Smoking and vaping are addictive habits. The presence of nicotine in these products leaves us craving more. While vaping has been billed as a “healthier” option to smoking tobacco and cigarettes, it still comes with its problems, and that’s why you may be here looking for advice on how to stop.
Below, you can find a thorough guide offering expert tips on quitting vaping. We look at the importance of addiction support, trying bad-tasting flavors, and refusing to give up, among other strategies.
Before we get into our best pieces of advice on how to stop vaping, let’s look at vapes in more detail and understand why it’s potentially harmful to our health.
What Is Vaping?
Vaping is the act of heating up liquids and oils to produce a vapor, which we then inhale. Many of these products contain nicotine, the main addictive ingredient. Nicotine is a stimulant and can give us something of a buzz when we smoke, which is why it can be a draw for many who claim it helps them relax.
Many vape devices, such as pens, are easy to use and come in a range of flavors, such as strawberry ice and kiwi and watermelon. The design of these products also tends to be colorful and appealing to younger audiences, and given that they’re billed as “healthier” in comparison to cigarettes, there are seemingly fewer health concerns for users too. But is this attitude justified? We look at the science below.
The Best Tips And Advice On How To Stop Vaping
Before we take a look at some of the best methods for quitting vaping, let’s understand the potentially harmful effects the habit can have, which is the first step to quitting.
Understand The Harmful Impact Vaping Can Have
The liquid used in vaping devices can contain a wide range of chemicals, some of which can be harmful to human health. Here’s a quick breakdown:
- Flavorings – a range of chemicals is used to add flavor to vape pens. When heated, the properties of these chemicals can change. In some cases, it’s not known if these chemical reactions can cause harm to human health
- Nicotine – though legal, nicotine is a harmful drug, especially when consumed in quantity. It’s highly addictive and has been found to harm developing brains in teens. It can also cause mood swings and can impact attention span.
- Propylene Glycol (PG) – while usually considered safe to ingest, PG has been found to cause harm to human health, especially when inhaled in large quantities.
- Metals – some scientific studies have found that in cheaper brands of vape pens, the coils can break away and can fuse with the vapor, meaning you can ingest them too.
Now you can see how damaging vaping can be, let’s look at how to stop.
Be Positive And Prepared
The chemicals in vapes, namely nicotine, are highly addictive. This means that as a frequent user, your body has become accustomed to its consumption, so when you stop, you may experience cravings.
The vital thing to remember is that these feelings are temporary. If you can fight and resist them, you’ll find that they go away and that staying off vapes is much easier.
But how can you achieve this when the voice of addiction is screaming down your ear?
Well, the first step is to be positive. Using positive affirmations like “I do not want to let my addiction get the better of me” and “I will resist temptation” and “I will stop vaping and stay healthy” can all help change your thinking and disrupt that nagging voice.
It’s also important to be prepared for a tough fight. Depending on how much you vaped, you may find it tough to step away from it altogether. To help you fight this, you could prepare in advance by filling your time with more positive activities, like going to the gym, going for a cycle, or just going out with a friend. These experiences will give you a positive internal reaction to hopefully replace that fleeting nicotine buzz.
Build A Support Network
Quitting something as addictive as vaping is tough. Facing that challenge alone can feel even tougher. To help you in those times of need, building a support network up around you can prove the vital difference.
You could, for example, join a support group, such as those found on the website of the American Lung Association. Here, you can join groups where you can share your journey and progress, and meet people in the same situation. Working together, you can provide that crucial support when the cravings strike.
If you’re not feeling this extroverted, then turning to family and friends can be very helpful too. Making them aware of the challenge you’re undertaking and that you may need support at times is an honest and brilliant thing to do, and again, could prove the difference to you quitting vaping.
Try Dummy Vapes
While some people enjoy the buzz that a vape offers, other people simply like the act of smoking and find it relaxing. To help those people quit, a new method has sprung up in popularity: inhaler or smokeless vapes.
These devices look and work like vapes, but they don’t contain nicotine or tobacco. Instead, they’re made up of the likes of essential oils, designed to provide a flavorful experience.
As a means of quitting vaping without removing the smoking element, this could be a good option.
Try A Flavor You Don’t Like
One method that some smokers have found helpful in the pursuit of abstinence is to start vaping a flavor that you don’t like the taste of.
One of the draws of vaping is the tasty range of flavors that the devices come in. Contrast them with cigarettes, which come in a limited range of flavors, some of which can be harsh, they’re a much more appealing choice.
So to combat that, try only smoking a flavor you don’t like. Sure enough, you’ll be less inclined to pick it up for a few puffs, which could help you stop vaping altogether.
Try Nicotine Alternatives
You may enjoy the act of smoking and don’t want to give up, but want a healthier option.
If so, another option that some people have found success with is to try vape devices that use a nicotine alternative, as well as other non-harmful products.
As we’ve seen above, vapes contain hundreds of chemicals, some of which are synthetic, and many of which have been proven to harm humans. There is also the risk of smokers vaping metals found in the heated coils, and the jury is still out on the chemicals used in flavorings, which when combusted can create new chemicals, the effects of which are unknown.
It’s possible now to buy vapes that contain the likes of essential oils. This still mimics the use of a vape, only it’s less harmful.
Other people trying to quit vaping altogether but who like the effect nicotine gives them have also turned to the likes of pouches, which you can place under your lip for a steady release of nicotine. This method involves no vapor and no smoke.
It’s well worth researching alternatives which could prove better than vaping in the long run.
Don’t Give Up
One of the most important things to do when you’re trying to quit vaping is not to give up.
It can be a difficult road kicking any addiction, but if you stick with it, resist temptation and keep your eyes on your goal, then you can do it.
Hopefully, the tips covered here can give you some tools to call upon when it comes to kicking that vaping habit.
If you need an extra helping hand, then there’s more support available, which we cover below.
Get Help With Quitting Vaping
If you’re looking for extra help and support with your journey to quitting vaping, then we recommend checking out the government resources and helpful guides from charitable organizations below:
- Advice from the Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC) on quitting vaping
- Smokefree Teen – a government scheme set up to provide support to students looking to quit vaping
Help Others Stop Vaping
If you know someone who vapes and they’re trying to quit but struggling, then there are steps you can take to help them, such as those outlined above.
You may also work in a school or public space like a hotel, bar or airport. If so, you may need to ensure that people do not vape, especially in public spaces or no-smoking areas. To help you achieve that, why not try the Triton vape detector?
Armed with cutting edge technology, our vape detectors can alert you when someone is vaping. It doesn’t signal an alarm like a smoke alarm does but rather issues a notification to the likes of a mobile device. This way, you can catch the vaper in the act which can enable you to enforce the policy.
If working in the likes of a school, providing education on the potentially harmful effects of vaping to the offenders can hopefully help them to stop vaping.