smoking and transition.

[emilyking]

I'm terribly sorry, I didn't mean to cause trouble.
I asked because I do smoke at times, and it helps with my depression.
It also helps me be me, if that makes any sense.

As far as a drug test goes, at my work 99% would fail, and that's iincluding my store manager.
In Boulder it's more shocking if you don't smoke.

Anyways, I just wanted to see if I should be worried.

[Robin Mack]

My endo said that the major issue with just the nicotine from my e-cig was bone problems.  Apparently the other garbage in cigarettes causes problems for veins, etc.

I strongly recommend a good, powerful e-cig from a vape shop, preferably something large enough to use all day without recharging.  Expect to pay about $70 to get started.  The higher-end versions come with refillable reservoirs and replaceable atomizer elements, so you spend less in the long run (and have a lot more satisfaction) than the little ones that look like cigarettes.  I also suggest instead of cold turky on cigarettes, switching to the e-cig, to taper off cigarettes gradually.  The way I did it was to only smoke outside... but I could vape on my ecig inside.  Over time it just got easier and easier not to smoke a real cigarette.  The coughing stopped, the lung problems stopped, and I got generally healthier as the carbon monoxide and other toxins filtered out of my system. 

I still smoke my e-cig, but I went to a lower-nicotine concentration on the advice of my endo, who suggests I should taper it off due to bone issues.  She said it is *nowhere* near as bad as smoking real cigarettes, but not optimal due to the nicotine.  Of course, if you enjoy vaping as much as I do, you can get the liquid with zero nicotine eventually... so you can enjoy the act and the flavor and do yourself no harm at all. 

[Hikari]

I don't smoke, but almost everyone I know does. My anecdotal observation is that on e-cigs people seem to be able to exercise much easier, and generally due to that are able to get into shape much easier, and as a result just look better. I swear that even the skin of my group of friends (who all smoked heavily before, but now smoke much less and use E-cigs due to no smoking being allowed in the house) has improved dramatically since they started. This leads me to believe that e-cigs are much more healthy than normal smoking.

I would worry about putting too many chemicals in one's body though, be it nicotine, thc, alcohol, etc it all seems like it would put extra strain on the liver because it has to clean that stuff out, and your liver will already be working harder on hrt. Not a stance against or for anything, after all cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana (in some places) are legal and if you are an adult it is your choice what you do with your body, but I couldn't see your liver being better off doing any of it.

[Allyda]

I have struggled to quit cigarettes for the last 10 years with very little results until I started trying to convert over to e-cigs. I'm usually a strong willed person too, and even once before trying e-cigs I had almost quit. I'd weaned myself down over a 4 month period from a pack a day to 5 cigarettes per day, which was very hard for me to do because everybody in my community smokes.

I had a GF at the time who like everybody else around me smoked and instead of supporting me she kept wanting me to have a cigarette with her. I held out at my 5 cigs a day as long as I could but eventually I gave in and was back up to almost a pack per day in a week. I got rid of her a few months later. That happened about a year and a half ago and was the closest I ever came to be ridding myself of cigarettes for good.

Now with the e-cigs I'm down to half a pack per day. I'm using the Blu's. However I don't believe I'll be able to quit entirely until I find an e-cig that actually tastes like a real cigarette. Or very close. The Blu's are about 65% like a real cigarette tastewise. When I run out of these I'll try different cartridges unyil I find some that taste closer to a real cigarette.

[sandrauk]

I have an ecig shop and website, so I get to try them all.

The ecig market has grown rapidly and development has been brisk. Recently there has been a game changer in the development of a bottom coil clearomiser, (the top bit), usually called a BCC. Most of this development has been done by the market leader, which is Kangertech.

Being Chinese, the design has been quickly copied and so some slightly cheaper copies have emerged, some branded, such as the Halo. They are not as good quality and do not work as well as the branded Kangertech.

I would advise against anything which has a "hanging wick" such as the CE4, the vivi nova, The T2 and many others. The liquid has to be wicked up to the top and, whilst they do work, They suffer from starvation and deliver more hot air than vapour which  is very harsh on the throat (and make it very difficult to raise your voice pitch if you want to).

It's possible to waste an awful lot of money trying to find which is the best, so I would suggest buying the best from the start, which is IMO the Kangertech pro mini with a 2.5 ohm coil (for a standard EGO battery). You will need a variable voltage  battery (ego twist is good) for a lower resistance.


Expect to pay about £14 for the pro mini but make sure it is branded Kangertech and not just Kanger which is frequently used for the knockoff's. Another good alternative which is almost as good is the Kangertech T3s around £7. (google them so you know what the real thing looks like)
I tried the Kangertech pro 2, 3, the Aerotank and the unitank and none of them are as good as the pro mini.

I get to see on a daily basis the change in people when they switch to ecigs and it's almost as dramatic as the changes with hrt.

I can understand the need for something that looks like a cigarette (like the blu), and I was the same for a few months, but you will stand a much better chance of succeeding with a proper one like the pro mini.

Unfortunately if you go to a local ecig shop they will try and sell you what they have a lot of and will tell you it's the best. Know what you want before you go.

Amazon won't allow cigarette as a search term but if you put in Kangertech as a search you have a good choice.


 

[Allyda]

OK I found Kangertek pro mini and see what it looks like. Are these available in the US?

[sandrauk]

OK I found Kangertek pro mini and see what it looks like. Are these available in the US?

almost certainly, try ebay if amazon don't

[Allyda]

almost certainly, try ebay if amazon don't

I was wondering if they would be available at my local tobacco shop. I have a Doctors appt. today and would pick one up while I'm out if they are. If not, I'm an over 20 year veteran on ebay both buying and selling, and will go there.
Thanks
Ally

[HeatherR]

I just asked my endo for a prescription for Chantix.  She happily obliged.

After 1 week, I quit straight up.  Smoking AND the Chantix.

I couldn't have done it without it.  What it did to me was make it painfully obvious the things I thought were withdrawals were infact cravings completely from habit.  I honestly didn't want to quit, but it was required by her, so I did what I had to do.  I still crave cigarettes, but the cravings disappear after just a minute or two.

My endo very specifically said that Nicotine reduces the effects of estrogen, and that alone is reason enough for me to stop.

[kariann330]

I just asked my endo for a prescription for Chantix.  She happily obliged.

After 1 week, I quit straight up.  Smoking AND the Chantix.

I couldn't have done it without it.  What it did to me was make it painfully obvious the things I thought were withdrawals were infact cravings completely from habit.  I honestly didn't want to quit, but it was required by her, so I did what I had to do.  I still crave cigarettes, but the cravings disappear after just a minute or two.

My endo very specifically said that Nicotine reduces the effects of estrogen, and that alone is reason enough for me to stop.

Tried Chantix....my dreams went from interesting....to worse then a bad roll or trip. I threw everything away right then and started smoking again.

[ErinM]

Tried Chantix....my dreams went from interesting....to worse then a bad roll or trip. I threw everything away right then and started smoking again.

I had a similar experience with Zyban. It was a perpetual anxiety attack and bad trip all in one. This was on top of dealing with a 30 credit course load and a father dying of cancer. It worked well for me to quit smoking, but I think part of the motivation was to just get off the nasty pills. 

[Tori]

Tried Chantix....my dreams went from interesting....to worse then a bad roll or trip. I threw everything away right then and started smoking again.

Ohhhhh!

The DREAMZZZ!!!

Wow. Too much. Running down a hill away from a pack of wild bears, who are born to run down hills!!!

'N sitch.

I'd rather the nic fix.

It does work for many though.

[Allyda]

I'm just gonna keep tapering off the real ones using the e-cigs when necessary until I'm free of cigs altogether both kinds real and e cigs. Though I'm starting to notice some real changes in my skin now almost a month an a half on hrt -my skin is getting softer and my pores are tightenong up. It's overall looking more feminine, and I don't want to ruin these wonderful changes with tobacco.