Will e-cigarettes work for me?

August 5, 2009 11:48 AM

Are there any smoker mefites out there who have tried e-cigarettes? I'm considering purchasing an e-cigarette to help me quit smoking, but I'm afraid that it will turn out to be just a temporary novelty.

I've been smoking between a half to a whole pack a day for 10 years with two failed attempts to quit (cold turkey and champix). This time I'd like to try the e-cigarette because of the way it replicates the experience of smoking a real cigarette, sans nasty carcinogenic chemicals. I don't care if I'm addicted to nicotine for the rest of my days, but the tar-lungs thing has to stop. I'm wondering, though, if the e-cigarette habit will stick. I know I'll eventually stop using it if:

- it gives off a strong smell / taste of heated plastic
- I feel really awkward using it walking down the street (because, say, it looks funny and provokes a lot of questions and wierd stares)
- there is a complicated procedure involved in getting it working/ready every time I want a puff


Can you advise me on these concerns? And have any of you managed to quit smoking using the e-cigarette?

posted by kitcat to Health & Fitness (16 answers total)

Best answer: it gives off no smell at all. no one will even know you're smoking it unless they are looking hard at you. just take it off the charger whenever youre ready to smoke... from what the salesmen told me, it was no big deal.

i'm a menthol djarim smoker which'll be illegal soon. i tried the e-cig and it's ok. i'm not sure it'll do you any good in your attempt to quit smoking, though. good luck
posted by Davaal at 11:56 AM on August 5, 2009

The FDA doesn't think they're such a great idea. They are not carcinogen-free.
posted by rtha at 11:59 AM on August 5, 2009 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I haven't used one, but here's a pretty good review of it.

Reading beyond the manufacturers site you'll find it they are likely not much, if any, safer than real cigarettes. No one knows because the makers refuse to do any health studies on them. And yeah, people will notice you using it. I saw a guy smoking one outside a cafe last week and two people asked him about it. He eventually moved off to a doorway and smoked into his hand.
posted by Ookseer at 12:01 PM on August 5, 2009

Came in here to link to what rtha posted regarding the carcinogens. But since I'm here, have you considered hypnotherapy? That's what eventually worked for my mother after several failed attempts to quit in other ways. She's 7 years smoke-free now after smoking since she was 14 or so.
posted by cmgonzalez at 12:09 PM on August 5, 2009

Seconding hypnotherapy. I went this route about 25 years ago and have been smoke-free ever since my first session. The trick is, you have to want to quit. The therapy reinforces your will, and if the genuine will to quit isn't there, well... you'll backslide. A heavy smoker friend tried it on my recommendation, and sure enough -- she too stopped smoking. For about two weeks. Then she drifted back to it.
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 12:26 PM on August 5, 2009

For the cigarette replacement without the complexity have you thought about the Nicotrol Inhaler? Worked for me and I'm a year and one day off the cigs today.
posted by merocet at 12:34 PM on August 5, 2009

Response by poster: With all due respect, please, no more posts on the carcinogens in e-cigarettes. If I were that cautious about carcinogens, I wouldn't be smoking in the first place, or doing countless other things I do every single day.

Also, please no more posts on alternate methods of quitting. My question was about e-cigarettes.
posted by kitcat at 12:41 PM on August 5, 2009 [2 favorites]

Best answer: As far as the awkwardness is concerned, I have a friend who had one of these and the reactions were never weird. People always seemed curious in an interested sort of way and wanted to ask questions about it. But maybe for you that would get a little awkward after a while, but he didn't seem to mind.
posted by Shesthefastest at 1:07 PM on August 5, 2009

Sorry, kitcat. I linked to the story because you said it replicates the experience of smoking a real cigarette, sans nasty carcinogenic chemicals., and I didn't know if that was a deal-breaker for you, if you hadn't seen that bit of news, or whathaveyou. Didn't mean to derail.
posted by rtha at 1:14 PM on August 5, 2009 [2 favorites]

That shiny new e-cigarette you buy will turn into a shiny new curiosity as the FDA has halted all imports and supplies are limited to what is already present in inventories here in the US. There's also a good chance they'll be banned outright down the road. Here's a related NPR story published today.
posted by torquemaniac at 1:19 PM on August 5, 2009

They've not been shown to help people quit at all, so I wouldn't waste your money if that's what you're wanting, especially since they may become scarcer/more costly/banned in the near future. What they think is the problem with the e-cig is that in order to help people quit permanently/super long-term, they need to be different enough from smoking that you start to loose the urge to have hot nicotine smoke going in your mouth via handheld stick form.
posted by ishotjr at 3:09 PM on August 5, 2009

Response by poster: No problem, rtha. I appreciated your link and read the article. I just didn't want to get a whole bunch more posts about why I shouldn't be considering the e-cigarette.
posted by kitcat at 3:39 PM on August 5, 2009

I linked to the Inhaler because it "replicates the experience of smoking a real cigarette, sans nasty carcinogenic chemicals" per your question as opposed to the e-cigarette that doesn't do that.
posted by merocet at 5:49 PM on August 5, 2009

Best answer: About five of my friends tried switching to e-cigs earlier this year -- all in the half a pack to a pack a day range. Two of them have completely stopped smoking regular cigarettes in favor of the e-cigs. If it worked for them, I figure it's worth a try for you.
posted by edrnjevich at 8:18 PM on August 5, 2009

Best answer: Based on a friend's experience: No, they don't smell or taste like plastic; no, they're very simple to use. They will draw some attention, in the way that any new gadget will.
posted by ubersturm at 6:44 AM on August 6, 2009

Best answer: I have one. The way they light up on the end, when you inhale, I find kind of camp/silly. OTOH, I do enjoy confusing people by taking it out, taking a good puff, exhaling the 'smoke', then dropping it back in to my pocket.

I don't find that they really replace cigarettes, but I have not made an effort that way. They aren't allowed in Switzerland, and mine was bought in the UK. Refills will be a bother.

I am bothered by the lack of clear knowledge of how much nicotine I am inhaling. I certainly don't want to screw up by increasing my intake, which seems all too easy. You smoke it, but it doesn't run out after the usual few minutes it takes to smoke a real cigarette. As noted in the NPR story linked to above, they don't seem to practice much quality control in manufacture. No surprise there, really. The Chinese aren't known for precision and care.
posted by Goofyy at 9:58 AM on August 6, 2009