, but if he ever resorted TO smoking around me, it would have been over immediately .

You're not a mood killer. Just opening a discussion.

Regarding all the other stuff being removed from a regular cigarette.

Well, off the top of my head, a real cigarette is made from tobacco (duh, I'm smart). What you are smoking is the plant, which produces smoke when it burns.
I don't think (could be wrong) that it's so much that all the other **** is removed from an ecig, which has no tobacco in it, but that only the nicotine has been extracted from tobacco, or whatever other source of nicotine, and is used in the cartridge.

Right now, I'm not going to start posting a lot of links, since this info is easy enough to find. I did just read one article saying it isn't the nicotine so much that addictive, but the MAOI's that are. MAOI's are an anti-depressant, increasing serotonin levels in the brain. Of course this is just a theory.

I don't know, maybe when one is using an ecig to quit smoking, they are getting the nicotine, not the MAOI's, but all the other comforting aspects of smoking a cigarette are there, so makes up for the difference.

I absolutley would not advocate someone who does not smoke to start using an ecig. However, from what I'm seeing first hand, every day it is certainly taking the pain associated with quitting out of the equation.

I don't think this is something that should be used at a high level for long term either. However, I have a strong suspecion that when he cuts down to the next lower dosage, he'll hardly notice, if at all.
I've noticed something, and this again is observing someone who has had a lifelong smoking habit, for many years (in the past) over a pack of non filtered cigarettes a day....
Rather than lighting up a real cigarette, and smoking until it's gone, now I see him picking up the ecig while watching TV, taking 2 drags, then putting it back down. More than 20 minutes will go by before he'll pick it up again, for another couple of puffs.
Maybe it's like a person really doesn't want to smoke the entire cigarette, but what the heck, it's there. Maybe all a person really wanted was a quick hit, and they don't think about it for awhile.

both jcboy and m. brought up the thing about a friend using an ecig, but will also smoke regular ones.

That reminds me of a conversation I was having with a mutual friend of our a couple of days ago. She said she had a girlfriend who has an ecig, but doesn't use it. "kathy" said she asked her "where's your ecig" and the woman replied "It's in the bottom of my bag" kathy asked her why she wasn't using it, just curious. the woman said "Because I don't WANT to!"
She didn't have anything against the ecig, no problem with the taste or effects etc. Kathy said she's just hard headed, and for whatever reason won't use it to spite herself.

Who knows why someone won't use something they have no issue with.

For instance, I thought for sure Wally was going to use the excuse he didn't want to use it, because this particular brand lights up blue instead of red.
He has no issue with that at all.

I actually asked him yesterday if there was anything about it at all he Didn't like, and he thought for a moment and said "No. Well, you have to remember to charge up the battery, but you have to do that with your cell phone too. You just get in the habit."

I had also email Wally's cardiologist about this to get his opinion, and the reply was that if it was the intent to wean down to the lowest amount, he approved.

So, if we have this doctors approval, I'm good with the short term risks, considering he was doing a lot more damage before.

re maoi thing...

I never thought of that. It MUST provide some kind of boost ( the ecig) there or there would not be a 'nicotine' free cartridge. If just doing the hand to mouth thing worked, people would quit a lot easier with toothpicks or things like that. But obviously that does not work...
the free one? must boost that too to give some kind of reward for doing that behavior which is why things are addictive in the first place.

Oh the nicotine by itself provides a boost, that's for sure.

I guess it was being questioned whether the nicotine itself was as addictive as the MAOI.

Think of it, you're getting a dose of an anti-depressent, and when you stop smoking, it's cut off. You get depressed.

Maybe at least having the nicotine makes up for that, but if it isn't as addictive as the MAOI, you're using it to cover up the withdrawl from the MAOI.
Once you're over that, perhaps it isn't as difficult to keep cutting back on the nicotine, as you're also satisfying other needs (the hand mouth, smoke thing).

Depressed people smoke more, but does the smoking cause depression as some say, or does the depression cause someone to seek relief through smoking?

Update!

Well, looking at the post from when the e-cig first arrived, it's been over 6 weeks.

6 glorious smoke free weeks.

Wally started at the highest mg, and went the 1st step down with absolutley no issues.
Our 2nd order was the next level down.

We should be getting another shipment any day now. We ordered 2 more levels, which by the end of a few more weeks will have him down to only 9mg of nicotine, like an ultra light cigarette.

He firmly says he has found no difference when he moved down a level, and doesn't think he'll notice when he steps down again.

Interestingly, he doesn't even want the tobacco flavored cartridges. The last order was some cherry and some vanilla. He said the cherry tasted artificial, but really likes the vanilla.

I gotta tell ya folks, I am absolutely stunned by all this.
By the end of the year, he might even want some cartridges with no nicotine, just to get the flavor, and the hand/mouth thing.

I seriously never thought I would see the day when Wally would slay the nicotine beast and I am proud to see blood on his sword. The dragon is suffering, Wally, and several more thrusts will terminate the beast. You go, brother.
Keep me posted, Chai, on Wally's progress. He hasn't written me for months and I suspect I angered him over some trivial matter. But I still care for him. Deeply.

You couldn't have known his aunt died in a vat of au jus when you invited him over for prime rib.

He talks to you in his sleep you know. Something about ingrown hairs. I don't like to pry.

The holidays are coming gus, a time for reconciliation.

Chai and I had a long discussion. She believes you are sincere. I can let bygones be bygones, but with the stress of quitting, I feel that now is not the right time for us to see each other. I know you understand, Gus.

Ok, Wally. I will wait. But I know the winter will be even more interminable without your companionship. I still think back to that Iowa duck hunting trip we shared together in '72. Remember the incident with the muskrat? Priceless.

Did he get light headed when he started?

Apparently, they are illegal in Australia, I got some from a contact of my hairdresser, (go figure hairdresses know all).. I am not sure if I perhaps chose one too strong? I smoke alot unfortunately, well 20 - 25 a day, that's a lot... But, I got light headed each time and stopped trying them... about a year a go.

I might try again after reading this, I read up on it before hand, seemed to un-real to be real, at the time. And, I flicked it too lols, it's habit...

Congrats to Wally!

I have a couple friends that still smoke, they’re always telling me they want to quit, I guess when they REALLY want to, they will.

I'm very proud of him Morgan.

If even one person decides to use them to quit, this thread will be a success.

*****

As far as getting light headed, well, you pick the level you're currently smoking at, and go from there.
Obviously not all brands of real cigarettes have the same amount of nicotine.