How to Quit Vaping: 8 Tips

Why Quit Vaping?

There are a lot of reasons someone may want to quit vaping. With higher reports of vaping-related lung injuries, and other negative health effects, lots of folks are starting to take steps to quit. Maybe you’re tired of coughing, your breath smelling, or feeling attached to an object. Or maybe you just want to cope in healthier ways with your stress and spend less money.

Lots of people take up vaping, hoping it will be easier to wean off a nicotine addiction. While this works for some, many people find they become just as attached, if not more, to their vape. This alone may be a reason you want to quit.

Quitting Vaping Improves Your Health

Quitting vaping may seem daunting, and the thought of nicotine withdrawal may sound awful, but many people find the benefits outweigh the negatives, especially the longer they quit.

Health issues that will improve due to quitting vaping include:

• Easier breathing
• Less coughing
• Decreased heart rate and blood pressure
• Increased blood circulation
• Reduced risk of heart attack or stroke
• Less anxiety and depression¹
• Feeling more in control
• Improved self-esteem
• Decreased risk of cancer

Other Benefits of Quitting Vaping

The benefits of quitting vaping don’t only surround your health. You may also notice other positive changes in your life.

Some other benefits to help motivate you to quit vaping include:

• Saving money
• Improved coping
• Improved stress management
• Feeling more in control
• Feeling of freedom
• Increased connection to the present moment

Cold Turkey Vs. Gradually Quitting

Quitting “cold turkey” means one day you just stop. No nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) or other aids. Whereas gradually quitting you come up with a plan and slowly cut down on the amount of nicotine you are using or how much you are vaping.

Surprisingly, there’s a decent amount of research that shows those who quit cold turkey are more successful than those who gradually quit.^{3, 4, 5} But, what it will really come down to is what you feel most comfortable with, what is most realistic for you, and what motivates you the most.

8 Tips to Stop Vaping

There are a lot of different tips and tricks for stopping vaping, and many people find them helpful.

Some tips to stop vaping are:

1. Choose a Time to Quit Vaping

It’s easy to put something off until it never happens. You say tomorrow or next week, until you’ve put it off for a year. Pick an exact date and time you will put the vape down and set a reminder. By being specific it’s harder to come up with an excuse, forget, or procrastinate.

2. Consider a Nicotine Replacement

Nicotine replacement can be a helpful way to navigate some of the more unpleasant side effects of nicotine withdrawal. It’s recommended you start NRT the day you quit vaping. A healthcare provider can help you find the right dosage and provide more guidance on what the best method may be (eg. lozenge, gum, patch).

Fun fact! Did you know you’re actually not supposed to chew nicotine gum like regular gum? Instead, you’re supposed to chew it for a moment until it’s soft and then “cheek it” (which just means you put the gum against your gums in your cheek). This allows for a slow release of the nicotine from the gum into your body vs. a rapid release.⁸

3. Identify Your Triggers

Whenever we try to cut down on a behavior, we start to become more aware of spaces and places where we wish we could restart the behavior. This is completely normal but can impact your success. Knowing what your triggers are and how you will navigate them can help you quit for good.

Common triggers for someone quitting vaping include:

• Emotions like stress, boredom, worry, or loneliness
• Alcohol use
• Others vaping or smoking around you
• Entering gas stations, smoke shops, grocery stores, etc., where you used to purchase your vapes
• Needing a break from work or an excuse to step away from a group
• Habits and rituals associated with vaping

4. Have a Strategy for Withdrawal and Cravings

Just like having a plan for how to deal with triggers can be helpful, so is having a strategy for how to navigate withdrawals and cravings. Lots of people wait until they feel their worst before they take action, but if you plan ahead, you’ll feel more prepared. Also, no one likes having to make tough decisions when they feel poorly.

You may experience these symptoms when you quit vaping:

• Mood changes, like increased irritability, nervousness, and frustration
• Physical symptoms like nausea, headaches, dizziness, coughing, dry mouth
• Fatigue
• Increased appetite
• Constipation
• Mental fog
• Trouble sleeping
• Trouble focusing

Some tips to help manage cravings include:

• Practice deep, mindful breathing
• Practice meditation
• Try “Urge Surfing”⁵
• Change scenery
• Walk, stretch, lift weights, etc.
• Distract yourself
• Journal
• Call or text your support system
• Complain

5. Tell Your Family & Friends About Quitting

Accountability is powerful. If you share with friends and family your decision to stop, they can help check-in, provide support, or be of help in any way you feel comfortable. Friends and family who used to vape or smoke may also be able to share tips and tricks surrounding what helped them quit.

6. Behavioral Replacement

With any behavior we are trying to stop, it’s important to have something to put in its place. In therapy, we call this behavioral replacement. Instead of engaging in one unhealthy behavior (e.g., vaping), you will instead replace it with a healthy or desired behavior (e.g., eating a mint, NRT lozenge, breathing exercise).

Many people find it beneficial to keep the replacement behavior similar to the behavior they are trying to stop. So for vaping, maybe you want to have a behavior that keeps your hands and mouth busy or distracted.

7. Try Setting a SMART Goal

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant

Time-Bound

It’s a template for how you can set and meet a goal you want to achieve. Many goals end up being vague with very little guidance (e.g., “I will stop vaping”). It’s important to have details about when, how, and why, as well as how you plan for barriers or setbacks.

SMART goals give you a specific goal with direction, but also often have you identify what you can do if you aren’t succeeding or things aren’t going as planned.

8. Identify Where You are in the “Stages of Change”

The Stages of Change, also known as The Transtheoretical Model^{6, 7} have been used to help people change behaviors since the 1970s. It’s now used for a wide variety of behaviors but actually started with smoking. Knowing what stage you are in can help you better identify the steps you need to take to make a change and how you can maintain the changes.

What Happens if You Slip Up?

Slip-ups will likely happen. Why? Because changing behaviors is hard! Vaping isn’t an easy habit to stop, and you may run into barriers you didn’t expect. If you do slip up, look at what happened. Was there a trigger you weren’t expecting? Are you lacking support? By understanding what happened, you can better prepare for the future.

It’s also important to remind yourself how far you’ve come, give yourself credit, and not be too hard on yourself. Think “progress, not perfection”.

When to Seek Professional Support for Quitting Vaping

If you feel like you’re not able to quit vaping on your own or you’re struggling more than expected, know you’re not alone. Working with a professional is a great way to quit vaping for good! You can search an online therapist directory or use an online therapy platform to find a therapist who specializes in addiction or behavior change.

Lots of folks realize when they quit vaping that nicotine was helping to cover or reduce some of their mental health symptoms or stress in general. If you feel like you’re struggling, you can always reach out to a psychiatrist. There are even online psychiatrist options you can use.

In My Experience

In my experience as a therapist who specializes in behavior change, particularly tobacco cessation, I recognize this is not an easy step. Vaping is a particularly hard habit to stop since it’s so easily accessible. I find most people have 2-3 quit attempts before they are able to “kick” the habit for good, so don’t get discouraged if you feel like your progress is slow or you slip up.