This is my story about how I switched from a tobacco cigarette to e-cig and how it has benefited me. I started smoking cigarettes at the age of 16 and I have been smoking for over 10 years. I was not a heavy smoker but I was smoking at least 4 to 5 packs a week of Marlboro Reds. I smoked cigarettes because most of my friends were smokers so it got me hooked. It would have been hard for me to quit anyways since I was always around smokers. Tobacco helped me find something to do when I was bored, it helped me release some stress when I was having anxiety, and it helped me focus when I had to get shit done. I don’t know if this is a proven fact or if it is all in my mind, but lighting up a cigarette and puffing away felt good to me. I could not go a day without a cigarette.

I never have any intentions to quit cigarettes; I was planning to keep smoking until who knows when. One of my coworker, Stewart, was a chain smoker and smoked for I would say over 15 years. One day, he started having issues with his breathing and started getting sick very easily. So he decided to see a doctor and gotten back some test results. The doctor was telling him his heart and lung is in very poor condition. Rating of 10, his doctor stated his lung was a 2, which clearly is not good. The doctor told him he needed to stop smoking instantly or he could very well die soon. Stewart was now in a bad situation, he did not know how he was going to quit cigarettes cold turkey after constantly smoking for over 15 years. The habit was too strong on his mind. He knew he couldn’t actually quit right away so he tried using the nicotine patch after a week or two, but he knew clearly that the patch did not work for him. So after researching for ways to quit, he found something called e-cigarettes around the time of winter 2012.

In my mind, I knew cigarettes was a problem in my life, it lowered my performance in any physical activities. My grasp of air did not last very long; it greatly impacted me when I played basketball and snowboard. I knew cigarettes were the issues when I couldn’t hang with my friends that did not smoke. I constantly had to stop what I was doing to catch some air, which felt horrible because I couldn’t give it my all. But that did not stop me from smoking because I just needed the nicotine to get on with my daily life.

So one day, Stewart came to work with an e-cigarette, a standard eGo-T battery with a CE clearomizer, not those pre-filled e-cigarettes (cigalike). I was very curious on what he was puffing on so he was explaining to me what it was. At that time, I knew what an e-cigarette was, however, I always thought it looked like a regular cigarette, those pre-filled e-cigs. So I was kind of curious on why this e-cig looked so different, but still in the back of my mind, I’m like this crap is nothing like a real cigarette and probably feels nothing like a cigarette. Stewart started explaining to me how it worked and offered to let me try it out. After the first few puffs, I started coughing, but I was thinking wow, this taste very good. I kept puffing the e-cig and started getting used to how to hit it. I inhaled it like a cigarette and amazingly, it felt great. I felt the throat hit and the effects of the nicotine. It still did not change my mind to quitting cigarettes just yet because the habit was too strong.

Every day when I was on a break smoking a cigarette, while Stewart was puffing on his vape, I just could not resist asking him if I could take a couple puffs off his e-cig. After doing so, I started to notice how nasty cigarettes tasted compared to puffing on an eGo-T vape with apple flavor 10mg e-liquid. I knew I had to get one soon, still not deciding to quit cigarettes just yet. So I started searching up online for a device, and I finally found a device called the eGo-V (variable voltage battery). I bought a CE4 clearomizer tank with it and went to a local brick and mortar store for my e-liquid. I decided to go with peach flavor 18mg nicotine level since I like to smoke Marlboro Reds, which were pretty strong compared to most cigarettes. After getting my device and e-liquid, I just could not stop puffing on the e-cig while still smoking cigarettes. I was puffing the e-cig so much that I kept getting light headed but that help me slow down the cigarettes. The tobacco cigarettes started to taste worst and worst for me, where I started to barely smoke the cigarette. I cut down from 4-5 packs to 2-3 packs a week.

After a month of two of vaping and smoking cigarettes, I finally decided it is time to quit cigarettes. I thought about what Stewart dealt with and I did not want stress about worrying about my health more just to get my nicotine in when I could do it with an e-cig. Even though, there was not any true research if an e-cig is safer than cigarettes. But based on my common sense, I knew e-cig were harmful but not as close to being as damaging as cigarettes. Cigarettes use fire and combustion, which releases a bunch of chemicals where vaping consist of vapor. Vapor is much thinner than smoke so I know the thicker the smoke, the more likely it produces more toxic chemicals. I knew that e-cigs did not contain tar, and tar is a killer to the body.

It has been over 2 years since I started vaping and I still vape to this moment and surely it has benefited my health. Well, I wouldn’t say benefited my health, but it is less damaging to my health. I notice that I am able to breathe better and when I play any sports, I do not need to catch air as much I did before. But I am not going to lie; I sometimes sneak a cigarette here and there when I am drinking since I am already poisoning my body with alcohol. Now that smoking tobacco cigarettes are out of my daily life, I can clearly see my health improving especially my oxygen tank. With all the new technology coming out, vaping has clearly improved since when I first started. I have lowered my nicotine level from 18mg to 5mg, which is better for my heart. I cannot smoke cigarettes and drink water because it left a nasty taste in my mouth whereas when I vape, I drank a lot of water because vaping usually left the mouth very dry. Drinking water is good for the body so I could say e-cig benefited my body in some way. One day I hope I would be able to quit e-cig also and stay nicotine free.