• Metz@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      i switched to vaping with nicotine. zero problem. did not miss cigs for a second. Then I slowly reduced the nicotine over six months until zero. i’m now smokefree since 2 years after lighting up 30 cigs a day for over 20 years.

        • Aniki 🌱🌿@lemm.ee
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          11 months ago

          You both are stars!! I quit 10 years ago and now I am a podium finishing triathlete and marathoner.

      • GONADS125@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Nicely done! That’s how vapes should be used; as a means of harm reduction/tapering off, not as a ‘healthy’ replacement as some people view them to be.

        • macrocephalic@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          They’re still healthier than cigarettes (just because you’re not breathing combusted organic matter) so if every smoker switched to vapes then we’d be in a better place. The only issue I have is the huge uptake of vaping among young people who wouldn’t otherwise have smoked.

          • GONADS125@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            That’s what I meant by harm reduction.

            Another big problem with vaping is electronic waste/pollution (especially with the cheap disposables).

            You also have to worry about cheap atomizers leeching heavy metals into the vapor.

        • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          It’s not healthy, but less UN-healthy, which is then often called healthier, which is true.

      • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Did the exact same, although it was more like 20 cigs in 30 years. I was very heavily addicted, and got depression when I tried to quit earlier. I finally managed to quit after vaping a few years, and then reduce the dosis. I’ve been nicotine free for 5 years now.

      • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        In my experience, they don’t and e-cigs do. It’s different from person to person.

        I haven’t smoked OR vaped for over 3 years after 18 years of smoking where I tried every other smoking cessation method including prescription medications.

        Took me about three months of going from smoking to vaping high nicotine to gradually reducing to no nicotine and then not vaping at all.

        • nicetriangle@kbin.social
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          11 months ago

          Yeah the opposite was true for me. Vaping definitely was less effective because it gives you that instant hit which is a big component of the addictiveness of nicotine.

          Glad it worked for you though. It’s a terrible habit.

          • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            I’m glad the other methods worked for you as well! Of all the smokers I’ve ever known, maybe one or two total have not wished they never started…

          • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            That’s part of what makes it easier to quit the cigs with vaping, and after that it’s easier to quit vaping than it is to quit smoking.
            And no it does not give that instant hit smoking does, it only gives a much smaller hit compared to a cig. And that hit helps quit the cigs, but also it’s smaller, so it’s easier to quit vaping than cigarettes.

      • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        The success rate of quitting by using vapes instead of gum or patches is way way higher. Like a totally different rate of success.

        • loxo@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          It is hard, but it’s absolutely worth it and can be made easier if you slowly transition rather than going cold turkey. No way I could have stopped without nicotine gum. Once I finally forced myself to throw my vape in the garbage and just kept using nicotine gum it was really hard to justify going back to vaping/smoking. Smoking (~5 years) -> Vaping (~5 years) -> Nicotine gum (~3 months) -> Regular gum (still using)

          • 0x4E4F@sh.itjust.works
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            11 months ago

            Well, gum is not that healthy either, but at least it’s cheaper 😂.

            Kidding, it’s a lot healthier than smoking, that’s for sure.

            Damn, I’ve been smoking for 22, 23 years now… started when I was 16 😔.

            I gave vaping a try once or twice (can’t remember), but I caughed a lot from it… I’ll give it another shot, people here gave me some will power ☺️.

      • GONADS125@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        When I would take clients to a smoking cessation therapist, one fact that she would cite was the fact that quitting cigarettes is more difficult than quitting heroin.

        I would also be told anecdotally by many of my clients that it was harder to quit than other hard drugs like meth and one person even said crack.

        It can certainly be broken, but addiction is a disease and your comment could come off as condescendingly minimizing an incredibly difficult task.

          • GONADS125@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            Yes, I can count…

            Someone voiced struggling with addiction and your overly simplistic response could easily be interpreted negatively in a demeaning way.

            Person 1: “I’m having so much trouble with my obesity…”

            Person 2: “People can lose weight.”

            Can you see how that is not very helpful and potentially demeaning? How someone can feel that trivializes their struggle?

            If you had stated something like “Addiction is so difficult, but it can be broken. Don’t give up hope.” That is totally different.