The vape addict who went turkey was seriously shocked by what happened when they finally quit – Community

A vape addict found herself seriously shocked by what happened when she finally quit and went cold turkey.

Chloe Rowland found herself absolutely ‘hooked’ on her colored bars to the point where she actually hated it, upset at how addicted she had become.

The 25-year-old had started with just a bit of “social smoking” but found she “quickly fell into a full-blown addiction” that she had never experienced with regular cigarettes.

“Vape would be the first thing I would do in the morning and the last thing I would do before bed at night,” he said. Chloe ended up going through a 4,000 puff vape (a normal vape contains 600 puffs) in about three days.

Now, with the date set for a vaping ban after all the news about the consequences of being addicted to vaping and even children ending up in comas, the reporter did her best “to avoid the stories altogether.”

But eventually, he “came to the bottom” and decided to go cold turkey.

Having tried to quit smoking before, Chloe went the whole hog and laid it all out for us:

first day

A few hours after using the vaporizer, I was starting to gasp for it. I had a bad case of brain fog, and it was all I could think about. The cravings were intense and I wondered at several points if it was really worth it.

As planned, I went to a friends house in the evening for a game night which made me look like the algebra woman meme the whole time because my brain had literally blocked out everything that wasn’t nicotine. I couldn’t retain the information, I was chronically zoned out, and I was horrified and shocked at the difficulty I was having.

I didn’t win at cards, surprisingly.

day two

My first night’s sleep without nicotine was crap, to say the least. To begin with, while trying to drift, I felt very anxious and nervous. But when I finally got some kip, I would constantly wake up, tossing and turning.

I really couldn’t believe my body was reacting like this, I had somehow convinced myself that it couldn’t have been a massive addiction because it’s “not the same” as smoking. Who was he trying to fool?

During the day, I started to get a bit of a headache, nothing major though, and I had to keep fighting the urges. This was one of the first things that surprised me.

I thought I would experience a long, non-stop craving, but it was actually more like intense episodes throughout the day that would die down with distraction.

I didn’t really have a proper game plan, so I kept ignoring the cravings, distracting myself, and if that didn’t work, reminding myself why I quit in the first place (not good for me, it’s kinda ). loser, it’s not nice to be addicted to something blah blah blah).

At this point, my circulation was supposed to be back to normal, which I’m sure my body was happy about.

third day

72 hours without nicotine and this is where I would say my physical withdrawal symptoms peaked. This makes sense, considering that your body has removed all nicotine from its system at this point and is officially running on empty.

I had a general “not with it” feeling all day, as well as mild headaches, sweating more than usual and still having regular moments of cravings throughout the day.

That said, when I woke up during the night, my sleep was much deeper than I had been for the past few months, so I was already starting to feel more rested, which was a big win.

Days four and five

While I was starting to get over the hump with my physical withdrawal symptoms, nothing could prepare me for the psychological effects that vaping would have.

By the fourth day, I felt extremely anxious and my mind felt like it was going 100 mph. Not to mention the fact that my temper was very, um, temperamental, and I experienced irritability on another level. I would go so far as to say that I felt like I was losing control a little bit.

One positive was that my nicotine cravings had started to decrease slightly and I was down to about five episodes a day. Also, by this point, I had become familiar with the feeling, so I was getting better at dealing with it.

Days six and seven

People say that the third day is your hardest day. Days six and seven were mine.

I had zero concentration, which made many everyday things a mammoth task. I couldn’t even concentrate on a TikTok (another of my unfortunate addictions), that’s how bad it was.

One of the other dominant emotions was the irritability that arose a couple of days earlier, as well as anger. I could have won the lottery and still found a reason to be angry.

But then disaster really struck…

I, of course, had to catch COVID, right?

Even though I didn’t have as many cravings, the psychological impact, along with the fact that I remembered times when I could breathe properly through my nose, made me feel like the walking dead.

I probably thought so too, to be fair.

Second and third week

The main thing to deal with as the days went by were the mental cravings. By now, according to science, the nicotine had been cleared from my system and my body no longer felt physically dependent on it.

I was no longer in physical withdrawal, but while my cravings were certainly less intense, they were still very much there.

I found social triggers to be the hardest to deal with, such as being in the pub where other people were smoking.

At this point, I started to notice an increase in my appetite, which I expected since nicotine can be an appetite suppressant.

But the fact that my skin and oral health had improved massively, my immune system felt stronger, and I no longer had that weird, nagging cough got me through the fleeting cravings.

It’s safe to say I had gotten to the point where the worst was over and the positives far outweighed the negative side effects, plus the cravings were much easier to ignore.

Two months later

Two months without vaping and I’m still feeling the positives of quitting nicotine.

My skin tastes, oral health and mood (which finally leveled off after a couple of weeks) continue to improve, not to mention my bank balance isn’t feeling the pinch as much.

And, according to medical professionals, my lung capacity will have improved as well.

It’s really nice not having to constantly consider vape breaks all the time and handing over money for something you’ve been embarrassed to do.

I still have the urge to smoke, especially in social situations and after meals, which admittedly surprised me a bit seeing as it’s been a couple of months.

But instead of it being a super strong physical craving and the high, it’s more of a sneaky “one puff won’t hurt you, you’re not addicted anymore so it can’t hurt” thing I find. easy to roll my eyes and just beat.

All in all, I’m so glad I took the plunge and did it instead of constantly telling myself “I need to quit” and feeling guilty that I didn’t.

I’ve also saved a pretty penny now that I’m no longer a smoker, and I can finally read and work on vaping news without being plagued with anxiety, so that’s good.

Trust me, I was surprised at how easily I became addicted; now all I wish is that I never fell in love with it.