TheAccidentalQuitter
I became “the accidental quitter” about three weeks ago when I switched from smoking Newport cigarettes to a menthol nicotine brand e-cigarette. I’ve been smoking my entire life, and I do mean all of it, I been inhaling cigarette smoke since I was a fetus. I started buying cigarettes at 15 and never once quit; yes, I cut back but never really quit. My brain has been using nicotine from the time my the first brain cell formed some 47 years ago. I’ll turn 46 fall 2011.
When I say accidental quitter, I don’t just mean I quit lighting up, I mean I’m completely off nicotine and not using an e-cigarette anymore. I stopped using the e-cigarette before the end of my second week.
Here’s how this all started:
I got the e-cigarette with no real plans of quitting, I just got tired of being a slave to the non-smoking laws and all the hassle that accompanies being a smoker, especially a traveling smoker. I’ll be in Europe for two weeks this summer with my family and the last thing I wanted to do was worry and stress about where I could light up and the e-cigarette seemed the prefect answer.
I found a great e-cigarette site with good reviews. My sister’s husband had used the site too. I bought the deluxe starter kit with two batteries, three different chargers, a month’s supply of menthol nicotine cartages, and setup an auto home delivery (cost me about 180 dollars total). I got my kit on a Wednesday, smoked my last tobacco cigarette that night and planned a fresh start using e-cigarettes only that very next day.
My life had already changed by day four on the e-cigarette. I was experiencing nicotine withdraws, cravings, anger, and coughing, but I also felt better, so I decided to read a quit smoking site and realized I was in the midst of ending my nicotine habit. By day 11, I thought, “Let’s see how I’ll feel if I stop the e-cigarette altogether,” and to my amazement I felt the same without it. On day 17, I saw my doctor because my cravings were pretty much the same then as they were on day 7. He told me he could already see health changes and explained that with the type of smoker I was, the cravings will take a little longer to subside.
So that’s my story, after 47 years and with no plans of quitting, I became the “the Accidental Quitter.”
