So you’ve put in the hard work with quitting smoking using an e-cigarette (or vape). It feels great to be off the smokes but now it feels like the right time to stop using the e-cigarette. Some people get worried that they’re replacing one habit for another but the most important thing is that you are smoke free and that you aren’t taking in all the dangerous chemicals such as carbon monoxide and tar. These sort of chemicals won’t be found in a legal e-cigarette device and so it makes them 95% less harmful than continuing to smoke.
However it would be amazing to not rely on products to remain smoke free and we understand that you will want to cut down your usage. The good thing is there are ways of reducing how much you use your e-cigarette, and its very likely you’ve already done some of these tips that helped with quitting smoking.
Here’s a few hints and tips on how you can reduce your e-cigarette usage and maybe even come off it all together:
Reduce nicotine strength.
If you’ve been on a certain strength e-liquid for a while it may be a straightforward case of reducing the strength down so that you’re weening down off the nicotine gradually. We would suggest setting a “quit date” like how you set a “quit date” with quitting smoking so that you can work to gradually reducing over a timeframe that is comfortable for you, but it also gives you something to aim for as a goal.
A couple of things to look out for when reducing nicotine levels is be prepared for potential nicotine withdrawal symptoms such as headaches and irritability.
Be disciplined.
Set yourself a limit of how often you use your e-cigarette.For example if you are holding it all the time, manage this by putting it down, and allow yourself to pick it up and use at set intervals. E.g. every 5minutes. Then extend to 10 minutes, then 15 minutes and so on. Whatever the frequency of use, try the same method – this can be incredibly helpful.
It may also be helpful to move your device so that it’s not as easy to access. E.g. putting in a different room so that you must move to use it.
Keep busy
This is something that no doubt helped when you quit smoking and it will really help reducing that e-cigarette usage. Cravings often appear during regular time points in the day and when there isn’t much going on, so it’s good to plan ahead and have distractions, jobs or hobbies in place to keep you busy and keep your mind off the cravings – very similar to when you quit smoking. It can be something as little as having a glass of water, or even doing some exercise or reading a book – every person is different so one distraction won’t work for every e-cigarette user, so it’s worth having a good variety of options so that you can work out what works best for you.
Replace your e-cigarette
This ties in well with the previous suggestion. When you stopped smoking you replaced the cigarettes with the e-cigarette - maybe finding something else to do with your hands will help to keep your hands busy. Again this could be a wide variety of things depending on what sort of person you are. For example if you are arty or creative, colouring, painting, knitting and crocheting are brilliant ways of keeping those hands busy.
Try nicotine replacement products
There are various forms of Nicotine replacement therapy(NRT) that could help to reduce reliance/usage of the e-cigarette and they will even help with any nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Products such as gum and lozenges will give you that dose of nicotine and help to break the routine of always using the e-cigarette to get that nicotine hit. There are also inhalators available but be careful with using these as they replicate the“hand to mouth” action of smoking so may keep you in the same habit.
Its important to know that these products would have to be purchased yourself and would not be provided through the One You Lincolnshire service. We can only provide support for people who are smoking tobacco - vaping/using e-cigarettes is not smoking. All forms of NRT are available at supermarkets and pharmacies.
We hope this information has been of help with reducing the usage of your e-cigarette device. Make sure you’re reducing down when you’re ready as it is much better to be using an e-cigarette than returning to smoking tobacco.
If you ever need any further support with quitting smoking please contact us on 01522 705162 or self refer via our website sign-up form here.
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