Guidelines From an EX-Serial Smoker

Smoker Stats

• Name: Selma Altay
• Age: None of your business (OLD enough)
• Years smoked: 34
• Number of cigarettes a day: 40+

Skills — Could smoke whilst doing the dishes without getting a cigarette wet — Internal Sat Nav and able to find petrol stations at 3 AM before the internet existed (you think you're cool with your Google Maps)

In the words of my son, I was a psycho when it came to smoking. There wasn't a time of the day or an activity that didn't involve or revolve around my cigarettes. Simply... I smoked. It was a part of my identity, a part of who I was as an individual. Smoking was ingrained into every aspect of my life.

When you're happy... you smoke.

When you're sad... you smoke.

When you're worried... you smoke.

When you're alone... you smoke.

When you're with you're friends... you smoke.

This is true for a lot of smokers. Quitting smoking is about looking at yourself as an individual, breaking yourself down, and rebuilding without the crutch we call cigarettes.

Don't misunderstand me. I still identify as an addict. I'm addicted to the nicotine. I'm addicted to the feeling of inhaling the vapour... the feeling of the nicotine hit in my throat and chest.

Nicotine has been needlessly demonized. Nicotine is the least toxic chemical when inhaled in the form of smoke from a cigarette. It is the 4000 other chemicals released upon light that ciggy.

For example:

Carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide are another two highly toxic chemicals found in cigarette smoke. Carbon monoxide is a colourless and odourless gas that is released when tobacco is burned. It is the reason why a lot of smokers gasp for their breath after only light exercise. Carbon monoxide reduces the ability of red blood cells to transfer oxygen to vital organs such as the heart, brain, and muscles.

Hydrogen cyanide is a gas once used in chemical warfare. It damages the tiny hairs in the lungs that help keep the lungs clean. Frequent exposure to this chemical from smoking can lead to weakness, headache, nausea, vomiting, rapid breathing, and eye irritation, among other things.

Tar, formaldehyde, and benzene are 3 of the over 50 chemicals released by burning tobacco that can cause cancer. Tar, a sticky black residue, contains hundreds of chemicals. It is responsible for the staining of teeth, fingers, and lungs. It causes damage to the cleansing system of the lungs and is the main cause of throat and lung cancers.

Formaldehyde isn't just what is used to preserve animals for dissection in labs — you inhale it from cigarette smoke, too. Besides its cancer-causing effects, formaldehyde can lead to breathing problems as well as eye, nose, and throat irritations.

Benzene is a strong cancer-causing agent that has been linked to leukemia and other cancers. Benzene is harmful at any level of exposure, and is also banned for industrial use. And yet smokers inhale it with every puff.

Simply because there is no medication, NRT, course or therapy that I did not try. I smoked for 34 years in total and spent 20 of those years trying to stop. What worked for me was to vape, simply because I was able to continue to enjoy the sensory pleasure I experienced with cigarettes in a healthier format. That was the only reason I was unable to stop previously. I wasn’t prepared to give up one of the few pleasures in my life, even though I knew I would eventually die from a smoking-related disease. With vaping, I didn’t have to…

How to switch to vaping: The following are instruction for your mindset. I have presumed that you have bought a starter kit that has at least a 1100 Mah battery and decent airflow. Go to a proper shop – not a petrol station!

1. Don’t panic; you are not giving up the pleasures of smoking.
2. Don’t throw your cigarettes away. In fact, I recommend you NEVER throw away or smoke your last cigarette.
3. Allow yourself one cigarette in the morning initially for a couple of weeks.
4. Every time there after you crave a cigarette, vape for at least three minutes BEFORE you choose to smoke. The nicotine from a cigarette hits the brain in about seven seconds, the nicotine from vapour will hit your brain in about eleven seconds. If you vape for three minutes both your chemical addiction and your sensory addiction (the pleasure you get from smoking) will have been met.
5. Tell yourself that you CAN smoke a cigarette, BUT you will smoke it TOMORROW!
6. Make it easy for yourself to vape. Allow yourself to vape indoors. It won’t make your home smell bad or stain your walls and curtains. In fact, the opposite is true and you may find you spend less on fresheners in the home!
7. Do not smoke in your home or car! Get your car cleaned and start fresh.
8. Do not force yourself to continue to smoke. You will find that vaping becomes preferable to smoking in about two weeks. You will dread your morning cigarette and not even finish it.
9. Remember that it is all about your choice – you are in control.