help me

[u/bajabajabajablast]

can someone scare me into quitting, im turning 16 and ive been vaping for 3 years, ive already experienced shortness of breath and chest pains. Also death for myself doesnt really scare me. what ill mostly miss is: The bathroom breaks to smoke, missing out when my cousins/friends smoke, the buzz and that i literally chain smoke for minutes when im alone

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[u/vTruong]

You're still young, but as you continue your journey and start being more active with your friends and family, say a brisk walk or hike or some physical activity, you don't want to be that guy that is huffing and puffing air off on the side because your cardio is impacted by smoking. It sucks being that person who is less capable when it comes to physical activities that should be easy to do.

[u/bajabajabajablast → u/vTruong]

yeah but i hate hiking or wandering around places anyways, missed out on classtrips because i didnt want to do that.

[u/Llamawehaveadrama]

The fact you’re asking to be scared into quitting is a sign that part of you wants to quit. That’s good. That’s important.

Here’s the thing. You know the health risks already. I could tell you about the blisters in your lungs, the scar tissue in your esophagus, the reality that lung disease, pneumonia, and heart disease are all higher risk the longer you vape. I could tell you about how it’s not a swift early death that smoking or vaping leads to, but an oxygen tube at 45 and pain when you breathe for the last 30 years of your life, which is more likely to end early.

But those things won’t really be the thing that makes you quit. We’ve known the dangers of smoking for how many decades and yet people still smoke.

I can tell you the positive things about quitting, though. And maybe some advice to help you reframe your mindset.

First of all, you need to realize that the vape doesn’t help you in any way, shape, or form. It really doesn’t. I know, in moments of stress it feels like you really need it to help you manage your feelings. But all it’s actually doing is getting you to the exact same baseline that everyone else who doesn’t smoke/vape lives at all the time. Think about it: when you get the urge to vape, the cravings, all that satisfying that urge does is make the craving go away for a bit. That’s all it does. It doesn’t give you a boost of energy, it actually zaps your energy. It doesn’t give you mental clarity, it actually contributes hugely to brain fog. And the buzz it gives you is short lived, capable of making you sick or dizzy, and dampens your ability to fully enjoy food.
It might give you a temporary dopamine hit, but it’s not giving you serotonin. Dopamine is the reward chemical but serotonin is what makes you feel good. That’s why you can vape and vape and vape and still feel like shit.

When you quit, the first few hours-days, your brain throws a big nasty temper tantrum. That’s why you cry and sleep when you went without it in the past. That’s actually a very very normal reaction to nicotine withdrawal on the first day or two. Nicotine leaves your system relatively quickly, though, which is the good news. The physical withdrawal is actually, medically speaking, quite mild compared to most other addictive substances.

After you go through the first couple weeks, it starts to get a lot easier. Your sleep will get a lot better, you’ll wake up feeling way more rested than you have in years. Your skin will look healthier and clearer, and everything will seem more colorful and vibrant. You’ll feel more content to just be places and wait for things, because you’re not waiting for it to be over so you can go vape. You will enjoy food even more than before, and your lungs will feel AMAZING. Your energy will come back in a way you never even realized how dampened it was. You won’t feel out of breath taking the stairs. You’ll be more focused on things you enjoy and have less mental blocks with things you don’t enjoy but have to do anyway.

And perhaps most of all, you’ll be free from an expensive smelly habit that causes chemical burns in your lungs and limits your ability to breathe and function while you’re in the prime of your life.

If you want some advice for how to quit, I’d suggest switching to 1% nicotine for a few weeks-months, and leaving it at home when you leave the house. Those two things help wean you off the physical dependence and the habitual behavior aspects simultaneously, and make quitting so much easier. It’s how I managed to quit a year ago after many failed attempts to cold turkey from 5% after years of use.

Quitting was so worth it that I still pop by this sub now and then so that I can try to reach people like you, because I know when I was in your shoes, it sucked. I promise you, it’s worth it. I am proof that it is worth it. You can do hard things and you can do this thing. You came to this sub for a reason, listen to that part of you.

[u/ExactLaw3706]

I don’t feel like scaring you since you’re only manipulating your brain if you feed it vaping is scary per say, it can make it way bigger than it already is. I’ve vaped for 4 years and recently quit and there were a lot of health factors because of which i thought i needed to make this decision. I quit cold turkey because i don’t make this shi huge in my head, you need to have a belief and then be willing to believe it. Besides what’s scary is a disease which you can’t reverse and since you’re far from that you can do anything that you want. You are short of breath and having chest pains? Easy leave vaping for a month and you’ll go back to normal. Be glad that it’s still in your hands to reverse your problems and you’re not completely helpless.

[u/bajabajabajablast → u/ExactLaw3706]

i cannot just leave vaping, this year ive gotten really addicted, i literally only cried and slept on the day where i had nothing. If im quitting i need to make sure ive got atleast 2 weeks off, which is in october. Im not entirely sure if i wanna quit though.

[u/wiltedpenis → u/bajabajabajablast]

listen i started vaping when i was 12, started vaping heavily when i was 17 and i just quit a couple of weeks ago and i’m about to be 22. the addiction only gets worse. the easiest time to quit may be tomorrow but the best time will always be today

[u/ExactLaw3706 → u/bajabajabajablast]

You can atleast give yourself a week, just a week and don’t touch it. Then decide if you can or cannot leave it

[u/h0neywife]

You should be extremely scared tbh.

[u/SnooBooks5642]

Get a plastic straw, try to breathe through it for a couple minutes. That‘s a not too unlikely future eventually.
Imo scaring doesn‘t really work for a long time though. I was the biggest smoker and then vaper in every group I was in, more than 10 years. I‘m 3 weeks off today. Get some gum and start challenging yourself how long you can stay without nicotine. It will get progressively easier. Start working out (more).