South Africa

While in university I was having a braai at a friend's mom's house. She asked me not to smoke in her house. And lent me a twisp to use instead. The next morning I went to spar to get some milk. And the guy standing in front of me absolutely reaked of cigarette smoke, I asked my friend if that's how I usually smell. She said yes. Which made me conscious of how bad they smelled. A week later. On pay day. I took a drive to lung buddy at Montana traders, Joe helped me pick out a vape. The flavour blew my mind. I drove home. Put it on charge. Lit a cigarette, nearly vomited from the taste. Have had maybe 10 cigarettes since 16 Feb 2015. With in weeks I lost my smokers cough. My sense of smell is much better, and my sense of taste is much better Since then I started 2 vape stores and have worked for 4 separate ones. Through those I have helped hundreds of people both entirely quit nicotine altogether, as well as quit smoking tobacco.

My health was in a really bad way, and I couldn't even walk up my driveway to put the rubbish out without stopping to breathe three times. I would wake up during the night, unable to breathe. Coughing in the morning until I vomited. Switched to vaping on a Twisp and Cigalite 12 years ago and haven't touched a cigarette since. I am now fitter than I have been in 25 years, and I walk 4-5 times a week, covering 5-9 km each time!

I started smoking at a young age, and shortly after tried quitting many times using cold turkey, nicotine gum and books. Nothing worked and the best I could do was about two weeks without smoking. The quitting was incredibly difficult for me personally and I really struggled. So I never succeeded. But then I discovered vaping in its early days, and I saw the potential. This time I could go without cigarettes allot easier, so I decided to apply myself and try quitting. The technology and flavors were not that good yet, but even then I managed to quit after about a year of duel use. I could not believe it, I was finally free from cigarettes without going insane, it was so much easier than cold turkey. In the following years my health improved, my lung function improved. Everything health wise improved when I quit tobacco. I understand that vaping may not be 100% safe, but in my personal experience and with my health check ups I am sure that vaping is definitely far far better than smoking. It is years later now and I will never have a cigarette again, vaping is keeping me sane and happy and I feel great!

I smoked properly for years. Not casually. It controlled my routine, my stress, everything. I tried medication, hypnotherapy, patches, gum, sprays. All of it. Nothing stuck. Most of it just felt like swapping one crutch for another or in the case of the medicine like i wanted to climb the walls without actually fixing the habit. Because that’s the real problem. It’s not just nicotine, it’s the ritual, the routine, the mental break. Then I found vaping. It wasn’t magic, but it was the first thing that actually worked. It gave me control, kept the routine, and let me step away from cigarettes without feeling like I was losing something. 18 years later, I haven’t touched a cigarette. And I’ll say it straight, it didn’t just help me quit, it changed the trajectory of my life. My health, my breathing, my energy, everything improved. I genuinely believe it saved me from where I was heading. Vaping wasn’t perfect, but it got the job done when everything else failed. It wasn’t just an alternative. It was my way out.