Vape-Free in 2026

[Noreeen]

Hi - I am looking for others who are quitting vaping.

I have quit multiple times, for months at a time, but I always start again. My DH vapes and is not interested in quitting which is difficult as I always know there's a vape in the house. Although, on the bright side, I have learnt something new each time I have "quit" and now I hopefully know how to be successful.

I really want this time to be different and would love to find some people in a similar position for support and encouragement. Whether you have quit, are currently trying to quit, or just thinking about it. All welcome.

Today is my Day 1.

@Vapeaddict definitely put it in the bin
What kind is it?

I probably ditched about £30 worth of it
There was absolutely no way I could keep hold of it and I had got to the point where I wanted to have a couple of spare cartridges in the house

For some unspecified emergency where mysteriously inhaling chemicals would help me out / you know what I mean, but it probably helps us both to listen to the silliness of it

@MidlifeConfusion1 re the itching, I’m on day 10 of patches. (I know they’re really helping because today I ran out and didn’t have one on and by lunchtime I was getting cravings.) I found them soooo itchy, absolutely unbearable, so I took 3 antihistamines, piriton, for a few days and it’s all good now.

@Vapeaddict throw out the stuff today! you can do it

@Vapeaddict even better, take it to a vape shop so you can recycle it properly and you can say to them "I'm giving up so you won't see me again"

I've had a proper look at fidget toys

They look pretty rubbish. I don't know why people get so excited about them.

It's a different mentality I guess if you have a reasons for needing to use them

Anyway, I must find another evening distraction

I must have to look up knitting or crochet or something easy

I threw out all my vaping paraphernalia a day or 2 after I quit and it did help my mindset.
I’m a week in now, cravings are not too bad but it’s like I keep forgetting I’ve stopped and reaching for my vape and then consciously switching from disappointment to relief that I don’t do that any more.
I remember back in the 80’s when my mum was quitting smoking, she knitted us all complicated arran jumpers, including the dogs!

@MidlifeConfusion1 can I suggest cross stitch as an easy but quite satisfying thing to keep your hands occupied? I don't do it "properly" but I stitch the crosses in the right place in the right colour so it's fine for me 😅 but you don't have to learn anything like knitting or crochet.

So I hadn't actually accomplished anything this week- still hitting my vape, around every hour looking back at my "slips" on the quit start app. Last night I re-started Allen Carr and listened to a hypnosis I found on tiktok 🫣 anyway I'm not sure if it's a combination of those things and posting on here but I haven't touched it today, and although it's nagging in my mind it's not a definite craving. The longer I manage the more determined I feel, so let's hope this is the start!

I need to get rid of all the gear for when I crave bad- I didn't know you could recycle. I've got a mixture, one rechargeable/refillable and another that recharges but takes pods.

@Karmatime your mum's knitting sounds amazing 🤭 I love that the dogs weren't left out! I think you make a really good point about reframing it from disappointment to relief that you don't do it anymore. I'm trying to train my brain the same!

@Karmatime oh that is such a good idea thank you

I can watch TV at the same time, presumably
Try not to stab myself with a needle

@Vapeaddict how are you getting on today?

I think my appetite is going back to normal not ravenous

@Vapeaddict some recycling points take them

vape shops should all take them

not the crappy newsagents the proper vape shops

Ok I can tick off day one, thank fuck for that, it's not completely impossible! I haven't touched a vape all day 🥳

It's been difficult at times yes but nowhere near as bad as yesterday and Monday felt. I wonder what made it click, could it have been the hypnosis 😱 or maybe the thought of coming back here and telling you all I'm rubbish!

@Vapeaddictwell done!! so pleased for you, just the rest of your life to go 😂

@Vapeaddict oh fantastic

then it goes on and we forget all about it...itll be reet

Such a cheery thought @blankcanvas3 🤣 it should be though, shouldn't it? I was too tired to read anymore Allen last night but I need to- his freedom attitude is helpful.

I do keep thinking "how long do I need to do before I can just have a go on DH's" or "a fag at the weekend might be ok". I'm back to work today and my positivity from yesterday is faltering a bit 😬

How are you doing @MidlifeConfusion1 any update on evening distractions? Hope your mood is ok- you'll be at a week or so now?

@Vapeaddict i know this might not be the right attitude but i’ve had a couple of cigarettes since I’ve quit and it hasn’t made me want to start vaping or smoke full time again. There’s not many simple pleasures in life, but a cigarette and a glass of wine is definitely one of them and who am I to deny myself that 😂

I’m envious of any one who can just have the odd cigarette. I think I can but I have literally decades of experience of doing it for a while but always ending up a full on smoker eventually.
I once stopped for 10 years without a puff of anything. A new partner who smoked and one puff of his roll up and within a year I was smoking one every morning with my coffee.

@Karmatime I feel your pain

No one listen to me
After nearly a week, I went out and bought one. I know I know. Crappy one from the newsagent too.

I was looking for dopamine I think I figured that out.

Same @Karmatime i like to think I'd just have the odd cigarette like @blankcanvas3 but I think I'm too all or nothing, I'd be looking for the next opportunity all the time.

I've learned that opportunity is my trigger. If I know I could have it, and get away with it ie no one would know, that's when I break/slip. Not really sure how to fix that though.

I'm looking forward to re-reading the bit in Allen Carr that talks about the addictive personality because that's how I'd describe myself.. I can't remember how he debunks it but I need to pay more attention this time 😅 planning to read a few chapters tonight, listen to my hypnosis again and start fresh tomorrow. I can't vape again today because I have actually got rid of everything.

Ah no @MidlifeConfusion1 you have my sympathy, I've slipped today too, after doing so well yesterday! It's such a difficult addiction. What's your plan moving forwards? Don't beat yourself up, you've done so well and you know you can do it!

@Vapeaddict thank you for the encouragement

I actually can't tell how much I had because it's a disposable one

But my throat can tell this morning

I genuinely don't think I had loads, but equally, I didn't just have a few puffs either

I've now done that thing of putting it in a hard to reach place

As I've actually crossed the barrier and gone out and bought one I think throwing it away would be stupid

Believe it or not, I used to be able to put some cigarettes away and forget about them. I wouldn't smoke for weeks on end.

I would take that as a win with this, I think this is much much harder

So I was six days on the wagon

I have a lunchtime workout class so that will remind me that I don't want this crap in my lungs!

I recorded a video to what when I'm feeling like I want to vape

looking at it now

When you think about it as inhaling sickly chemicals you just think WHY AM I DOING THIS?

like what is it even for? I can't even say I miss the nicotine because I didn't do it for six days.

I am finding it easier to stop vaping than I did smoking partly because as disgustingly smelly smoking is, I enjoyed it much more than vaping which for me was a poor substitute and I hated the way I’d clutch the bloody thing all day like dummy!

It's weird isn't it, that you can manage so long without the nicotine but the desire to vape/smoke is still there.

I've been watching Big Vape on Netflix, all about the rise of Juul. It's fascinating! I haven't finished it yet but hoping it helps put me off 😂

My quit tip today was "aim for progress, not perfection" and I think, although I've had the odd slip up, I'm making a good start. It's easy to think of it in very black and white terms- you quit or you vape- but I am slowly learning that I can overcome cravings and I've cut down amazingly. I do think I can do it, I just don't think cold turkey with a patch was the right path for me this time. Rather than it being a "I stopped at this time on this day" it's just kind of petering out 💁

@Vapeaddict I think that's a really good idea, aiming for progress

I'm sorry to say this and I feel a bit guilty saying it, but maybe you guys can help me out

I have been pretty flat and unmotivated this week I think nicotine gives you a sort of boost in a way

I don't obviously miss it like in the way that some people will get withdrawal symptoms and stuff but I haven't been quite right this week

I drank proper coffee a couple of days, I normally just have instant or I don't have it

But that gave me the jitters a bit

@MidlifeConfusion1I really struggled with my mood for quite a long time after I quit. I was on the brink of asking my doctors to increase my antidepressants. I don’t really have any advice but totally with you on the flat mood. It does pass, but it took me a while. I found I was drinking more alcohol to give me that boost which obviously isn’t great either.

I’ve been finding it tough today with the sun being out. DH and I were out in the garden this afternoon with a glass of wine and all I could think was how lovely it would be to have a puff on a vape

@blankcanvas3 me too. I’m 65 days nicotine free and it took weeks for the mood to stabilise. The insomnia during the first month was also brutal. Another reason to never go back. I never want to have to give up again. Sleep is so much better now I’m not vaping before bed or having a cheeky puff on the toilet at 3am…

You sound so similar to me! I'm flip flopping between 'must quit cold turkey' and then 'I should gradually cut down and then stop', even though my entire life has proven I cannot cut down anything. I quit for 2 months last year (after vaping for 2 years) and then fell right back into the trap, where I remain to this day... I quit smoking for 25 years - why can't I quit this fucking vape??!!

It’s more addictive, I’m sure of it. I think it’s because you would never get up in the middle of the night and have a quick cigarette but you can when you vape, or when you’re sat on the toilet, or when you nip outside for two minutes. It’s just much easier to vape than it is smoke!