Blowin' Vapor

Oh yeah!! Go me! Go me! Yep, I've been cigarette free for more than a year and a half, thanks to electronic cigarettes.

 My journey: Smoking, it's surprising benefit, and how I discovered vaping.



    I started smoking tobacco a little more than 11 years ago. It was around the time my dad was dying of brain cancer, and he had always been a smoker, so smoking was kind of a coping strategy for me at the time. Up until then, I had never touched a cigarette, mainly because I didn't like the smell, and because they where so expensive. I had smoked pot occasionally when I was a teenager, but never had an interest in tobacco. Cigarettes did end up having an unexpected benefit for me though. When I smoked, the incidence of extremely painful mouth ulcers bechet's disease causes me was much less. By about 90% in fact, believe it or not. It seems to fly in the face of logic, that cigarette smoking would in any way prevent or help mouth ulcers, but there it is. Whenever I would quit smoking, the ulcers would immediately come back in full force. It could prevent most of them, and the ones that got through would heal quicker when I smoked. After suffering with these things nonstop for a couple years before this, I was dumbfounded but very happy that I had stumbled upon something so effective, especially when nothing else has even come anywhere close to being helpful. I came to suspect that it had to be nicotine that was the miracle ingredient that was helping me so much, but wasn't entirely positive. I experimented with different things, such as keeping loose tobacco in my mouth (nasty), nicotine gum, and pills. The loose tobacco didn't do anything but give me a nasty taste, and the nicotine gum and pills were hard to dose correctly and where way too expensive. After a bit of research, I found out that not only are smokers far less likely to develop common aphthous ulcers, but that nicotine itself has been used in studies for treating mouth ulcers. So, while smoking tobacco is really, really bad for you, I wasn't going to quit anything that was so effective in combating those god awful mouth ulcers. I was well aware of the possible long-term risks of cancer, COPD, heart disease, high BP, etc. But it's hard to worry much about that when you're dealing with the almost constant pain, dehydration, malnutrition, and inability to talk or swallow because of these ulcers.

     A few years ago, I started hearing about electronic cigarettes. People where saying they where a far healthier and cheaper alternative to smoking. Electronic cigarettes don't use tobacco at all, but instead use a heating element to vaporize an "e-juice", which is then inhaled. The "smoke" that is inhaled is not smoke at all, but a harmless and usually odorless water vapor. E-juice is made up of nicotine, flavorings, and either propylene glycol, vegetable glycerol, or both. Propylene glycol provides a good flavor and "throat hit", while vegetable glycerol produces more vapor. I wanted to try electronic cigarettes, but was also kind of afraid they might not have the same therapeutic effect for me that regular cigarettes did. I wondered how they could possibly be cheaper, even though regular cigarettes where already way too expensive with all the added sin taxes. Eventually, I decided to at least give E-cigs a try. I did a bit of reading on the internet, found out about brands and things to watch out for. So far, all reputable studies done on electronic cigarettes show them to be safe. I wanted to get them from somewhere close by, and knew there was a "Green Nicotine" kiosk inside a nearby mall, so I went there one evening to see about them. The salesmen at the kiosk are very friendly, and appear to really be into their product. I got a "Green Nicotine" starter kit, which ended up being a little bit pricey at around $100. I started using my Green Nicotine e-cig immediately, and found it to be quite pleasant, but it seemed there was still something missing to me. I used both the e-cig and regular cigarettes for a while, finding it hard to give up regular cigs completely.

     The problem was that the Green Nicotine didn't offer much of a "throat hit" (a feeling in the back of the throat that smokers get when taking a drag), and the flavor (menthol, I've only ever been able to smoke menthol cigs, can't stand regular tobacco flavor) was less intense than I preferred. After a month and a half of using Green Nicotine and regular cigarettes, I decided I needed to just let go of the side of the pool and give up real cigs all the way, and only use the e-cig. I had only had 1 ulcer since I'd started the Green Nicotine, so I was confident that it would continue to be effective, even once I quit regular cigs. Once I put my mind to it, and determined to not buy any more regular cigarettes, it wasn't that hard to use the e-cig exclusively. So I continued to use only the Green Nicotine. However, I started having problems with things, like the batteries not lasting very long, ending up with cartridges that where complete duds or tasted weak. The cost really started to mount, as I was having to go back to the GN kiosk every few days to buy more cartridges. I think perhaps Green Nicotine just wasn't meant for heavy use. Another thing that kind of bothered me was the company's "sticks up our asses, holier than thou" attitude when it came to flavors. Green Nicotine only makes three flavors: regular, menthol, and oriental. There seems to be this idea that anything candy/fruit/sweet flavored is automatically geared toward children, that making things with these flavors will encourage children to try them, and that everybody has a moral obligation to not make anything that is meant only for adults in yummy flavors. It's really just plain ridiculous. Adults like nice flavors just as much as children do, so should we abstain from enjoying delicious flavors just in case some kids out there might get the wrong idea? Should those cinnamon flavored cigars be banned? How about that grape flavored condom? Or that green apple flavored schnapps? Kids like bright colors, but shouldn't be driving cars, so should brightly colored cars be outlawed? Does everything that isn't meant for children have to be stripped of all color and flavor? God people are stupid.

    But I digress. I started looking for an alternative to Green Nicotine, as I was not willing to go back to regular cigarettes. In fact, the idea of trying to smoke a real cigarette made me feel a little ill, which I found a bit startling as I had taken to smoking tobacco very quickly and easily, and had always enjoyed it ever after. So, after looking around, I found there was another place called "Freedom Smoke USA". They where kind of far away, at the time they only had one location way up on the northwest side of town. They looked promising though, since they had lots of products and made all their e-juices in-house. So I went up there one night, and boy am I glad I did! They help each person individually, finding out what their smoking or vaping habits are and helping them pick out just the right set up. The guy who helped me suggested I go with the Joyetech Ego-T, which has a starter kit that was around $50 and came with two complete battery set ups, regular and USB chargers, two atomizers, and a little carrying bag. I'm super happy with the Ego-T, it performs very well, and I'm a pretty heavy vaper. They also let you try out any flavor e-juice you want (though if they are busy there is a limit on how many different flavors you can try in one visit). Their e-juice is made right there when you order it, at whatever nicotine strength you want. Most people get the usual 50/50 mix of propylene glycol and vegetable glycerol, but the ratio of PG and VG can be changed to suit taste, or you can get juice that is 100% one or the other. I tried out several e-juice flavors, and ended up with some really yummy menthols. I'll tell you, Freedom Smoke USA has a humongous catalog of flavors! There's 100s of delicious flavors, like gummy bears, starburst candy, coconut cream pie, applemint, and peach cobbler. Then there's e-juice flavors you didn't even think existed, like bacon, hibiscus, chedder cheese, belgian waffle, and turkey. Among my personal favorites so far is the Menthol Ultra, Cool-Lick (flavored like good n' plenty candy), Double-mint, and Strawberry. I've tried lots of flavors so far, but haven't even begun to scratch the surface.

    Since then, Freedom Smoke USA has opened up a couple more locations, one pretty close to me. The place is often super crowded nowdays, which I like to see. I will say that once I made that initial investment on the starter kit and everything, it's been really cheap to continue vaping. All I need to buy regularly is e-juice, which is pretty inexpensive. I get the 30ml bottle for $15, which lasts for  1 1/2 to 2 weeks for me. I "drip", which means I put a couple drops of e-juice directly into the atomizer to vape, but then you have to keep doing it after so many puffs. There are also cartridges/cartomizers, which can be more convenient in some situations since you just fill them up with e-juice and don't need to drip continuously. Atomizers last a couple months at least, and are only around $8. Batteries last for quite a while, and are pretty inexpensive to replace, ranging from around $9-$30 depending on the brand and model. What I used to spend in a week on regular cigarettes, I now spend in a month on e-cigs. I don't smell like an ashtray anymore, my lungs aren't full of crap anymore, they feel clean and clear, I don't wheeze when I inhale deeply anymore. I enjoyed cigarettes when I was a smoker. Now I can't stand to take a single drag on a regular cigarette, and have zero desire to go back to smoking tobacco ever again. I only wish I'd discovered e-cigs, especially Freedom Smoke, sooner.

    So, if you're a smoker, please give vaping a try. But find a good place to get your supplies from, because not all e-cigs are equal. If you aren't happy with one brand or set-up, try another. Talk to people who have been vaping for a while to get pointers on the best ones to try and the best places to buy them. Once you find a good e-cig that "clicks" for you, you'll probably never want to go back to smoking again. You'll be much healthier, and you'll save lots of money. The place I've been talking about, Freedom Smoke USA, only has locations in Tucson, AZ., and Wisconsin, but you can order stuff on their site and have it shipped. http://freedomsmokeusa.com/index.php

     I know I sound like a commercial, but I love vaping so much and am so happy I switched from cigarettes that I want every smoker to be able to enjoy vaping too. :)