I Quit.

Nicotine

Ok, so here’s the thing. On its own, nicotine isn’t really all that bad. Actually, there are a few benefits to using it:

1. Appetite suppression
2. Cognitive enhancement
3. Neuroprotective

So why would anyone want to give it up?

Why?

I fell and bruised my ribs around 3 weeks ago. When reading about how to speed up the healing process I stumbled across an interesting sentence:

I don’t know whether this is just to spook people into quitting, but I figured it could be a good time to rid myself of the habit - Even though I don’t consider myself a ’Smoker’, I am aware that I am consuming nicotine and this has effects on many systems within the body.

Also, when I really thought about it, I used Nicotine as a crutch that helped me to not deal with things that needed to be handled. It kind of went a little like this:

Situation -> Panic/Distress -> Vape -> Feel momentarily better and delay resolving the situation.

The problem is that instead of resolving the situation, I’d just delay it again and again.. Not wise.

Stop smoking today, Start vaping!.

Here in the UK, the Government is pushing the message that vaping is 95% safer than smoking. That’s great for all those who are deeply hooked on cigarettes. Cigarettes are expensive, carcinogenic, smell bad… The list goes on. As a result, the smoking cessation services here all recommend switching to vaping as this is a quick win. After all it’s 95% safer, right?

If the other option is you continue to smoke, then sure, vaping is a better way for you to receive your fix. I can’t help but feel like there’s an important step being missed here. When do these people quit?

Even more importantly, HOW DO YOU QUIT VAPING?!

Breakfast flavoured addiction

While moving to vape may reduce the negative health outcomes (95%) of the issues with negative health outcomes, for me actually what remained was the potential for negative mental health outcomes. Nicotine allowed me to feel at peace with things that I should not have felt peaceful about.

The only problem is, with vaping, the nicotine delivery system is very different... It no longer smells bad or stains fingers or wallpaper.

It tastes nice, like lemon sherbet or lucky charms cereal or pretty much anything else you like.

This is how I became more addicted than I ever was before.

The most I ever smoked was 10-20 cigarettes a day, and the 20 was pretty rare. With a vape, I gradually became accustomed to the equivalent of 60 cigarettes a day on a nicotine basis.

Quitting is hard

Anyone who has attempted to give up smoking, successfully or unsuccessfully understands the challenges that come along with it. Here are a few of the highlights from the past 2 weeks:

1. Headaches.
2. Insomnia
3. Caffeine sensitivity
4. Mood swings

It’s been a wild ride so far, here are some of the stats from my quitting encouragement app:

Interestingly, I’ve avoided more than 2 lethal doses worth of nicotine for a person of my size! That’s reassuring.

Conclusion

Do what you like, it’s your body. I wanted to give up so i’m giving it my best shot and if you want to quit, you can do it too. Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.

Did you ever quit smoking/vaping? I could really do with the encouragement, let me know what you found useful in kicking the habit.

Header image: Here