We discussed ending the habit for months and months. We tried and failed at stopping cold turkey many times. I would limit myself to half a pack a day and binge when the withdrawals got too tough. My wake-up call came when I began hacking up chunks of brown gunk and wheezing with every breath. We mutually decided it was time to make a drastic change. Cigarettes were a constant stress on us, with the cost and worrying about the health of our children and ourselves. Electronic cigarettes were finally becoming widely available at affordable prices in smoke shops near us and we had nothing to lose at that point.
So what is an electronic cigarette? You start with a battery base, which signals the atomizer in the "filter" to heat up the liquid in the cartridge when you inhale. This produces a smoky vapor that looks and practically feels and tastes like regular smoke. You are actually inhaling water, propylene glycol, nicotine and flavoring. They look just like traditional cigarettes, only slightly heavier. They also have realistic lights on the "lit" end that glows and dims just like a regular cherry. This light will blink when the cartridge is dying or the battery needs re-charged.
With a disposable e-cig, you buy one piece and toss it after it dies. These tend to be a little longer and heavier than reusable varieties. Most tout being good for 500 drags and range greatly in price, from $3 to $15. With reusable kits, there really is no limit on what you get. Some kits come with the basics; others come with everything you'll need for several months. It all really depends on what you want to spend, and there are kits in every budget. You have a battery, which screws onto the cartomizer. To charge your battery, you simply screw it into the USB charger and plug it into your computer or a USB compatible wall charger (I use my cell phone charger, minus the cord.) You can even charge in your car. With our current kit, we buy cartridge packs. However, there are cartridges you can refill with a syringe. This seems to be the most cost-effective option but we haven't tried it yet (although that is our next step.) This opens up a variety of choices and custom flavors. Speaking of flavors, there are a TON! Along with your traditional tobacco and menthol flavors, you can pick cake, coffee, peanut butter and banana, brownies, spearmint, bacon (!), beer (!!!)... really, the sky is the limit!
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| My kit, plus my wall charger and an extra battery. |
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| The lights differ on this brand. The ashy end has a central air intake, while the other is from the sides. |
We decided to try a few disposable electronic cigarettes before making the leap into kits. I found all menthol versions were way too sweet and I felt sweaty and sick after a few puffs. My husband's e-cigs would last a few hours, making it more expensive than smoking real cigarettes. We opted for $20 Cig2o kits, which came with a battery, two cartomizers, and a USB charger. The extra cartridges come in packs of 3 or 5. One cartridge claims to equal one to one and a half packs of traditional cigarettes. I find this to be mostly true, with one lasting exactly 24 hours for me (I smoked a pack a day.) I find both the tobacco and menthol flavors for this kit to be incredibly realistic and tasty. Towards the end of a cartridge's life you will get a weird taste and less vapor, but I don't find this to be too unpleasant. You get a great amount of vapor- you can even feel the moisture on your lips from time to time. With this particular kit, you can buy cartomizers from different brands. They have compatibility numbers to match, although we haven't yet tried any. I do suggest getting at least one extra battery to have on hand. A charge usually lasts at least 8 hours, but it never hurts to be prepared. I do recommend the kits over disposables because you get a more realistic taste, a higher quality vapor, the cartridges last longer, and you really aren't saving any significant amount of money.
What is my final opinion on e-cigs? I FREAKING LOVE IT. We will never, ever, EVER go back to traditional cigarettes. I did smoke a few real ones after switching and found it to be utterly disgusting. There are NO withdrawals; you can barely tell you aren't smoking the real deal. I have endless energy and can tell a huge difference in my endurance level during my workouts. I breathe, smell, and sleep better. My house is cleaner. There is no ash or smoky smell. I truly cannot stress the change my body has made. Weight comes off easier. My skin and hair look fantastic. My nails aren't brittle. I can even wear my contacts again because the smoke doesn't dry them out. I do try to keep up with my smoking routines and step outside to "smoke" at bars and restaurants, but you really don't have to in most establishments. The biggest improvement, however, has been on our bank account. We were spending $300+ a month on cigarettes. It makes me sick to my stomach to even think about how much money we threw away on something so horrible and useless. That's almost $4,000 a year! We now spend $75 a month and that is even dwindling down. The great thing about these is, the longer you smoke them, the less you seem to crave smoking. Think about it- you light a cigarette and usually smoke the whole thing, thus upping your tolerance. With this, you take a puff here and there and miss it less and less. You can also control your nicotine intake. The cartomizers come in 24mg, 18mg, 8mg, and 0mg. Right now we are on 18mg and working our way down to zero. While the jury is still out on how healthy these really are, they are a helluva lot healthier than cigarettes. If you're in the same shoes we were, I cannot recommend these enough.
