Vaping, smoking, and giving up life's little comforts

Who would have thought it, Facebook, once a place to stalk an ex or ‘Poke’ (without the mess or health implications) in now an oracle of information and current affairs After scrolling through hard hitting articles such as ‘How to get an ex and ‘The quickest way to get abs’ I was pleasantly surprised to come across this entertaining blog. A smoker myself for 15 years, I found myself reminiscing and asking the question; what comfort have I substituted for smoking?!

From an early age we develop rituals, whether it be conventional routines like brushing our teeth, family traditions or unusual habits that that are part of our individuality, they all eventually define who we are. As we grow older we learn to adapt and change to fit in with society’s expectations but some things are just too hard to shake off. From the age of two my best friend was yellow with brown spots…..my beloved ‘Spot the Dog’!! Poor spot was buried, bathed, battered and often had to endure a hot wash. I depended on him to sleep at night and he was a source of unconditional comfort for me. Over time is became clear that it was no longer socially expectable for someone my age to sleep with a soft toy and before I ventured into adult relationships……spot had to go!

Now such a life changing event had to be approached with caution and planning! Spot spent the first couple of night on the bedside table, close enough to see but demoted from the comfort of the bed. Gradually this progressed to a bookshelf and now at I can proudly say at the age of 30 Spot is living a happy yet independent life…..in the loft! J Now I know you must be thinking ‘what the hell is this crazy blogger lady taking about!!’ and what is the relevance between a soft toy and a vapour article, but my point is that letting go of life’s little comforts isn’t easy and just like saying goodbye to my favourite toy; smoking had subconsciously become my adult comforter.

On one hand I could think of nothing more satisfying than relaxing after a stressful week at work with a cigarette and glass of wine but on the other hand I was faced with the rising cigarette prices in the UK and the knowledge that the 2007 UK smoking ban was slowing making smoking more socially unacceptable so I knew I had to quit. Over the years I have tried every method going, patches, Hypnotherapy, cold turkey and so on. My constant battle with quitting was knocking my confidence and motivation until I was introduced to ‘vaping’.

A friend of mine had been an extremely heavy smoker for years and with the help of these electronic devises she had managed to go over 4 months without smoking. I knew if she could do it then as a mild smoker it was worth try. I visited the ‘I love vapour’ website and was shocked by the variety available. I picked my vaporising devise and a selection of flavours and strengths to try.

I decided to start off with a high dose of nicotine and then gradually reduce this. This so far has worked extremely well for me and my end goal is to work towards a 0% juice. I do sometimes wonder if it’s healthy to substituted one comfort for another, but you know what, saying goodbye to life’s little comforts takes little steps and if I can gradually ease myself off with a healthier , more cost effective way………then vaporing is one comfort I’m happy not to grow out of! November 5, 2013