E-Cigarettes, being hailed as the smoker's smart choice

[MBob]

Your mind is the biggest obstacle to giving up any addiction. Physical addiction only lasts about 72 hours, after that the battle is psychological. You have an incredible number of triggers to overcome - coffee, alcohol, conversation, stress, etc. Any former smoker will tell you the desire to smoke never entirely goes away.

Most of what you said is true but I disagree with part of it. As a former pack a day smoker for three decades, including daily inhaled cigars for the last several years, I went cold turkey. My lungs seemed to boil, it felt like something was crawling around in there, for I don't remember how long, but it was longer than three days.
I can now tolerate smoke, I don't like it but I can tolerate it. I avoid it as much as I can, not because I fear being re-addicted but rather because it's unpleasant to say the least, and not good for my health.
I did not and do not miss holding cigarettes or putting things in my mouth. So everyone has a different set of problems to deal with in regard to quitting and I'm lucky I never had to deal with that.
The part I disagree with is that I'm a former addicted smoker and I have absolutely no desire to smoke. None whatsoever. So I think that part of your statement should be revised.

 

[Chronos]

I still have urges, even after 10 years without a cig. I view it as a choice. I choose not to smoke. The urge is merely a nuisance. It lessens over time, but, is never entirely conquered - IMO.

 

[MBob]

Please help me out, here, Chronos. I read your last statement and was saying to myself, "OK, that's him, I've had a different experience, no problem." But then I got to your "IMO" which, I guess in the, to me silly, world of texting, means "in my opinion" and that tells me that you think I'm either not the telling the truth or that I really am insensitive to what my body is trying to tell me. And that must apply to Pythagorean too because, as he said, he doesn't feel the urge anymore either. So which is it? Are we wrong about ourselves or are you just projecting your experience onto other people and calling it "universal" as in "any former smoker", despite evidence that indicates otherwise? Or did I just misunderstand you, in which case I apologize in advance. I'm just not certain what you're saying, so I'd appreciate some clarification. Thanks.

Quitting isn't easy, we all agree on that. I think we all have rather different experiences with it, and I'm sorry that you still feel urges. I swear, I don't. Apparently Pythagorean doesn't either. I can point to several friends of mine who used to smoke, some quite heavily, and they don't experience any desire to start up again, there's no longing in them. How do I know? We've talked about it. So I think for some people it is possible to quit smoking and, years down the road, have no urge or desire at all to go back to it. In fact, from my experience, that's true for most people who successfully quit.

 

[Chronos]

Your mind is your biggest enemy. It's a matter of foregoing immediate gratification for a long term goal.

 

[AlephZero]

So which is it? Are we wrong about ourselves or are you just projecting your experience onto other people and calling it "universal" as in "any former smoker", despite evidence that indicates otherwise?

I think you are reading too much into the "IMO". Outside of the general discussion forums on PF, the plural of "personal anecdote" is not "data". If you want to assert something that is not widely known (e.g. something not included in standard textbooks on the topic) is "true", you need to back up your assertion with a reference to an acceptable source, such as a paper published in a peer reviewed journal.

The general discussion forums are not so strict about that, but people who have been PF members for a long time often get into the habit of labeling their personal opinions as such with "IMO". It doesn't mean they think their personal opinion carries more weight than anybody else's.

 

[Pythagorean]

It also depends on how you define urge. There's always going to be a physiological response. But do you have the urge to pick up a cigarette and light it? I do get physical urges, but my mental reaction is repulsion.

All my bandmates smoke so I'm constantly being exposed to secondhand smoke, but I have no desire to pick up a cigarette and light it. It makes me think of cotton mouth and soar throats and that horrible musky stench.

 

[StatGuy2000]

I have never smoked in my life, but am always amazed at how so often we hear about giving up smoking as being about "will power", and yet you don't hear similar things about giving up cocaine, heroin, crystal meth, oxycontin, or any of the other "hard drugs". I find this odd given that nicotine has been demonstrated to be physically addictive and addiction should best be thought of as an illness.

 

[Pythagorean]

I still hear people associating willpower with hard drugs. But I don't see the medical perspective as contradicting with willpower. I just think, similar to how we don't shame people for having a weak immune system, we shouldn't shame people for having weak inhibition circuits because it's biological. So I agree, there are ways you can raise/abuse/teach children that will make them more or less likely to be able to inhibit impulsive and compulsive behaviors. So, to some degree, it's on the parents/society how people turn out.

 

[Borg]

Your mind is the biggest obstacle to giving up any addiction. Physical addiction only lasts about 72 hours, after that the battle is psychological. You have an incredible number of triggers to overcome - coffee, alcohol, conversation, stress, etc. Any former smoker will tell you the desire to smoke never entirely goes away.

I smoked for 16 years and quit 17 years ago. I agree that the psychological part is the hardest. About a week after I quit, I got in my car, drove to the store and was about to buy a pack before I realized what I was doing. However, I no longer have any desire to smoke.

 

[lisab]

My experience: I smoked as a teenager for about 5 years. I turned 50 a few months ago. I still get cravings regularly.

My strongest trigger: the smell of a freshly-struck match. And believe it or not, I will also swoon if I'm in stop-and-go traffic and the person in the car in front of me is smoking with their window down. Yes, I can smell it, and it can bring on a strong craving.

I realize these cravings are just part of my life now yet I will never smoke again, full stop.

 

[lendav_rott]

I smoked for about 5 years, prettty hardcore. Quit 3 months ago, haven't even had an itch for one. It was weird, at one point I lit one up, smoked some of it, then looked at it and threw it away, thought to myself "Ok, enough".

Although I don't agree with ecigs being any better than them regular ones. Yes, ok, no tar, but it's better to quit altogether and take up something like cycling :D

 

[B. Elliott]

Resurrecting and old thread, but just came across this study.Comparison of select analytes in aerosol from e-cigarettes with smoke from conventional cigarettes and with ambient air

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273230014002505

Highlights

•The e-cigarettes contained and delivered mostly glycerin and/or PG and water.
• Aerosol nicotine content was 85% lower than the cigarette smoke nicotine.
• The levels of HPHCs in aerosol were consistent with the air blanks (<2 μg/puff).
• Mainstream cigarette smoke HPHCs (∼3000 μg/puff) were 1500 times higher than e-cigarette HPHCs.
• No significant contribution of tested HPHC classes was found for the e-cigarettes.

 

[Steyn11]

Electronic cigarettes, marketed as safer than regular cigarettes, deliver a cocktail of toxic chemicals including carcinogens into the lungs.

 

[lisab]

Electronic cigarettes, marketed as safer than regular cigarettes, deliver a cocktail of toxic chemicals including carcinogens into the lungs.

Please provide a source.

Recreational inhalation of anything but ambient air probably isn't smart. And certainly, e-cigs can have deleterious effects on health. The question is, are they more harmful than conventional cigarettes.

 

[B. Elliott]

Lots of misinformation is being spread about e-cigarettes without any evidence to support the claims. The following is another actual legitimate study.http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/23/2/133

Levels of selected carcinogens and toxicants in vapour from electronic cigarettes
Abstract
Significance Electronic cigarettes, also known as e-cigarettes, are devices designed to imitate regular cigarettes and deliver nicotine via inhalation without combusting tobacco. They are purported to deliver nicotine without other toxicants and to be a safer alternative to regular cigarettes. However, little toxicity testing has been performed to evaluate the chemical nature of vapour generated from e–cigarettes. The aim of this study was to screen e-cigarette vapours for content of four groups of potentially toxic and carcinogenic compounds: carbonyls, volatile organic compounds, nitrosamines and heavy metals.

Results We found that the e-cigarette vapours contained some toxic substances. The levels of the toxicants were 9–450 times lower than in cigarette smoke and were, in many cases, comparable with trace amounts found in the reference product.

Conclusions Our findings are consistent with the idea that substituting tobacco cigarettes with e-cigarettes may substantially reduce exposure to selected tobacco-specific toxicants. E-cigarettes as a harm reduction strategy among smokers unwilling to quit, warrants further study.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

E-cigarette vapors, flavorings, trigger lung cell stress
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150206174840.htm

 

[B. Elliott]

Interesting, but as lisab mentioned, does that make it more harmful than regular cigarettes?