Quitting my Juul proving harder than quitting cigarettes

[altusadmin]

Hi all,

I'm here because I'm trying to give up my Juul habit. I am a former smoker, had been blessedly quit for years, but used a Juul on a lark and it is proving more difficult than my final smoking quit 7 years ago. I realize that many on these threads may use Juul as nicotine-replacement, which I support (it's certainly better than smoking). But my goal is simply to get off nicotine again, for health reasons (no idea what my near-constant Juul inhalation will do someday) and cost (money could be so much better spent). 

Just wondering if anyone here is trying to give up Juul / vaping habit and finding it as wildly difficult as I am. 

Thanks all. 

[altusadmin]

Just did. Thank you for the tip.

[AllieAllerson]

I am on day 2- about 38 hours now- and I am absolutely miserable. The skin crawling feeling is still there but now I am having a lot of GI issues and really itchy ears. I was smoking about 1-1.5 juul cartridges a day for the last year. I decided to quit on a long weekend to have the time away from work but I had no idea what I was in for. I have almost gone back several times but thankfully I threw everything out so it would be a matter of me leaving to go buy another juul system and pods from the gas station. How long did it take for the intense physical symptoms to stop for you? It is hard for me at this point to differentiate between what's mental and physical but it is all miserable. 

[kyliecharles]

Allie- I am with ya. I’ve been trying to quit the juul since March. My official quit day is tomorrow (well I guess today).... from my experience it’s the mental withdrawal. The GI issues are normal and will go away in a couple of days. My worst withdrawal symptom was just grumpiness..... which also goes away. I prepared for it this time. The book from Allen Carr really helped and this site too. I really think it will help the mental withdrawal which is making you miserable. You can search it on this site but I don’t have the link on my iPhone. I’m on hour 5 and I’ve lasted 21 days from my first quit (which was only once back in March) But I didnt prepare for it before... just cold turkey) That’s why I don’t think I was successful. Stay strong Allie. 38 hours is huge from a pod a day. If you can’t find the book I’ll send you a link tomorrow when I’m at my computer. You can do this! WE can do this!!

Sent from my iPhone

[AllieAllerson]

Hi Kylie thank you so much! I would love to have a link to that book. I am back at work today and struggling more than ever on day three (I think this is more of a mental struggle and breaking a habit) so anything would help! I am horrified the more and more that I read online about vaping and Juuls. I am so worried I did permanent damage to my lungs but I keep reminding myself there is nowhere to go but forward and I just have to make sure I don't go back. Anyway thanks for all your help and I am looking forward to reading more. 

[altusadmin]

Allie,

Like I just said to my friend Kylie (who has been helping me since Spring 2019), keep thinking about the fact that if you get this done NOW, you will NEVER HAVE TO DO IT AGAIN!! Think about that every time it gets especially hard. 

And ignore the part of your brain that keeps saying, "it's OK. You can just vape the rest of the days you're alive. It will be your 'thing' just for you. It's not like alcoholism or some other addiction that limits your functionality in day-to-day life - this is JUST NICOTINE." 

I had GI issues the first week as well. I told my wife that I must've eaten something that didn't agree with me (just another lie on top of a 1+ years of lying about my nicotine use). It went away, but the daily struggle remains strong even now, 7 weeks in. 

It gets better so incrementally that it's not even really noticeable. That makes it hard (you just think, "come on, can I stop craving this now?"). But it is getting better. It's just eating the elephant one bite at a time. Juul is just a damn big elephant.

We're all with you. We really are. Get through one craving at a time. That's it - just one at a time. 

[altusadmin]

Kylie,

Congratulations on Day 1. Keep thinking about the fact that if you get this done NOW, you will NEVER HAVE TO DO IT AGAIN!! Think about that every time it gets especially hard. 

And ignore the part of your brain that keeps saying, "it's OK. You can just vape the rest of the days you're alive. It will be your 'thing' just for you. It's not like alcoholism or some other addiction that limits your functionality in day-to-day life - this is JUST NICOTINE." 

Forget all that noise. It will take you from your kids and grandkids. You will NEVER REGRET QUITTING JUUL, but you will always regret NOT quitting JUUL. 

I'm with you. Reach out when you need the help these next few months. I'm here. 

[kyliecharles]

I am so proud of you Nick!   7 weeks is awesome!!   It's very inspirational and motivating.  I'm sorry you're still having cravings, but your words of wisdom are spot on.... get this over with now and you will never have to go through it again!     Did you read the Allen Carr book?   I sent the link to Allie above.   Every little piece of information helps.  Hope you are having a great day.   Thanks again for all of your support!

Kylie