TESTING THE E-CIG. DAY 19. TROUBLE On day 12, last week Friday, I realised that my drops were not going to last for the month as I had earlier anticipated. I immediately ordered a bottle, but it takes 7 days to get here via ordinary post. This meant that it would only arrive today. Day 19. On day 16, Tuesday, I ran out of nicotine drops.

I shopped around, but the only place where one can buy the drops over the counter in Cape Town seems to be the Twisp kiosks, and their drops are R249.00 a bottle.

So, I reverted to cigarettes.

What a horrible experience.
I could even smell and taste the paper burning.
The tobacco felt very harsh and unhealthy.
I could not stand the smell of stale smoke in the house, and my cough was back with a vengeance.
I had not even realised that I had stopped coughing.

I tried three different brands of cigarettes.
They are all horrible.

I am now a firm believer in the electronic cigarette.
I cannot wait for the drops to arrive later today.
From now on, I will make sure that I have enough drops, spare cartridges, and even a spare atomiser.

I am done with tobacco.

I strongly recommend this device to any smoker who wants to have his cake and eat it.

I smoked 40 cigarettes a day at a cost of R1500pm.

I now have to spend R200 on drops and R20 on spare cartridges per month.
That’s R1280.00 that I save each month, or three tanks of petrol.

Besides, I feel much healthier while still getting my nicotine fix, and my smoking does not affect anyone around me.

***

TESTING THE E-CIGARETTE. DAY ELEVEN - Thursday 15 October 2009

I have been using the e-cig for eleven days now, and I have not smoked a tobacco cigarette in seven days.

I can’t say that it has been easy going.
I still often crave the real thing, but it is manageable, and the gap between cravings seem to be getting longer.

It is decidedly not a physical craving, as the e-cig does an admirable job in catering to that need.
But, the psychological addiction is a very real thing.

 

I have said before that the e-cig does not cater to this need at all.

Nicotine is a drug, and I am addicted to it.
But, smoking has been sociably acceptable for so long that the smoker does not see smoking as using a drug.
Shoot.
There was even a time when smoking was regarded as highly fashionable.

Getting my nicotine fix through the e-cigarette is fast changing my perception though.

Using the e-cigarette involves a routine.
Very different to the routine of smoking that I am used to, but a routine none the less.

But this routine does not camouflage the fact that I am using a drug to feed an addiction.

Picture me leaning over the table.
On the table I have a bottle of nicotine drops, an atomiser, a cartridge, a cartridge holder, tissue paper, and……a needle and syringe!

To have my fix, I have to charge the battery in the charger, fill the syringe with nicotine and inject it into the cartridge.
I then have to make sure that the outside of the cartridge and the inside of the cartridge holder is dry by wiping both with a tissue.
I then slip the cartridge into the cartridge holder, screw the atomiser onto the battery and fit the cartridge holder over the atomiser.

When I am done and ready to have my fix, the device reminds me of a tik pipe or a fancy straw to snort cocaine.

This is unadulterated drug use.

And, just two days ago, I dared to claim on this site that I had been drug free for over eighteen years.

The E-cigarette has helped me in that the nicotine does not contain carcinogen or other harmful agents. There is no smoke, no ash and no smell, and my smoking is not harming those around me.

But it has also clearly demonstrated that I am a nicotine addict.

I intend using this device to wean myself off the drug for good, by slowly decreasing the nicotine concentration. I am already on medium.
The next bottle I buy will be light.
And then…………

____________________________________

TESTING THE E-CIGARETTE. DAY FOUR – Thursday 8 October 2009

Stephen Rowley of the Electric Cigarette Store, bravely agreed to give me the ECS 4081 for free, in return for accounting my experience with the product on this site.
I had set myself a date - Monday 5 October – to start testing the product.

This is a day-to-day account of that experience.

In future, I will update it regularly and put a small link somewhere on the homepage, for those of you who are interested in knowing the truth about this product.

Monday 5 October (Day One)
I woke up, feeling rather fragile, at about 07h00.
The abscess in my mouth, which has been there since last Thursday, was throbbing, in spite of the fact that I had been on antibiotics for three days.
I put this – fragility and throbbing - down to my simultaneous intake bravado at the birthday celebrations for the artist now known as the little man’s father on Sunday.

It was a disastrous start.
I had planned to not have any cigarettes on this morning, but for some devilish reason there were still 14 cigarettes left in the packet next to my bed.
By the time I remembered what day it was, I had already smoked 3.
I eventually finished the last one at 13h30.

Only then did I turn to the ECS.

 

The ECS looks exactly like a cigarette.
A big cigarette.
It is at least 2cm longer than a normal cigarette, and quite a bit thicker.
It does not feel like a cigarette, in your hand or in your mouth.

Puffing on the ECS, felt a bit like sipping a double thick milkshake through a straw.
The manual recommends that you draw on the cigarette for 4-seconds. That’s a long time.
Probably twice as long as I would draw on a normal cigarette.
It is quite hard to keep that indicator light on for four seconds.

I was relieved to find that, when I did manage to use the device correctly, I felt the sensation of smoking as the nicotine vapour went down my windpipe.
There was also a little bit of vapour, very similar to smoke, swirling around my face.

It takes a while to get accustomed to using the device.
I also found that the results were not consistent.
One drag would feel very satisfying, while the next would feel like I was drawing in air.
Is it the battery? The atomiser? Is the cartridge empty?

Tuesday 6 October (Day Two)
Smoking is a procedure.
It is far more than simply an intake of nicotine.

The entire routine, from picking up the packet, removing the cellophane, taking out the cigarette, getting the ashtray and lighting up becomes a subconscious routine.
The initial smell of burning tobacco, the swirling smoke, the taste, inhaling, exhaling etc.

This routine is firmly entrenched in the psychological addiction.

The ECS does not effectively address this side of the addiction.
There is no lighting up, no smell, a very different taste, no ashtray, no smoke, no tipping off the ash.

I haven’t had a tobacco cigarette for 20-hours, a monumental feat in its own for me, but I am seriously struggling with the psychological craving.
I am fighting the urge to rush off to the shop to buy cigarettes.

Three hours later, I did go and buy a packet.
I smoked four in succession.

It tasted foul.
The sensation I felt going down my throat felt unhealthy. It was harsh.
It left an unpleasant taste in my mouth.
And, surprise surprise………afterwards, I found the smell of stale smoke to be quite unpleasant.

When I turned to the ECS again, it felt comforting.
I realise that smoking in general is not a healthy habit, but smoking the ECS felt far healthier than smoking tobacco. Still, I smoked another two cigarettes afterwards.

 

Wednesday 7 October (Day Three)
It is 02h30 on Thursday morning. I have smoked ten (tobacco) cigarettes in the last 60-hours. Four of them today. Well 3 yesterday. Wednesday, and one today at 01h00.
That’s a miracle.
Usually I would have smoked 90 in that time. Really.

I still have ten tobacco cigarettes left in Tuesday’s packet.
I am sure that I will smoke them sometime, but for now, I am getting quite used to the ECS.

I still crave the routine, but I suspect that can be replaced.
Substituted if you prefer.

Thursday 8 October (Day Four)
Well, its 08h30.
Day four has only just begun. I have eight cigarettes left. I realise now that I have to prepare the whole ECS procedure in advance. Charge the batteries, refill the cartridges. I am getting the hang of it. If the battery is fully-charged and the cartridge has been filled, the smoke is quite satisfying.

 

Although, Stephen sent me the Marlboro flavor nicotine fluid with a medium nicotine content. I need to buy the Virginia with a strong nicotine content. Hey, its a R100 a bottle. I have saved more than that already, and the way things are going the 10ml bottle will probably last more than a month.
FEEDING THE ADDICTION
All addictions have a physical and psychological side to it.

In terms of the physical addiction, the ECS delivers outstandingly.
Usually, a heavy smoker is unaware of the sensation of a nicotine rush, and would only experience the feeling if the smoker had abstained from smoking for several hours.
With the ECS, I feel it every time I start a session.

I did not, do not, experience any physical symptoms of withdrawal or cravings for a real cigarette. Not at all.

The psychological side of the addiction is, however, something else.

____________________________________

PUTTING THE E-CIGARETTE TO THE TEST – Thursday 1 October 2009

Stephen Rowley is a brave man indeed.
If you have product to sell, you need to absolutely have confidence in your product if you are going to give me permission to test and review it.
Expect the truth, and nothing but the truth from me.
Be it good or bad.

Stephen does not know me personally, but I made this point very clear to him when I contacted him.

There is no history of cancer in my family.
My father died of emphysema but he was 90-years-old and smoked for 75-years, so that was not enough motivation either.

Besides that, I realise and admit that I am addicted to it, but I really do enjoy smoking.

My understanding is that nicotine is addictive, but on its own it does not cause lung disease.
The carcinogen and other harmful agents in tobacco cause lung disease, but is not addictive.

In effect this means that I could possibly have my cake and eat it, at the fraction of the cost of my tobacco habit, which is getting increasingly annoying.

I’ve seen the hype, both positive and negative, around electronic cigarettes, but I was not prepared to spend my money on a device that could turn out to be just another moneymaking scheme advertising a product that does not deliver on its promise.
Like most advertised products do.

So, I contacted Stephen and told him the truth.

 

I told him about my reputation of being tactlessly honest.
I also told him about my 40 year – 40 cigarettes a day habit.
I told him that if he gave me the product for free and it worked for me, I would write about it on the site.
I told him that my readers trust me to tell them the truth. 26 874 visits for the the month of September!

Without hesitation, Stephen agreed.
I received the product on Monday.
I curiously tried it out on Wednesday and I intend putting it to the full on test from this coming Monday.
Soon, I will tell you the truth about the ECS 4081 electronic cigarette available from The Electronic Cigarette Store.

If it works for me, it will work for anybody.

Kader Khan
Editor
info@yummie.co.za