22 years of smoking - all done with em now

[TonyK]

Hi all, newb to the forum here, know a few members from other forums tho.

Gotta have my say as to why vaping is the best thing that's happened to me in recent times.

Bit of background, I'm 39 with a wife, 2 kids & small business & untill new years day this year I had been a full time heavy smoker for 22 years, last year I was smoking 40+ a day 8mg.
I've been trying to quit for 15 or so years on & off, with very little success.
2 years ago I tried champix - big mistake (or maybe a blessing), turn out I'm bipolar type 2 & the champix messed my head up real good, it would seem that stuff is a big, big no-no for bipolar people.
I ended up in a shrinks office in a real bad way, it seems my smoking was pretty much self medicating for bipolar - that's why I just couldn't quit, the nicotene actually works quite well as a mood stabiliser & without it I was off the rails.
I'm recieving treatment/medication for bipolar disorder now & am doing a lot better, just knowing about it helps a lot.

I did however realise that a 40+ a day habit was most likely gonna kill me sooner rather than later, stumbled across vaping on another car related forum & figured it was worth a shot.
Got a Joye ego-c mid last year, but didn't stick with it for long.
Got it back out again over xmas & decided to give it a red hot go in the new year.
Stayed off the smokes from new years day, but wasn't all that happy with the joye setup, so I switched to vivi novas & then to spinner VV batteries - much better, but inconsistant.

I've been smoke free (other than the odd 1 when having a drink or 2) since new years day & am feeling a sh|tload better, vaping gives me the nicotene I need to stay functional without killing me in the process, with the added benefit of if I slip up & have a smoke it's no biggie.

My wife was also a long term smoker, not as heavy as me (15-20 a day), but she'd been smoking for 25 years - she's off the smokes as well & has been since new years, she vapes a mini nova & spinner as well.

Just about to step up to the world of rebuildables & mods, got my order in for a sigelei zmax V5 & a smoktech rsst pyrex, along with 400 mesh, some silica wick (in case I struggle with the mesh), 30 gauge kenthal wire & a few batteries & a charger (2x 18350's, 2x 18500's).

I'm like a kid at xmas waiting for this stuff, should be here wednesday - wed night I'll be playing with it all night.
Not only has vaping most likely saved my life, it's also given me a new & interesting hobby!

[ssstahly]

Great work Tony.
Ask heaps of questions and YouTube is your friend when it comes to rebuilding coils!

[Whizgig]

Welcome to the forum Tony and thanks for your story, Congrats on giving up the analogs.

[308hjute]

Welcome TK. Good to see you here.

[maggie]

Another success story, always good to read, well done Tony ... now you can have your nic as well as some fun trying out all the different juice, atties, mods etc... Happy vaping

[akef38]

Congrats Tony . Stick to it champ !!!
Well done

[TonyK]

Cheers guys,

Been lurking on here & reading most nights for the last couple of weeks, lots of good info to be had & from locals, not guys on the other side of the world.

308 - Hi !

[qwertylesh]

that is awesome dude, good stuff

[Michelle]

I ended up in a shrinks office in a real bad way, it seems my smoking was pretty much self medicating for bipolar - that's why I just couldn't quit, the nicotene actually works quite well as a mood stabiliser & without it I was off the rails.
I'm recieving treatment/medication for bipolar disorder now & am doing a lot better, just knowing about it helps a lot.
Well done and I also have personal experience of completely going off the rails and ending up in a shrinks office after trying to quit smoking. I ended up with severe clinical depression so it appears that nicotine was also a mood stabiliser for me too. Thankfully there seems to be a lot acceptance from the medical profession about this now than there was 15 years ago when it happened to me.

[HoleyMumma]

Champion effort. My story mirrors yours with the bi polar type 2, champix made me suicidal and pushed me into getting the diagnosis, therefore treatment that I needed. I still think that champix should be illegal, it's a dangerous dangerous drug. Like you, I have only been successful with vaping after years of trying 'everything else'. It's been documented very well that the addiction of smoking CAN BE up to 5x harder for someone with a mental illness, (not sure how well those stats were measured) IMO, I don't doubt that, but I also don't have the benefit of quitting without a mental illness, I do know however, that the hold ciggies have on any and all smokers is huge. Please don't think I am saying it is easier for the 'sane' (lol) amongst us, because it's not, the addiction is just different I suppose. I'm no dr, and can only go by what I've read and seem first hand.

Anyway, you rock! As does everyone else who has managed to quit the ciggies.

I hope my post came out ok, my intent was just to reiterate and not suggest that the struggle is less for anyone else.