How vaping has changed my life

[SmokeyJoe]

G'day fellow vapers

I want i just start this thread where people can post how vaping has changed their life for the good, albeit health, financially (highly doubt this), personally etc.
With all the naysayers out there I thought it might be good to post some positive views, views from the users themselves.

So to start things off, I was a smoker for about 12 years, almost 2 packs a day, despite having severe asthma. My asthma was at times so bad that I had to be hospitalized, with the last time causing me to end up in ICU for 2 weeks and resulted in a very painful lung scraping.
After that lovely episode, I bought the first thing i could get my hands on, a Twisp, which was very new on the market at that time. So after thousands of rands on those crappy coils, twips liquids, replacement batteries, I came across Luke from VK Northcliff and never looked back.

Fast forward 3 years and my asthma is now completely under control, without the need to take any of my chronic asthma meds, all this running a twisted 0.4 ohm coil going through 15ml juice a day.

Yes although i traded one addiction for another, I'm more healthier, fitter (I can go to the gym now without suffering an attack), sleep better, and a bonus that i dont smell like a wet asstray

 

[RichJB]

I have had mixed results. The good:

* Less chest discomfort. Towards the end of smoking, I could only lie on one side while sleeping. Lying on the other felt uncomfortable, not pain as such but just a feeling that my breathing was too restricted. That hasn't vanished entirely but has got a lot better.
* CIRCULATION! This is often not mentioned as a benefit but has been the biggie for me. I am quite tall and have always had poor circulation. In winter, my hands are icy. I didn't shake hands with people in winter because of how shocked they looked when feeling how cold my hands were. In the last two winters of smoking, it got so bad that I started developing chillblains, itchy red bumps on my hands where the only solution was to soak the hands frequently in hot water. This last winter, I had nothing. My hands felt comfortable all winter and I could finally start shaking hands with people again.

The not so good:
* Energy, breathing, fitness. I expected a big improvement and there has been some but not much. Being a fiftysomething couch potato is largely responsible for that.
* Taste. The big disappointment. I stopped smoking for a period in the 1980s and was stunned at how good my food tasted. I expected the same thing now but it hasn't happened. My taste has improved slightly but not by half as much as I expected. I taste juices by the top mixers and I'm just not getting the subtleties outlined in the notes. That's a bummer but what can you do.

The in-between:
* Financial. I estimate that I can now vape for R200 a month. Smoking was costing me around R600 per month. That's a win but I should add that it's taken me about ten grand to get to the point where vaping costs R200 a month. I'll score in the longer term but it takes a while to amortise the costs of starting vaping. And then you also need to avoid FOMO as well, or you'll never break even. I'm now getting to the point where purchases are at least slowing down. It takes a LOT of discipline to see a top recipe and conclude "nope, I'm not buying the concentrates in this recipe because I don't need them so I'll live without it." But, at some point, it has to be done. I'm going to settle on about a hundred concentrates and just live with replenishing those. Subbing is not going to kill me.

 

[craigb]

I'm going to settle on about a hundred concentrates and just live with replenishing those. Subbing is not going to kill me.

Oh my word - here I'm thinking I'm big cheese with 50 items in my wish list. "Settling" for 100 concentrates - oi vey.

Back to the spirit of the thread
My purchasing has been more modest, I should break even this month, then go over again. Will probably leap frog like that every month for a little while until I fully break even sometime next year.

Smell - it's a pro but feels like a con sometimes - Smokers stink!! The pro side is I no longer smell like that.

Taste - I'm in my mid 30's and taste hasn't really improved. But I think I have a bit of a neanderthalic palate in any case.

The one set of stairs I take every day has become easier on my lungs, will have to report back after the next emergency drill/lift power outage to have definitive feedback.

It's also been an entertaining start to what could well become a life long hobby as well as a nicotine delivery method. I'm enjoying my opening foray into mixing and look forward to one day fiddling with RDA's, RBA's, RTA's and other TLA's.

 

[RichJB]

100 concentrates is a very modest sampling. Look at it this way: Flavour Art is considered the best value for money and most dependable flavour house. They do have some duds but most are well known - Pineapple, Green Tea, Guava, etc. Then you can safely leave out the esoterics like Black Pepper, Clove, Cucumber, Bergamot, etc, and then also most of the e-motions flavours as those are largely intended for standalone mixes and are less useful in recipes. Then you can bypass many of the tobaccos as well unless you're a tobacco maven.

But even with that, my final FA list would probably include 7 Leaves, Almond, Anise, both Apples, Apple Pie, Apricot, Banana, Bilberry, Blackcurrant, Brandy, Burley, Butterscotch, Caramel, Cardamom, Catalan Cream, Cocoa & Chocolate, Cinnamon, Coconut, Cola, Dark Bean Espresso, Cookie, Cuban Supreme, Custard, Desert Ship, Fresh Cream, Forrest Mix, Glory, Hazelnut, Irish Cream, Jamaican Rum, Joy, Lemon Sicily, Lime Tahiti Cold Pressed, Lychee, Marshmallow, Marzipan, Maxx Blend, Meringue, both Oranges, both Peaches, Pear, Peppermint, Shade, Tiramisu, Torrone, Vienna Cream, Vanilla Classic, Virginia, Watermelon.

That's already 53 of my 100 flavours gone and it's a stripped down list: neither Cherry, neither Grape, none of the exotics (Cantaloupe, Papaya, Mango, Passion Fruit, Mangosteen), no Gin or Whisky, no Strawberry, Forrest Mix in place of Blackberry and Raspberry, no additives like Black Fire or MTS Vape Wizard, none of the stronger tobaccos, no Pistachio or Walnut or Nut Mix, no Cappuccino or UP, only one of the Vanillas, and so on. That leaves me 47 flavours between TFA, Cap, Inw and FW. Restricting yourself to only 100 flavours is quite the challenge.

Sorry for the OT derail. But the takeaway is that yes, DIY saves you money. So much so that it can bankrupt you.

 

[GregF]

..........

Sorry for the OT derail. But the takeaway is that yes, DIY saves you money. So much so that it can bankrupt you.

I like that, so true

 

[Huffapuff]

@RichJB and @craigb you can improve your sense of taste by training your sense of smell.

Take 4 or 5 smelly things (spices, fruits, teas or whatever - I use my concentrates) and give them a few good long sniffs when you wake up in the morning. You need to really savour and explore the smell. This basically trains your brain and develops your sense of smell. Do this for several weeks and things will improve.

Similarly, when eating take the time to savour and explore the flavours in your mouth.

Although, I've also read that after a certain age we simply start losing our sense of taste - so whatcha gonna do?

 

[GregF]

@RichJB and @craigb you can improve your sense of taste by training your sense of smell.

Take 4 or 5 smelly things (spices, fruits, teas or whatever - I use my concentrates) and give them a few good long sniffs when you wake up in the morning. You need to really savour and explore the smell. This basically trains your brain and develops your sense of smell. Do this for several weeks and things will improve.

Similarly, when eating take the time to savour and explore the flavours in your mouth.

Although, I've also read that after a certain age we simply start losing our sense of taste - so whatcha gonna do?

I think I have reached that certain age

 

[VapeDude]

How vaping changed my life...

 

[craigb]

Just ... Wow. @RichJB I bow humbly in your presence. what have i gotten myself into?

@Huffapuff very interesting. Will definitely give it a sniff...

 

[GregF]

Just ... Wow. @RichJB I bow humbly in your presence. what have i gotten myself into?

You have no idea !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[RichJB]

What Greg said ^^. Although it's still, by far, the better option than commercial juice. I did the math on another thread but folks who are vaping 30ml a day could buy 24 concentrates a week for DIY on the same budget. So you'd have 120 concentrates in five weeks, or ten weeks if you only vape 15ml a day. Less than three months for a really good DIY stock of 120 concentrates? I'll take that deal any day.