this post was submitted on 23 Dec 2024
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Considering to buy one for a family member.

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[–] Mangoholic@lemmy.ml 3 points 18 minutes ago

You can try but some people are allergic to the liquids used. And the person vaping has to slowly decrease the nicotine amount over time, a lot of people start increasing it instead and end up with more unhealthy nicotine levels than regular cigs. Also vaping is not good for the lungs either.

[–] Crashumbc@lemmy.world 8 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

While it may not stop the nicotine addiction. It beats the tar and crap actual cigarettes....

[–] Lifecoach5000@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Agreed. Although I struggle with vaping nicotine WAY too much and I feel like it has caused me some issues.

Still, way better than real cigs as far as my lungs are concerned - but the ease of being able to vape and constantly get a nicotine fix has been the real issue for me. Currently reading Alan Carr’s the Easy Way to get this monkey off my back once and for all.

[–] Crashumbc@lemmy.world 2 points 44 minutes ago (1 children)

Absolutely, there is no mistaking vaping is bad for you. But there are levels of bad.

[–] MedicPigBabySaver@lemmy.world 2 points 14 minutes ago

Additionally, there has not been enough legit science data to indicate how bad it is.

[–] Brodysseus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

I did, not sure it made it easier though. It took away two negatives for smoking for me, it didn't smell bad to others and I could smoke inside.

If anything it made it harder to quit, but they're supposedly much better for you

[–] Jolteon@lemmy.zip 1 points 51 minutes ago (1 children)

Regardless of the health benefits for you personally, they're much better and less unpleasant for those around you.

[–] Brodysseus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 6 minutes ago

I'm not sure that vaping inside is better than smoking outside. You're right about it being more pleasant and likely right about it being healthier, do you know of any research comparing second hand smoke on clothes to second hand vape (comparing smoking outside to vaping inside)

[–] cymbal_king@lemmy.world 8 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

Check out SmokeFree.gov! It has great free resources that are science based. Quitting smoking is the number thing someone who smokes can do for their health.

The most effective methods to quit smoking include varenicline (aka Chantix), FDA-approved nicotine replacement therapies (gum, patch, lozenge, inhaler, etc), and behavioral therapy. Combining all of these therapies in a clinical trials results in the most people quitting.

No vape is FDA-approved as a cessation therapy, because no company has applied. There have been some small academic run trials, which tend to show a decrease in smoking, but continued nicotine addiction. Probably because vapes have much higher nicotine content than FDA-approved therapies. While vapes expose people to a lot less carcinogens than smoke, there are some carcinogens and nicotine itself is harmful to vascular and mental health. So if the evidence-based methods don't work, completely switching to vaping would be less harmful.

[–] BreadOven@lemmy.world 1 points 36 minutes ago

Agreed. There is a lot of new research on vaping. Could potentially cause a number of issues, but probably still better than actual smoking. I've heard the inhalers work sometimes because of the nicotine as well as the physical movements involved.

I've also seen exactly one ad (on YouTube) for some sort of flavour inhaler (no nicotine) if you're having trouble with the physical aspect. Can't say any more about that though, as I haven't looked into it.

[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 15 points 4 hours ago

Yup.

An older friend who smoke and drank a ton switched to vapes, and methodically lowered the nicotine content every two-there weeks for months, then stopper nicotine and vaped the flavours but as there was no more nicotine, the habit wasn't addicting and he just forgot about it more or less.

Now he's been alone free for years, and reduced his drinking as well. Looks fucking healthy now.

[–] amstafff@lemmy.world 4 points 3 hours ago

100% yes. It made a big difference for me. I didn't even want to stop smoking I just did.

[–] GhiLA@sh.itjust.works 6 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (1 children)

Depends on what part of it you're addicted to.

I just want nicotine. I don't care out of what.

Some people want the feel, sensation and flavor of a cigarette.

I just want my fix so I can carry on with my day.

That's kinda the line between moving to a vape or not.

[–] bruhsoulz@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Cosign, I just liked the smoking myself. Vapes made it worse if anything cus it made smoking more conventent 😂 no ash, ashtray or lighter thats somehow always missing.

[–] Crikeste@lemm.ee 1 points 2 hours ago

Also being able to do it indoors without practically any negative side effect doesn’t help lol

[–] faltryka@lemmy.world 22 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Yes. I switched to vaping after smoking a pack a day for ten years. Then in about a year I was able to winnow my usage down and quit vaping too.

I had tried many times to quit before that. Have not smoked in 13 years now and after about 8 years I stopped liking the smell.

[–] Frozengyro@lemmy.world 4 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Crazy hearing vaping helped you stop 13 years ago. My brain tells me they only came out 2 years ago...

[–] Breezy@lemmy.world 6 points 4 hours ago

Naw there were vapes when i went to high school in the mid to late 2000s.

[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 4 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

20 years ago I quit smoking with chewing tobacco aka dip. That shit is WAY better than cigarettes. Dip was even harder to quit. Then I went back to off and on cigarettes for 18 years. I have not had one in a year and a half and have no intention or desire to ever start that shit up again. Welbutrin is also pretty helpful for this. My best friend did mostly quit by switching to vape though, so I think it can work. I'm pretty sure it's also just as bad for you though?

[–] Bo7a@lemmy.ca 10 points 5 hours ago

Yup.

I smoked a pack a day for roughly 30 years. My night time breathing was getting ugly and my wife would sometimes get woken up by the sound of my wheezing.

Every method of quitting failed me except vaping. I started as most do with a high nicotine vape juice that tasted like tobacco, but after about a month I swapped and started going lower and lower nicotine and change the flavor from tobacco to a custardy type.

2 months of that got me off the cigs. Two more months got me down to zero nicotine. Two or three more months after that I was done.

I have been off cigs for 7 years.

My breathing no longer feels wet or difficult at night. And My yearly health tests all come back the same as a non-smoker.

My mom did. She smoked cigarettes since the 80s and quit in 2012 with vape. She never smoked a single cigarette after that

[–] WrenFeathers@lemmy.world 3 points 4 hours ago

Nope. I smoked for over 30 years. Took up vaping to quit and all I did was vape more than I ever smoked.

For me, what worked was… I had to go back to smoking regular cigarettes, then use Wellbutrin as a smoking cessation. Took about a month and a half-

I’ve been smoke free for over two years.

[–] Akrenion@slrpnk.net 2 points 3 hours ago

I got a few people around me who are trying to find a good reusable vape. Those seem to have disappeared which makes it harder to self regulate.

If anyone has a hood recommendation I am all ears.

[–] recentSloth43@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago

I personally know multiple people who did

[–] stinky@redlemmy.com 3 points 3 hours ago

someone = yes

everyone = no

[–] Sir_Premiumhengst@lemmy.world 16 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Yes. Switched to vaping and was vaping for multiple years before quitting completely. Biggest thing was the "safety" of always being able to have my fix without an actual smoke. The "never again" mentality made it so hard to ditch the cancer stick but the vape was always like "it's ok, you can just have a little puff whenever you feel like it". Slowly down the nicotine content. Puff less. Even less. At some point I just forgot. Still have the vape. Still have the liquid, albeit it's dark red now and looks radioactive so utterly unusable. But point is that the vape eventually faded into irrelevance in a way that cigarettes never could.

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[–] Takumidesh@lemmy.world 3 points 4 hours ago

I did but it took me a long time, years and years, with occasional dips back into smoking.

Now though it's nearly been 2 years no vape or anything and at least three years of no nicotine.

I went up and down in nicotine levels, I used big huge cloud throwing fog machines and little tiny disposables.

I eventually settled on a unit with a built in rechargeable battery and pods with replaceable coils (geekvape aegis)

I don't think vaping will naturally result in quitting, it I do think it's the most effective harm reducer out there and as a tool has many ways to help reduce use over time.

High nicotine disposables (elf bars, juul) I would stay away from if you can though since the nicotine concentration is so high that it can deepen the addiction.

[–] SplashJackson@lemmy.ca 22 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

I did, but I would mix my own fluid; every couple of batches I would half the nicotine content. Eventually it was near-negligible, and perhaps two weeks after that I was doneski

[–] nnullzz@lemmy.world 4 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (2 children)

I wish I could vape. This is gonna sound stupid, bc it is, but I’m a chronic asthmatic who has smoked for about 20 years now. Been intubated twice for asthma. And yet I still can’t put the damn cigarettes down. I’ve tried patches, gum, hypnotism, medication, you name it.

Vaping was the only thing that was helping when I switched but believe it or not, it was bothering me way more than a cigarette. Immediate throat scratchiness and shortness of breath. That doesn’t happen with smokes though. I’ve tried all sorts of vapes too. All with the same result.

Smoking is probably gonna be what takes me out and it sucks that I feel totally powerless. I will say though, that the book “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking” by Allen Carr got me off cigs for about 3 months. Then my grandpa died and it all spiraled back from there.

[–] palordrolap@fedia.io 4 points 4 hours ago

Apologies for what could well be a dumb suggestion: Herbal / nicotine free cigs exist. They might be an avenue of escape if you haven't tried that already.

Smoking isn't just the nicotine fix, it's the whole ritual of getting away and doing something else for a while. Scratching that itch might work.

Of course there are other ways to get away and do something else for a while, but those are for later.

[–] NABDad@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

Two things:

Cigarettes contain ingredients to suppress some of the negative symptoms of smoking. One reason you might have irritation without the cigarettes is because the cigarettes are preventing you from feeling the irritation they cause. Just a thought. It might make sense to see if you can get other medication to help with those issues until you are able to stop vaping too.

Also, hearing that the death of your grandpa caused a relapse suggests you might want to try quitting again, but with some sort of therapy/support. Try the book method again, but make sure you have someone to talk through issues with.

[–] ryannathans@aussie.zone 2 points 4 hours ago

Yeah pretty much everyone I know that picked up a vape

[–] ivn@jlai.lu 57 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

I quit smoking using a vape and then quit vaping.

I found that it was easier to quit smoking using a vape because I kept the same motion. I needed a powerful one to feel a similar hit.

And I found it easier to stop vaping than to stop smoking because I could mix liquids to have any desired nicotine content, allowing me to reduce it very gradually. A lot of people simply replace smoking with vaping but that's still an improvement.

[–] Ofiuco@lemmy.cafe 1 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago) (1 children)

A lot of people simply replace smoking with vaping but that's still an improvement.

Why/how is it an improvement? They are just moving from one way to consume it to another.

[–] ivn@jlai.lu 3 points 33 minutes ago

Because different ways to consume have different health hazards.

[–] witty_username@feddit.nl 9 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

Yes. It is a shame that vapes are disregarded as therapeutics. They are fantastic in that regard.
Not to say that the fruit flavoured garbage aimed at children is okay; it is not and should be dealt with. However, we should simultaneously not let the tobacco industry deter the medically valid use of vapes for use as an aid with smoking cessation

[–] vinceman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

I'm a fully grown adult who very much enjoys fruit flavours in my vape. Please don't legislate me based on the kids. Make better laws to protect and allow adults to enjoy things.

[–] CmdrShepard42@lemm.ee 1 points 32 minutes ago

Well at least when they fully ban flavors for us adults, we can drink away our problems with the cotton candy and birthday cake vodka that's stocked in every liquor store across the country.

[–] Today@lemmy.world 3 points 4 hours ago

My son worked for vape wild. His favorite part was talking to people about how to use vapes and custom fluids to quit smoking. Then they had a huge investment from one of the cigarette companies and it all went downhill.

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 29 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

Yes.

Wife and I switched to vaping, then that eventually dropped off to nothing.

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