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Original poster

Help with ending horrible vaping addiction

87 replies

Bloopoooooo · 05/02/2025 13:52

Would love to hear success stories. I am so ashamed of my vaping; I am getting through about 1½ disposables a day.
I quit smoking in my late 20's, I had the impetus of wanting to start trying for a baby.

Managed to stay off the cigs for a decade and got to the point where I didn't miss smoking and could even be around others smoking and not minding or being tempted.
Stupidly went out on a night out where some random offered me a go on his Elf bar. Liked it. Bought one for the weekend. Didn't have any more for another week or so but then next weekend away I bought another.
It's completely spiralled from there and now I'm getting through about 3 in 2 days.

I went our with friends at the weekend and as no seats indoors we went outside; I got through 2 disposable ones in one evening.

I can't enjoy cinema or theatre anymore cos I'm just itching to vape.

I'm hiding in the bathroom vaping so my kids don't see me but the older one has found packets and been understandably very upset.

I went cold turkey for about a month because I was on holiday and then for a few weeks after, but as soon as something stressful happened at work I bought one and am back at square one.

I am thinking of getting a liquid, non-disposable one and gradually increasing the amount of liquid that has no nicotine in it, but no idea where to start as have only used disposable ones.

Absolutely mortified when parents from school see me puffing away and I'm mid-40's so feel like I am way too old for this.

Any advice please?

OP posts:
Original poster
Bloopoooooo · 05/02/2025 17:53

Gymnopedie · 05/02/2025 14:14

Also the cigarettes come to an end but with vapes you can just have more than 1 cigarette's worth at a time.

I think that's a big part of the issue. When do you know you've had enough? I struggle with that, when do I stop? Whereas a cigarette has a built in timer, and most of us would now go outside, so smoking a second would have to be a real decision.

I still don't have the answer.

Yes exactly this!! 💯 it's so annoying. I heard that about [some number] of puffs on a vape = 1 cig so if I'm about to go into a meeting or do an activity with DC I will do this but then I'm just chugging away slowly in the background also.
I hate how much I actually enjoy vaping 😳😳😳

OP posts:
Original poster
Bloopoooooo · 05/02/2025 17:55

SpringBunnyHopHop · 05/02/2025 14:16

A massive motivation for me to quit was the cost. I think I was wasting £150 a month.

Bloody hell. I guess if I'm doing 10 a week and they're 2 for £10 that's £50 a week. But then if I get them on deliveroo they are £8.95 and I'll still but one if I've run out. So that's £200+ a month. Absolutely horrendous.

OP posts:
Original poster
Bloopoooooo · 05/02/2025 17:55

CarnivorousHipPain · 05/02/2025 14:16

https://www.ecigwizard.com/products/aspire-gotek-x-pod-kit

Just a cheap one like this would do you.

Show quote history

Thanks x

OP posts:
Original poster
Bloopoooooo · 05/02/2025 17:57

CoastalCalm · 05/02/2025 14:25

as an aside 20 Marlboro gold are almost treble what you paid at £6 -
now pushing £18 !

I stopped back in October but vaping still

Omg I could never have afforded it as a schoolgirl and might have been priced out 😭😭😭

OP posts:
Original poster
Bloopoooooo · 05/02/2025 17:57

Notchangingnameagain · 05/02/2025 14:27

Lio Journey Pack - By Breathlio.

Look them up and think about giving it ago. I use this now instead of going outside in the evening to smoke a cigarette.

Thank you I will look x

OP posts:
Original poster
Bloopoooooo · 05/02/2025 17:57

GreyAnt · 05/02/2025 14:20

I wonder if this would help @Bloopoooooo https://www.england.nhs.uk/2024/11/nhs-rolls-out-stop-smoking-pill-to-help-tens-of-thousands-quit/ ?? Could ask your local stop smoking service

Thank you x

OP posts:
Original poster
Bloopoooooo · 05/02/2025 18:00

Spudlover · 05/02/2025 14:45

I found this with vaping, I was so much more addicted to it than I ever was with cigarettes. I couldn’t get through a train journey or a cinema trip, let alone a flight.

I gradually cut down through the strengths until I was on 0%. I gave myself permission to vape as much 0% as I liked and I did for a couple of weeks which got me through the worst of the withdrawal. One day I realised I hadn’t picked it up all day so put it away in a cupboard and it never came out again.

Good luck, I am so glad I quit, I felt so free and still do 5 years later.

Oh that's cool. I am really glad it worked out. When I went on a plane this summer I felt physically pained that I couldn't vape, I actually wanted to cry or fall asleep. It was horrendous and way more horrible than not being able to smoke in the olden days when I was still hiding my habit from my parents!

OP posts:
Original poster
Bloopoooooo · 05/02/2025 18:02

ScrollingLeaves · 05/02/2025 14:38

Step 1.
Go on to Nicotine replacement in a sub-lingual tablet, or patch.

That is to dissociate from holding the vaper and puffing.

Step 2.
Gradually reduce the step 1 nicotine.

Step 3.
Do not go on to sugar. Sugar ups and downs are related to smoking craving somehow.
Have regular small snacks with protein.

Avoid too much caffeine.Take magnesium to reduce anxiety.( Non laxative version kind.)

Look up emotional freedom technique.

Oh gosh the sugar thing stresses me out so much; I have a really sweet tooth at the best of times!! I did gain weight when I quit smoking then got pregnant and had DCs so my weight ended up going up and up anyway. I dread to think how much I will gain when I quit.

OP posts:
Original poster
Bloopoooooo · 05/02/2025 18:04

Losingthetimber · 05/02/2025 15:02

I stopped about a month ago, I use the Nicorette quck mist, it does work. The first few times you use it you think you’re spraying acid in, but you become used to it,. Clearly I will need to stop that too, but it is better than vaping.

Thanks I will try this. I think if it works quickly as the name seems to suggest that'll be excellent. I found nicorette stuff really difficult when I quit before, the patches gave me a rash and the lozenges made me feel really nauseus but hopefully things have improved in the last 12 years x

OP posts:
WattleTyler · 05/02/2025 18:05

I was watching an interview with Katie Price on YouTube. She was talking about her mum’s lung condition and how she herself was about to undergo tests. She mentioned the medic said to her that if anyone was going to start either smoking or vaping, he’d advise smoking as vaping is so bad for you.

I thought that was quite shocking. It’s even worse than smoking!

VapeHelp · 05/02/2025 18:06

It is a lot cheaper buying the refillable ones. Mine is small (rose gold, cost about £25) and is small enough to hide in my hand or put in front jeans pocket - I hate those huge things people have. I buy a bottle of Drifters at the vape shop and they add the nicotine for me, so you could ask them to add less each time. A bottle costs about £12 and lasts me a month.

Look up gadgets like Voopoo and Argus. You should be able to order it all online, though they can’t sell it with nicotine in so you have to add it yourself (and the lids are a bitch to remove!)

Original poster
Bloopoooooo · 05/02/2025 18:06

Ahsheeit · 05/02/2025 15:06

Try a nicorette inhalator. Vaping was irritating my chest more than cigs, and the move to the above was actually way easier than I thought it would be. I chew on it more than anything now, ADHD can forget about it until it's in my line of sight. You might be able to get one via the NHS smoking cessation service. 4 months cig and 3 months vape free.

I'm adhd as well! I wonder if there is a link between adhd and nicotine as there is with adhd and sugar. Friends at school used to always tease me for having an oral fixation nobody was really sure what it meant but it sounded funny and rude 😅

OP posts:
VapeHelp · 05/02/2025 18:09

Mine is this one (the £25 included spare pods and starter juice)

www.vapesuperstore.co.uk/products/argus-z-pod-kit-by-voopoo

Sesame2011 · 05/02/2025 18:26

Hi, I'm the same and trying to give up my vape.
Most disposable vapes have 20mg of nicotine. I have recently switched to 10mg disposable vapes. I just googled low nicotine vapes and some came up. I have been on the 10mg for a week now and doing well but not sure when to try the zero nicotine.
Just wanted to give this as a suggestion.
I also decided to only vape in the kitchen but this just means I sit in the kitchen all evening 😂
My biggest craving for a vape is after food and when I'm stressed. I'm currently lying in bed with my vape in my hand 🙄

GreyAnt · 05/02/2025 18:48

WattleTyler · 05/02/2025 18:05

I was watching an interview with Katie Price on YouTube. She was talking about her mum’s lung condition and how she herself was about to undergo tests. She mentioned the medic said to her that if anyone was going to start either smoking or vaping, he’d advise smoking as vaping is so bad for you.

I thought that was quite shocking. It’s even worse than smoking!

Sorry but that’s utter rubbish and untrue , I’m ex hospice and there is NO comparison to the harms caused by smoking, vapes are far far far less likely to kill you or cause serious harm but they are still not advised for anyone apart from those giving up smoking. I have never nursed a 40 year old at end of life because of vaping but certainly have cared for a number of people in their 30’s and 40’s dying from lung cancer and other smoking related illnesses. But nicotine addiction in any form can be a big issue hence why nhs services should offer help to those wanting to stop vaping.

YesHonestly · 05/02/2025 19:08

WattleTyler · 05/02/2025 18:05

I was watching an interview with Katie Price on YouTube. She was talking about her mum’s lung condition and how she herself was about to undergo tests. She mentioned the medic said to her that if anyone was going to start either smoking or vaping, he’d advise smoking as vaping is so bad for you.

I thought that was quite shocking. It’s even worse than smoking!

It’s really not.

Please don’t consider Katie Price and what “some medic” allegedly told her a reliable source.

Original poster
Bloopoooooo · 05/02/2025 21:34

VapeHelp · 05/02/2025 18:06

It is a lot cheaper buying the refillable ones. Mine is small (rose gold, cost about £25) and is small enough to hide in my hand or put in front jeans pocket - I hate those huge things people have. I buy a bottle of Drifters at the vape shop and they add the nicotine for me, so you could ask them to add less each time. A bottle costs about £12 and lasts me a month.

Look up gadgets like Voopoo and Argus. You should be able to order it all online, though they can’t sell it with nicotine in so you have to add it yourself (and the lids are a bitch to remove!)

Thanks - I am so confused by the refillable ones but I think I'll go down gradually.

I find the really huge ones quite off-putting they look like tanks or 4x4's or something!

OP posts:
sparrowflewdown · 05/02/2025 21:57

@CarnivorousHipPain Many thanks, that is so helpful.

sparrowflewdown · 05/02/2025 22:06

WattleTyler · 05/02/2025 18:05

I was watching an interview with Katie Price on YouTube. She was talking about her mum’s lung condition and how she herself was about to undergo tests. She mentioned the medic said to her that if anyone was going to start either smoking or vaping, he’d advise smoking as vaping is so bad for you.

I thought that was quite shocking. It’s even worse than smoking!

Yes this is what worries me. I do think vaping may be worse or as bad as you hear of people who have become very ill with pnuemonia etc from vaping continously.

Losingthetimber · 06/02/2025 06:57

Yes, when that Paul Danan passed away, I was reading about it in the mail and it said he had to previously be resuscitated due to incessitent vaping. I was sitting with one in my mouth. I stopped immediately.

ive a friend who does both, smokes and vapes. He’s a fit healthy guy and I can hear it in his lungs now, he vapes unless he’s had a drink then he will smoke. Snd he vapes constantly, sometimes if his wife isn’t up in the morning yet, he will sneak out for a ciggie, so I’m sure he does it other times.

it’s so hard though, nicotine must be one of the most addictive things on the planet,

blackheartsgirl · 06/02/2025 07:59

Paul Danan had previous drug addiction issues and had done stints in rehab over the years. He had also been a heavy smoker too. I’ve no doubt vaping contributed to his demise but I don’t think it was the sole cause of his death. He was quite a vulnerable person.

I hate being addicted to my vape, I started vaping after dh died (I’ve smoked on and off since I was 13) and now I can’t stop. I’ve tried refillables but I don’t seem to get the same hit as a disposable. It’s ridiculous.

im going to try and cut my usage though, give myself rules like no vaping in bed and only a few puffs at a time

sparrowflewdown · 06/02/2025 08:06

it’s so hard though, nicotine must be one of the most addictive things on the planet,

I was never really addicted to the nicotine in cigarettes but the hit from the disposables is something else. I feel so alert and energised after having a few puffs.

I am having one now with my morning coffee in the utility. I would never have done that with cigarettes even in my 20s.

showmethegin · 06/02/2025 11:03

I quit vaping using the Allen Carrs "how to quit vaping" book. It's available to listen to on Spotify. It's very boring in places and monotonous but it really changed the way my brain thought of vaping. It's a bloody horrible habit and so hard to break. I feel like I can breathe three times deeper now I'm off them.

Good luck all

Itiswhatitis80 · 06/02/2025 11:08

I’m considering starting smoking again,I quit 7 years ago but I vape far more than I smoked,I think it’s because I never smoked indoors.

JaquiRussell · 06/02/2025 11:12

Allen Carrs book How to Quit Vaping (and telling myself I was far too old to be sucking on a bit of metal, it was pathetic!) Did it for me. Read the book in one day and been vape free since, it'll be 3 years in May.

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