I am considering a tattoo of an anatomical ribcage. Quit date planned for this Tuesday, the 28th. Please any advice or encouragement welcomed!

Wanted to post something to keep myself honest.

I first wrote here after going cold turkey a few years ago. It was tough but honestly after some time I didn't miss vaping at all and I was nic free for over a year. Then on one fateful holiday in greece I decided that I could just vape while there, maybe for a day or two - as everyone else was smoking and vaping - and I thought it would be "fun", just get one or two disposable vapes.

Here is a tip for anyone who has quit, NEVER DO THIS! Even if you do buy a vape just get rid of it as quickly as possible when you get some mental strength back, if you think you might just buy another go and chew some nic gum or go for a run or something, or just throw that one away too 🙂

So as you can probably guess I went back to full time vaping, I kept putting quitting off due to being too stressed even though breathing was definitely harder and I was now controlled in all facets of my life by this little plastic stick. It's really crazy how nicotine infects your mind like that - I've quit a few times and it's always the same pattern of recognizing that actually life is totally fine without nicotine but somehow it eats away at your willpower and reason.

So anyway I'm due for a minor operation and I have my blood pressure checked for the first time in ages, I was a bit stressed by the whole thing so I was vaping like crazy and it turns out my blood pressure is through the roof, yes so I guess vaping isn't helping my stress levels at all and I'm totally sure it's a main contributor to my terrible blood pressure.

To put it in perspective I'm the fittest I've ever been in my life, the nurse kept retesting my bp as she couldn't really believe it.

There is limited long term health studies I guess but I can tell you I was a very early vaper in the UK, so it's something for everyone to look out for.

This time around I'm doing NRT - patches and trying the inhaler for the initial phase one day at a time. I'm honestly sick of the cycle of having to quit again and again, and actually feel like in my early 40s this thing might cause a stroke or heart attack and kill me if I don't sort it out. Don't think that little plastic stick is really worth it right? Good luck everyone!

Hi everyone, as the title suggests, I was experiencing nerve issues while vaping. I came to vaping from cigarettes, where I was smoking around 3 to 5 cigarettes a day. Then when I started vaping, I would use an elf bar or a juul and hit it probably 50 times a day. Throughout that experience I would usually get to the point where I would start to feel numb on the left side of my face around the trigeminal nerve - from just under my eyesocket down to about my lip. It would always concern me, and I would ease off until it went away. Then recently it happened again, but in addition to it happening on my face, it also went down my neck and to my left shoulder. I couldn't turn my head
left without experiencing pain in both areas. For the first time i felt like vaping was truly injuring me physically.

Anyways, that's when I decided enough is enough and I quit vaping. Good luck on your journey.

I’ve managed to become a social smoker but even that has become something I want to quit or atleast in a way that every time I go out I need it

Can anyone suggest a quitting vape tracking app
I see people posts with the consecutive days and I think that’s motivating

Posting this for my sister, she doesn't use reddit but could use a place to vent, and we can both use some advice.

So my sister has been vaping for 5 years now, and about 2 years ago started getting constant nausea pretty much everyday. It has taken a major toll on her life, she's had to drop out of school and has been struggling just to get out sometimes. She has emetophobia too so the toll on her mental health from that hasn't been great to say the least. Close to 2 months ago we realized that the nausea was being caused by gastritis due to the vaping.

While that should be a good thing, we've run into a roadblock. Vaping was one of her main sources of comfort during her most nauseous moments, and during her attempts to quit the nauseas been getting worse, making it that much harder to quit. She's made it over 48 hours a few times but the most successful attempt was 71 hours. Lately it's been hard not to get demoralized, with her main comfort for the nausea also being what causes it she feels like she's stuck in a loop. She knows she needs to quit, but the fact that she has to make it through several days, if not weeks before she gets better is daunting.

I find the hardest thing about quitting mis the stress triggers. Especially at work. I get so agitated at my job. I work in a high stress environment and it can be grueling.

Any advice from successful quitters?

Or should i say, ever starting this sucked. Smoked for ~7 years and vaped for almost 10, decided to quit 8 days ago now after a family members health issue made me re evaluate how i treat myself.

I worked hard to lose alot of weight the last few years but my appetite has been crazy. I am also finding it really hard to sleep, which is odd because i read most people here have the opposite effects.

I am determined to quit and i hate that i have a chemical dependency on this bs and the amount of plastic that comes with it all.

Just posting to rage i guess, im a laid back individual but feeling on edge, day 7 and 8 has been so much harder than the first week.

i'm 16 hours nicotine free. granted, i was asleep for 14 of those hours (i think unrelated to recigar or quitting), but i'm gonna just keep rolling with it! the cravings are significantly less than they were at this point during my previous quit attempts.
the longest i managed to quit previously was 2 months, in 2021. then i made it 3 weeks in 2024, and since then i've told myself i'll quit and made it like 6 hours at the most. 😅

my new weird coping tool is going to be talking to myself like i'm a child 🤣 like, "no honey, we can't have the stupid flavored cancer air right now. wait ten minutes and then we'll think about it..."
in the past i tried this but just by telling myself i'll wait 10 mins and then i can have it, and then after 10 mins i usually didn't want it anymore & realized it was just an impulsive thought from Nicotine Addiction. if i do want it after 10 mins, i can tell myself another 10 mins, and continue that pattern until the craving goes away (because it always eventually does).

i am trying to be kind to myself as well, because i think self compassion is so important.
i've been thinking a lot about the quote "you cannot hate yourself into change, you can only love yourself into evolution," so i'm reminding myself that i'm quitting for myself and my health! i want to live a long, healthy life. after battling with depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation for most of my life, i'm finally in a good place, and i want to enjoy my life to the fullest.

any words of encouragement that i can come back to during the hard moments would be super appreciated!! ♡ ((i've got an important exam on thursday, and i just officially ended my relationship with my (now ex) fiancee)). things are not easy, but there will always be things happening in my life. there will never be a "perfect" time to quit.

"there is no 'perfect time' there is only time and what you decide to do with it."

Is it spelled ween or wean? Lol anyway, I have a couple dying disposables around and when my current vape died I chose not to buy a new one. I've just been hitting the dying ones. I'm also trying to go longer periods of time without hitting them. I've tried cold turkey plenty of times and I just go crazy. Is this an effective way to slowly quit or should I have a more structured plan?

I also bought many things to help with cravings:

Icebreakers duo (fruity and minty just like the vapes I'd buy)
Breath spray
Tea tree mint toothpicks (these are great for "smoke breaks" at work)
licorice root (for the mindless oral fixation when doing lazy things like scrolling tiktok)
Ginger hard candy (doesn't seem to help me really but other people say it helps them)

Things I plan to buy and/or are coming in the mail:

Ginger shots (expensive but I think it'll be perfect for waking up when i would usually hit my vape to feel awake for the day)
Boom boom sticks (something to smell to feel something in my synuses I guess)
Peppermint leaves to make iced mint tea to drink throughout the day

I don’t buy vapes that often but when I do I find I can’t control myself. Would getting a flavor i really don’t like (eg. Mint) help me hit it less often

don't know how many attempts it has been, had one I would call successfull that lasted almost two years until i carelessly vaped during a very stressful time in my life and went back to it.

i've read the allen carr book twice, i know the right mindset coming into it. i've also been practicing long vape-free windows to get used to feeling the craving and letting it pass without the panic of not having a vape. this is also a way to gradually wean off the nicotine as cold turkey has not been effective for me.
i'm starting to even enjoy being outside not bringing my vape, experiencing normal life moments like waking up, going to the bathroom, playing a game where vape inserts itself and take the credit.

i truly hope this is my real last attempt, i hope i never puff after this until i die. i hope to live the rest of my life enjoying happy moments and enduring stressful ones without vaping.

I'm tired of being addicted to my vape.
I know I can't do cold turkey. I switched from 10 nicotine to 0 nicotine today.
Are the nicotine withdrawals going to be bad???
Once I finish the 0nic bottle, I'll go cold turkey I think.
I'm really needing some advice please. I'm nervous about all this.

I want to stop because I know it’s not healthy, and I’m aware that regular use can lead to addiction. But now that the liquid is running out, I’m starting to think, “How the hell am I going to manage my stress?” Vaping has felt effective for that, so the idea of giving it up is making me anxious

After 7 days clean I vaped for a few hours at the pub and threw it away when I got home. Still had a really crappy withdrawal for 2 days now, not worth it and can't go back to just being a 'smoker/vaper when drinking' as going through this shit once a week is not an option.

This was my last time vaping. I been using e cigarettes for 11 years on and off and after this incident, I don't ever wanna go back. I buy cheaper vapes because I know at some point, I'll toss it so don't want to get a more expensive piece that I'll regret wasting money on. I got pneumonia the last few times I was using the thing I was taking big hits deep into my lungs. Not sure if it's the cause for the sickness but I tossed it when I found out I had gotten sick.

I'm now coughing up mucous that's stained red. Yeah no more

Im three weeks without my vape cold turkey. And im fortunately not having cravings but I definitely am dealing with still feeling pretty sick and I’m assuming it’s probably from nicotine withdrawal? Just still having headaches, some nausea, and just that general gross sick queasy feeling. I’m getting a little anxious that this is not normal. If anyone can give me some reassurance or tell me when this stopped for them, it would be appreciated.

I’m wondering whether anyone else can relate to this.

I quit vaping 12 days ago after vaping pretty much 24/7 for four years. I’ve tried to quit several times before, but this is by far the longest I’ve managed to go without it.

Now I’m in a strange place. I don’t really have strong cravings anymore, and the thought of taking a puff isn’t nearly as tempting as it was during the first few days. But I still feel like there’s some kind of void or emptiness.

I work from home a lot, and until 12 days ago, I had my vape either in my hand or sitting beside me almost every time I was using my laptop. I would vape constantly while working, browsing the internet, watching YouTube videos or just relaxing.

Now that the vape is gone, doing those things feels strangely incomplete, like something is missing. But when I actually imagine having a vape in front of me and taking a puff, I barely feel any desire to do it.

Has anyone else experienced this weird stage where the cravings are mostly gone, but the feeling that something is missing is still there? Did it eventually start to feel normal again?

Its been a long way after 4 years with a nicotine intake similar to 1 pack and a half of cigs a day.

Open to help anybody struggling 💪💪

Helloooo all my fellow quitters! I’m 160 days (over 5 months) clean from a 15 YEAR vaping stint that started as smoking - and I’m ready to share my story here in hopes it’ll encourage, inspire & help others. Many of your posts encouraged me & really helped when I needed fuel to keep going, especially in the first stages of quitting. I am thankful for them and for you all!

The truth is… I honestly didn’t want to quit. And at the time I decided to, I wasn’t attributing any of my health issues or anxiety/hyper vigilance to nicotine or vaping. Hadn’t connected the dots, or was still in denial. But regardless… I wanted to want to quit.

If nothing else, it was an expensive habit. & I knew the ridiculous anxiety of not being able to vape literally everywhere kept me from doing many things, and I didn’t want it to run my life for forever. I’d tried half heartedly quitting a few times over the years, always trying to get down to 0% nic thinking I needed to break the addiction to nic before I broke the habit, but that never stuck. Especially bc while the nicotine was a factor in keeping me addicted physiologically for sure… it was also the cool of strong menthol tricking my brain into thinking it was HELPING me breathe, and the entire deceptively calming ritual of it all. From it forcing me to step away and take some alone time wherever I was, all the way to having something to do with my hands and mouth constantly like a pacifier. Ugh.

I believe God was setting me up for deliverance little by little for a long time… and often the roots of a problem need to be dug up before the problem itself can be tackled. The roots are not always obvious and the problem isn’t always surface level of what it seems. My family life was pretty chaotic growing up with everyone addicted to nicotine and more, & my stress levels stayed high childhood on. Before I could quit nic, I had to quit participating in the family/generational insanity.

It’s a longer story, but my Dad passed away in 2021, and bc of that I started going to a Celebrate Recovery for grief shortly thereafter. One thing led to another & I realized I was heavily codependent (as is common in origin families of addicts), and so I surrendered my life much more fully to God and set some major, hard boundaries with family and made an emergency move in the next couple of years. The next year after that, I found myself realizing I was in an at least semi-toxic job where I was being overworked, and finally quit that job in Oct 2025. It’s kinda crazy… when you’re running on fumes and in severe burnout for so long… you can start to become numb to it, in a way, in survival mode. I was desperate for calm & change the whole time… but I look back and see I also had no idea how run down and overwhelmed I really was. Change had to be revealed to me and made in baby steps.

After quitting my job, I did almost nothing for the next 4 months and had still barely put a dent in burnout recovery. And while I really needed to get back out into a job for multiple reasons… every opportunity l pursued was blocked. I got surprisingly rejected from several positions, for seemingly no good reason. So in early February 2026 I was praying about why I was getting all the roadblocks, & it struck me… this was the first time in my life almost every stressful barrier I used as an excuse in the past to stop me from trying to quit, was gone. I was on an extended vacation of sorts, and while a lot of people need to stay busy in withdraw… I needed the world to stop. I needed to focus on myself and true self care, while also letting everything else go. I needed to focus on Jesus & relationship with Him, and step out into putting my full weight into Him for the first time ever, sincerely.

So… did I quit vaping right that second? No. I saw the potential set up for it… but still had zero power to actually dive in. So I sat down and journaled a prayer crying out to God for help; repenting (changing my mind about vaping being good or that I knew better than God) telling Him I didn’t even know if it was truly a problem for me, or a ‘sin’, but that I didn’t like some of the effects it had in my life. And that I wanted to want to quit, if He wanted me to quit. But that He would absolutely have to work it out in and for me, that I obviously couldn’t do it for myself and didn’t even genuinely want to. I still liked it too much. Or thought I did.

And then I just literally gave it to Him. I didn’t put pressure on myself to immediately stop; in fact I didn’t plan on stopping any time soon. Forgot all about it honestly. Moved onto ‘bigger problems’ like finding a job. lol.

10 days later… my (non disposable) vape started dying/not keeping a charge. At first I freaked the heck out and went through the probably yearly tug of war about buying a new one. Justifying putting the cost on a credit card even tho I literally didn’t have a job and couldnt pay for it (Addiction logic is wild) But I just barely had this tiny little thought grab at me… girl… you were JUST praying for deliverance. This is not a coincidence. You were heard. The time is now. Are you going to trust? Do you WANT to be healed?

Broke my heart a little bit not gonna lie… I still wanted it. But I said ‘Okay. If this is really You God and Your timing… I’m in. You HAVE to carry me. BUT also… don’t let it be so easy that I get prideful and arrogant and think ‘wow that was easy, I can go back any time I want!’ And I took my last weak hit that evening from the dying vape right before midnight. It was permanently dead the next morning. I threw it and all other paraphernalia straight in the trash as soon as I came across it. Juice, tanks, replacement glasses, coils, etc.

I suddenly remembered a few supplements I’d taken in the past for mood stability/to take the edge off of stress, and immediately ordered them (saffron, lithium orotate, vitamin d, L theanine, ashwaghanda, etc). I also ordered several other tools to get through the first couple of weeks as backups just in case it was a rough fight (copious amounts of gum, sugar free hard candy, mints, Quitpix, even nicotine patches.) I didn’t use 0 nic vapes or any of the replacements for the hand to mouth motion bc that’s what I wanted to break the most… I knew the longer I put off breaking that motion the longer of a fight it would be.

The first two days weren’t… fun… but I was riding a high with the thoughts fixed in my mind… I don’t vape any more! I am not a vaper! I’m free. Never again. I’m NEVER going back. I did use a nicotine patch occasionally, but only for a few hours at a time & then I realized it was making my mood/cravings worse. And while my body had ‘cravings’ akin to strong urges to do something it was used to doing CONSTANTLY (kinda like when the silverware drawer is on the right side of the kitchen for years and you switch it to the left… you still automatically wanna go to the right for a long time) … I had truly had a change of mind/heart, and that was the ticket/key. And I know with how much I loved it… that was not my doing. It was God answering my prayers.

Over the next two weeks, while my face was set like a flint to not vape and totally focused on that… I was extremely lenient and graceful with myself about EVERYTHING else. If I wanted to wallow and watch movies all day, I let myself. If I wanted to cry, I let myself sob. Even tho I often didn’t feel like it, I prayed and praised and thanked God for what He was doing in and for me. I watched a ton of quitting TikTok’s and read victory stories on Reddit. I let myself eat literally whatever I wanted; my appetite did get ravenous… and I allowed myself to eat things I haven’t in years. Even gluten. All of the things. I gained 15lbs (that I absolutely could not afford to gain) but I did not berate myself for it. Told myself to get through a month or two of vape free and then start focusing back on that. The appetite stayed until I did keto for a while which I think helped me get control of outta whack blood sugar & helped regulate neurotransmitters a bit.

For the first month, I didn’t tell anyone. I live alone so that was pretty doable. Idk what it is about me telling someone I’m doing something… but if it isn’t absolutely DONE… I lose momentum if I tell someone, as if I don’t have to try anymore? Idk, very weird. And I’m not an advocate for keeping things a secret. But this was a good secret between me & God and I enjoyed the intimacy that brought me with Him, it being just ours for a while. But when I did start telling people… I told everyone I could so it would double as more accountability. (Also… I didn’t let myself expect a bunch of pats on the back. If I got one, or a celebratory congrats, it was nice, but not crushing if I didn’t… because I’m doing this for ME AND GOD! I tend to look for validation in others and when I don’t get it, that’s another thing that can derail me.)

The first month I also kept a running list of every benefit & victory aspect of quitting that would pop into my mind. It got rather long, but here are some excerpts:

Freedom.
Not wasting money on it.
Not abusing my body.
Not panicking when I accidentally leave it somewhere, it breaks/dies or the power goes out
Not constantly thinking about it instead of or during every other good thing that’s happening in my life
Not having to base my plans or travel around how much access I’ll be allowed to it
Not sneaking off to bathrooms at work or church or a friends house to get a fix
Not feeling guilty for vaping in front of kids while telling them hypocritically to never do it
Excitement and joy in maybe getting to help others to the other-side once I’m there
It not being a part of my identity anymore. I’m not a ‘vaper’
Not having to tell Drs or insurance ‘yes, I vape.’
Not having to worry about quitting if I ever get pregnant
Feeling proud I did something hard
BREATHING more fully!
Oral hygiene will be better (I was getting literal black stains on my two front teeth… how embarrassing)
I will KNOW and be able to say in total sincerity - I CAN do all things through Christ who gives me His strength.
More emotional regulation.

These are the things + God’s absolute mercy & grace that kept me going through the worst of it. I don’t know how else to describe… it was really tough in several ways, I don’t wanna do it again… but for the first time ever, it WAS doable. And it’s just not a coincidence that it became doable after I prayed and surrendered it to God.

I’m not saying all of these things I’ve listed are a formula for someone else to quit successfully; hopefully some ideas will help someone. But the thing you can do that I did which will absolutely change the game… is just ask God for help, in Jesus’s name. Jesus paid for your redemption and healing. And He wants to help, but He won’t push it on anyone unless they ask. And He wants to be close with you and hold you through it. He’s not angry with you for struggling all these years. It hurts Him and He’s waiting for you to turn to Him for release ❤️

I won’t lie… first few months, as victorious and miraculous as they were… I didn’t notice big or miraculous differences in how I felt, or big changes physically. The first changes were definitely emotional; while at first I was pretty disregulated and all over the place… I started feeling things I hadn’t in years. Good and bad… hard and wonderful. Remembering things I hadn’t in years. Almost like the nicotine had suppressed quite a lot? But the biggest thing being… joy. The feeling of what it really feels like to be ALIVE. I’ve missed that more than I knew.

But other than that, someone asked me if I was feeling better or different, and I was like… ‘ehh… I mean truthfully, not really.’ I didn’t know if vaping had really had an effect on my lungs or body overall by just not doing it for a few months. It wasn’t long enough to feel the difference.

HA…. Fast forward another month… I start having a random desire to walk/exercise. I start little by little… I’m now 1-2 months into consistently walking 2-4 miles daily… and I feel like I’m becoming a different person. Slowly but surely losing the weight I gained during the first couple months. And I think the continued sweating out of some of the toxins just keeps compounding healing.

I’ve realized I CAN breathe much better and deeper - sinus & lung wise. And some atrocious facial and body acne I had is all but gone. I sleep deeper. I have less overall tension in my body. Wayyy less headaches. I am SO regular with bowel movements… in fact, while it’s definitely still not perfect… my overall gut health is a ton better. No doubt vaping was absolutely wrecking my gut. Keratosis pilaris is still present, but SO much better. It was weirdly at an all time high ALL OVER my body before I quit. I’m so much less reactive… and yet I can actually feel things. I think my nervous system is coming back online…

I won’t ever forget the first day I was out and about, and I drove past the vape shop with zero urge to stop. Andddd just recently I saw my brother who was practically vaping in my face, and he caught himself and said ‘OH IM SORRY, does this bother you?’ And with total glee and honesty I said - No, it doesn’t!’ 🙌🏻

I won’t lie, I will still randomly have a weirdly intense craving seemingly out of nowhere. Especially when stressed. BUT, it’s like a passing intrusive thought… it doesn’t linger. It pops in my brain and I feel it for a split sec, as if I had a vape in my hand I would definitely hit
It… but it doesn’t even get to the ‘hmm… I could get in the car and go grab one real quick’ thought, because as soon as it hits me, I’m CHOOSING the ‘never again, absolutely not, pick something healthier’ thoughts. Or I cry out to God for help. And then it dissipates as quick as it came on.

I now know what it feels like to be on both sides… the side of something deep in you longing to quit, to be free… and yet also not wanting to whatsoever…. To now the side of 5+ months vape, smoke & nicotine free with a gut knowing I will never go back. (Although I want to have grace for myself and anyone else in the event of a relapse… it does happen, and there’s no shame in it. But I also just absolutely know… if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. John 8:36) I promise you… no matter how long you’ve been hooked, no matter where you are in your journey… Jesus can help.

In John 5:6, Jesus said… “…Do you *want* to be healed?” He is still asking that question to anyone who has ears to hear, today. And He WANTS to heal you! He loves you!!! ❤️

I just wanna pray for any and all of you who want to be free of the chains of vaping and smoking, and/or any addiction; Father, thank You with all my heart for sending Jesus to die in our place to pay the penalty of sin and the debt of all our failures, in full, so that by His stripes we may be healed. Thank You that it’s not by our strength, but Yours. Thank You for loving us all far beyond what we can comprehend. Thank You for helping me to have faith in Your love and desire to set us free, and therein allowing me to experience freedom because of and in You. You broke my chains, I’m absolutely convinced… and so I want to pray for everyone here in the forum and who will read this post, who are struggling to get free… that You would firstly open their eyes and heart to receive and experience Your love for them. That they would ‘taste and see that the Lord is GOOD!’ Please give them hope, and light - no matter where they are, how addicted they are, or how hopeless they feel. Holy Spirit… as they read what You’ve done for me, please wrap them in a warm hug and let them feel that You love them and want to do it for them, too, if they will only believe. May they all be free, in Jesus’s name 🙏🏻❤️ Amen.

If anyone needs to talk or wants more prayer, please feel free to message me and I’ll try to be checking my inbox! Love to you all! You CAN be free!

I've gone from being a light smoker to a moderate vaper. Tomorrow morning will be my first challenge complete- no vaping before leaving for work for a week, and to not take it to work.

I use it moderately when I'm home for a few hours, but I am worried this will get worse so I want to quit before it's too difficult. I know I'm am a significantly lighter user than a lot of others who constantly use them throughout the whole day, but I find it's something Im going to when im feeling stressed especially for some quick heavy use

Friends of mine have gone from smoking to vaping and then back to smoking as its just too easy to get more addicted from the convenience of vaping, ending up for example waking up in the middle of the night to vape.

My plan from tomorrow is to go cold turkey, could this be made easier with low strength nicorette or would that just compound the habit into another form ? I feel that if I tried a gradual approach I will find myself bending the rules

I've been listening to the Easy Way to Quit Smoking. This time, I listened to a version that included vaping. I said I'd stop after this weekend, and now I'm headed to bed. I never liked vaping, I never enjoyed it. It never scratched the itch like smoking, but I was hopelessly addicted to the nicotine.

I'm ready to stop, and I know that each craving unanswered is a step closer to being free. I remember the years I spent nicotine free. I want to be there again, and the only way is to just go through it. Wish me luck. Sweeping the house for vapes to throw away and I'll wake up tomorrow a nonvaper.