Quitting smoking can be tough. Vaping is a way to quit cigarettes by getting nicotine with fewer of the toxins that come from burning tobacco. You get to stay social, spend less, and once you’ve quit smoking you’ll feel better for it.
There are a number of different ways to quit smoking: cold turkey, nicotine replacement therapies, other stop smoking medications, or vaping. No vaping device has yet been approved as an official stop-smoking medicine, but it is a much less harmful way of delivering nicotine than burning tobacco. Vaping has helped many people quit smoking and is a legitimate way to become smoke-free.
What to Expect When You Quit smoking and Start Vaping.
There’s a lot of talk about the many benefits people enjoy when they make the switch from smoking regular tobacco cigarettes to vaping electronic cigarettes. But did you know that these changes can start immediately?
8 hours
8 hours after you quit smoking, your body will begin improving. In fact, within these first few hours is when the very first noticeable effect of no longer smoking is seen: the amount of oxygen in your blood will begin to return to normal levels, even if you’re already vaping.
This is possible because the vapour that’s produced by your electronic cigarette doesn’t contain any carbon monoxide, which is found in tobacco cigarettes. This gives your body the opportunity to begin detoxifying the carbon monoxide that you had inhaled so that you can enjoy a greater amount of oxygen in your blood, and this means you will feel better in many other ways as well.
One Day
Within 24 hours of quitting smoking and starting vaping, your body will have gotten rid of all of the residual carbon monoxide in your system. But your lungs, too, will begin to detoxify as they work on removing toxic debris and mucus that had accumulated while you were smoking.
This is possible because you are no longer inhaling toxins and adding to what is already in your body, so it has a chance to finally begin to heal itself and clean itself. And this is possible because the vapour that is produced by electronic cigarettes does not contain the toxins that cigarette smoke contain.
Two Days
After 48 hours have passed, your body will continue to thank you for switching to vaping and kicking your cigarette smoking habit. You will probably notice around this time that your sense of taste has improved, so foods and drinks will be even more enjoyable than they have been since you starting smoking. On top of that, your sense of smell will also become keener, so you will notice more fragrances that you were missing out on while you were smoking.
This is all possible because your body will be able to begin repairing the receptors within your mouth and your nose that had become damaged as a result of the toxins in the cigarettes you were smoking.
Three Days
After all of the incredible improvements in your body over the course of 48 hours, it should come as no surprise that within three days your body will be even stronger still. Many people who switch to vaping will notice that, by this point in time, their breathing has already begun to show improvement.
Breathing is easier than it was while you were smoking because you are no longer exposing yourself to the tar that was clogging and irritating your bronchial tubes. As these tubes become relaxed and clear, former smokers notice their energy levels increase and breathing is less difficult.
3 To 9 months
If you stay away from tobacco cigarettes and continue vaping for 3 to 9 months, you should notice that wheezing, coughing, and shallow breathing have reduced in severity or gone away.
These changes are also due to the fact that lung function has been able to improve as the body has been able to clear away the dangerous debris that had accumulated while you were smoking.
5 years
Now let’s look at long-term effects of quitting smoking. In five years’ time, your risk of having a heart attack will have been reduced by about half. The longer you go without smoking, the lower your risk will become. And if you have been vaping, you need not worry because vapour produced by e-cigs doesn’t cause damage to your heart cells.
10 years
Within 10 years, your lung cancer risk will drop by about half of what it was while you were smoking. Again, this is because the e-cig vapour you are inhaling does not contain the carcinogens found in cigarette smoke. Your risk of heart attack is also reduced to roughly the same as that of someone who never smoked. And if you continue using nicotine-containing e-liquid, you can rest assured that the effects on nicotine on the heart are similar to those of caffeine.
Is vaping dangerous?
Vaping is not risk free but is far less harmful than smoking. Our advice remains that people who smoke are better to switch completely to vaping but if you have never been a smoker, don’t start to vape.
E-cigarettes and the US lung injury outbreak
Last August, vapers began to arrive at emergency rooms across the US suffering from serious lung injuries. It was not immediately clear what was behind the outbreak, which led to 68 deaths over the following months. You can read our advice here.
Based partly on the fact that the outbreak affected a very specific population and how the rate of new cases peaked and fell we wrote to the Lancet to explain that a “bad batch” of illicit cannabis vaping products may be to blame. However, in response to the outbreak, regulators around the world started taking nicotine vaping products off the market whilst tobacco cigarettes remained available, discouraging smokers from switching. *Source: Gov.UK
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(20)30360-X/fulltext
A controversial study that reported that vapers had the same risk of heart disease as smokers was recently withdrawn by the journal as it did not take into consideration that almost all the vapers involved were current or former smokers.
A better understanding of the effect of e-cigarettes on the heart is beginning to emerge. A randomised control trial that measured the vascular effects of smokers switching to vaping was published in December with encouraging results. Those who switched to e-cigarettes completely experienced the largest improvement in their vascular health, getting close to the healthy “control”. Larger studies with longer follow up will provide greater confidence.
Harms of nicotine
Four out of 10 smokers and ex-smokers wrongly think nicotine causes most of the smoking-related cancers, when evidence shows nicotine actually carries minimal risk of harm to health. Although nicotine is the reason people become addicted to smoking, it is the thousands of other chemicals contained in cigarette smoke that cause almost all of the harm. *Source Gov.UK
Nicotine is harmful in cigarettes largely because it is combined with other damaging chemicals such as tar and arsenic, and as a highly addictive substance getting hooked on nicotine is one of the prime reasons why people become dependent on cigarettes. Electronic cigarettes and Nicotine Replacement Therapy (gum, lozenges, and patches) contain nicotine but don’t contain the harmful substances found in cigarettes.
Alarmingly RSPH research reveals that 90% of the public still regard nicotine itself as harmful and the organisation is now calling for measures to promote safer forms of nicotine products to smokers and make it harder to use tobacco.
https://www.rsph.org.uk/about-us/news/nicotine–no-more-harmful-to-health-than-caffeine-.html
What is the success rate of quitting smoking using e-cigarettes?
For every 100 people using nicotine e-cigarettes to stop smoking, 9 to 14 might successfully stop, compared with only 6 of 100 people using nicotine-replacement therapy, 7 of 100 using nicotine-free e-cigarettes, or four of 100 people having no support or behavioural support only.
How we choose disposable vape brands
We look for brands that have an established reputation for quality, including Geek Bar range, Elf Bar, Crystal Bar, Aroma King and the Elux range amongst others giving you a Tobacco Harm Reduction alternative to quit smoking.
In addition, we ensure that every device is notified in the UK – this means that the details, including ingredients and the results of emission testing, have been submitted to the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
We are constantly adding to our product range as new products hit the market.
Everyone should have access to a safer nicotine delivery device for Tobacco harm Reduction
