By Dani Blum, The New York Times
Despite the popularity of vapes — more than 8 million Americans were e-cigarette users in 2018 — there is little established guidance to help people quit. But there are ways to give up vaping for good. Here are strategies experts recommend.
Make a plan
Part of planning to quit involves figuring out your triggers: what motivates you to vape, and what people or settings you need to avoid as you wean yourself off the nicotine.
“The more you understand yourself, the more you can prepare,” said Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, director of the Tobacco Treatment Clinic at Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Some people choose to quit cold turkey, but others might have more success if they gradually reduce how much they vape over several weeks. It can help to set a quit date, or a deadline to fully give up vaping.
Brace for withdrawal
Those who are dependent on nicotine may experience withdrawal symptoms when they quit, including anxiety, nausea, and shakiness, said Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin, a psychiatry professor at the Yale University School of Medicine.
These symptoms are typically most intense in the first three days and then fade. Keeping water, gum, and snacks on hand can help ease the oral fixation people experience when they feel the need to vape.
Get help
While there are no medications specifically approved to help people stop vaping, some people may benefit from treatments for quitting smoking, Dr. Galiatsatos said. There are anti-smoking drugs without nicotine authorized by the F.D.A. for adults, including bupropion, which blunts cravings, and varenicline, which makes people enjoy nicotine less.
Nicotine replacement therapies like patches, gum, and lozenges may also help.
It usually takes several tries for someone to permanently give up e-cigarettes, said Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, a Stanford professor and developmental psychologist who studies teen behavior around tobacco products. Remember that attempts are part of the process. If the first try doesn’t stick, she said, “you’re not a failure.”
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