I haven’t got much to add to my diary this month it’s been a good one. I recovered from the chest infection that I had last month and feel much better. I do still get odd mornings when I wake up coughing, my throat is dry and my mouth tastes horrible. I reckon that’s still the gunge coming up out of my lungs.

Even though it’s been a cold winter it’s been the least painful as far as my Reynards disease problem is concerned for a number of years. That tells me that my circulation has improved. My teeth and gums have stopped hurting so hopefully the damage caused by smoking is reversing or at the least not getting any worse. So everything is good and hopefully it will stay that way.

My total savings now taking into account the cost of patches and e-cigs is now at least £800. I’ve already used the savings to put towards a new Sony Viao laptop, it looks a lot better than a stack of cigarette packets that I would have gone through doesn’t it? I haven’t decided what I’m going to treat myself next with saved cigarette money. I’ve been thinking about getting a guitar and learning how to play it, or maybe even put it towards a holiday.

To view the rest of my giving up smoking diary click here

If you have previously read my stop smoking diary you will know that I used electronic cigarettes to help me to quit. I heard this week that the British government are now considering banning e-cigs yet they allow the killer tobacco cigarettes to stay on sale. Please sign the petition at http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/ecigarettes/

Unfortunately the reason that I was late with this update is because I’ve had a bad chest infection and felt too lousy to even use my laptop – that pleased my cat Sparky who regained my knee for  a week. It really is sods law, 40 years of smoking and I never had a chest infection – or a throat infection as I had in November. Stop smoking and the infections hit. It feels really crappy and unfair but if I have to walk on hot coals to stay stopped I will.

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about my method of quitting electronic cigarettes and will try to answer the main questions here.

Electronic cigarettes have got nicotine in them, nicotine is addictive, I don’t believe that you can quit with them so why do you say that you can?

Because I know that you can quit by using them from personal experience. Yes they mostly have nicotine in them, but patches and gum have nicotine in them and they are stop smoking aids.

I think that what happened with me was that because I smoked menthol cigarettes and ordered menthol ecigs they didn’t taste bad and my timing was right. I had banned smoking from every room in my house except the kitchen several years ago because I was fed up with painting over the tar stains. I’ve never been one for standing or sitting still for long so I rarely smoked a whole cigarette before my quit attempt. The only time that I did was when I went out of work for a cig break with a colleague.

Once I started on the ecigs I only wanted 2 or 3 drags and then I wanted to be on the go again. The cig breaks naturally occured less often and at home I would often go for full days without having one. That was more from bad management than anything else. I kept forgetting where my ecig was or forgetting to charge its battery. What I did notice was that as long as I kept busy I wasn’t feeling strong withdrawal symptoms.

I broke my spare battery on my first ecig and instead of replacing it and getting more menthol cartridges I bought a cheap and nasty tasting ecig that could never be addictive. It tasted so horrible that I smoked it less and less until one day I just stopped.

Have you ever been tempted to buy any tobacco cigarettes?

Only on a rare occasion and the temptation has been slight, more like a passing thought from the previous habit. I think that knowing I have a fully charged ecig in the drawer at home will always stop me from buying a pack no matter how stressful things get – I just don’t need to.

Don’t you think that e cigarettes are expensive?

No I don’t. My first electronic cigarette starter kit and cartridges cost about £50, my second about £20. During the last 8 months I would have spent £800 on tobacco cigarettes – go figure!!.

My total savings now taking into account the cost of patches and e-cigs is now at least £700. I’ve already used the savings to put towards a new Sony Viao laptop, it looks a lot better than a stack of cigarette packets that I would have gone through doesn’t it? I haven’t decided what I’m going to treat myself next with saved cigarette money. I’ve been thinking about getting a guitar and learning how to play it, or maybe even put it towards a holiday.

To view the rest of my giving up smoking diary click here

As those of you who have read my diary will know I stopped by mainly using electronic cigarettes and now I don’t even smoke those except for one little transgression last night. I always knew that I might want a smoke more when I go out for a drink so my ecig was tucked away in my handbag just in case. Rather that than accept a tobacco cigarette from one of my friends.

I’ve been out on other nights out and the electric cigarette and smoking has been forgotten about. Last night we were on a works Christmas night out and everybody had gone out into the snow covered beer garden. One of the new girls wanted to see my ecig so I took it out and showed her how it worked – took 3 puffs at it before putting it away. I was actually surprised that the battery was still charged as it has been weeks since I’ve used it. I don’t feel like smoking it today so no harm done.

Apart from feeling healthier and wealthier I have noticed a vast improvement in a smoking related health problem. Last winter I had a lot of pain in my fingers due to Reynards disease and especially first thing in the morning or whenever I touched anything cold. As I work in a shop that sells chilled and frozen products it was reaching a point where it was threatening my livelihood and I even could have lost my fingers if it got any worse.

This winter I have only had a few instances of pain on the coldest mornings but it hasn’t taken long to warm my hands up enough for the pain to go. I think that my circulation has improved and that has helped to lessen the Reynards disease symptoms.

The only negative thing about giving up smoking has been my weight increasing. I really didn’t care as long as I was stopping smoking, but now that I’m starting to think about holidays I need to start dieting and use my Wii Fit (Wii)
.

My total savings now taking into account the cost of patches and e-cigs is now at least £650. I’ve already used the savings to put towards a new Sony Viao laptop, it looks a lot better than a stack of cigarette packets that I would have gone through doesn’t it? I haven’t decided what I’m going to treat myself next with saved cigarette money, maybe even put it towards a holiday.

To view the rest of my giving up smoking diary click here

Suddenly I smiled when I realised that my symptoms weren’t caused by smoking too much as they might have been previously and that today I was celebrating 6 months without tobacco after a 40 year long addiction. I thought that now at least without cigarettes my sore throat and cough wouldn’t be worsened and prolonged by smoking.

For those of you who haven’t read my stop smoking diary I threw out the tobacco cigarettes on May 19th 2009 and replaced them with a menthol flavoured electronic cigarette. Apart from a couple of weeks using patches I have mainly used the e-cig to help me to quit smoking.

I’ve had a lot of fun with my electric cigarette over the months, but I’m sorry to have to disappoint you cynics out there who think that you are just replacing one addiction with another – I’ve quit e-cigs too! Yes I was initially replacing one addiction with another, just as I would have done if I’d stopped totally with nicotine patches, but after a few weeks I didn’t feel as addicted to the ecigs as I had previously felt to tobacco cigarettes if that makes sense.

What has happened is that I used the substitutions for as long as I wanted and without setting a time limit. I had days at a time without using the substitutes but carried them about with me. Then I stopped carrying them around and for nearly 4 weeks have been substitute free.

I haven’t had any withdrawal symptoms at all and haven’t been tempted when I’ve been around smokers. There has been the odd time that the smell of smokers wafting by has been noticable and instead of tempting me it’s been off putting and I’m glad that I don’t smell like that any more.

My total savings now taking into account the cost of patches and e-cigs is now at least £550. I’ve already used the savings to put towards a new Sony Viao laptop, it looks a lot better than a stack of cigarette packets that I would have gone through doesn’t it? I haven’t decided what I’m going to treat myself next with saved cigarette money, maybe even put it towards a holiday.

To view the rest of my giving up smoking diary click here

P.S. My illness was a throat infection – sods law that I get my first one ever 6 months after punishing my throat with tobacco cigarettes

I have continued to take an electronic cigarette with me to work because that is the most stressful place that I go, and because we sell cigarettes the most tempting. I might have 2 or 3 puffs at it during my 8 hour shifts and that’s usually only because I come across one of my workmates outside having a cigarette. I don’t usually touch them otherwise and a cartridge is now lasting over a month.

Annoying them can be fun! Now that the weather is worsening I see them huddled outside in the wind and rain frantically puffing away at a cigarette they are trying their best to keep dry. I whip my e cig out of my pocket, take a drag and laugh as I’m putting it away – all from the dry doorway! It really cheeses them off when they are struggling to light their cig in the wind and I can just take mine out of my pocket. Getting smug aren’t I?

I’m not allowed to go into the full details but I managed to pass the test when we had an armed robbery at work. Afterwards I joined the group of smokers outside and one of them offered me a cigarette because I was shaken up. I said “no thanks” without thinking and without feeling tempted whatsoever, but I got my e cig out having been reminded. Just after that the police sergeant asked if I had a spare cigarette, his face was a picture when I showed him my electric cigarette.

It took quite a while but my house has stopped smelling of stale cigarettes. I am still finding lighters all over and am wondering why I needed so many.

My total savings now taking into account the cost of patches and e-cigs is now at least £450. I’ve already used the savings to put towards a new Sony Viao laptop, it looks a lot better than a stack of 150+ cigarette packets that I would have gone through doesn’t it?

To view the rest of my giving up smoking diary click here

What I will say is that I’ve found giving up smoking this time round far easier than ever before. The reasons? Probably because I knew that I had to stop this time or my health would really begin to suffer from all of those years of smoking.

Also writing this blog has helped tremendously. I was determined that I would be honest on Smokers Stop and I would have hated to admit that I’d failed online where millions of people can see what I’ve written. No way was I going to do that so the blog became part of my discipline.

The last reason was as I’ve stated several times on this blog – electronic cigarettes . They weren’t available on my many previous failed stop smoking attempts but now I think that they are blooming marvelous.

Yes I still have one around and some purists would say that I haven’t completely given up, but because of e cigs I haven’t smoked or been tempted to smoke tobacco products packed with killer chemicals for 4 months now.

A lot of days I don’t touch my electric cigarette but it’s there to stop me from being tempted to go back to health destroying tobacco products. I’m happy with that and so is everybody around me – except perhaps for my cat! I got one of those new mini e cigarettes a couple of months back and although it’s not as good as my original e cig it does the trick.

Unfortunately Sparky the cat thought it was a plaything. The battery charger plugs into my lap top and she thinks this new dangly thing is a toy. I got up one morning and the glowy end bit had disappeared and I can only assume that she knocked it off while playing. My mini e cig still works but I’m getting an awful lot of rude comments about it!

My total savings now taking into account the cast of patches and e-cigs is now at least £350. I’ve already used the savings to put towards a new Sony Viao laptop, it looks a lot better than a stack of 150+ cigarette packets that I would have gone through doesn’t it?

To view more of my stop smoking diary click here

That’s down to having electronic cigarettes at hand. They have done the trick for me and my use of them is now minimal. I actually have one with a no nicotine cartidge in it and another with nicotine. I said in my last months diary that I was going to go for complete days without even e cigs and I have done without feeling needy. Some days I don’t use them at all and others I just have a couple of drags late in the evening more as a treat.

Electronic cigarettes do not contain the health harming chemicals that you find in tobacco products and can be used either as a substitute or as I have to wean myself off harmful cigarettes.  The cartridges for electric cigarettes can be bought in varying strengths of nicotine as with nicotine patches.

It is nicotine that causes the addiction to tobacco products so until I am completely off the e-cigs with nicotine I can’t consider myself totally stopped but definitely over the worst.

My skin looks great upt to previously I feel fitter and healthier. I said last month that I was worried about my checkup at the dentist this month, well I need not have been.

My teeth have been quite painful and gums bleeding a bit, I was convinced that I would be getting several teeth pulled but I was wrong. My dentist had previously told me that smoking over many years has caused problems with my teeth and gums but nicotine masks the symptoms and narrows the blood vessels.

He was delighted that I had stopped smoking and told me that now the nicotine has stopped masking the symptoms and the blood vessels are opening up I can expect to feel varying amounts of symptoms and pain for up to a year. That’s horrible isn’t it?

However, my dentist tells me that as long as I keep up a good dental care regime and don’t smoke there is actually healing going on in my mouth so that is good news.

The electronic cigarettes using nicotine cartridges are a shady area, but as my nicotine intake has been massively reduced I expect that’s why the healing has started.

My total savings now taking into account the cast of patches and e-cigs is £250. I’ve already used the savings to put towards a new Sony Viao laptop, it looks a lot better than a stack of 130+ cigarette packets that I would have gone through doesn’t it?

To view more of my stop smoking diary click here

The obvious differences in me are that I  look healthier, my skin is clearer, I haven’t got a smokers cough anymore, no nicotine stains on my fingers, I don’t get out of breath as easily and my chest doesn’t make horrible noises when I lay on my back to sleep.

I know that my circulation will have improved and hopefully I won’t suffer as badly with Reynards disease next winter as I did the last one.

One drawback is that smoking masked the aches and pains from gum problems caused by smoking for many years. I can feel my teeth aching constantly and am dreading my next dentist visit in August. My dentist will be delighted that I have stopped smoking but as my teeth are now more sensitive his fiddling about in my mouth will not be pleasant.

I’ve stopped by using a combination of nicotine patches and electronic cigarettes . As I wrote previously in my stop smoking diary I do not have the willpower to go cold turkey, and I think that it’s pointless putting yourself through the cold turkey withdrawel symptoms when you don’t need to.

As smoking is about habit as well as the addiction I have had days when I just use patches and days when I just use my electric cigarette. Some days I don’t use either for most of the day – that’s usually my days off work!

On my e cig days I have been putting it down and forgetting where it is. Sometimes I don’t find it until the next day, but I haven’t felt any craving or withdrawel symptoms when I’m without my nicotine fix. That tells me that I’m almost ready to completely come off nicotine, but rather than rush it and risk buying a pack of tobacco cigarettes I am going to continue with my ecigs but start to go for days completely without a nicotine fix.

Taking into account the cost of patches and e-cigs my total savings are now £150 and I suspect that every day that goes by without the chemicals in tobacco cigarettes the days and weeks that I am adding to my life are mounting up too.ph3gqu9av6

It was my first experience of staying in the same house as a smoker since stopping smoking. My daughter smokes but so rarely and outside it didn’t really bother me being around her, and I wasn’t tempted with her cigarettes.

My 4 year old granddaughter Izzy was quite taken with my pretend cigarette. She couldn’t understand the concept and looked at me as if I was nuts when I tried to explain.

I’ve got to admit that last week was the toughest yet. It was very warm here, the heat was tiring to work in and made me feel cranky. On Thursday I felt so irritable that I put a patch on for the first time in a couple of weeks. Walking up to work in the early afternoon made me so warm that my skin was too damp for the patch to stick to and I was patchless and had no e cig for that 8 hour shift. Once I got stuck into work I felt fine and forgot about everything except work, I didn’t even get cranky with the staff!

Total savings now – £100

I won’t say that I haven’t had little blips. Every now and then a thought enters my head telling me to get some cigarettes. I think that is habit rather than the addiction because those thoughts usually happen when I’m passing a shop where I would normally buy cigarettes.

I haven’t felt the need, but then I have my electronic cigarette to help me out. I don’t think that I’m dependent upon them. Each cartridge is lasting longer than the last one and the current one has already lasted 4 days and still going strong. Some days I go for at least 6 hours before having a drag and I don’t feel needy.

I have put some weight on, some of my clothes are getting tight. To combat that I’ve been using my Wii Fit in earnest this week and during the last 4 days have lost 2 lbs without depriving myself of food. I wouldn’t recommend dieting at the same time as stopping smoking, but exercise is great at any time.

I feel really good now that my lungs aren’t so tortured and the Wii Fit is helping me to regain some suppleness and keep me occupied. Keeping busy and keeping your mind off cigarettes is a great aid to stopping smoking.

Apart from feeling good from it I have now saved approximately £75 during the last 6 weeks. That’s taking into account the cost of my electric cigarette and some nicotine patches. I have enough of both of those left to last me at least another 6 weeks so my saving will be £25 per week until they run out. Maybe that will be it altogether, I hope so.

I’m going to stay with my young grandchildren tomorrow. I’m sure they will approve of non smoking granny Trish.