Vaping
Vaping
Guidance for reducing or quitting.
Stop vaping
There are two effective options which can help.
However, before you decide which route to take, you should first ask yourself, on a scale of 1 to 10, how confident am I that I can stay smoke-free without using a vape?
1 is not confident at all and 10 is extremely confident.
If your reply is lower than a 7, you may benefit from more of a gradual plan for reducing your vaping over several weeks or even months, rather than a quicker nicotine reduction or an abrupt stop.
Option 1: Quitting vaping abruptly
- choose a day when you want to stop vaping and feel ready and motivated to commit
- before your quit date, think about when you vape (after meals, walking the dog) and what triggers vaping (stress, alcohol, boredom)
- it is helpful to think ahead about how you will change your vaping routines and what distractions you will use (think about what distractions helped you to quit smoking)
Option 2: Reducing vaping gradually
- reduce vape nicotine strength over time
- for example if you use 20mg reduce to 18mg and then 12mg, 6mg, 3mg until you reach 0mg nicotine strength
- the strength of nicotine and speed of reduction will differ depending on the individual
Reduce vaping habits
Set yourself some rules to help break reliance on vaping such as only:
- vape outside of your home
- no vaping whilst driving
- not taking a vape to work, or only using the vape on breaks at work
- put the vape away between each use to help prevent grazing
- buy a flavour of nicotine liquid that you do not like, it may deter you from vaping as much by reducing your enjoyment
- extend times between vaping for example, if you use the vape regularly such as every 20 minutes, make yourself wait 40 minutes instead and then gradually keep extending the time between
If you have only ever vaped and want to quit vaping you can still follow these hints and tips, but try to understand what your vaping triggers are (these are activities that are connected to when/where you vape) and think of alternative activities or distractions as part of your quitting plan.
Important reminder
There's no rush to stop vaping. You should only stop when you feel ready. Evidence shows that short to medium term vaping poses few risks to health.
If at any point when attempting to reduce or stop vaping you feel there is a chance of restarting smoking, then attempts to reduce or stop vaping should be paused, and you should continue vaping until ready to try again. Vaping is less harmful than smoking and priority should be given to ensuring that you do not relapse/return to smoking again.
It is important to ensure the vape you are using is legal, safe and follows government guidelines.
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