Yesterday I was listening on the radio that a study conducted on the US concluded that only 10% of the people trying to quite smoking with e-cigarettes are successful. Considering how low this is, do you think this is an effective method or are there better ones?
I have been a smoker for many years and I have tried a lot of methods to quit smoking. I have tried e cigarettes, patches, etc. but it didn't work for me. What really made me stop was my pregnancy, the moment I knew that I was pregnant I know I had to stop. So I guess love and motivation can be a strong factor if you want to quit smoking. I never went back to the habit of smoking, I want to be healthy and be able to watch my children grow.
Good for you katharine and I agree. I don't mind if someone uses a e-cigarette to quit smoking as long as it works for them, but I think that what really works is will power, when we want to quit smoking we need to want it real hard for some reason, our health, being pregnant, something that really motivates us.
I have been seeing that same study quoted elsewhere and here are a couple points to keep in mind: 1. That is the same rate of people who end up quitting when they don't use e-cigs. As in, if there are 200 people trying to quit smoking....100 of them don't try e-cigs and 100 of them don't.... then 10 people from each group are going to end up successfully quitting. It comes down to motivation and determination most times. 2. Many people who use e-cigs aren't TRYING to quit smoking. They're switching over for health reasons or flavor choices or even just as non-smokers who now want use e-cigs because they enjoy them (even if they have never smoked regular cigarettes before).
Some friends managed to quit using e-cigarettes but I still think that cold turkey is the best method. If you try to quit, why use substitutes that can get you hooked themselves? Sure, it's cheaper to smoke e-cigarettes but I'm still unsure of the health damage they bring. Remember how cigarettes were considered healthy and were recommended by doctors or in cartoons? Well, it took a long while until we found about the side effects and I think this may apply to e-cigarettes too. Maybe they're harmful but we don't know it yet.
E-cigs still deliver nicotine to the body so that is probably a major reason why people aren't quitting after beginning the use of the e-cig. A potential problem with the study is that many people who are buying e-cigs aren't necessarily looking to quit smoking, so that is why they are not stopping their smoking. As the user above me said, the best way to quit an addiction is by going cold turkey. Unless you are very mentally strong, weening yourself off of smoking only makes it more difficult to quit.
You make a good point, I've never considered what was the percentage of smokers trying to quit that actually made it, possibly it's around that number you mention. Why do you say that e-cigs smokers aren't trying to quit?
And I've also heard that--despite the positive effect of 'not feeding the cancer-cells that are floating around in the body of almost-anyone over 30'--nicotine has been shown (by studies in California) to cause birth-defects.
Smoking is an addiction, so the change will start from your brain and your will, and an e-cig is just one of the tools to help you quit. My bro tried e-cigs too before but he came back to smoking cigarettes again. So based on what I have observed, e-cigs can't make the very addicted people to cigarettes quit.
As many of you I've seen some articles about e-cigs and quitting. It's up to the person whether they want to quit or not. No one need tell an adult how to live is my aspect of this whole matter. I'm a cigarette smoker and I really don't like that the world puts all the world's woe upon cigarette smoking. I think people who want to quit will quit in time and people who don't want to quit well it's their business. It's up to a person whether they want to smoke e-cigs or cigarettes a choice like eating french fries or not. I'm just tired of people meaning well, but forgetting that it's up to a person to make up their own minds to do for their lives.
I don't think that's entirely accurate as people have different tastes and habits and chances are the e-cigs they have been using might not have been powerful enough or like another poster has already mentioned, they might not even have been getting into it with the purpose of quitting entirely. I have a lot of friends who wanted to quit and were able to with a good device that offered enough boost in it that the vapor equaled the sensation you would get from cigarettes so it was much easier to switch, and I'd sooner believe those results, personally.
My husband used to be a chronic smoker and he had quit so many times. But the final blow came when he had a severe gastritis attack that made it difficult for him to breath. Scared of that condition, he prayed and promised God to quit. He was successful. But with the e-cig, I'm sure my husband wouldn't be able to quit if he had shifted from natural cigarettes to electronic. So I guess it is the will power that counts.
It's definitely an effective method and what have you go to lose; at the point of saturation of wanting to quit smoking, you have to try everything (therapy, nicotine patches, etc.) What's great about it is that it emulates the feeling of smoking, but without the negative effects and harmful substances in burning tobacco. There has been an increasing number of people "vaping" and it has helped some people quit actual smoking.
Opinions on this method are split! I've had friends successfully quit via e-cigs, only to go back to regular smoking shortly after! There have also been health risks linked to e-cigs in recent years, with findings claiming it could even be worse than smoking regular cigarettes. So as far as I know, e-cigs popularity plummeted for a time in the UK because of this. I don't live there anymore, so I don't know what the situation is now. I agree with the idea of just going cold turkey, which is probably not the easiest way to do it. I think it also needs to have clicked in the smoker's brain that they really want to quit, before they do it. Otherwise it doesn't matter what they do, they'll never succeed.
I am shocked that the percentage is so low. A big part of them pushing the whole electronic cigarette to people is by claiming that it will definitely help one to cut down on smoking analogue cigarettes or even quit. At the same time I am not shocked, because having done the whole E-cig thing myself, I can say that the urge to smoke normal cigarettes is still there. I guess it just depends upon the person.
I think they're a crutch for quitters. Another excuse. I was a smoker for soooo many years and ANYthing other than quitting was an excuse. All lies we tell ourselves. Addiction is a selfish, irrational beast. You won't fully quit until you really, truly want to quit. Not "I want to quit but it's sooooo good" or "sooooo hard" or "but but but" lol. When I quit, the difference was that I was fully ready. I was done with the smell and how it made me feel.. the judgement, the risks, my poor family watching me slowly killing myself. I was just done. It was hard, but that's what pushed me. Anything else would have been a big delay and made it even harder. To the person that says it's nobody's business... that's complete BS. I'm not one of "those" ex smokers.. but truly, nobody deserves to be affected by your addiction, and trust me, they are unless you're smoking in a windless expanse of land. Plus it hurts anyone who loves you and knows what you're doing to yourself. Otherwise I agree; smoke on.
I think that you have to really want to quit smoking in order for it to work, so just going onto the ecigs alone isn't something that will automatically mean that you're going to be able to quit for good. A lot of people won't manage to kick the habit entirely, but even if 10% of them do, I believe that it is very much a step in the right direction, which can only be a good thing.
@JosieP....I totally agree with you on everything you've said about quitting. I also wonder if these E-cigs encourage people to smoke more because unlike with the regular cig, when do you actually put it down? Because they're allowed indoors, I've seen my colleagues sitting at their desk, puffing away for what seems like hours hehe. I think they may be doing more harm than good, to be honest. I think as hard as it is, people should maybe try cold turkey. BTW kudos to you for having quit and stayed off smoking, a huge achievement!
Thank you so much! I'm very proud, actually.. even when I was ready I never thought I'd see a day without cravings, because almost everyone said it was the nature of the beast.. once a smoker, always a smoker. But I don't even crave now and I think, again, it's the fact that I was truly ready to get healthy and move on from that person I was. I don't like feeling powerless and smoking made me just that. I know me... I know addiction.. it doesn't go away as long as it's fed and habit feeds it. There is no fooling your body.. just yourself. I wish they wouldn't allow the e-cigs everywhere.. they're just making smoking popular again, imo.. but I'm against taking people's right's away and if it's healthier (I haven't looked into the health aspects), then so be it. As long as it's not affecting anyone else, I'm all for it
I agree with this point of view completely. There have been times whe I have wanted to quit smoking - truly wanted to - and it has been fairly easy for me to just stop cold turkey. I think that those who go the electronic cigarette route have only half accepted that they would like to quit or that they are going to quit. It is less of an immediate goal, and more of a desire?
