My e-Cigarette Experiences…

Posts Tagged ‘risks’

and for that my apologies.  Life and photography have been keeping me busy these days, and this blog has been sort of left alone for a while.  Add the fact that there’s been really very little to report.  My E9 is working, and the order that was returned by Customs is being refunded (slowly – but we’re getting there!), and life is overall pretty good at the moment.  I AM running out of supplies soon though, and I’m starting to look at other options for getting product into Canada that is more reliable, and less prone to Customs issues.  There are a couple of vendors north of the 49th, but I’ve still got to talk to them to see what possible issues, delays and other concerns may come up.  If you have any experience with any of the Canadian vendors, please don’t hesitate to comment or drop me a line.  I’d love to know others’ experiences.

Meanwhile, I hope that you are still vaping and not smoking!  And that you are ready for the nicer weather that is finally starting to show up…  at least in my part of the world.  Cheers to my global audience and thanks for the continued support.

I got my dreaded letter from Canada Customs on Friday letting me know that my latest order from my supplier has been rejected for import.  You read about it from time to time, and you place each order in the hopes that your small quantity will pass through un-noticed, but still there looms the ever present big-brother watching out for ‘your best interests’ with regards to health and happiness.  But the reality of the fact is that I would be MUCH happier if they let me make my own choices with regard to my health.  I know that there are needs for some items to be controlled and regulated, and as another blogger had noted a while ago my shipment has guaranteed the need for the agent that processed the shipment – at least for a while – so there is another positive in all of this, but it’s frustrating still that my shipment is not going to arrive.  Of course I saw it coming when my latest shipment was handed over to Customs on the 7th and just stayed there.

So now I get to test the suppliers delivery guarantee and see just how well that works.  And hopefully, I will find another option and be able to stock up again before I run out of supplies.  If you’re in Canada, you too will one day feel the same as I do today, but don’t lose hope.  Maybe one day – not too far in the future – we’ll see the e-cig being available right at the corner store.  Could happen!?

Vape-On!

Well the worst has happened.  A few weeks ago I lost my kit.  The little e-cig case (old style cigarette case) containing my e8, spare battery and a couple cartridges was left someplace and lost.  So I’ve fallen from vaping for a while and have been back on analogs while I hunted, called, and ordered a new kit.  Let me tell you this…  the negative impact of smoking ALMOST made me not do it.  I almost quite.  But since I’m vaping at the higher levels of nicotine still, my body craved badly what it was missing, and I tried a couple of alternatives that just didn’t make it for me.  Like so many times in the past.  So I bought analogs.  And I’ve been smoking.  I can also tell you that I NOTICED the differences between smoking and vaping in a matter of a few days.  The laboured breathing returned.  The stink in my car, my clothes and even in my office just from the residual smoke are already noticeable.  And the hit on my budget.

The good news is that my new kit arrives today or tomorrow at last, and I will be able to immediately return to the joys of vaping and get back on track to recovering from this most annoying habit.  I’ve got 2 chargers, 4 batteries and lots of cartridges coming this time so I’ll have the option of keeping a spare set in at least one alternate location and won’t be carrying my entire kit all in one case.  The message of course is to ensure that you keep at least one spare battery and supplies in a separate place so that if you DO lose your e-cig, you can continue to enjoy the pleasures of vaping while your replacements are shipping.  It does take a couple weeks to get supplies!

Can’t wait to return to vaping – and will have a review of the slightly larger E9 in a few days.

Vape On!

njw

It seems that there is a down side to the whole e-cig thing… for me anyway.  I’ve noticed that I am actually experiencing some weight gain.  Now…  before you run out and buy a pack of analogs keep reading!  In the past year and a bit, I’ve been able to restore myself to my target weight range, and this for the first time in nearly twenty years.  So I can’t say for sure that this weight gain is entirely due to the change in my smoking habits, but I have historically gained measurably when I’ve quit or tried to in the past.  So it’s a logical thing to assume that this gain is related.  But the other thing to note is that after a whole month away from tobacco, I’m usually somewhat heavier than I am this time, so the gain is not that severe.  In fact, so far, I’m only up ten pounds which is a great deal less than I’ve gained in the past.  So I’m going to take some measures to attempt to lower that weight gain and get back into the target range that I’ve set for myself… and lose that ten pounds again before this gets to be a bigger problem then it needs to be.  But I feel you need to know this part of my experience as well as the good stuff, so that you’re prepared if you’re still burning tobacco and thinking about going over to the e-cigs.

The action plan that I have at the moment is a short (5 day) juice fast to cleanse and purge the system and hopefully shift the scales back in my favour once again (pun intended).  For those of you that have made the switch, I’d be interested to know if you’ve also gained, and to what extent compared to your past experiences with other methods of tobacco reduction.

As always – there’s more coming soon so be sure to stay tuned.

Happy Vaping!

njw

I’ve got a day job that I’ve been on vacation from for a couple of weeks, so there are several people that have not seen me since the first few days that I’ve been vaping instead of smoking.  On my return to work this week, I’ve had a few of those people do a double take and tell me that I actually LOOK healthier!  Younger, and with better skin tone than when they saw me last – just a couple of weeks ago.  Now if that’s not a point in favour of kicking the tobacco habit and getting an e-cig kit, then I don’t know what is!  I really just wanted to share this one with you.  The other point of note here is that I have returned to work – and even after 2 full days of the increased stresses of the day job, I’m happy to report that I am still finding all of the satisfaction that I need from a few puffs of my E8, and have not reverted back to analogs.  It’s been twenty-five days now, and I’m just starting to work on the cartridges I ordered and received last week. 

On another note, I have decided that my next order will be an E9.  I think that the slightly larger batteries, and the larger cartomizers might make the entire experience that little bit better, and of course I will be reporting my comparison between the two different models once I have some time with them both.  The one point that I think will be of greatest interest to me is that the E9 cartridges are larger, and hold more juice, so only come 4 to a box rather than 5, but still equal about the same amount of vaping pleasure.  Fewer changes mean even more likely that I will get a full day or more out of each cartridge as I’m finding that I am using about one and a half cartridges per day on the E8.  The other thing I think I’ll like is that the E9 comes with a blue tip option that the E8 doesn’t offer.  I think that the blue tip will make my public use of the E-cig even more interesting to those around me rather than raising the odd concern with the orange tip.

As always… stay tuned for the latest reviews, thoughts and experiences, and of course GET YOUR E-CIG KIT ordered asap and get off those analogs that ARE killing you.

Happy Vaping!

As the three week mark approaches, I feel that the time is now for me to conduct a more complete review of the E8 model electronic cigarette starter kit that I ordered from e-cig.com.  After a lot of consideration of various models, and a number of false starts, I was finally able to get a product that sounded good in principle, and could actually deliver to my Canadian address.  I’m even happier to report that it looks like my second order will make it through Customs as well, having released this morning, and I expect it to arrive tomorrow (August 13).

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Well…  the trip to the asylum is seemingly shorter with each passing day.  I was reading some of the recent news and discussion around e-cigs and found a number of choice articles out there in the recent news.  One reports of legislature pendingthat will force e-cig users (vapers) to join analog smokers in designated smoking areas.  So…  it’s better for all parties if we take those of us that are trying to avoid tobacco smoke and put us in right back into the second hand smoke of a smoking pit?!  Or the article that reports that PayPal are dropping accounts of vendors that are selling e-cigs in the US.  Or my personal favourite - this one you just HAVE to read!  I don’t want you thinking I’m crazy when I tell you that seven of the loudest and most widely recognized anti-smoking associations are actually telling people to use analog tobacco cigarettes over e-cigs – even with clear evidence of the existence of 57 KNOWN DEADLY substances in tobacco smoke that ARE NOT FOUND in e-cigs!  But please… don’t take my word for it!

On the upside of this though, I did find an article that speaks in favour of the e-cig, and speaks of results of a small study into the effectiveness of e-cigs to quit smoking. At least there are some studies starting to show results out there, so there’s certainly hope that we’ll continue to see e-cigs grow in popularity.  Meanwhile – I KNOW they work and are healthier than analogs.  I’m vaping and I’m finding that I don’t get winded as quickly, and I still get my nicotine when I need it.  I feel great and I’m happy… what could be better!?

Reader Glenn has brought another blog to my attention, and most specifically an article that gives more information on the recent announcement by the FDA warning of the existence of nitrosamine in e-cigs.  Yes…  there is nitrosamine found in the e-cig cartridges tested by the FDA – but it’s the amount in comparison to other products that are currently approved and available for purchase that’s the interesting thing.  Read more here!

Well, the month of July 2009 is nearly over, and so is my first week of being tobacco free!  It’s been a very easy week, and I’ve had my E8 close at hand and ready for use at a moments notice.  The first week has taught me a few things that I will share with you in this post, so be sure to read the whole thing to ensure that you get the most benefit from my findings so far.  Also, I have an update from our friend Glenn.  You may recall he is the one that was waiting for his Blu order – and actually received it 10 days ago.  Well…  I received an email from Glenn this morning, and I’ll share some of his thoughts with you as well.  So…

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I was advised earlier today, and have just confirmed it, that the Blu e-cig products are no longer being shipped to Canada.  So…  after a three week wait (and if you’ve not noticed, they have extended their catch-up shutdown to August 1), and now this, it’s a REALLY good thing that I cancelled that order.  I’d have waited for more than a month and would just now be told that I can’t get the product, OR worse, I would have received my Blu kit and just found out that I couldn’t get more cartridges or parts from them.

Now… the question that remains is;  will I receive my other order?  Or will the Government that feels that Tobacco is safer force me to be unable to receive ANY e-cig product?  I see SOOO much potential for improvement in my life and health and overall well being by changing from tobacco to e-cigs, and am being told that I can’t.  Starting to smoke was my choice – EVEN WHEN WE WERE BEING TOLD IT WAS DEADLY!  So why are these any different?  Come on Health Canada!  If you want to see Product Safety sheets and such, I can send you to the links – just drop me a line and I’ll be glad to share.

Meanwhile… I’m hoping for some good news soon.  Fingers crossed… as they’ve been for four weeks!

njw