ECF Refugee Thread All welcome

[Darth Omerta]

Good morning and GFY to you too Kad! And all Fugees as well!

Hope everyone had a great night last night. My "partying" days are also over. I am very controlled in my alcohol consumption. I might have a beer or 2 or a glass of scotch per week because I actually enjoy the flavor. Thats more than enough for me. I had my traditional pint of Guinness and vaped some Irish Cream DIY. All in all, great St Paddys day for me.

 

[Rickajho]

I'm amazed we survived these things without fracturing something.

​

 

[JuicyLucy]

Hey Lucy I am watching seventies Soul superstars on television and it's making me think of you

I missed a great funk fest!

GFY this morning all

I'm gonna swill coffee for awhile and squonk like a mofo

 

[JuicyLucy]

Speaking of wagons, I'm gonna come clean with this thread. For months now I've been dual using but my actual smoking was light enough that I still felt way better than before I started vaping. A few weeks ago, partly because of some major stress in my life, my smoking went way up (almost 2 packs a day again) and my vaping became practically non-existent. I've been starting to wake up in the middle of the night lately coughing so bad I can't catch my breath. Serious smokers cough, and way more frequent than before I started vaping. I've cut down some the last week or so but it's still bad.

Soooo... I have decided if Atcha can hang up her wine glasses then I can toss my smokes. I just smoked my last cigarette.

You go Kad

I know you can do it - it took me almost three years of dual use, no use, almost quitting before but not quite, before stopping on my birthday last year

 

[SirKadly]

You go Kad

I know you can do it - it took me almost three years of dual use, no use, almost quitting before but not quite, before stopping on my birthday last year

Yeah, I've just been hacking so much lately that I have to just do it.

 

[Atchafalaya]

And whenever I see a set like that I think of this:

OMG! lol!

Good morning and GFY on this fine Saturday!

For some reason I was thinking about all the things that I used to play with or do as a kid that are now considered too dangerous, things you are no longer allowed to do or no longer allowed to buy. Now I know that lots of you think that it's stupid protecting people from their own idiocy, but let's not sugarcoat the truth here...

View attachment 77141

lol. Hey Kadly. I'm thinking people might be not be as smart as they used to be. Or, should I say, have as much common sense. Have you ever seen the movie Idiocracy?

 

[The Cromwell]

Quit 40+ years of 1 PAD+ smoking over 2 years ago with cigalikes.
Now vaping high wattage at 18-30 watts.
Klowdz fer Daze....

 

[SirKadly]

OMG! lol!

lol. Hey Kadly. I'm thinking people might be not be as smart as they used to be. Or, should I say, have as much common sense. Have you ever seen the movie Idiocracy?

Nope, never seem it.

 

[The Cromwell]

Chauncey Gardner for President.

 

[Atchafalaya]

The thing to really look at is, did you get drunk even when you didn't intend to? Or drink when you didn't intend to? If the temptation to drink, or to drink more than you KNOW you really ought to, overrides your stated intentions... that might be a problem. The whys and whens and wherefores are totally irrelevant. If any compulsion overrides your good sense... that's always a problem, no matter what is involved. And one of the biggest problems with alcohol is that consuming it can completely destroy good judgment. That's why I can't have EVEN ONE -- because that's just the start switch.

Andria

I guess I can say that I haven't drank too much when I knew I couldn't/shouldn't. For instance, occasionally I'd have 2 glasses after work if it was a work night and I had to get up early. But, this week I've been off and failed to do all the chores I intended to do. So, that REALLY bothered me. Also, I "forgot" aka "had a blackout" as well. That really freaked me out. So, with all this said, I guess I'm stopping it BEFORE it gets worse. And, as all you guys know, I do love my wine! But, I like feeling good and not having a hangover better!
And thanks for your total honesty and support.

 

[Atchafalaya]

Nope, never seem it.

Oh you need to. lol!

 

[AndriaD]

I'm so far out at this point from my last butt I don't see any point in considering one. In my case the goal was to get away from them on a permanent basis. Coming up on six years of having done that I don't even have the idle curiosity of what the experience might entail - just because I could. Besides, it took about 5 years of being fully quit before the last of those random cigarette cravings finally stopped - don't want to reinvent that wheel again.

That's exactly how I feel, even at less than half your time away from smoking -- I *have* had to reinvent that wheel, after that post-appendectomy relapse to dual use, and I found it much harder the 2nd time than it was when I *first* switched -- I think chopdoc had a similar experience about that 2nd time. That's exactly why I keep that WTA in the freezer, so I never have to do that -- I know exactly how fast cigarettes could get their hooks back into me, and I ain't gonna let 'em!

I do sometimes still have smoking dreams; hell, the other night I had a combo smoking/drinking dream. It's always nice to wake up, mystified as to where the hell THAT came from, and then laugh... because it really doesn't matter -- I ain't going there in my waking world, so beer and cigarettes can both blow me.

Andria

 

[SirKadly]

Chauncey Gardner for President.

The running back? Or the gardener?

 

[The Cromwell]

The running back? Or the gardener?

Being There.
the gardener.

 

[Rickajho]

I found it much harder the 2nd time than it was when I *first* switched -- I think chopdoc had a similar experience about that 2nd time. That's exactly why I keep that WTA in the freezer, so I never have to do that -- I know exactly how fast cigarettes could get their hooks back into me, and I ain't gonna let 'em!

Lot's of people report that same "second time is harder" experience.

It's also (medically) reported that for people who have indicators for chron's, ulcerative colitis & inflammatory bowel disease secondary to quitting smoking that the severity of those conditions worsens after each stop-restart-stop again quit smoking venture. Obviously the vast majority of people don't run into those bowel issues when quitting, but with the way smoking fucks with your endocrine system if you are gonna quit it's better to make it a one and done event if you can.

It still isn't fully understood what the mechanism is that triggers chron's when some people quit smoking, but it's been documented enough that there's a hell of a strong case for causation.

 

[Rickajho]

Oh you need to. lol!

Sooo.... I should be ok posting the Lavender music video over in the mud pit?

 

[AndriaD]

Lot's of people report that same "second time is harder" experience.

It's also (medically) reported that for people who have indicators for chron's, ulcerative colitis & inflammatory bowel disease secondary to quitting smoking that the severity of those conditions worsens after each stop-restart-stop again quit smoking venture. Obviously the vast majority of people don't run into those bowel issues when quitting, but with the way smoking fucks with your endocrine system if you are gonna quit it's better to make it a one and done event if you can.

It still isn't fully understood what the mechanism is that triggers chron's when some people quit smoking, but it's been documented enough that there's a hell of a strong case for causation.

I really think that inflammation in the colon is the biggest reason I had such ungodly cravings for cigarettes after my appendectomy; once I did start smoking again a little, the terrible diarrhea I suffered after that, started clearing up, and I started feeling better in general. Then, over a month later, 10 days after I had successfully returned to vape-only, the damn horrible cravings came BACK... and WTA got completely rid of them. I don't think any of that had the slightest thing to do with a "desire to smoke," because I didn't have ANY desire to smoke at that point; I was almost 4 months smoke-free when I had the damn surgery, and up until that surgery and its aftermath, didn't have the SLIGHTEST desire to smoke. I think it was all about that inflammation after the sepsis and surgery in my colon, and my chronic IBS -- a much milder condition usually than UC or IBD, but whn you combine IBS with the aftermath of appendicitis, it amounts to much the same thing.

Andria

 

[Atchafalaya]

and WTA got completely rid of them.
Andria

@KadlyDoWrong see above! I'll get some turmeric if YOU get some wta. Deal?
Andria, the only bad things that cropped up when I quit smoking was my ADHD got HORRIBLE and my drinking escalated. Now, I think if I was allowed to vape at work the ADHD wouldn't be so bad, but, I could NOT focus at all. It was affecting my job.

 

[AndriaD]

@KadlyDoWrong see above! I'll get some turmeric if YOU get some wta. Deal?
Andria, the only bad things that cropped up when I quit smoking was my ADHD got HORRIBLE and my drinking escalated. Now, I think if I was allowed to vape at work the ADHD wouldn't be so bad, but, I could NOT focus at all. It was affecting my job.

Not surprising at all. Do you remember in March of 2014 when ECF was down for like 2 days? It just so happened to fall on my very first day 5 and day 6 of smoke-free.... and apparently I had been using a constant attendance at ECF as a placebo, along with vaping -- when I couldn't get on ECF, AT ALL, my focus went right down the toilet; it took me THREE HOURS just to make breakfast, I was so completely unable to focus and concentrate. If I'd had some WTA then, I'm sure it would have helped a lot.

Can you not vape in a bathroom stall at work? Y'know, stealth vaping? I'd load up a strong mix of WTA in your vape, and every hour or so, go take a few hits -- that should help the focus a LOT.

Andria

 

[Atchafalaya]

Not surprising at all. Do you remember in March of 2014 when ECF was down for like 2 days? It just so happened to fall on my very first day 5 and day 6 of smoke-free.... and apparently I had been using a constant attendance at ECF as a placebo, along with vaping -- when I couldn't get on ECF, AT ALL, my focus went right down the toilet; it took me THREE HOURS just to make breakfast, I was so completely unable to focus and concentrate. If I'd had some WTA then, I'm sure it would have helped a lot.

Can you not vape in a bathroom stall at work? Y'know, stealth vaping? I'd load up a strong mix of WTA in your vape, and every hour or so, go take a few hits -- that should help the focus a LOT.

Andria

The ONLY problem with sneaking at work is I got caught once when I was vaping my English toffee. The bitch from hell caught me and threatened to write me up so I'm just too scared to lose my job. Especially since I only have a few years to retire. Now, I do have to admit I've done it on a weekend when no one else was there.

 

[AndriaD]

The ONLY problem with sneaking at work is I got caught once when I was vaping my English toffee. The bitch from hell caught me and threatened to write me up so I'm just too scared to lose my job. Especially since I only have a few years to retire. Now, I do have to admit I've done it on a weekend when no one else was there.

Just vape something that doesn't have a strong odor. Or, maybe vanilla -- you could claim it was some body spray or something.

We went to the dollar store the other day, and on the way back to where the dish liquid shelves are, I always browse the books; a lady standing there browsing them before we walked up said "did you just eat some cotton candy?" I said no, I was vaping before I came in the store; it's actually strawberry and vanilla -- she says "that smells GREAT!!!" I said, well it beats the heck out of 39 yrs of smelling like a dirty ashtray. She looked positively flummoxed. "so it really does work for quitting smoking?" I said, better than anything else I've EVER tried -- more than two and a half yrs smoke free after 39 yrs slavery to smoking. She didn't smell like cigarette smoke herself, so I doubt she's a smoker, but I think she was on her way to put a bug in some smoker's ear.

Andria

 

[SirKadly]

@KadlyDoWrong see above! I'll get some turmeric if YOU get some wta. Deal?
Andria, the only bad things that cropped up when I quit smoking was my ADHD got HORRIBLE and my drinking escalated. Now, I think if I was allowed to vape at work the ADHD wouldn't be so bad, but, I could NOT focus at all. It was affecting my job.

You are absolutely determined to get me to go down the WTA road, aren't you my dear? But you have a deal. I'll give it a try.

 

[AndriaD]

You are absolutely determined to get me to go down the WTA road, aren't you my dear? But you have a deal. I'll give it a try.

If you have those bone-deep cravings that it seems only a cigarette will pacify... WTA is a godsend. It totally eradicates them. But be sure you measure it carefully into your vape, so you can systematically lower the amount; it's *almost* as addictive as cigarettes, but because it's a liquid that you can systematically titrate downwards, it makes getting free of it MUCH easier than cigarettes. I started out adding it as 10% of my vape.

Andria

 

[JuicyLucy]

Man, I got tons of shit to do today but one of my diseases is flaring up: feline paralysis

 

[AndriaD]

Man, I got tons of shit to do today but one of my diseases is flaring up: feline paralysis
View attachment 77163

Tuxie would have to be drugged comatose to sit in anybody's lap. She tolerates more touching and holding from my husband, but even with him, she'd rather lie on the desk, whisking her tail back and forth, than be held in any fashion. With me, she'll tolerate me picking her up.. for about 5 or 6 seconds, then adios mama! If mama doesn't cooperate, she's got those claws to back it up... She *might* lie on my desk... if there was even one square inch of landing zone for her to get onto it. There isn't, so I don't have to worry about a cat on my laptop. She's been pretty well broken of the inclination to jump on any furniture in here in the kitchen, the table or counters both earn her stereo screams, so she doesn't bother trying anymore. I suppose she considers my desk part of that too, since it's right between the kitchen and the kitchen table.

Andria

 

[JuicyLucy]

All three of ours are big time lap cats, but we've had them since they were kittens

Sometimes Girlfriend there sits on my lap just to try to keep the other one off of it

 

[SirKadly]

My cat Misty sounds a lot like Andria's, not a lap cat at all and don't expect her to let you pick her up for more than a few seconds. But oddly she gets jealous if I'm sitting on the couch and my pup sits in my lap. At that point she'll plop down on my lap too and try to push him out of the way.

 

[AndriaD]

All three of ours are big time lap cats, but we've had them since they were kittens

Sometimes Girlfriend there sits on my lap just to try to keep the other one off of it

I'm pretty sure that her abandonment at such a young age (less than 3 months) is why she's never socialized properly; no lap sitting, and absolutely will not tolerate even the presence of other humans than the 2 of us. It should be interesting when our son moves back home; he was around when she first showed up and then we moved here, but it's been almost 6 yrs; I doubt she'll remember him. Which is gonna piss him off royally. I told him if he really wants, we could get another kitten, to be "his" cat, since Tuxie is now "Dad's cat." He was working in a pizza joint when she first showed up, so I told him maybe we should rub pizza all over him, to make him smell right to her.

Andria

 

[Atchafalaya]

Man, I got tons of shit to do today but one of my diseases is flaring up: feline paralysis
View attachment 77163

Awe that's adorable Lucy!

 

[JuicyLucy]

All that's adorable Lucy!

She's annoyed at having her picture taken

 

[Atchafalaya]

She's annoyed at having her picture taken

My dogs are annoyed at me today for not letting them outside while I'm burning a bunch of old fence posts someone dropped off here. There are just too many Cottontail nests around with baby bunnies for me to let them out right now.

 

[JuicyLucy]

My dogs are annoyed at me today for not letting them outside while I'm burning a bunch of old fence posts someone dropped off here. There are just too many Cottontail nests around with baby bunnies for me to let them out right now.

Great that you are doing your bit to prevent bunnycide

 

[The Cromwell]

Keep the Holy hand Grenade of Antioch handy... Never can tell about cute little bunny rabbits.

 

[USMCotaku]

I had one cigarette toward the end of last month. Well, only half of one actually. Bummed it from father-in-law while working in some firewood.

Finished half and could not keep on to finish it all. Tossed it away. He asked a bit later if i wanted another, pulled out my mod and declined.

Think it was kind of a matter of not being able to have time for holding the mod, in that moment, which led to dangling the cigarette from my lips. I no longer bum cigarettes if I can keep from doing so. Do not want them.

That noted, I do not beat myself over a stumble now and then. Last I checked my feet were still from clay.

I had quite a few herbal cigarettes the other day. We were filming a scene set in the 80's and they needed some people to "smoke" to look the part. Nasty nasty nasty. Total reminder of why I vape.

Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk

 

[SirKadly]

RIP Chuck

 

[AndriaD]

My dogs are annoyed at me today for not letting them outside while I'm burning a bunch of old fence posts someone dropped off here. There are just too many Cottontail nests around with baby bunnies for me to let them out right now.

That's why I won't let Tuxie outside until at least 10am; the birds deserve a chance to do their morning bird stuff without a sneaky black cat hunting them down. She's a great hunter, too. Still hasn't caught a squirrel, but she hasn't given up trying.

Andria

 

[AndriaD]

I had quite a few herbal cigarettes the other day. We were filming a scene set in the 80's and they needed some people to "smoke" to look the part. Nasty nasty nasty. Total reminder of why I vape.

Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk

I always thought it was hilarious that the guy who played the CSM on X-Files wasn't really a smoker; he had quit years before, which explains why he had the mannerisms so down pat. You can always tell if an actor has never really been a smoker; they treat that thing like it's a timebomb or something, stiff fingers, looks very fakey.

Andria

 

[Darth Omerta]

Just saw that myself Kad! He truly was a legend! RIP Chuck!

 

[chopdoc]

All three of ours are big time lap cats, but we've had them since they were kittens

Sometimes Girlfriend there sits on my lap just to try to keep the other one off of it

I miss having that. My girl use to love to lay on my hip and side and fall asleep there. When we was flooding I had to evacuate my girl to my moms house and we was there a few months before I started staying in my house again but I didnt think it was safe for my old girl to come back here yet. Now she has bonded so hard with my mom that I think I lost my cat. She is 23/24 years old and have trouble jumping now so I decided to leave her with my mom where she is very happy. But it sucks I dont have my cat anymore

 

[AndriaD]

I miss having that. My girl use to love to lay on my hip and side and fall asleep there. When we was flooding I had to evacuate my girl to my moms house and we was there a few months before I started staying in my house again but I didnt think it was safe for my old girl to come back here yet. Now she has bonded so hard with my mom that I think I lost my cat. She is 23/24 years old and have trouble jumping now so I decided to leave her with my mom where she is very happy. But it sucks I dont have my cat anymore

Time for a new kitty, maybe. Give Rascal a combination companion and toy. I think you're right to leave her with your mom; it's just kinder, to an animal at such an advanced age, to not subject them to more change that is strictly necessary, especially since she's bonded so well with your mom.

Andria

 

[chopdoc]

You are absolutely determined to get me to go down the WTA road, aren't you my dear? But you have a deal. I'll give it a try.

I did the same thing Kadly, Ordered 2 30ml bottles of WTA to give a try. With all the shit been going on with me with medical. flooding, hassles from my ex, I started dual using also. Need to get off them again.

 

[chopdoc]

Time for a new kitty, maybe. Give Rascal a combination companion and toy. I think you're right to leave her with your mom; it's just kinder, to an animal at such an advanced age, to not subject them to more change that is strictly necessary, especially since she's bonded so well with your mom.

Andria

They love each other a lot. My mom is going to be gone to a church convention tomorrow so she called me to get me to check on my girl a couple times and make sure she has fresh food.


I get Rascal every other week and was suppose to pick him up this afternoon but I did a lot today. Burned a bunch of stuff, cut a couple acres of grass and was wiped out so told the ex I will be by tomorrow morning to get my boy.

 

[AndriaD]

I'm having a brainstorm, take cover!

Maybe VU needs a "Still smoking chat and support" thread like the one over at Butthole Central. When I was having such a hard time, I hung out in there a lot; it really helped to know that I wasn't the only one who couldn't just drop cigarettes like a hot rock, as so many vapers seem to do -- they walk into, or hell, WALK BY, a vape shop and VOILA! stop smoking. I never have gotten that at all; I had to convince myself it would actually work, a little at a time, over the course of 3-4 wks, both times I quit via vaping. I'd been let down too often -- three times before -- by my own decision to quit and then failure to quit. There actually was a 4th time: when I was pregnant with my son, but to be perfectly honest, I never did really intend to quit; I cut down to 3-4 cigarettes a day purely by virtue of nausea everytime I lit up; by the end of the pregnancy when the nausea was history, I was back to about a pk a day, though I'd been a 2 pk a day smoker before the pregnancy.

Anyway, I kept hanging out in that still-smoking thread even after I did manage to drop the smokes, just on the off-chance that I might be able to be helpful to others there, who were still having problems. One thing that I noticed was that until the cigarettes are completely, 100% GONE, WTA isn't really helpful at all. I think, because if you're still smoking, then a vape is just a vape, whether it's got WTA or not. Once the smokes are totally gone and you have the opportunity to really feel the cravings, THEN the WTA is absolutely a miracle, but until that point... it's kind of a waste of money. It won't provide you with the will to quit, or the desire to quit, or the motivation to actually DO IT; you still have to do that part yourself. WTA just makes the hot coals you're walking over into cool rocks.

Andria

 

[LynnNC]

Ok folks..I need your help. On April 19th, I have to take a blood test to test for cotinine. If I don't take it, or if it's positive then I'll have to pay a surcharge of $60 a month to keep my insurance at work. First, I have to get rid of all the nicotine thats stored in my body so I can have a negative result. Anyone?

 

[inspects]

Ok folks..I need your help. On April 19th, I have to take a blood test to test for cotinine. If I don't take it, or if it's positive then I'll have to pay a surcharge of $60 a month to keep my insurance at work. First, I have to get rid of all the nicotine thats stored in my body so I can have a negative result. Anyone?

Think it takes about 6-7 days using non-nic juice.

 

[chopdoc]

Ok folks..I need your help. On April 19th, I have to take a blood test to test for cotinine. If I don't take it, or if it's positive then I'll have to pay a surcharge of $60 a month to keep my insurance at work. First, I have to get rid of all the nicotine thats stored in my body so I can have a negative result. Anyone?

From what I read, it takes a week with no nic, or if you use low nic levels in your vaping then 3 to 4 days of no nic, If you are smoking and vaping then it will take longer.

 

[LynnNC]

Think it takes about 6-7 days using non-nic juice.

From what I read, it takes a week with no nic, or if you use low nic levels in your vaping then 3 to 4 days of no nic, If you are smoking and vaping then it will take longer.

Guess I'll be going nic free the 1st of April then. It's going to be a loooonnnnggg month! Lol

 

[Rickajho]

Ok folks..I need your help. On April 19th, I have to take a blood test to test for cotinine. If I don't take it, or if it's positive then I'll have to pay a surcharge of $60 a month to keep my insurance at work. First, I have to get rid of all the nicotine thats stored in my body so I can have a negative result. Anyone?

I hate these nanny tests...

Lynn, my best google-fu on this one is turning up:

Medical professionals report that the half life of cotine is about 20 hours. After 5 to 6 of those cycles cotine should be undetectable in a blood test. So - no nic for 120 hours aka 5 days.

The ranges are different though for urine, saliva and hair follicle tests.

 

[LynnNC]

I hate these nanny tests...

Lynn, my best google-fu on this one is turning up:

Medical professionals report that the half life of cotine is about 20 hours. After 5 to 6 of those cycles cotine should be undetectable in a blood test. So - no nic for 120 hours aka 5 days.

The ranges are different though for urine, saliva and hair follicle tests.

This is a blood test. And I'm also reading that lots of water, oranges and/or orange juice, eating foods like broccoli, kiwi and spinach help flush it out too.

 

[inspects]

This is a blood test. And I'm also reading that lots of water, oranges and/or orange juice, eating foods like broccoli, kiwi and spinach help flush it out too.

Get that Bullet juicer cookin.....