When Is The Most Ideal Time To Transition Away From Vaping?

The ultimate reason why the vast majority of people vape is to stop smoking, as the transition to a less harmful source of nicotine means that you avoid the cravings for cigarettes as well as the incredibly toxic and negative health effects caused by smoking.

Many people undertake the process in different ways, from swapping out cigarettes for like-for-like alternatives, using incentives such as flavoured vape juices or gradually replacing cigarettes with vape puffs until they stop buying cigarettes completely.

This versatility is a major reason why vaping can help some people quit smoking when other nicotine replacement therapies such as gum, patches or sprays have failed, but a question some people have is what comes after this.

In some cases, it is easier to continue to vape, and heavy smokers are likely to vape for a very long time with higher levels of nicotine once they make the transition, but if the goal is to quit nicotine full stop to break a dependence or to save money, it is important to tackle this gradually.

Making a plan, focusing on gradual changes and sticking to it is key, so here are some tips for determining the best way and best time to move away from nicotine-based vaping.

Never Go Cold Turkey

There is a temptation to simply stop using any nicotine products, go cold turkey and take it one day at a time from there.

However, as with alcohol and certain addictive drugs, quitting nicotine leads to withdrawal symptoms which can be particularly unpleasant and potentially even counterproductive depending on the measures you take to ensure you do not vape.

Nicotine addiction has a mix of chemical and psychological aspects to it, which is what makes going cold turkey so difficult and why withdrawal symptoms are so strong.

Besides the intense cravings, the concern with stopping vaping, patches or gum cold turkey is that it could lead to the risk of returning to cigarettes and causing more harm than good. After all, vaping is significantly safer than smoking.

Choose A Less Stressful, More Distracting Or Significant Time To Start Quitting

Stress is a common trigger for smoking, so it is best to avoid trying to quit or reduce your vaping when you are under a lot more stress than usual.

If you are in a crunch period, are selling your home, are in the middle of final exams or are undertaking a review at work, for example, it is best to wait until those issues are over before you start to think about quitting.

Establish A Plan For Quitting

Much like with smoking, reducing how much you vape is about planning ahead to manage your potential triggers and temptations.

Set a date you are willing to stick to, but make sure it is at least a week in advance so you can prepare for the process of transition, such as by buying lower-nicotine vape juices, establishing your support network, looking into other nicotine replacement therapy products and choosing how gradually you want to quit.

This will also include giving yourself plenty of strategies to manage cravings within the first few days, including people you can contact, meditation, games, celebratory activities, exercise or managing other physical needs.

Set Yourself Milestones

You should also set yourself milestones for quitting based on your needs and existing vape use. Most of the time, this involves transitioning to lower-strength products or less frequent vaping.

Every step is a step forward, so a lot of people who want to vape less often will look into how often they tend to pick up their vape and create gradually longer milestones.

For example, a particularly heavy vape user could go through a typical 600-puff vape pod in one day, which equates to one puff every 90 seconds during waking hours (or every two minutes, 25 seconds over a 24-hour period).

This is uncommon, but reducing that to every five minutes would be a small but significant change in your usage that could halve the amount you spend on vapes. Once five becomes doable, then you can try ten, then 20, then 40 then each hour.

Each of these milestones represents significant progress and changes your relationship with nicotine, allowing you to manage your use and manage your cravings.

Alternatively, lower the nicotine content of the vape juice you are buying from 20 mg gradually down to 5mg, focusing on the changes that you feel.

Make sure these milestones are gradual, as if you reduce your nicotine too quickly you might start to vape more to compensate. Listen to your body and take steps you know you can stick to.