CONTRIBUTED BY ANONYMOUS 

How do you break a 40-a-day smoking habit? This Dive Instructor, depending on her lungs for her livelihood, has had to search for a solution. She’s found something that’s working…

My e-GoT e-cigarette

I’ve been smoking for 25 years – and, for most of it, I’ve been smoking 40 a day. My addiction was to the point that I wouldn’t even be able to get a shower in the morning without a smoke first. You can imagine that this is not the best habit for a Dive Instructor! I rely on my lungs for my living and realised that I needed to make a change.

I’ve tried other things, but none of them worked. The gum was a joke! Neither did the patch work for me! It just didn’t give me enough of a nicotine kick and, to be honest, I enjoy the action with my hands. With the patch, there’s none of that. I needed something that would keep me still enjoying the motion of enjoying a cigarette.

A friend mentioned e-cigarettes. I had tried pretty much everything else, so I figured I’d might as well try that as well. I had nothing to lose, apart from a few BAHT, so I did a bit of research and am proud to say that I’ve found something that’s reduced my smoking to the point that I can now, after only seven weeks, go more than three hours before I even think of wanting a smoke! In 25 years, this has never happened!

What I bought

I’m not suggesting anyone else try this, and I’m not suggesting this will work for anyone else, but I’m sharing this because it’s working for me. I wanted to reduce my smoking and I’ve finally found something that is working quickly and more dramatically than I’d ever hoped! I don’t want to quit smoking entirely; I enjoy it. But I want to reduce it significantly – and this is working.

There are loads of different e-cigarettes on the market and it’s illegal to buy them in some countries.  It’s not illegal to own them though. I live in Thailand and it’s illegal to buy them here so I get mine online from Malaysia at a website called VapeBrothers.com. I got two cigarettes in my pack, two batteries, a wall charger, USB charger, and one bottle of e-liquid, which lasts me a week. I don’t know everything that’s in the e-liquid, but it’s basically clear and yellow. It’s got nicotine in it, but that’s all I know.

The two chargers that came with it

The e-cigarette works by heating up the e-liquid, which soaks up the wick. It actually makes smoke that you can exhale, like a real cigarette, but it doesn’t smell, which I love! Lots of places even let you smoke them in non-smoking areas because of that.

I know some people argue that the e-liquids are actually more toxic than normal cigarettes. That might be true, I don’t know. But the thing those people don’t mention is that when you have a cigarette, you feel compelled to smoke the whole thing. With this, I can have a couple of drags and then I turn it off. I now only have about three drags at a time instead of the 20 or 30 I used to have – and I’m going hours between drags now. Because of this, I end up smoking significantly less!

The e-liquid goes in the clear area

I don’t know if this is healthier. I only know that I feel better and my friends have said I’m looking younger. The other thing that’s quite fun about these is that I can get different flavours of liquid, so I sometimes mix it up with apple, cherry, bubble gum, or menthol. It’s also much cheaper than cigarettes! I paid 1350 BAHT (convert) for the package I got and another 100-200 BAHT for my e-liquid. It ships in a couple of days and does both 110/220 power so I can take it anywhere.

At six weeks in, I was desperately craving a normal cigarette. I actually gave in – but only once. The craving lasted 3-4 days but has now disappeared entirely again and I’m still happily smoking just a few drags every few hours, rather than the two cigarettes an hour I used to smoke! Who knows, there may come a time when I’m happy to give it up entirely, but for now I’m just happy that I’m making great strides in the right direction.

FURTHER DETAILS

• Contributed by:  Anonymous (via personal interview on Koh Phangan, Thailand)
• Interview date:  July 5, 2013
• Written, formatted and edited by:  Krista Beauvais
• Photo:  first photo courtesy of Krista Beauvais; others from VapeBrothers.com
• Recommended website:  VapeBrothers.com