Switching from Smoking to Vaping – Is This Still a Good Choice?
The Centre for Perioperative Care (CPOC) has made a clear statement that smokers should quit smoking to increase their health during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. There have also been some suggestions in the media that it is unclear whether vapers should also look to quit during this time. Ultimately, if you want to quit smoking by using electronic cigarettes then the Public Health England has repeatedly claimed that vaping is around 95% healthier for us than smoking. Therefore now is an excellent time to switch to vaping to increase your health outcomes.
Is There Any Risk With Me Vaping and the Coronavirus?
There is some conflicting data from the early cases of the COVID19 hospitalisations in China, some which suggest that smoking may actually be protective for the Coronavirus, although there was insufficient data to draw clear conclusions. There was however no data on any vapers admitted to the Chinese hospitals in order for any recommendations to be drawn about whether vaping is good or bad for you during this time. Please see one study which discusses the hospitalisations of smokers on https://www.qeios.com/read/article/554 for more detail on this.
What if I already Vape and I Am Choosing Now to Try and Quit?
A percentage of vapers will always plan to use the range of vaping equipment available to stop altogether. Now is an excellent time to try and stop if you can. We have some tried and tested options to help you achieve this goal.
Reducing Nicotine Strength – Our e liquids come in an easy to reduce range of strengths. Nicotine strengths range from 0mg (which typically are larger bottles of juice for better value and a wider range of flavours to choose) through to 18mg+ for a higher nicotine strength to help transition a heavy smoker to succeeding with vaping. There are also salt nicotines available which are salts up to 20mg in nicotine strength, but which are smoother to vape than a traditional 18mg, yet still give the nicotine hit needed to succeed with quitting smoking. Reducing down the nicotine strengths in stages, from 18mg, to 12mg, to 6mg and down to 3mg before going to zero and then just quitting the physical habit, make it easier to reduce your vaping or eventually quit for good. Furthermore, if you want to come down in an even smaller reduction e.g. from a 12mg nic strength and you don’t want to make the big jump down to a 6mg, you can mix a 6mg and the 12mg juice to give you a 9mg strength. All we are doing here is adding both numbers together and dividing by 2 to calculate the strength of nicotine you have created yourself.
Using a Puff Counter – A puff counter is a feature on some electronic cigarettes. This feature allows you to set the amount of puffs you want to allow yourself before the electronic cigarette stops firing. This will take some willpower not to keep adjusting settings, as these setting are editable. The Wizman Puff Boy Nintendo Styled vape mod has a puff counter, or for a full pod kit – the SMOK RPM80 and RPM40 feature a puff counter too.
Going Cold Turkey – This sounds easier than it realistically is, but for some this has been a successful way to stop habits. We all know of that smoker who just stopped cold turkey – and boy do they let you know about it! Give it a go and see if you are one of them.
Switching to an E Liquid I Know I Won’t Like – You have always liked a fruity vape – well why not try a delicious tobacco flavour instead. As much as a tobacco flavour is adored by a tobacco lover, you may know deep down these are not really the flavours you want to vape all day long. So you could switch to a flavour you don’t like, which would ultimately lead to you vaping less. Well, that’s the plan anyway.
Restricting My Purchases – This would be a good option for those who know they have the self control to restrict their vaping. However if postal delays were to occur, and there are still no vape shops open to protect our society from this virus, it is not particularly recommended for the majority of vapers.
Try Other Smoking Cessation Products Too – These products never worked for you when you used to smoke, but they may now assist you in cutting down on your nicotine strength if you have struggled to do it through willpower alone. For example you could buy a patch which could help you reduce down to a lower level of nicotine in your vape.
Leave Your Devices Elsewhere – Placing your e cigarette in another room so it is not so readily available to you is an easy option to restrict your vaping. Each time you go to pick it up out of habit, you now have to physically move yourself to find your vape. This has the added health benefit of increasing your physical exercise each day too.
So Should I Stop Vaping?
The answer lies within your own mind. Most of us are vaping because we feel the significant health benefits compared to those days when we smoked, so your gut likely tells you it is better to vape than to return to smoking. That is the minimum – do not try to stop vaping if you will switch back to smoking. The Public Health England research backs up this feeling, that you are 95% healthier by vaping than by smoking – but vaping is still not fully risk free. If you can use some of the tools or techniques above to help you reduce your vaping, then now is a good time to try. Being mindful of your health will help us all stay strong together through the COVID19. Please also remember to continue staying at home and ordering any e liquids and vaping products online instead.