If you’re trying to kick the habit of smoking, it can be a tough experience. Once a smoker, always a smoker, as they say. Your best course of action, of course, is just to stop. Rip up your cigarettes, throw away your lighters and say goodbye to your old enemy for good. However, it’s not going to be easy, and many people fail within a day. So, what are your alternatives? There are many other ways to kick the habit, but today, we’re going to focus on one - e-cigarettes.


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Health

Now, before we get started, it’s important to understand a couple of things. We aren’t trying to say that e-cigarettes are the answer to your health problems, or that they are safe. There is too little research to draw upon to make any conclusions either way. But, the evidence does suggest that using e-cigarettes or vaping products are far safer than smoking real cigarettes. It’s no surprise really, as tobacco is one of the most dangerous drugs in the world.

Addiction

The trouble is that swapping one nicotine product for another - albeit a safer one - doesn’t address the issue of your addiction. And, there is anecdotal evidence that people that start e-cigs vape a lot more than they used to smoke. This can cause several issue in itself, of course. But, this aside, there has also been anecdotal evidence that people have managed to break their nicotine habits.

E-cig basics

So, what are e-cigarettes? It’s a simple story, to be honest. When you smoke a cigarette, you burn dry tobacco leaves and inhale the smoke. It’s packed full of carcinogens, and, as we have said already, it is one of the most dangerous activities you can do. The difference with e-cigarettes is that you are inhaling vapor, rather than smoke. It’s water vapor, primarily, mixed with nicotine, and maybe some flavorings. According to the most up to date research, there may be small amounts of carcinogen in there - but it’s far less than a real cigarette.

Types of e-cigarette

So, your first step on the road to freedom from nicotine is to choose your weapon. There are various ways to vape, but let’s focus on the two most popular options. You can buy e-cigarettes that look like the real thing, and in some cases, feel like the real thing, too. They tend to come with a rechargeable battery, which makes up the white part of a cigarette. The brown part is called a cartomizer, which is filled with the e-liquid. As you inhale from the end, you heat the liquid, and you take in the vapor.


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The other option is to go for a vaping kit. There are plenty of these around, and although the principle is the same, they are a little different. You’ll get a battery or a base that you can use replaceable batteries with. You’ll also have a tank, and you’ll need to find some e-juice to put in it. It’s a much more DIY option and gives you a lot more control over flavors. There’s more investment involved, too - but over the long term, a vaping kit will cost you far less than e-cigarettes.

You can even get vaporizers for marijuana, if you are used to smoking that. Smoking both kinds of weed can be even worse for your health than just smoking normal cigarettes . So, it’s important for marijuana smokers to kick the nicotine habit, too.  If you want to learn more, head over to vaporizerblog. They have plenty of reviews, articles, and interesting tidbits about vaporizing and medical use of marijuana.

E-juice

It’s important we take a look at e-juice, as well. You can get all different kinds, of all different flavors, that give you different types of effects. However, for the sake of this article, we’re going to focus on one: strength. Whenever you buy e-juice, you will purchase a particular strength. When you first make the switch, you should base this on the amount you smoke, and the strength of your cigarettes.

A good starting point would be to go for somewhere between 12mg to 18mg. Stronger smokers might prefer going higher while smokers of lighter smokers can go lower. Strengths range from 0mg of nicotine - more on that later - to 36mg of nicotine. These are exceptionally strong e-liquids, similar to smoking unfiltered cigarettes.  

Kicking the smokes

OK, so by now you should be all set up with your gear - and it’s time to quit your cigarettes. Get rid of all of them - and your lighters - and focus on using your new equipment. While vaping is similar to smoking, it’s not a perfect replacement. So, it might take some time to get used to your new habit. Use it whenever you feel the urge, and make sure you stay away from the real thing for a couple of days at least. You have to know the difference between smoking and vaporizing so that you will earn the drive to quit the real cigarette.

After this time, you will notice your smell start to return to normal. And, you may even start to cough up a lot of the gunk that has been building up in your lungs. There is evidence that suggests you will stop getting chest pains, leg pains, and your blood pressure will go down, too. After a couple of weeks or months, you might even feel free of the evil weed. But, the job is not done yet.

Quitting nicotine

Your next step is to reduce the amount of nicotine you take while vaping. It’s a simple process, but there will be bumpy steps as you lower the strength of your e-juice. Take it steady, and after a month or two of using one strength, go to the next lowest. The main thing is to be as consistent as you can. Makes sure you always have enough e-juice around so that you never have to buy higher strengths due to stock issues from your supplier.

While you drop the strength, you also need to think about losing your vaping product. Stop taking it out with you for walks, or leave it in your bag when you go out. These opportunities will show you that you can deal with situations without vaping. Then, over time, you will get your strength all the way down to zero nicotine. After a few weeks of using this, your body will no longer have physical cravings for the drug - and you are home free. The next step is to quit vaping altogether - but that’s another story.

Hope this has helped - let us know how you get on!