My story would echo almost everyone here in most ways. After smoking for 40 years, my sons got me to vape. They had me try some of their flavors which were really good even though I coughed a lot at first. I thought vaping was just a silly hipster fad but the boys had quit smoking by vaping so I was proud of them. I had tried everything else and was really resigned to die early. I only hoped my grandchildren would remember me. I did some research about it all though and was shocked to learn that two of the ingredients, VG and flavor esters, were things my grandmother used to mix for holistic remedies for as long as I can remember. (Nana was mixing max VG since the 70s!) Eventually I decided I had nothing left to lose and got a couple mods and some juice. My absolute favorite mod is the Target by Vaporesso. I guess everyoneâs preferences are different but this is my baby. I have two and plan to get another for my birthday, lol.
The reason I know I failed to quit smoking in the past, is the hand to mouth inhale exhale ritual thatâs hard wired into my brain. Nicotine isnât the only drug in a cig. There are anti-depressants and anesthetics in them as well. Combine the psychoactive drugs with performing this hand to mouth, inhale exhale relaxing ritual hundreds of times a day for decades; itâs brainwashing! That is why I could not quit. I bet thatâs why most people who do quit will relapse. Other nicotine replacement therapy just doesnât fulfill that need thatâs become permanently hard wired into our minds. My mom managed to quit smoking but the cravings never left her. She fought them and fulfilled the hand to mouth compulsion by eating and became diabetic. Vaping fulfills the hand to mouth ritual and the cravings and it allows you to reduce your nic at your own pace, in your own time not what some pharmaceutical company decides you should have. Even if I get down to 0 nic, Iâm also a nervous nibbler and vaping a fruity or candy flavor has been helping with that too.
Although I started to try vaping in December of 2015 I didnât buy my own gear until February of 2016 and it was another few months before I was completely smoke free. The main stumbling block for me was the psychological crutch of having a pack of smokes around the house or the panic of knowing I was out. My last day of smoking I left two cigs in a pack shoved in a drawer and that was the end of it. My first smoke free day was June 1st of this year. I tried one of my left-overs about a month later, almost barfed without even inhaling and just threw them out.
The coolest thing about vaping for me, aside from not dying lol, is the versatility and creativity involved. How creative could we ever be over a smelly dirty habit that was killing us? I began mixing flavors almost immediately, just combining premade stuff. One was too strong and sweet so I mixed it with one that was too tart and another that was mild. Then I had to buy these three juices to make my special brew, lol. I used to smoke menthols while eating tic tacs so I mixed my menthol tobacco flavor with a wintergreen flavor which I hope to be able to clone itâs so good. My coffee flavor was just a bit too bitter on the exhale so I added 20% of a vanilla flavor that was way too rich for me on itâs own⌠PERFECTION! I already love cooking, baking and making candies so this is a natural extension of that. Many of the flavors that donât work out for me for vaping will go into baking this fall and winter. A little VG will keep your frosting nice and creamy all day long but now I get it by the liter instead of a little bottle at the store.
Iâve only started mixing from scratch in the past month so Iâm still experimenting with flavors. I already have about five single flavors that I really like on their own. Only one is at the perfect percentage for me right now but Iâm still playing. I also was surprised how well I like the plain unflavored juice. People say that vaping is cheaper than smoking and it really is for most people but when it becomes a hobby with all the mods and flavors itâs been about the same for me. At least itâs not deadly, we smell nicer and weâre having fun. YAY!
and at first I just carried on pretty much as normal only I was put outside the house for any âmedicatingâ âŚbut then I met her, and everything changed. I already had a son he is 21 in Nov from a previous, previousâŚprevious girlfriend (not wifeâŚno kids with âthatâ thankfully) but this little girl, man she was beautiful, I mean all parents say that I know but, she was really something (clearly getâs it from me I know 
âŚ) and I knew what had to be done,I went to the doctors first and fainted when he told me to breath out as hard as I could, then I went to a few meetings, you know the ones where you sit in a circle and tell your story, I did the whole CBT sessions but nothingâŚand I mean NOTHING had prepared me for the power that little bundle had over me, I quit, took me maybe 6 months to start feeling normal again and once I did I bought my first e cig, I was still smoking tobacco at that point, one thing at a time and I knew if I could quit weed I could quit anything, the chewing gum didnât work, patches did nothing but this, this was okâŚI could do this, so I jumped at it, apart from one stretch of a few months after a Holiday in Turkey where I had a relapse because wellâŚyou know, it was Turkey, even the pets smoke in Turkey, it was just after that that I bought my first sub ohm tank, a 40w Vamo V8 and a bottle of mothers milk, I was awayâŚI wanted to know everything!, and that pretty much brings me to today, happily smoke free 2 years or so, with an ever growing Vape obsession, which to be honest had started to wain slightly before I came to ELR, I cannot tell you how much all you lovely people have taught me, I mean seriously, itâs unreal and I am eternally grateful to each and every one of you!..sorry this was a bit of a therapy session haha 
but itâs important to me, I may have a lot longer with my little family thanks to vaping and Iâm pretty sure I genuinely owe it my life.
