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Hi everyone, Im new here. I'm not really sure how all this works. Im quitting vaping tomorrow. I smoked cigarettes for 15 years, and I quit 5 years ago. I decided to try my friends vape at a party about 6 months ago, and bam! Im hooked to nicotine again. I've been vaping daily for about 3 1/2 months. I refuse to go back to the ball-and-chain of nicotine addiction, so I wanna quit. How does this site work? Is there an app? Where do I start?
Thanks sweetplt Yes that response is still accurate however at the moment "reply by email" isn't available.. In the future hopefully this will be brought back when we move community platforms in the next couple months. So you'll need to login to the community to participate/respond.
Mark
EX Community Manager
Welcome! I usually check my inbox first, and then I'll go to "my ex feed" or "latest updates" to see new discussions or blogs. Also, you can use the search feature to find topics of interest. I just try to pay attention to posted dates and not comment on old stuff. But much of it is still good reading.
Welcome to our community!
Good morning! Happy to celebrate the first day of the rest of your addiction-free life! I hope you have destroyed the device and any pods you still had on hand. Keeping any around is just giving yourself permission to fail.
You will need to substitute “vape” or “device” as you do the reading I will recommend. Research suggests nicotine may be as addictive as heroin and cocaine. Because vaping is available to you most anywhere, anytime, I believe it might be more difficult from which to break free than regular tobacco products - but it CAN be done!
I recommend that you educate yourself on what nicotine does to your body and mind To that end, I highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” . Vaping was not a concern when this was written, so you will need to sub “vape”as necessary. This is an easy and entertaining read which can be found online or at your local library. If you do nothing else to get ready for your quit, please do give this a read. Here is a video to inform you further about nicotine addiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpWMgPHn0Lo&feature=youtu.be.
Considering vaping to be “safe” is far from a given - there is much research to be done. What we know is that vaping raises your blood pressure and spikes your adrenaline, which increases your heart rate and the likelihood of having a heart attack. There are many unknowns about vaping, including what chemicals make up the vapor and how they affect physical health over the long term. Vaping was recently in the headlines because of the possibility of it causing severe lung damage in young people. An August, 2019 study at the University of Pennsylvania showed that a single instance of vaping immediately lead to reduced vascular function: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/08/190820101601.htm You might find useful information, as well, here: https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/quitting-smoking-vaping/quitting-e-cigarettes.
You didn't mention if you are using a quit aid, so I will give you my thoughts on them. If you go that route, I personally recommend the aids that don't let the addict control the dose such as the available prescription drugs or the patch. If used properly, gum, lozenges and inhalers are fine, but they need to be used only as a last resort after you have tried to delay and distract. I have seen folks become addicted to them if they substitute them for every cigarette they used to smoke - just trading one addiction for another. You need to start out with a plan to reduce use of them over time - which the patch does by decreasing the dose contained in them.. For the gum, you can start by cutting each piece in half, then in quarters, then sub regular gum of the same flavor in between, adding more and more regular gum. For the lozenge, you need to start subbing a mint in between to begin, increasing the number of them over time.
The idea is to change up your routines so the vaping associations are reduced. Drink your coffee with your OTHER hand in a place different from where you vaped. Maybe switch to tea for a bit. If you always had that first puff with your coffee, try putting your tennies on right out of bed, going for a quick walk, then taking your shower and THEN your coffee! Rearrange the furniture in the areas you used to vape so the view is different. Take a different route when you are out and about so you aren't driving by your vaping supply shop. Take a quick walk at break time instead of vaping.
You need to distract yourself through any craves. You can take a bite out of a lemon (yup - rind and all), put your head in the freezer and take a deep breath of cold air, do a few jumping jacks, go for a brisk walk or march in place, play a computer game. Keep a cold bottle of water with you from which to sip. Don't let that vaping thought rattle around in your brain unchallenged. Sometimes you need to quit a minute or an hour at a time. You will need to be disciplined in the early days to distract yourself when a crave hits. Get busy! Here is a link to a list of things to do instead of vape if you need some fresh ideas:
https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/Youngatheart.7.4.12-blog/2013/02/25/100-things-to-do-instead-of-smoke
The conversation in your head in response to the "I want to vape" thought needs to be, "Well, since I have decided not to do that anymore, what shall I do instead for the three minutes this crave will last?" Then DO it. You will need to put some effort into this in the early days, but it gets easier and easier to do.
Stay close to us here and ask questions when you have them and for support when you need it. We will be with you every step of the way!
Nancy
Welcome to the Ex. Congrats on your first day nicotine free. We're here to support you--just reach out.
Barb
Welcome to Ex. How it works--check in regularly, blog as you wish, read, comment. Now that you are here, you already have a whole community ready to support, already rooting for you. One day at a time, yes you can.
Just a quick note to say congratulations on your upcoming quit and welcome to the best group of people to help you on your journey.
Hi there I’m a newbie too. Keep coming back to this site and read the suggestions over and over agin I have started to read them when I am delaying my self from smoking, by reading the posts you are conditioning your brain to think about not using As your new normal. You can do it!
Hi and Welcome to Ex’s Faith104
Glad you found our site...we are all addicts and say, “NOPE, Not One Puff Ever”...nicotine is highly addictive...I am proud of you for wanting to quit the vape so soon...many get hooked on this for years before quitting. May I suggest, you read at My EX Plan | BecomeAnEX , when it says smoking, substitute with vaping. Also, read the posts and keep close to the support site. You may want to join the Vape group along with this group at E-Cig and Vape Quitters and Users ... learning the site takes time and looking around and asking questions...We are here to help you in this journey...you already know how to post a question...
As far as an app for this site, this is an answer from our Administrator Mark Mark to another person asking ...
~ Colleen 681 DOF