Am i addicted to vaping, or vaping as a hobby?

[DaveP]

Oh, you're absolutely right. I would go so far to day it's unlikely the average non-smoker would become addicted to nicotine through vaping. Which undermines the whole "save the children" chorus as kids could experiment with something they can easily stop when they grow bored with it. We are the unlucky ones who are stuck with this.

I was always jealous of people who could "social" smoke, have an occasional cigarette if they were out say having a drink (in the days you could still smoke in a bar) and not have another for a month. Me? One cigarette and I'm back to a pack and a half a day. I know as it's happened to me.

I had a friend or two who could do that. They never bought a pack and never really smoked that much, but they'd walk up and bum one here and there. One was a friend in high school and the other played bass and sang in my first real band that actually made money.

 

[Opinionated]

Oh, you're absolutely right. I would go so far to day it's unlikely the average non-smoker would become addicted to nicotine through vaping. Which undermines the whole "save the children" chorus as kids could experiment with something they can easily stop when they grow bored with it. We are the unlucky ones who are stuck with this.

I was always jealous of people who could "social" smoke, have an occasional cigarette if they were out say having a drink (in the days you could still smoke in a bar) and not have another for a month. Me? One cigarette and I'm back to a pack and a half a day. I know as it's happened to me.

And that's the thing right there. I tried everything to get off the cigarettes and never could until vaping. For a cigarette I could see myself robbing a convenience store for goodness sake. I was terribly addicted. Terribly.

I don't feel that about vaping. This last year I was able to walk away from vaping for 5 months without a vape one. In the beginning it wasn't easy, but with time it got easier.. (hand to mouth habit, mainly)

I was never like that as a smoker, ever. In 32 years of smoking I never went 5 days without a cigarette, let alone 5 months - and cold turkey? Oh heck no!

But with vaping there isn't that desperate feeling for me that there was with smoking... I know it's not like that for every ex smoker who vapes..

But I figure, if I who was so addicted to cigarettes for so long, doesn't have anything close to that sort of relationship with vaping, then what is vaping to a never smoker for real?

It's nothing but a fun hobby.. I'm sure..how can it be more? It's what got me away from addiction..further away every day.

 

[Eskie]

And that's the thing right there. I tried everything to get off the cigarettes and never could until vaping. For a cigarette I could see myself robbing a convenience store for goodness sake. I was terribly addicted. Terribly.

I don't feel that about vaping. This last year I was able to walk away from vaping for 5 months without a vape one. In the beginning it wasn't easy, but with time it got easier.. (hand to mouth habit, mainly)

I was never like that as a smoker, ever. In 32 years of smoking I never went 5 days without a cigarette, let alone 5 months - and cold turkey? Oh heck no!

But with vaping there isn't that desperate feeling for me that there was with smoking... I know it's not like that for every ex smoker who vapes..

But I figure, if I who was so addicted to cigarettes for so long, doesn't have anything close to that sort of relationship with vaping, then what is vaping to a never smoker for real?

It's nothing but a fun hobby.. I'm sure..how can it be more? It's what got me away from addiction..further away every day.

I think you also have been at it for some time. for me it's barely been a year and a half, and I spent much of the beginning at high nic levels. Hopefully I'll get to the point of not getting bent out of shape if I don't have my vape for some time, but even if I do, I'll still vape. I just plain like it.

 

[Canadian_Vaper]

Well I only lasted 5 hours. I'm definitely addicted to nicotine.

Not too bad for your first time, I've done 24-48 hours a couple times, vaping 0mg helps trick the mind a bit (I just used pure VG), that said since then I've upped my nicotine back to 6mg (was down to 1.5) because I actually like nicotine so it may be a bit harder to pull off now. Tylenol actually helped with the headaches in high doses...

I have no plans on stopping and that's that however imagine trying to go 5 hours back when you smoked that would just be insanity...

 

[Completely Average]

Not too bad for your first time, I've done 24-48 hours a couple times, vaping 0mg helps trick the mind a bit (I just used pure VG), that said since then I've upped my nicotine back to 6mg (was down to 1.5) because I actually like nicotine so it may be a bit harder to pull off now. Tylenol actually helped with the headaches in high doses...

I have no plans on stopping and that's that however imagine trying to go 5 hours back when you smoked that would just be insanity...

I smoked Camel Filters and Camel 99s for 30 years. When I started vaping I was using 24mg juices and sometimes felt like that wasn't enough.

I've been vaping exclusively for nearly 4 years now. I'm now 100% nicotine free. I did it by making REALLY gradual reductions, about 2mg every 3 months or so. The last time I tried nicotine in one of my juices I lasted about half an hour before I dumped it all out (It was only 2mg juice) and filled the tank with 0 nic. Nicotine makes me feel "not right" now, not really sick but not well either. I no longer like how the nicotine makes me feel. It's been about 3 months since I've vaped any juice with nicotine in it, and I'm quite satisfied with that.


But strangely, I still crave vaping. If I go more than 3-4 hours without vaping I REALLY want to vape. I'm now vaping nothing but VG and flavoring. Nothing else. But I still crave vaping. Don't know why, but I do. Go figure.



Now I have an unforeseen problem. I've got about 1.5 liters of 100mg nicotine concentrate and I no longer use it. My wife still prefers a 10mg juice in her ecig, but she only goes through about 250ml every 4 months or so. I figure at her current rate of use it will take 20 years before she uses all of the nic base I currently have.

 

[Nermal]

But, she couldnt have said it less than a million times that "youre addicted to it. I can tell by your excuses".

Hah! That reminds me of a discussion I was in a decade ago. I happened to mention that I don't drink. The guy immediately accused me of being an alcoholic. Reason? Denial is a symptom of alcoholism. I had little to do with him thereafter, but you know, he wasn't my mother.

 

[dripster]

Just because there are some relatively small risks involved with vaping, doesn't also mean it's an addiction. There are positive sides to being able to relax by vaping 0mg and by enjoying it as a hobby because human stress factors resulting from you being forced to abandon your hobby that you like could potentially cause far worse things like, for example, cardiovascular disease and mental depression.

 

[Opinionated]

I think you also have been at it for some time. for me it's barely been a year and a half, and I spent much of the beginning at high nic levels. Hopefully I'll get to the point of not getting bent out of shape if I don't have my vape for some time, but even if I do, I'll still vape. I just plain like it.

I think time is less the case than nicotine levels, to be honest. I felt like I could quit vaping by the time I had been vaping for a year ... I tried and was unsuccessful at that time, but it doesn't change the fact that by then I was able to leave the house, accidentally forgetting my vape, for hours and never even miss the fact I had forgotten it. And by then I was forgetting it all the time, it just wasn't foremost in my mind by then.

As to why that was, we can sit around and analyse, (lol.. heck I do!) But that was where I was by the 1 year mark.

Now.. my vaping habits were probably always drastically different than yours.. first, I went from smoking two packs a day (i was a full flavor smoker) to using a 1000 mah ego and a ce4 that I bought for 10 bucks. I used this for the first year, and no I wasn't dual using.

I went through withdrawals even with vaping that were fairly severe in the beginning of the switch but I stuck with vaping anyway. I was only vaping 18mg/ml e juice.. and only consuming around 2 ml a day. A 10 ml bottle of juice was lasting me 8 days on average, even WITH constant chain vaping.. lol..

I think by the time my body fully adjusted to not smoking, I was nearly over the whole nicotine thing at the same time, as my amounts were negligible in all honesty.

So.. this is probably much of the difference.. I went from chain vaping my rear off, to using it more like a cigarette, to forgetting it half the time..

That progression for me was fairly quick, but perhaps in large part it was due to how and what I was vaping..

And even now, with my consumption higher (I use around 5ml a day) my nic level is still low.. I use 3 mg/ml of nic now, and that because I think nic makes my juice taste better.

 

[DaveP]

I probably need to leave my vape on a counter and treat it like I did cigarettes. I tend to have my Pico in my pocket around the house or in the cup holder when I drive. It's far too accessible.

A while back we went to a Florida water park with family while on vacation. Of course, I had to leave my vape in the locker when I changed into a swim suit. The interesting part was that I only thought about vaping once during the entire day and decided it was too far to the locker room and not worth the time to go and get it.

I surprised myself. At least it was proof that I could do without it and not revert to being the nic fiend I was when I smoked.

 

[DancingHeretik]

I probably need to leave my vape on a counter and treat it like I did cigarettes. I tend to have my Pico in my pocket around the house or in the cup holder when I drive. It's far too accessible.

A while back we went to a Florida water park with family while on vacation. Of course, I had to leave my vape in the locker when I changed into a swim suit. The interesting part was that I only thought about vaping once during the entire day and decided it was too far too the locker room to go and get it.

I surprised myself. At least it was proof that I could do without it and not revert to being the nic fiend I was when I smoked.

Amazing! That's one thing I love about vaping. You just don't get the same kind of urgency for the next one like you do with cigs. Wow! All day!

 

[Canadian_Vaper]

I just did about 3 hours yard work without even realizing it wasn't in my pocket, only went to grab it when I cracked a beer to take a break otherwise 90% of my waking time it's in my hand or my pocket ^_____^

 

[Frenchfry1942]

Many years ago, I told my 18yo sister, 8 years younger, to get out from our parents house until college starts. She started staying with a friend and, then, actually switched to a local college. She later said thank-you.

I did not think my sister could be blunt with my mother and stand up to her. But, then again, it is my parent's house.

Being a nag can ruin a relationship.

 

[DaveP]

Amazing! That's one thing I love about vaping. You just don't get the same kind of urgency for the next one like you do with cigs. Wow! All day!

Had I still been smoking back then I'd have gotten out of the water and trekked it back to the locker room for a smoke! It wasn't worth it for a vape. The water park in Panama City covers an entire city block.