Many people refrain from vaping, thinking that it will only hurt them as much as smoking does. A lot of smokers continue harming themselves because of the idea that vaping is simply a less satisfying way of getting nicotine.
If you’re one of the smart ones, however, and you’re thinking of quitting cigarettes to start vaping, congratulations. With any drug, cigarettes included, there are going to be physical withdrawal symptoms when you quit. Vaping will help reduce these symptoms, but you will definitely feel some changes.
Being prepared and knowing what happens when you quit smoking and start vaping is the first step in having a successful transition.
What Happens When You Quit Smoking and Start Vaping?
First of all, way to go for making the decision to end your relationship with cigarettes. As the biggest source of preventable death in humans, we really have no excuse not to try and quit.
If you think that vaping and smoking are similar enough to block out all of the withdrawal symptoms that most ex-smokers face, you are mistaken. Cigarettes contain many powerful toxins, and those toxins are going to take some time to get out of your system.
As a result, you’ll experience the following things.
You Will Have a Period of Coughing
You’ll have the good ol’ smoker’s cough. Depending on how much you smoke, you probably have a little bit of a cough already. That being said, you’re likely to experience an increase in coughing, but no need to worry, it’s actually a good thing.
While you cough, your body is kicking out toxins in the tar that has been picking up steam with each pack that you’ve ever bought. The more smoking, the more tar. This means that if you’re a heavy smoker you are going to cough more.
Vaping does not produce tar in your lungs, but it may increase your coughing during this period. This is only because your lungs will be irritable while you’re in the process of quitting and releasing all of those pesky toxins. Vaping will, however, curve your urge for nicotine, which will increase your odds of kicking cigarettes.
A little extra cough while you vape is well worth the alternative of caving and buying a pack of cigs. Just try to remember that if you cave you will have to go through the experience of quitting all over again.
You May Be Irritable With Headaches and Shakes
Nicotine withdrawal is a common source of frequent headaches, shaky hands, and notable irritability. Many people experience heightened levels of anxiety and tension, leading to a generally unpleasant mood.
This won’t last forever though, and is likely only to occur when you are craving nicotine. The headaches, though, will come when they want to. This is a result of the fact that your body has been dependent on nicotine for a long time, and the particular way that cigarettes feel on the lungs and the brain are addictive in themselves.
Vaping during these times will be a huge help to you and the monkey on your back. You may want to use a vape juice with slightly more nicotine while you are first quitting, because your body may demand high levels of the substance at a moment’s notice.
When you have a particularly intense craving, your desire is so strong that you actually think in a different way. Your decision making is harmed, and you start to rationalize the option of going to buy a pack of cigarettes. This is the behavior that most people who are addicted to a substance experience.
You May Feel Dizzy
Smoking constricts the circulation in your body, preventing oxygen from getting to your brain in healthy amounts. Vaping does not have this side effect, so when you make the switch you may notice that you feel light headed and dizzy.
While it is a little uncomfortable to feel this way, it’s actually a good thing because it shows that you haven’t been permanently damaged by cigarettes, and your body is moving back to its normal state of being. We need healthy levels of oxygen to reach our brain in order to perform higher order brain functions.
This phase should only last a couple of days right after you make the switch. Another thing to watch out for is getting too much nicotine from your device. Vapes have the potential to give you very large amounts of nicotine, meaning that you could be getting more than you did while you were on cigarettes.
If you continue to feel dizzy for more than a couple days after you quit cigarettes, try and using a lower nicotine level on your vaporizer and see if the dizziness subsides.
Why Vapes Are Your Best Option
E-cigarettes offer a great way to quit smoking because they are so similar in nature to cigarettes. Half of the battle with quitting cigarettes is the habitual aspect of it all; going outside to smoke with friends, taking breaks, drawing something close to your mouth, and having something hit your throat are all addictive in themselves.
Vapes offer those things as well, making transitioning a lot easier. Additionally, they offer you nicotine in varying amounts, reducing the need for you to take other supplements that you can typically find at convenience stores or doctors offices. Those methods of quitting can actually turn out to be very expensive, with patches often coming in around fifty dollars a pack.
Vaping is one of the more affordable ways to quit, even though it does cost money to buy all of the parts and that make up the device. After you buy all components the only thing you will need to buy is the refill. That being said, the cost of vaping is minimal compared to the amount of money that smokers spend on packs of cigarettes.
Want to Know More About Vaping?
It’s important to understand what happens when you quit smoking and start vaping. Physical changes are one thing, but another thing that you might find is that you are interested in all that vapes have to offer. There are thousands of rigs, juices, and movements that you can look into.
