10 Real Powerful Vaping Stories from our customers

I used to smoke almost 2.5 packs of cigarettes a day for 20 years. I had asthma which made smoking a hard thing to do plus a stupid thing to do. I got to the point where I was spending alot of time in the hospital for asthma flare ups. I just could not stop smoking. I even got to the point where I had to use my inhaler just to get my breat to smoke another cigarette. Then my son was born and he spent a lot of his early childhood in the hospital because I smoked around him. Even going outside to smoke still made him sick and now he has asthma also. Even listening to doctors tell me smoking was making him sick it was so hard to stop. Then I found vaping. Vaping has literally did a 180 on me and my families lives. I have only been vaping for 3 years this October but I do not use an inhaler anymore nor do I have any wheezing in my chest. My son has not had to be hospitalized for his asthma either nor has he had to use an inhaler. He is now 10 and loves that his dad made the smart decision to stop smoking. Flavors are definitely important in vaping. When i first started vaping, I bought a ry4 eliquid at 6mg of nicotine which did have a tobacco flavor mixed in with other flavors but I just kept vaping and smoking at the same time so then I jumped up to 12mg of nicotine with the cinnamon roll flavor eliquid and now I’m vaping fried ice cream at 3mg of nicotine. Vaping gave me the confidence I needed to get those cigarettes and I love it.

I am 42 years old, and I started smoking when I was 20 years old. I tried everything over the years to quit, including patches, Inhailors, Gum, Wellbutrin, Chantix, Cold turkey, and other things, but nothing helped! I thought I would die with a cigarette in my hand! As of now, my Husband and I are both now smoke free 8 months and 16 days. Vaping, especially the flavors, has litterally saved our lives! I went from constant bouts of bronchitis, developed asthma, and often wheezed. Since quitting smoking, and starting vaping, I no longer have to use inhalers, and have not had any more health issues. I can now breathe again, and my husband no longer wheezes either, and we both feel so much better! Vaping especially flavors has literally saved our lives.

My message isn’t much different except for the fact cigarettes gave me COPD and was told it was either quitting or end up attached to a air tube. I got a hold of Florida’s quit smoking site a ordered the patch. I was still jittery and my brother suggested Vaping. Went to a vape store and by the time in got to stage 2 I was just Vaping. Vaping saved my life and enjoy it so it’s a win win. August was 2 years and I feel so much healthier, thank you vape stops.

I was a two pack a day smoker, often times I smoked even more. I’m not even sure how many years I was a smoker, but it was a long time. I tried quitting several times with no luck. My son convinced me to give vaping a try as it had helped him quit smoking. Amazingly once I started vaping, it was actually easy to quit. Seriously, it was easy. And it wasn’t just me and my son who were able to quit. I have 5 different friends that saw how easily I was able to quit, so they started vaping too. And all 5 were able to give up cigarettes. That’s amazing to me, that in total, 7 of us were able to quit smoking when we’d all failed with every other stop smoking method. Sure it’s a small sample size, but still, that’s a 100% success rate when it comes to quitting tobacco. That’s 7 people that might owe their lives to vaping. It would be criminal to ban the only method that I have ever seen to be effective. I know they aren’t allowed to market vapes as a method to stop smoking, and that’s really a shame. It could save so many lives, because it sure is effective. If you smoke, and don’t think you can quit….try vaping.

In my experience, the hardest thing about vaping was finding a juice that I could enjoy for any length of time. I really envy people that like a lot of flavors. I’ve tried a lot of flavors, and only found two that I use regularly. I don’t know if that’s normal or not, but I’m just being honest about my experience. My friends didn’t seem to be nearly as picky as I am about flavors. I don’t know how many sample bottles, and full size bottles that I bought because they sounded great, and tasted great at first. But I’d get sick of them after a while. But once you find your favorite flavor, you’ll never want to smoke again.

Oh, I almost forgot, this was very important to my success: When I first tried vaping, naturally I’d hit the vape like a cigarette. That’s called MTL, or mouth to lung vaping. That seemed natural to me, because it was how I smoked a cigarette. But with a vape, I’d cough every time. I almost gave up, because I just couldn’t vape without coughing. But watching people do vape reviews on Youtube, I’d see them taking huge hits, just straight into their lungs. That’s called Direct to Lung vaping. They didn’t pull it into their mouth, and then inhale it, like you’d do with a cigarette. I was really afraid to try Direct to Lung vaping, because I was afraid it would make me cough up a lung. Luckily, before I gave up on vaping entirely, I decided I had nothing to lose, so I gave Direct to Lung vaping a try. It still seems counter intuitive to me, but when I vape Direct to Lung, I did not cough! I still can’t understand why. I just know that I can inhale a huge hit straight into my lungs with no discomfort whatsoever, but if I vape like I’d smoke a cigarette (MTL style), I cough every time. I don’t understand why this is, but that’s how it works for me. It was scary the first time too, I figured I’d cough up a lung, but surprisingly, it worked. Once again, I don’t know if this is normal, or just how it was for me. But it may help someone who is trying to vape for the first time.

Disclaimer: All of the people I mentioned use a normal box mod, with a sub ohm tank. I have zero experience with those new pod things, or nic salts. I’m still not even sure what nic salts are, to be honest. I stick to what I like and know.

Sorry to have rambled on for so long, but I’m really passionate about vaping, and if I can help anyone quit smoking cigarettes, it’s worth it.

I’ve been vaping since early November, 2012 I started because I developed a consistent hack that would not go away. First I tried 2 brands of cigalikes (the ones that are shaped like and look like a cigarette) to see if vaping would be remotely satisfying. It was, remotely, but the hack was gone on the 2nd day. So I quickly moved up the ladder in search of something to help me quit smoking.

My next e-cig still looked like a cigarette, but had a refillable mouthpiece and was said to last a whole day. It didn’t last for more than a few puffs before needing to be refilled again, so I returned it and got a Joyetech eGo-T. Actually two of them, so I could vape one while the other was charging. Did the same thing with the cigalikes. I was able to cut down on smoking a little more with each new device, but still could not quit smoking with the tobacco flavored e-liquids that were available.

My next move was to a single, removable 18650 battery powered device called the Joyetech eVic. It offered Variable Voltage and Variable Wattage, and the battery was recharged through a USB port on the Mod (like everything was back then). I bought a Vision Vivi Nova 3ml refillable tank for it.

This was in January, 2013, when I also started making my own Unflavored 100% VG e-liquid with supplies that I bought from the same store as the eVic. I bought a liter Unflavored USP Vegetable Glycerin (VG) and a liter of 36mg/ml nicotine in VG, and mixed them half and half to make Unflavored 100% VG 18mg/ml nicotine e-liquid (juice). That concentration of nicotine was used by many who were new to vaping at the time because e-cigs were much less efficient back then. Many bought premixed 24mg/ml Flavored nicotine e-liquids, because they were Heavy Smokers of higher nicotine cigarettes than I smoked.

I cut down on smoking even more with this setup, but still could not quit smoking.

I was only able to quit smoking (after 25 cumulative years of smoking) 6 months after I started vaping, in late March, when I found a Flavored premixed juice, Cinnamon Red Hots (CRH), which was the 1st Flavor I ever tried (other than tobacco). I liked it enough to be able cut down on smoking greatly. And then, a combination of that Flavored e-liquid in a Glass Tubed Atomizer, which I found shortly after finding CRH, because Plastic taints the flavor of nearly every juice, and this combination was what finally actually helped me to quit smoking in late March.

Yes, a Candy Flavor for a now 64 year old man. Adults like Candy Flavors, too! And we NEED them! I’m vaping a 100% VG DIY York Peppermint Patty now. Flavors in general are Very Important to established vapers, and are Crucial for current smokers who may turn to e-cigarettes as a Safer Alternative to smoking.

I feel that this Flavor Ban is based on Totally Preposterous Lies and Misinformation! And for it to come on the heels of the recent tragic deaths of 6 individuals, even though there’s enough evidence to show that these deaths were due to Illegal Bootleg THC Vaporizers that had a Vitamin E Acetate used as a Replacement Thickener, and that the Inhaled Oil/Grease from it lined the lungs of these kids and killed them, is even more sickening to me than the deaths.

These kids probably also used cheap, knock-off, no-name brands of battery devices, which probably aren’t safe either, to power those Illegal Bootleg THC Atomizers, because they were Both Cheaper than the real thing! These deaths were sad enough, but Illegal THC, and THC in any form, has Nothing to do with the way that the Vast Majority of Responsible Adult American Vapers use e-cigarettes. And extending the, albeit Tragic, use of Illegal Bootleg THC onto e-cigarettes In General is Criminal!, to say the least.

In my view, of course it’s mostly kids who were affected by the Illegal Bootleg THC Cartridge illnesses and deaths, because they don’t have the money to buy the Legalized E-Cannabis THC products that have never caused a reported issue! And neither have E-Cigarettes, until being associated with Illegal THC Atomizers!!!, and Blamed for everything that’s wrong with the world. But did anyone go after the Makers of these Illegal THC products? Well, maybe by now, but E-Cigarettes In General were targeted by banning our Flavors. Did anyone target the Legal E-Cannabis Industry, which set the Precedent and gave the Impetuous for these Illegal THC Cartridges in the first place? No, E-Cigarettes In General were targeted. I am Outraged!!!

It’s up to the Parents now, but they aren’t really being responsible either. For example: A man bought an e-cig kit for his son, and then turned around and sued the company when his boy became addicted to nicotine. But where was his Responsibility for His part in the matter? That was not taken into consideration. Parents these days are afraid to discipline their kids, or say No, or even correct their kids, but they are more than willing to shift the blame, and even sue someone else, if they can afford it.

No responsible person wants to see kids get an e-cig for nicotine (flavored or not), or a cannabis atomizer of any kind, but the E-Cannabis Industry isn’t being held responsible for that part of it, and banning flavors won’t actually help anyone or any kind of business. What it WILL do is put many e-cig shops out of business (way to go, Mr. Republican!), and it will only turn the kids back to cigarettes, which are at least 100 times more dangerous than e-cigs (flavored or not), which are proven to be 95% safer than combustible cigarettes. And turning these kids back to smoking will ultimately turn each of them into 1 of the 10,000 people who die each day from smoking.

Kids have always been able to get cigarettes somehow. They’re getting e-cigs somehow anyway. And banning e-cig flavors will mostly only hurt the 13 Million responsible adults who have been vaping nicotine e-liquids for years, and give them no other alternative for the nicotine they need but to go back to cigarettes, which will surely ultimately kill them. I say “go back to” because other smoking cessation products don’t work. They didn’t work for me! And it will also basically damn any current smokers by allowing them no safer alternative than cigarettes.

E-Cigarettes are about Harm Reduction. We aren’t trying to say they are Safe. They are a Safer Alternative to smoking by 95%, and that’s been proven time and time again. Why not consider the studies that have been made by Independent labs and practitioners, like Dr. Farsalinos for one; a Greek Cardiac Surgeon? But No, it’s going to take someone like the VTA to organize and present the facts in a way the our public officials can understand and accept, when you could have educated yourselves, like we have.

Banning Flavors will basically force nearly everyone who still smokes, but might want to try an e-cig to quit smoking, like I did, to have nothing but cigarettes left. Either that or Snuff and Chewing tobacco. Yeah, let’s be OK with Lung, Nasal, and Throat cancers. Having only Tobacco flavors to chose from is Absolutely Not Enough!!! And for these kids (who will get their hands on cigarettes somehow anyway), it will leave them with nothing to turn to but cigarettes again. If a kid is going to use nicotine, which many of them will anyway, no matter what you do, would you rather that they smoke cigarettes? Really?

It’s all about Pier Pressure for most kids. And if they’re going to do it, which they will anyway, personally, I would much rather see them vape than smoke. At least they’d be getting nicotine in a much safer form. Make no mistake, I am not advocating it, but IF they are going to do it, which they will, an e-cig is a much safer way to do it. And it’s no easier for them to find an e-cig than cigarettes!!!

Moving on… To address the stated supposed issue of e-cigs being a nicotine launch point for kids that will make them turn to cigarettes after trying an e-cig. I want you to know how utterly ridiculous the concept behind a statement like that is, and what a confoundingly stupid position it is to take against vaping, coming from a past smoker’s point of view, and one who successfully got off of cigarettes through vaping.

Cigarettes taste horribly nasty, no matter which brand you may want to talk about, and whether menthol or regular cigarettes are being considered for such a position. They all taste extremely nasty! Not to mention the well-known and long established related illnesses and deaths due to smoking.

If kids are turning to e-cigs, it’s to get away from the nasty smell and taste of cigarettes, and not to eventually find themselves smoking cigarettes after trying an e-cig, ever! They won’t do it because e-cigs just don’t taste bad. In fact, they taste good! But take away our flavors, and then they might just do that.

If E-Cig Tobacco flavors are all there is to select from, then why would the kids not just smoke cigarettes? OK, again, that’s because cigarettes taste horrible, and don’t forget about the way they make you smell. They are both atrocious!

And where is the incentive to go to cigarettes after e-cigs? There is none, period! Aside from the nasty taste and smell of cigarettes, this is because e-cigs are cheaper to keep using, once you already have one, and they don’t taste nasty at all. This argument offers no sound reasoning behind it, and there is nothing that I can see, as a Vaper, that supports it in the least.

And like I said before, kids are going to find, obtain, and use what they want, be it e-cigs or cigarettes, or whatever else you may want to consider an issue, no matter what you do. And take away e-cig flavors, leaving nothing but tobacco flavors behind, and the kids still won’t stop vaping. They’ll simply use the tobacco flavors, or get the flavors that they prefer from illicit sources, either online or where ever they become available.

Haven’t you learned anything from past experiences? Bans and Prohibitions don’t work. Not in the least. All they actually do is put good people out of business, make the products cost more, and maybe make them a little harder to find, at least at first, until they immerge in full force elsewhere. And a huge issue with underground/black market products was made undeniably clear by those Illegal Bootleg THC Cartridges. Not to mention the lost revenue from all the almost 14,000 businesses that most of which will surely close, and their 87,000+ employees who will lose their jobs because of that. The American E-Cig Industry has been self-regulating, both products and marketing, since the FDA submitted its proposed guidelines, but take away those established, responsible businesses, and therefore their Distributors and Manufacturers, then anyone with the time and money to do so can start making and selling e-liquids that could be nearly as dangerous as those THC Cartridges. Making the normal nicotine e-liquids that we use is probably much easier to do than THC e-liquids.

What is the problem with e-cigs in America anyway? Most of the rest of the world has embraced them, finding them much safer than smoking, and they are laughing at the USA for its corruption and stupidity on this supposed issue. Do you really want to condemn our youth, and much of 13 Million e-cig users while you’re at it, to a life of smoking cigarettes? Would you like to do America some actual good? Ban cigarettes instead. Think of the lives that would be saved. Think of the suffering and deaths, with suffering to both individuals and their families, due to well-known smoking issues that would never begin for our next generations in the first place. This has been said for years! At least those current smokers would have a safer alternative in e-cigs to turn to now.

So wake up American politicians. Get real about what you’re considering doing. Look at the well-established facts with regard to the relative safety of vaping compared to smoking. Educate yourselves beyond the misinformation, skewed supposed facts, and outright lies that you are being constantly fed by Big Tobacco, Big Pharma, Big E-Cannabis, HHS, PAVe and other “save the children” organizatiions, our Left-Wing-Controlled Media, people like Mitch Zeller, Matt Myers, and whatever/whomever else, and consider the people who voted you into office, who you are supposed to be serving. Do what’s best for the American public health concerns overall, and drop these crazy arguments and positions against vaping. They just can’t be substantiated in good consciousness, and especially not by educated vapers, like me.

A good start would be to leave our flavors alone, and tell the FDA, CDC, HHS, and other supposed to be health organizations to start working on the issues that really matter. Like finding a cure for cancer, instead of supporting Big Tobacco, and Big Pharma, because of all the money it makes from all the illnesses caused by Big Tobacco. Present organizations like PAVe, and other “save the children” organizations, with the actual, proven facts, and they will have to go away.

And don’t forget that 13 Million Vapers are watching, many of whom are regular Voters, and that I and am a Vaper who Votes regularly.

After 35 years of smoking a pack a day, a friend told me about a device that you charge via USB port…being a device and gadget freak, I checked it out. She saved my life that day. I started vaping on a friday, continued to vape all day on saturday and had 1 cigarette. The next day I again for whatever reason tried to smoke a cigarette, took 1 hit and felt terrible almost immediately and the smell nauseated me. I kept the half-smoked pack of cigarettes laying in plain sight for about 6 months but never wanted to touch them again. It’s now been 18 months and I have no desire to ever smoke a regular cigarette. When I quit, I was starting to seriously experience the ill effects of smoking. Since then, I experienced for the first time how much your body heals, your circulation improves, and you just feel completely different about life without cigarettes. It’s not the nicotine, it’s the smoke! They have been lying to us for decades about this. We have the right to our own lives.

I smoked for 30 years and I tried to quit for 15 years with no luck. I tried patches, gum, medicine from my doctor and even getting hypothesized and still couldn’t quit. Almost 2 years ago I learned about vaping and decided I would try it because I tried everything else and I have been smoke free ever since using flavors. I will never go back to smoking and you can’t silence us all. I VAPE AND I VOTE…#flavorssavedmylife

I started smoking cigarettes at 25 so I’m considered a late bloomer. At that time, I was smoking Newport menthol, then Marlboro lights then American Spirit. One of my older brothers died from lung cancer in 2009. We he died, it turned my world upside down. I knew I had to quit because I had a family to take care of but I couldn’t quit.
Fast forward 20 years to 2017 and now I’m 46, still smoking, still trying to quit. I had a coworker who was vaping at the time. He was using a Ego vape pen and it peeked my interest. He began to tell me how it works so the next day, I went to a smoke shop here in Hayward,Ca and bought my first setup, tried it for a day and hated it. The pen kept leaking ejuice so I stayed with the smokes. 2017 was a stressful year. Smoking only made it worse. I tried quitting again but because I was stressed out, I failed every time. Then life started to get a little better, I wasn’t stressing so much so I told myself that right now is the best moment to try and quit so I grabbed that old Ego vape pen, went to a different B&M, got thoroughly educated about vaping and how to take care of my pen. March 22, 2017 was the last day I smoked a cigarette and the first day I started vaping full time. I’ve been cigarette free ever since. Vaping not only saved my life but it also helped me to get my friends and family off of cigarettes.

My boyfriend smoked and started vaping after his little boy was born and is now on 0mg of nicotine and he used to smoke 2 packs a day!