please help needed

[sam85]

So i need to stop smoking,i really want to but i have massive panic attacks when i quit so i have been using an e cigarette and having a about 4 fags a day which i thought was great as its not my 20 a day ,my plan was to cut down dramatically until i quit,my neighbour said i shouldnt use the e cigarette and fags as nicotine rises the heart rate so i could have a heart attack,really worried now ,i was doing so well aswell,please help

[misscandy]

Not smoking the cigarettes (fags) is a step in the right direction. So if the electronic cigarette is helping you do that I would keep doing it. The regular cigarettes are far worse and going back to them isn't good. I would work really hard at eliminating the 4 a day you are having first. It takes will power, but you can do it.

Once the cravings for the regular cigarettes get to where it isn't hard to move past them, then start working the nicotine levels in your electronic cig. down.

If you go back to the regular cigarettes a heart attack is very possible. From my experience my heart rate was much worse with the regular cigs. compared to the e-cig. Relax and work on getting rid of all the regular cigs. then make a plan how to step yourself down on the nicotine. Stopping the cigs. is the most important thing first. Relax and you can do it.

I'm one day away from 3 weeks with the e-cig. and it's working very well for me. Going to start stepping down on the nicotine next week.

[sam85]

thankyou so much i did think it must be better then real cigarettes,but was worried then i seen e cigarettes do not seem to be popular on this site so i didnt think anyone would reply.I am really trying but without the e cigareete i panic so much.

[misscandy]

I tried many times before this and couldn't get past the first 24 hours. Unlike a lot of people my cravings didn't go away, ever, not even for a few minutes. I even tried once before with the e-cig. Did pretty good, but had trouble when I was at work. This time I was ready and determined.

The first 2-3 days without smoking were the hardest, but easier than other attempts. I found keeping some of my same routines did help. I went outside to smoke, so I went outside with the e-cig. Really only needed to do this the first few days. Now I don't really get cravings I just think about having a smoke a few times a day. Usually first thing in the morning and after dinner. Not really a craving, just thoughts. Now I'm trying to change those routines.

Even with the help of the e-cig you have to want to quit. If you get past the first 2-3 days smoking will taste really bad - at least it did for me. Even if I get a craving now I just don't want that taste again.

[milliemolly123]

hey

great decision on trying to end the smoking.

it is important for you to try and cut the last four cigarettes a day because your lungs will not start to heal until you do this. I am six weeks in and still coughing up the brown gooey gunk from the lungs but not as often as I was. My chest really hurt for the first few weeks (While I was smoking it seemed fine) and I have coughed up a huge amount of it - I smoked for 24 years.
Now I know my lungs are getting better because I can laugh hard without breaking into a cough.

you need to start the healing process
Good luck

Millie x

[greenlover]

Well with using the E cig you're still getting your "fix" just a different delivery system-but thats interesting you're still smoking store boughts yet using an E cig-dosn't say much for the E cig as a quit method.

[greenlover]

thankyou so much i did think it must be better then real cigarettes,but was worried then i seen e cigarettes do not seem to be popular on this site so i didnt think anyone would reply.I am really trying but without the e cigareete i panic so much.

Maybe you should be on anxiety medicines instead of using smokes to "calm" you.

[misscandy]

Well with using the E cig you're still getting your "fix" just a different delivery system-but thats interesting you're still smoking store boughts yet using an E cig-dosn't say much for the E cig as a quit method.

You are still getting nicotine - same as the other NRTs. Except you can control how much and when you get the nicotine. I couldn't handle the constant stream of nicotine in the patches.

Not everyone drops the smokes instantly. I didn't. Took 4 days to eliminate them completely, but the first day I dropped from 1 and a half packs to 4. Dropped everyday and the last two days I lit them but didn't smoke them.

I think most people experience anxiety when quitting no matter what the method. I still had withdraws even with nicotine in my system. There are lots of chemicals in cigs. besides nicotine. Honestly some of those are what led to me to getting serious about quitting. The new "paper" caused me all sorts of problems.

[Rovey]

Ha, paranoia, a nasty little thing, i used to smoke marijuana for about 10 years straight, paranoia was the thing that made me stop. Any little thought that is negative can convince you of anything no matter how ridiculous. This is one of the things all the ecig haters dont take into consideration.. The fact remains, what you are doing is infinitely better than continuing to smoke real cigs, it's not just the nicotine that increases the heart rate, in fact one of the worst effects of real cigs is the carbon monoxide, it bonds to your red blood cells better than oxygen. Basically, this means when you smoke real cigs, less oxygen is able to circulate in your blood stream, this in turn means your heart has to pump harder as your muscles still require the same level of oxygen and therefore require more, less oxygenated blood. Not to mention the thousands of cancer causing chemicals that add to this total mess that you inhale with normal cigs. Keep going, you have started along the right path, it may not be the same path that others have chosen, but it is as equally a correct path. Ignore the haters, try and ignore the cigs and ask as many questions as you need. I've tried to quit more times than i care to remember, ecigs have helped me quit for the longest time yet, nearly 2 months so far.

[Inquistadora]

I have a couple of comments:

1) Panic attacks are often associated with shallow breathing, and smokers are notorious for breathing shallowly. Here are a couple of links that give instructions as to how to breathe deeply:
http://yoga.about.com/od/breathing/a/th ... breath.htm
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9475
2) None of us are doctors here. We can give advice, but if you want sound advice about your health, do consider sharing your concerns with your doctor.
3) I'm having the same issue about planing out around 5 analogs a day. I'm presently researching self-hypnosis to get entirely off the cigarettes. I tried it about 20 years ago and I didn't quit, but I went from chain smoking to 1-1/2 PAD which I now hear is supposed to be impossible, so maybe it wasn't the epic fail I thought it was. My point is maybe you can combine the ecigs with an additional (non-nicotine) quit support method and maybe that will work for you.

[greenlover]

Why not try Wellbutrin-it pretty much kills the craves/triggers as long as you're willing to commit to Not One Puff Ever-not sure how it would work with E cigs,I just know what it does for "annalog"-gotta love that term for real smokes. Maybe your Dr. is well versed on quitting smoking with E cig who knows.

[MrsTerriJane]

Keep trying to cut those cigs down to zero and then reduce your nic level. You CAN do this.

Greenlover--Bless your heart, I really don't understand why you keep coming to this forum when you have stated over and over how much you hate it. You're on the other forum, you quit, you blow it, you quit, you blow it, you quit, you blow it...over and over and over, yet you get welcomed back and encouraged. Why can't you pay some of that kindness that has been shown to you forward? Other than this one subject, you seem like such a nice person. I just don't "get" it. Yes I know that you and several others loathe the e-cig as a way of quitting. But the fact is, it really is helping some of us. I'm down to the lowest level of nic and my SIL (who started the e-cig about 2 months ahead of me) is down to 0 nic. This way does in fact work for some of us.
If you were just responding to people who evidently had no intention of breaking the nic addiction, I could understand. This is not the place for them. But Fred set up this sub-forum specifically for people using the e-cig as a quit method, so there must be some validity there. But you have something either negative or sarcastic to say to even people who are trying to quit this way. Please look inside yourself and find a way to encourage ANYONE who is trying to break this addiction. You could add so much to this forum with your encouragement and kindness.

[greenlover]

Whatever-its nice to see how much OTHER people track my lack of progress maybe if I'd just quit trying to quit or run out & start vaping maybe that could be something else for you to track talk about negative support Last I knew any member can POST on whatever forums Fred deems useful. People keep "starting" e cig quits but you never see any quit dates or quit meters-why is that oh I know because their still using their choice of quit method & haven't made a commitment to quit for real.

[MrsTerriJane]

I was not tracking your progress, simply noting what I had seen in your posts. I admire your committment and how you bounce back. I'm also praying that this is your sticky quit. My point was that you have so much you could give here....many of us that are using e-cigs to quit are doing so after we have tried (and failed) many other times with many other quit ways. You know the struggles, and you know the feelings and physical things that happen when you quit. You could be such an awesome support person---in fact, I have read many things written by you that ARE awesome support posts.
Yes, you can post anywhere you want. So, I guess can we (we being the folks quitting with the help of an e-cig). We tend to stay down here in this forum so as not to upset or cause drama to anyone on the Main board. All I was saying is maybe you could give us the same respect? You are welcome here to support (even with tough love) those of us quitting with the use of the e-cig.
Making a point of coming to a sub-forum on a subject that you so clearly do not believe in just puzzles me. I guess you have more time on your hands than I do.
Keep the Quit...and please try to find your "kinder" side when you come here.

[greenlover]

Yes I do have ALOT more time to post since my work hrs were cut, I guess my hang up with e cigs is its so much like smoking except for the cancer agents & the fire/smoke that it makes me wonder how you break the the habit besides using 0 nictine or whatever,I guess to me its so much like smoking it seems like it would be harder to quit using that method. And have yet to read a post where someone by using the E cig actually quit smoking and vaping.