May 21st, 2010 
admin I’ve made it - 1 year without any tobacco whatsoever and I feel brilliant. For those of you who haven’t visited this blog before and seen my diary I’ll briefly recap why and how I stopped and what a difference it’s made to my life – apart from hopefully lengthening it!
I had smoked for 40 years and was getting more and more out of breath, my chest was making scary noises when I was asleep, my circulation wasn’t good, my gums were damaged. I was basically getting ready for the knackers yard but I wasn’t ready for that in my head.
I tried to stop smoking several times over the years but never made it past 6 months. Usually I started again when something happened that was upsetting and I smoked to beat the stress. I also enjoyed a cigarette and especially that one after a meal, but I knew in my heart of hearts that I needed to stop, but no way was I going to try cold turkey.
I read an article about electronic cigarettes that was submitted to my article directory and checked them out. I searched the internet and found out what was being said about them before commiting myself and ordering a pack. I spent about £50 and that was the best £50 I have ever spent.
Because you can get different strengths I used e-cigs in the same way that you would use nicotine patches to gradually cut down the nicotine intake. I also used nicotine patches for a couple of weeks at work to make sure that I wasn’t tempted – we sell cigarettes! There was also a natural lessening of the frequency and amount that I wanted to smoke my electronic cig until about 5 months later I totally stopped. That might seem a long time but during those last few weeks I only had about 5 drags a day. Apart from a small glitch a few days into my final stop smoking effort I haven’t smoked the far more dangerous to your health tobacco during the last year.
For me electronic cigarettes have worked where nothing else did and I think that they are the best invention since ring pulls were invented for cans. Don’t even bother to comment with ‘should have gone cold turkey’ remarks – they usually come from those who haven’t smoked or those smug beggars that did manage cold turkey.
It didn’t take long for me to notice improvement in my breathing, the scary night noises stopped, my gums have improved but they will never get back to what they were because smoking destroyed some of the bone in my mouth making my gums recede. My circulation is better too and I had the easiest winter for years with Reynards disease which was very painful for my fingers. I don’t smell any more and I’m not endangering the lives of those around me – especially my grand kids. What was that song?
I really feel now that I won’t be tempted to smoke tobacco again. I haven’t had any cravings and if I do there is a fully charged electric cigarette sitting in my drawer at home – better that than the real thing!
My total savings now taking into account the cost of patches and e-cigs is now at least £1100. I’ve already used some of my 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’m now saving up for central heating in my home but it’s good to be able to treat myself with the savings too.
To view the rest of my giving up smoking diary click here
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Hello there!
First of all, congrats on making it to one year. I’m on “my last pack” right now (smile), and plan to get a starter kit in the next week or so.
Now, I’m confused about something: I arrived here from a link on WF. I saw the pic of the person who has the link in their signature, but that’s not you, is it. In your post you said you “had smoked for 40 years”, but that person don’t look nowhere near 40! If that’s you, maybe it’s an old pic.
I was wondering if you could kind of give me some advice. I know, there’s the e-cig-forum, but to actually interact with a real person who’s gone this route, I think you get better ino.
Did u have to order any extra juice/cartridges soon after receiving your first order? I’m wondering cuz if what comes with the kit is not enough, I may just order extra WITH the first order, so I don’t have to wait for shipping if I run out.
Also, if you have any flavored e-juice I’m just curious as to what/how it tastes like.
Alright, I’m gone. Congrats again!
Later,
Mr. G
Hi there. Thank you for the congrats and the flattery. Yes it is me I took the picture just over a year ago with my web cam. I was made up for a night out so maybe I painted out some of the years. I inherited a good complexion from my mother so I’m fortunate to look younger than I am most of the time.
I had the same concerns as you so when I got my first ecig I bought an extra pack of 10 cartridges, making 20 to start me off if I remember rightly. The first few cartridges lasted me about 2 days each but fairly soon a cartridge was lasting a week. I bought a second ecig with 10 cartridges after breaking one of the batteries on my first ecig. I still have 2 cartridges left from the first ecig and 6 from the second. Altogether I spent around £70 on ecigs and cartridges and haven’t touched one for about 8 months.
I didn’t try the juice thinking that the cartridges were so cheap that it wasn’t worth messing around with juice. The 10 extra cartridges that I got with my first ecig were menthol and they tasted much as menthol cigs do.
Good luck with stopping smoking. Don’t delay in getting your starter kit, they really do work.
I remember my one year non smoking anniversary, I haven’t looked back since!
Hi, just to let people know, I too have stope with the e cigarette. It is 8 weeks for me and it does make it easier than with patches or chum. I feel that doing it this was has made me achieve it this time.