I’m having great fun with electronic cigarettes, I feel healthier and think that I’m saving money, but am I living in a dreamland? We shall see…

Electronic cigarettes are healthier than smoking tobacco, can help you to stop smoking, and can save you money. These are claims made by e-cigarette companies and users but are they true or false?

Smoking Facts

I found out that normal cigarettes contain over 4,000 chemicals, and to my horror, approximately 40 are cancerous  — and that is a proven fact. Electric cigarettes contain nicotine, propylene glycol, water and flavorings — a bit less than 4,000 chemicals, don’t you think?

I’m already addicted to nicotine so I can’t see that e-cigs are more harmful in that respect. Propylene glycol is used to deliver vaporized nicotine, and according to Wikipedia, is used among other things as a moisturizer in medicines, cosmetics, food, toothpaste, mouth wash, and tobacco products. If propylene glycol is so widely used in those other products, then it shouldn’t be harmful. Water shouldn’t hurt anybody and flavorings — most of our food contains flavorings.

Looking at those facts, and unless electronic cigarettes contain substances that we don’t know about, then I can’t see them being anywhere near as harmful as tobacco products. I’m no doctor or scientist, but having scoured the internet, the objections to e-cigarettes don’t seem to be about what they contain, but more that they are addictive and that young non-smokers may turn to them because of the different flavors available, including chocolate and cherry.

I can see that point and really can’t see why flavors beyond the normal were introduced, except for profit of course.

Giving Up Smoking

I’ve tried giving up smoking many times and in different ways. The most successful was with nicotine patches, but obviously, as with over 80% who try to stop smoking with patches or gum, they didn’t provide a permanent cessation of my nicotine addiction. Whether electronic cigarettes help me to stop permanently or not, I don’t know, and won’t for at least another year or two.

What I do know is that with patches, you have a constant flow of nicotine into your body, some brands even recommend that you use them 24/7. I never smoked 24/7 and was never comfortable that nicotine was being constantly released into my body. With e-cigarettes, I have more control over my intake and, like patches, can gradually reduce the nicotine strength until I am smoking no nicotine vapor.

Healthy Or Not

Do I think that electronic cigarettes are healthier? Absolutely! I feel better in myself and although I’ve only been smoking e-cigs for a couple of weeks, even after a short time, I have noticed a difference in my breathing. I walk up a long steep hill every day – usually slowly and out of breath. Not now, I walk up there quicker and my breathing is easier.

I lay on my back and slept last night for the first time in years. Usually I lay on my side because the strange noises that my chest was making when I laid on my back not only kept me awake but was also frightening.

I stopped waking up coughing a few days ago.

Money Saving

There are claims of saving 80% of the cost of smoking normal cigarettes. I don’t think that’s strictly true. The initial outlay for a starter kit generally containing an atomizer, 2 batteries, charger and 5 or 6 cartridges can vary from about $20 to $100. Some companies claim that 1 nicotine cartridge is equivalent to 20 cigarettes; others say 6. I am finding that the brand I am using is probably about 10 cigarettes per cartridge.

An additional cost that isn’t mentioned on some of the sites selling e-cigs is that atomizers need changing fairly regularly and that you should have a spare one. Even so, I estimate the saving that I am making to be at least 50% in money and perhaps, far more in health.

I am not a law-breaker, but if my government ban e-cigarettes as some countries have, I would have to strongly consider breaking the law rather than take the risk of going back to tobacco and certain deteriorating health.

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