My Story
For nearly 34 years, I smoked cigarettes and sometimes cigars. I tried on several occasions to stop smoking but to no avail. As an aid, I tried every conceivable product on the market, including gum, patches, inhalers, nose spray and three years ago my doctor prescribed Chantix. That also failed and I refused to try other prescription remedies. As I do with most everything in my life, when I embark upon something new I conduct extensive research. Although too easily, I gave up once again, always telling myself the time wasn’t right. No method helped reduce the urge especially when drinking a cup of coffee, or going out with friends for a drink.
After two consecutive bouts with bronchial pneumonia in 2012, I was beginning to have difficulty breathing. When my doctor prescribed an inhaler and Advair to help me breathe better, I reluctantly filled the prescriptions. I knew my condition was only going to get worse. In late September 2012, I was in Deerfield Beach Florida spending a few days with my cousin. He was busy one evening so I made the one block walk to the beach that has numerous bars and restaurants in a two block area. I was to meet three friends. On the way to meet them I stopped in a drugstore and purchased a single pack of cigarettes. The price with tax was $6.95. Most states were beginning to increase cigarette taxes dramatically as a method to obtain revenue because they knew smokers are addicted to the nicotine and would buy them regardless of the cost. And they were right.
On the short walk to meet my friends, I mentally calculated the monthly cost of cigarettes. When I repeated the number mentally for the second time, my brain made me stop walking. Yes, I had calculated the cost before and always promised myself I would quit. But now coupled with my recent illnesses that were only going to get worse and also have additional costs, it was time for me to get more serious. A few minutes later, I saw two of my friend standing in the alley outside the bar and approached only to find one of them puffing on some weird contraption and teasingly bulling the aroma of hemp oil toward me. Another friend was blowing out smoke of what appeared to be a cigarette that contained no smoke. Both of these individuals had were heavy smokers for years.
They were describing their electric cigarettes to me when Greg, another friend appeared from the bar. He too was puffing on one of these devices. You too, I said. Tomorrow will be two months, since I smoked a cigarette, he proudly pronounced. And I started when I was 17, he added. He then pointed to Frank and said he quit over two weeks ago.
I pivoted toward my third friend David, and asked, what about you? I’m not ready to quit, he said, but I reduced the amount I smoked a day from two packs down to one pack. He went on to explain that half of the time he smoked each day was with electric cigarettes.
Five weeks later on October 26, 2012, I quit smoking by using electric cigarettes and haven’t smoked since. Currently, I am at the lowest level of nicotine. More on this continuing story will be posted next week. However, having participated in several trials of testing electric cigarettes, in my opinion the best one is V2cigs. Here is a link to obtain more information.
The easiest way to quit smoking
Part II
On a few occasions over the next week, Frank and I spoke regarding the research he conducted when he decided to quit smoking. He also had tried various methods including prescription medications. He indicated that he tried several different e-cig brands at various retail stores and suggested I do the same. He further recommended against using Blu e-cigs as they had the worst taste.
When I asked if he did any research on the Internet, he indicated a very little because he didn’t have the time. Over the next week, I conducted nearly 20 hours of research on the Internet and tried three different brands I purchased from various retail stores. I learned a lot from the research of what one should consider when purchasing an e-cig.
Most of what I learned is described in part three and four of this paper. The reader can also refer to the bottom of this report for links related to further information on e-cigs.
I thoroughly went through reviews on several different websites and made a list of 20 brands. In a form letter I emailed the 20 different companies requesting one or two samples of their menthol cigarette. I explained the attempt to utilize them in order to quit smoking. Four companies did not respond however, within three weeks I received 16 different samples. Of the four that did not respond, I never heard back from two and the other two indicated they would give me a 50% discount. Believe it or not, two with these four companies are no longer in business.
During the time I was waiting for the samples, I reviewed various sites, including one that addressed the subject of testing the cigarettes. Anyone pursuing this method to quit smoking should do the same. Just think of the challenge of sampling 16 different products and trying to decipher your top three or four candidates. It would be like testing 16 different tomato soup brands.
Again, this subject is more thoroughly described in part three and four and there are some key characteristics you should consider when attempting to determine which product to purchase. One principle which is understandable was to wait and conduct the testing of all of the brands at one time. This is not to say you cannot conduct several different tests but each one should include a sample of all brands being considered.
In the end, I narrowed the brands down to three although a fourth was close. These included V2-cigs, Green Smoke and South Beach. I emailed each company to tell them the process was undertaking and was interested in obtaining the largest discount possible in order to consider using their brand. Both V2 and South Beach gave me a 50% discount and through in some free products. Green Smoke on the other hand, gave me a 20% discount and no additional products. I made the purchase anyway because they had ranked first on three of the eighth separate tests I conducted. After two weeks, during which I did not spoke a single regular cigarette, I chose V2 and Green Smoke. They both slightly edged out South Beach and I could not select clear winner. After utilizing these two brands for approximately 4 months, I decided to utilize only the V2 brand. First, they were comparable in taste and performance Green Smoke and also 20% cheaper. They further had the best customer service.
In part three, I explain and provide a visible picture regarding the components of an electric cigarettes and how they function. In part four, I provide a comprehensive description on how you should make your selection and conduct your own personalized test.
V2 Cigarettes
Other Links