My Letter to a Man trying to Quit and wondering about the Electronic Cigarettes

I was browsing around and saw a question about using the electronic cigarette to quit smoking that i just had to answer. I went on a bit, I know, so much so the site wouldn't let me even finish my answer!! But I thought I'd post it here in it's entirety, not just because I didn't want to waste the time it took to write it, but because this is my honest advice to anyone thinking of using the electronic cigarette to quit smoking

My Letter to Dman

dman, good for you! For thinking about quitting smoking I mean, its not an easy thing to do.

I"m betting the two others who have answered are non smokers. It's always easy to say "just quit" when you have no idea of the power of nicotine addiction. You think 90% of the smokers out there do not wish on a daily basis they could quit?

It's just not as easy as it sounds to non smokers. So enough with the "just quit" or the making smokers feel stupid for not being able to. ARGGG Makes me so angry. What ever happened to compassion for your fellow man? Smokers don't need your ridicule and your put downs, they need your support.

I know how hard it is to quit. I've fought nicotine addiction my whole life, I was born addicted to nicotine, we didn't know back then you shouldn't smoke when pregnant.

The electronic cigarette might help you. It might not. Just like all the options out there, there are no guarantees and 90% of your success at quitting smoking revolves around your mindset to do so. Not the methods you use to accomplish it. There is no magic pill.

You can use the med nicotine cartridges to start, then move to low, then go to the no nicotine cartridges to simply enjoy all the aspects of smoking and avoid or minimize those intense cravings. All without the smoke and without the nicotine.

I know, the non smokers are rolling their eyes right now. But unless you've been there, you just don't know how much a part of your life the actions of smoking become. Many smokers say that's the hardest thing to give up. Even once you are nicotine free, you just can't help reaching for that cig. It's a hard habit to break. The e-cig has helped me deal with this aspect of stopping. Maybe it's not an issue for you. I don't know.

The worst thing to do would be to keep smoking. But quitting is hard, i know. As Mark Twain said "it's easy, i've done it hundreds of times."

Smoking cessation aids like the patch, and the gum are proven to have a less than 20% success rate after a year. Other drugs like Chantix have about the same after a year, but a higher rate of success in the short term, Pfizer claims 44% after 12 weeks.

But, Chantix and the other drugs are IMHO far scarier and have far more hidden dangers and risks. Thoughts of suicide (or actual suicide! over 100 last time I looked), anger, nausea, and if you look at the warnings, most of the same side effects you get from doing acid. If you start looking into it like I did, thousands of people now say they developed horrible diseases from taking this, from joint pain, to seizures, to all sorts of things I didn't even know existed.

OH, and then theres the whole "you might get a life threatening skin rash or your face might swell up so much it becomes life threatening".

Not my cup of tea. If that's my option, i'll keep smoking, thank you very much. But might work for you.

As for ecigs, the Green Smoke one, my favorite, is $139 bucks and comes with five cartridges. After the initial cost, the cartridges are far less than cigarettes, about $3 a cartridge (a pack of cigarettes) as opposed to the $5 or more you will pay now for real cigarettes. The patch and the gum are about the same cost..

Understand, though, the e-cig is not 100% safe, just like most things in this world, even cheeseburgers if you listen to some people! The FDA has not evaluated them as an effective stop smoking aid, and although thousands of "vapers" report having used them for this and claim great success, they are not marketed for that purpose and no company can claim they work to help you quit or that they are FDA approved (just like cigarettes). The fact is, without more studies, there is no way to PROVE they work to the satisfaction of the FDA (they do like to have studies and not just people's word that it worked for them. Understandable).

But they are far safer, IMHO, than regular cigarettes and the FDA's own report and study show they contain about the same amount of harmful carcinogens as the gum or other nicotine replacement therapies would. And about 3995 less than cigarettes.

Just be careful which brand you buy. Not all e-cigs are created equal, just like everything else. If you go cheap, you get what you pay for.

I'll suggest the Green Smoke for many reasons: Easier to use, higher quality construction, better service and these things really do put out more vapor than any other e-cig i've seen.

But, whatever you decide to do in the end, please do what you must to finally break your addiction to nicotine once and for all. One reason I like e-cigs is that I can go without nicotine, and still be able to "smoke" which seems to minimize my cravings. As I said, It's not just the nicotine you crave and miss, it's the habit that became such an integral part of your life. (although I have to admit i'm not in the nicotine free group yet... yet!)

Yes, i know there are lollipops and gum. It's usually the non smokers who suggest those. That's like telling a crack addict to just eat more bananas. It's just not that easy and takes time to relearn new habits.

Full disclosure: I sell e-cigs, not just Green Smoke. But to be totally honest, they are not the most expensive one I sell, and I'm not trying to sell you anything. They are honestly my fav for all the reasons i've mentioned.

I think electronic cigarettes are the best option to save hundreds of thousands, if not millions of lives. Once I found them, I decided to sell them because I couldn't think of a better way to make a living than saving lives and helping fellow smokers who are resistant or flat out refuse to try traditional smoking cessation products.

I feel they are the best nicotine replacement therapy and have the potential to be the most successful quit smoking method ever invented. A recent marketing report for big drug companies seems to agree, they have an entire section entitled "E-Cigarettes Will Revolutionize the Face of Tobacco Smoking and Could Pose a Threat to the Smoking Cessation Market". Now you see why all the excitement lately to get them banned or made illegal without any proof they are dangerous. Can't have them interfering with big pharma's big profits on Chantix.

BUT, if you are serious about quitting. explore all the options. E-cigs are not the only option. The gum and the patch didn't work for me, but that's not to say they won't work for you.

It's your body, it's your health. Don't take my word for it or anyone else's. Do your own research, make your own decision. But whatever you do, don't stick with cigarettes, they are proven killers.

I wish you the best of luck in quitting. God knows it's one of the hardest things you will ever have to do..

Here's some links on my site where hopefully you can learn more about e-cigs, their dangers, read the FDA report and get started on your research. Just make sure you read the first one about Chantix with the lights on. It's pretty scary. ;)

http://electroniccigarettespot.com/ecigarette-blog/chantix-is-safer-than...
http://electroniccigarettespot.com/electronic-cigarettes-and-the-fda/ele...
http://electroniccigarettespot.com/electronic-cigarette-brands/green-smoke