People who quit smoking can experience nicotine withdrawal symptoms like anxiety, irritability, difficulty concentrating and depressed mood and cravings which makes it difficult to resist slipping back to smoking.

Vaping can help to reduce these unpleasant symptoms and cravings by delivering nicotine, without cigarette smoke.

For people who smoke, nicotine has few long-term physical health effects. However, nicotine is very addictive and if you vape with nicotine you will still be addicted to it, just like when you were smoking cigarettes.

People who don’t smoke should not use nicotine products.

Addictions can affect the physical, mental, financial and spiritual health of a person and their whānau.

Someone who is dependent on nicotine may find it hard to quit using nicotine and experience withdrawal symptoms when they try to quit.

The good news is that these symptoms reduce over time. There is support to help people quit smoking, then quit vaping. Read more here

Nicotine activates parts of the brain that makes a person feel pleasure. However, without another dose of nicotine from a cigarette or vape within a few hours, the nicotine level in their brain drops quickly, and the person begins to feel unpleasant withdrawal symptoms.

To relieve these feelings, they need more nicotine. This is how the cycle of repeated use of nicotine (from smoking or vaping) continues, and how addiction to nicotine develops. Nicotine can make a person feel nauseated, especially people new to using nicotine products.

People who smoke have become used to these types of effects and can tolerate high levels of nicotine without feeling nausea. People who don’t smoke should not use nicotine.

Under 18s and pregnancy

High doses of nicotine can be dangerous, especially for children.

To avoid accidental poisoning, all e-liquid containers are required to have childproof lids but they should also be stored out of the reach of children and animals.

Laboratory studies suggest that nicotine may affect brain development in adolescents. Nicotine addiction can affect sleep quality, concentration and behaviour in adolescents due to withdrawal symptoms and cravings.

Nicotine can affect brain development in babies, and ideally pregnant women should be smokefree and nicotine free. However, stopping smoking is challenging. Some nicotine products, such as nicotine replacement therapy (NRT gum and lozenges) are used to support pregnant women to quit smoking. They are not entirely safe but are much safer than continuing to smoke. Your doctor or local stop smoking services can give you more information about using NRT when pregnant.

Vape e-liquid comes in different strengths of nicotine.

To help minimise withdrawal symptoms, people need to choose the right nicotine strength. The strength you start with depends on how much you smoke.

People who vape should try to reduce the strength of nicotine in their e-liquid over time. They can also reduce how frequently they vape over time. However, they should only lower nicotine levels when they feel confident that they won’t go back to smoking, and don’t have to puff more to compensate for the lower nicotine levels.

Vaping is a tool to quit smoking. It is not a lifestyle product for people who have never smoked. The end goal is to be smokefree and ideally, vapefree as well.

Once you have quit smoking, and feel confident you won’t go back to smoking, you should aim to stop vaping.

Support services are available to stop vaping. Quitline supports people of all ages to stop vaping.

Some people choose to stop vaping ‘cold turkey’. People who vape can stop vaping gradually by reducing the frequency they vape and reducing the strength of nicotine in their e-liquid.

Tips for successfully stopping vaping:

Manage cravings and withdrawal symptoms

When you stop vaping, you may experience nicotine withdrawal symptoms because your body is missing the nicotine, but the symptoms won’t last. Withdrawal symptoms may include low mood, feeling irritable, not sleeping well, finding it hard to concentrate and feeling hungrier than usual. These can feel strong in the first few weeks, but it gets easier. Cravings can come out of the blue for some time after you have stopped. Remind yourself of the end goal and the benefits of being smokefree and vapefree.

The four D’s (distract, delay, deep breathing, and drinking water) can help you manage triggers and cravings. There may be other ways to help. Think about what could work for you, for example, chewing gum, exercising or listening to music.

Getting involved with outdoor activities like walking or gardening may help with managing withdrawal symptoms and stress.

You can find more advice here about managing stress

Change your habits

Common triggers, like drinking coffee, or situations can make someone feel the urge to vape. Knowing your vaping habits can help you change them. Some people find it helpful to write down when and where they vape or the time of the day. Reflecting on these can help you think about what you can do instead of vaping.

Keep your hands busy with something like a fidget toy or stress ball to replace holding a vape.

Set personal rules and boundaries around vaping

Set some rules around vaping. This can help reduce the association between certain places or times that you vape and make it easier. For example, you could have a rule that you don’t vape when you have a hot drink.

Build your support crew

Share your quitting plans with people who can support you. Ask them to help you to not vape. You can also find support from Quitline or some local stop smoking services.

Relapse

It can take several tries to completely stop vaping.

Remember, it’s not a failure if you slip back to vaping. The best thing for your health is to have stopped smoking and stay smokefree. Each attempt to stop vaping is an opportunity to figure out new strategies that work for you and a step to quitting vaping for good.