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How to quit e-cigarettes or vapes

Whilst e-cigarettes or vapes are safer than smoking they are not meant to be used long term, we can help you quit them too.

You should continue using your e-cigarette or vapes for as long as it helps to prevent you going back to smoking. You should only quit vaping if you are confident you are ready to quit and will not relapse back to smoking.

Valid reasons to quit vaping:

  • Wanting to stop inhaling any substance
  • Worry about the cost of vaping
  • Confident in being able to stay smokefree without vaping
  • Claims about the harms of vaping
  • Advice to stop vaping from family/friends/healthcare team
  • Concern about vaping more than they used to smoke
  • Remember, nicotine is relatively harmless.
The following methods can be used jointly or individually to help quit vaping:

  1. Reduce the nicotine strength of the vape at intervals (20mg–10mg–5mg to 0mg or 18mg–12mg–6mg–3mg–0mg equivalent).
  2. The speed at which you reduce the concentration will differ and can be taken at your own pace. As a general rule, the early stages of quitting are at a higher risk of relapse and therefore you should reduce the nicotine more slowly.
  3. Buying disposables can be bought with zero nicotine strength from reputable sources (e.g. supermarkets). Alternating between nicotine and no nicotine can work for some people.

  1. Extending the time between vaping (e.g. 20 minutes between vaping becomes 40 minutes).
  2. Setting rules for where you do and do not vape, to gradually reduce use (e.g. only use when outside of the home or car, only on breaks at work). Note: This will not necessarily lead to a reduction in the amount of nicotine vaped, but it will weaken the link between vaping and specific situations and times.
  3. Put the vape out of sight
  4. Taking short puffs can help too.

  • See how you get one for one day without the vape.
  • Use distraction techniques.
  • You can return to vaping if you would otherwise have a cigarette. Vaping is far less harmful than smoking. If you do feel the urge to smoke, the process should be paused until you are more comfortable.

  • Nicotine replacement therapy products can be purchased from most supermarkets to aid the patients journey. This can prove very useful during the early stages of quitting.
  • It is advised you can use combination NRT (nicotine patch plus faster-acting product).

 

Keep aware of your risk of relapsing to smoking

If you do have any urges to smoke, you can use vaping and increase the frequency or dose of nicotine until those feelings go away. This is to prevent relapse to smoking. You can then restart when you feel comfortable. It would be a good idea to keep an e-cigarette or vape and/or NRT product at hand for ‘emergency’ situations when a sudden trigger causes an urge to smoke.

Always remember, that a relapse to vaping is not a failure and is significantly less harmful than smoking.

You can find more information on the following websites: