"If I didn't give up smoking it was going to kill me." - Vaping Consumer
- Kim
- Jul 2
- 2 min read
I am a 51 year old male that started smoking when I was 13 years old. I used to smoke a pack a day until I quit smoking with vaping in October 2016. I had tried quitting smoking many times in my life using everything on the market including patches, gums, medication and hypnosis but none of these worked.
In my late 30’s I started suffering from severe lung infections multiple times a year and in my 40’s the lung infections started turning into pneumonia at least twice a year. In September 2016 I got a severe lung infection that turned to pneumonia, and I was hospitalized for over a week on antibiotics. It took me over a month to recover, and I was told by the doctors that if I did not give up smoking it was going to kill me.
I had already started researching vaping and the effectiveness of it as a tool to help me stop smoking as well as researching the peer reviewed reports on the safety of vaping compared to smoking. While I was unwell, I ordered a vaping mod and tank kit and 12mg raspberry flavoured e-liquid. When I felt better in late October 2016 I started vaping and cutting back on the cigarettes. With in 3 weeks, I had managed to completely stop smoking cigarettes with vaping.
I started out vaping at 12mg freebase nicotine, I got a script and ordered my nicotine from NZ under the personal importation scheme. Over the years I have been slowly decreasing the amount of nicotine I mix into my e-liquids, and I'm now down to 2-3mg of nicotine. I also use 4 different flavours daily to enjoy the different vapes. Flavours are a key to helping people stop smoking with vaping as all adults like flavours as you can see this in the alcohol industry with all the different flavours of alcohol.
By quitting smoking with vaping my health has approved significantly. Within the first
year of vaping I stopped getting lung infections/pneumonia, I no longer have the smokers cough, my sense of smell has returned. Over the years with vaping my energy has returned, and I feel so much better. I get occasional chest x-rays, and my lungs are clear.
My partner is a nurse and was so concerned with me when I was smoking and cannot believe the difference switching to vaping has made to my health. She is very concerned that I will be forced back to smoking with the proposed legislation and that will be a death sentence for me.
Submission To Therapeutic Goods and Other Legislation Amendment (Vaping Reforms) Bill 2024 Inquiry
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