However, existing research has linked chemicals in e-cigarettes to:
How to Quit Vaping
Quitting vaping can be easier when you prepare in advance and have a plan. Find out what steps you can take to get ready to quit vaping.
Quitting vaping can be easier when you have a plan. Find out what steps you can take to get ready to quit vaping.
Know Why You’re Quitting
There are many good reasons to stop vaping. Do you want to feel healthier? Save money? Knowing why you want to quit vaping can help you stay motivated and focused on your goal to become vape-free.
Think about the things in your life that are important to you. Does vaping get in the way of what’s important? If you’re not sure, try asking yourself these questions:
- Is vaping affecting my health?
- Is vaping controlling my life?
- How does vaping affect the way I think and feel?
- How does vaping affect my relationships with my friends, parents, boyfriend/girlfriend, or other people important to me?
- How does vaping or thinking about vaping interfere with my schoolwork or grades?
- Are there activities that I used to enjoy that I don’t enjoy anymore because of vaping?
- Am I spending a lot of money to keep vaping?
- What am I looking forward to the most after quitting?
Your answers to these questions can help you see how vaping is affecting your life, maybe in ways you hadn’t thought about before. Make a list of all the reasons that you want to quit vaping and put it in a place where you will see it often. It might help to keep the list on your phone. When you have the urge to vape, look at the list to remind yourself why you want to stop vaping. Frequently reminding yourself why you want to quit can keep you focused on quitting vaping.
Quit Tobacco Completely
Some people who vape also use cigarettes or other tobacco products. If you smoke cigarettes or use other tobacco products besides vapes, now is a good time to quit those too.
We know it can seem challenging to quit smoking or using other tobacco products at the same time as quitting vaping, but becoming completely tobacco-free is the best thing you can do for your health.
Remember: There are tools available to help you quit. Download the quitSTART app or try SmokefreeTXT by signing up online or texting QUIT to 47848.
Commit to Your Quit
The first step to giving up vaping is to choose a date to quit. Here are some tips to help you pick a quit date:
- Give yourself time to get ready. Getting ready can help you feel confident and give you the skills you’ll need to stay quit.
- Don’t put it off for too long. Picking a date too far away gives you time to change your mind or become less interested in quitting. Choose a date that is no more than a week or two away.
- Set yourself up for success. Try not to pick a quit date that will be stressful, like the day before a big test.
Have you picked your quit date? Circle it on your calendar or set an alert on your phone, and make sure you have a plan for what you will do on the big day.
Create Your Quit Plan
Create a personalized quit plan to help you stay confident and motivated to quit vaping. Having a plan for handling the tough times can help you stay on track and increases your chances of quitting successfully.
Know What Challenges to Expect
The first few weeks of quitting vaping are usually the hardest. Take it one day at a time. You may face some challenges along the way, but knowing what to expect and being prepared can help.
Learn your triggers. Certain people, feelings, or situations can cause you to want to vape. It’s important to know your triggers. It may be best to avoid situations that can trigger you to vape when you’re in the early stages of your quit.
Prepare for cravings and withdrawal. Think about how you will fight cravings and deal with withdrawal symptoms. Knowing what to expect and having strategies for handling thoughts about vaping or uncomfortable feelings will help you succeed and stay with your quit in those tough moments.
Resist temptations. Avoid places and situations where others are vaping. If you can’t avoid being around vaping, plan for how you will handle these situations. Maybe that means you take a temporary break from friends you vape with and think about what you will say if somebody offers you a vape.
Imagine Your Vape-Free Self
It might be hard to imagine your life without e-cigarettes – especially if vaping is something you do a lot throughout the day. You might feel like a piece of yourself is missing when you first quit. It can take time to get used to the new vape-free you, but over time this will become your new normal. Here are some strategies that can help:
- Make the mental shift. Start thinking of yourself as someone who doesn’t vape. This will help separate you from vaping and give you the confidence to quit and stay quit.
- Focus on the positive. Make a list of all the positive things about yourself that don’t involve vaping and put it somewhere you can see often, like on your bedroom wall or phone. It will remind you that vaping does not define who you are.
- Picture the future you. Think about who you want to be in the future. Compare that with who you are now. Ask yourself: How are they different? How does vaping get in the way of what you want for the future? The answer to this can help motivate you to stick to your decision to quit.
Build Your Team
Surrounding yourself with supportive people can make it easier to quit vaping. Friends, family, co-workers, and others can be there to listen, boost your mood, and distract you from using your vape.
Ask for help. You don’t have to do it alone. If you feel comfortable, tell your friends and family that you’re quitting vaping and that you will need their support. Here are some ways to ask for the support you need.
- Be specific. Whether you need tough love or something softer, tell your friends and family what type of support you want, and how often you want their help. For example, if you are feeling stressed or anxious after school, ask a friend to help keep you distracted.
- Say thank you. Tell your support team you appreciate them. A thank-you can go a long way – and it doesn’t take much time. Research also shows that being grateful can improve physical health, mental health, and self-esteem.
- Support others. Support is a two-way street. Check-in with your friends and ask them what you can do to help them. Or, do something to brighten someone’s day.
Talk to a doctor. Talk to your doctor or another health care professional about how to quit vaping. Ask how they might be able to help you. They can offer support and resources.
Talk to a tobacco cessation counselor. Get free, personalized support from an expert. Call 1-800-QUIT-NOW or 1-877-44U-QUIT to talk with a tobacco cessation counselor. You can also chat online using the National Cancer Institute’s LiveHelp service.
Dealing with people who don’t get it. Some important people in your life may not understand your decision to quit. It can be frustrating or discouraging when someone in your life is not as supportive as you’d like. Try one of these strategies:
- Distance yourself. You may need to take a break from unsupportive people when you first quit. Let them know that you need to make quitting vaping your priority right now.
- Recommit to quitting. Remind yourself why you are quitting and why being vape-free is important to you.
- Ask them to respect your decision. Not everyone will know how to be supportive, and that’s okay. Ask them not to vape around you or offer you to use their vape.
- Lean on positive people. Spend time with people who make you feel good about your decision and who want you to quit.
Ready to Ditch Vaping? 9 Tips for Success
If you’ve picked up the habit of vaping nicotine, you might be rethinking things amid reports of vaping-related lung injuries, some of which are life threatening.
Or maybe you want to avoid some of the other negative health effects associated with vaping.
Whatever your reason is, we’ve got tips and strategies to help you quit.
If you haven’t already, allow yourself some time to think about what’s motivating you to quit. This is an important first step. Determining these reasons can increase your chance of success.
“Knowing our why can help us change any pattern or habit. Being clear on why we’re changing a behavior helps validate the decision to break that habit and gives us the motivation to discover a new habit or way of coping,” explains Kim Egel, a therapist in Cardiff, California.
One key reason for quitting might be concern over possible health effects of vaping. Since e-cigarettes are still fairly new, medical experts haven’t fully determined their short- and long-term health effects.
However, existing research has linked chemicals in e-cigarettes to:
- lung and respiratory issues
- changes in the brain
- organ damage
If health reasons aren’t a big motivator, you might also want to think about:
- the money you’ll save by quitting
- protecting loved ones and pets against secondhand vape smoke
- the freedom of not feeling agitated when you can’t vape, like on a long flight
There’s no right or wrong reason for quitting. It’s all about figuring out what matters most to you.
Once you have a clear idea of why you want to quit, you’re ready for the next step: choosing a start date (or quit date, if you’re planning to go cold turkey).
Quitting can be tough, so consider choosing a time when you won’t be under a lot of added stress. In other words, the middle of finals week or the day before your annual review may not be ideal start dates.
That said, it’s not always possible to predict when life will get busy or complicated.
Once you commit to quitting, you can start anytime you like. Just keep in mind you might need a little extra support during stressful periods. That’s normal and nothing to be ashamed of.
Some people find it helps to choose a day with some significance. If your birthday or another day you like to remember is approaching, quitting on or around that day can make it even more meaningful.
Plan ahead
Ideally, try to set a date that’s at least a week away so you have time to:
- identify some alternative coping skills
- tell loved ones and enlist support
- get rid of vaping products
- buy gum, hard candies, toothpicks, and other things you can use to help fight the urge to vape
- talk to a therapist or review online resources
- practice quitting by doing a “test run” a day or two at a time
Ramp up your motivation by circling the date on your calendar, dedicating a special page to it in your planner, or treating yourself to something on that day, like a dinner out or a movie you’ve been wanting to see.
Was this helpful?
Research suggests the “cold turkey” method, or quitting vaping all at once, may be the most effective way to quit for some people.
According to the results of a 2016 study that looked at 697 cigarette smokers, those who quit cold turkey were more likely to be abstinent at the 4-week point than those who quit gradually. The same held true at the 8-week and 6-month follow-ups.
A 2019 review of three randomized controlled trials (considered the “gold standard” of research) also found evidence to suggest people who quit abruptly were more likely to quit successfully than those who tried to quit by gradually cutting back.
That said, gradually quitting can still work for some people. If you decide to go this route, just remember to keep your end goal of quitting completely in sight.
If quitting vaping is your goal, any method that helps you achieve that goal can have benefit. But going cold turkey may lead to greater long-term success with quitting.
It’s worth repeating: Quitting can be super tough, especially if you don’t have much support. Then there’s the whole issue of withdrawal, which can be pretty uncomfortable.
Nicotine replacement therapy — nicotine patches, gum, lozenges, sprays, and inhalers — can help some people. These products provide nicotine at a consistent dose, so you avoid the nicotine rush you get from vaping while still getting relief from withdrawal symptoms.
Your healthcare provider or pharmacist can help you find the right dosage. Some vaping products deliver more nicotine than cigarettes, so you may need to begin NRT at a higher dosage than if you smoked traditional cigarettes.
Experts recommend starting NRT the day you quit vaping. Just remember that NRT doesn’t help you address emotional vaping triggers, so talking to a therapist or getting support from a quit program is always a good idea.
Keep in mind that NRT isn’t recommended if you’re still using some form of tobacco along with vaping.
What about cigarettes?
After hearing about the lung injuries associated with vaping, you tossed out your vaping equipment and resolved to give it up. But cravings and withdrawal can make it tough to stick with your decision.
Given all the unknowns around vaping, switching to cigarettes might seem like a safer option. It’s not that simple, though. Going back to cigarettes might lower your risk for vaping-related illnesses, but you’ll still:
- face the possibility of nicotine addiction
- increase your risk for other serious health effects, including lung disease, cancer, and death
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