What Happens When You Quit Smoking and Start Vaping Instead?

Quit Smoking and Started Vaping?

Are you a cigarette smoker who’s considering vaping to help you stop smoking but wondering ‘what happens when you quit smoking and start vaping?’

Well, when you quit smoking standard cigarettes, quite a bit of the damage can actually be reversed.

According to a recent study, it suggests that if 50% of all UK smokers were to switch to vapes instead, hospital admissions would reduce by 13%, saving the NHS £518 million per year.

Here at Vapoholic, we fully believe in helping people with quitting smoking by introducing them to e-cigarettes instead. Vaping is one of the most efficient and successful solutions available to anyone wishing to quit smoking.

So let’s get into it!

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When You Stop Smoking, What Happens to Your Body?

Let’s start with what actually happens to your body when you stop smoking standard cigarettes.

20 minutes after your last cigarette – in less time than it takes to watch your favourite episode, your blood pressure and heart rate will start to drop to a steady level and your hands and feet will warm up to their usual temperature.

4 hours after your last cigarette – your body starts signalling that it’s time for another cigarette, the nicotine in your body is already dropped rapidly and you will start fidgeting around looking for a distraction.

8 hours after your last cigarette – after a full day’s shift, your oxygen levels return to normal and your cravings get worse – this is usually the time when smokers cave in and return to smoking.

12 hours after your last cigarette – halfway through your first day, your bloodstream will now almost be nicotine free! The carbon monoxide starts to leave your body and oxygen will be reaching your heart and muscles more easily! (carbon monoxide isn’t present in vaping)

24 hours after your last cigarette – your first full day smoking-free! Your risk of a heart attack begins to decrease but you will start to become more irritated and anxious.

48 hours after your last cigarette – treat yourself to something delicious because your taste and smell get sharper! Your carbon monoxide level drops to zero as the nicotine leaves your body, and your lungs start to clear out mucus and other gunk left from smoking.

72 hours after your last cigarette – you should notice your breathing is getting a lot easier and you have more energy! Your lungs are now starting to recover so you may be excessively coughing and your withdrawals are at their peak.

2 weeks after your last cigarette – your lung function is increasing and you’ll notice that your physical health is improving so you can finally have a successful run.

1 to 3 months after your last cigarette – your coughing and wheezing have decreased, and your airways can now remove debris and microbes. Your lungs will now be getting better at removing tar, mucus, and dust.

6 to 9 months after your last cigarette – over half a year smoke-free! Your stress levels are now dropping, you can now take deeper, clearer breaths because your lung function increases by up to 10%.

1 year after your last cigarette – a huge milestone! your risk of heart disease is halved compared to a smoker’s and will continue to drop!

5 years after your last cigarette – your body is healing! Your arteries and blood vessels begin to widen again, lowering your risk of a stroke! And if you’re female, your risk of cervical cancer will be the same as if you had never smoked.

10 years after your last cigarette – your risk of developing lung cancer has now halved (even if you’re vaping) and the likelihood of developing mouth, throat or pancreatic cancer has significantly dropped.

15 to 20 years after your last cigarette – finally! The chances of you dying from a smoking-related cause are the same as if you never smoked, your body has healed from smoking cigarettes!

Why Vape Instead of Smoke?

The advantages of quitting smoking are obvious from the above, so why utilise vaping as a support method?

Only four out of every 100 smokers who attempt to stop smoking cold turkey are successful in doing so for longer than six months. Most people require some assistance in order to successfully stop smoking.

According to research, using a vaping device to stop smoking is almost twice more effective than using a nicotine patch or gum and vaping has been found to be 95% safer than smoking traditional cigarettes.

The major reason why so many people fail to stop smoking is nicotine withdrawal but using a vape with nicotine e-liquid will help to lessen these urges, and with the endless amounts of flavours to choose from, it’s a much tastier option than smoking cigs!

Symptoms When Switching to Vaping

So, let’s get into the symptoms you might face when you switch to vaping instead.

Coughing

It’s very possible that you may have some level of persistent cough when making the move from smoking to vaping. Many people mistakenly believe that switching to vaping has gone wrong, that there is a problem with the vape kit, or the vape juice, or that vaping “isn’t the right choice for me.”

But here’s the thing: The most typical side effect of quitting smoking is probably a persistent cough.

It’s just your lungs emptying themselves out, in reality. Years of smoking generate tar accumulation in your lungs, which can be cleared out if you stop smoking by giving your lungs some actual and figurative breathing room. So, this smoker’s cough is simply a means for your body to remove extra accumulation and junk from your lungs.

Dizziness

Another common effect of switching from smoking to vaping is the occasional feeling of lightheadedness.

There are several causes of dizziness, your body will first start absorbing more oxygen because smoking impairs circulation, and quitting will help your body and brain’s oxygen levels restore to normal. You might experience some light headedness or dizziness since you will be adjusted to breathing in less oxygen, but this is simply your body readjusting, and it will ultimately pass.

After the first several days of quitting smoking, this light-headedness caused by restoring normal oxygen levels should subside. After this, you might just be getting too much nicotine if you’re still feeling lightheaded. If so, either switch to a weaker vape juice or reduce the number of puffs you take.

Headaches

Switching to vaping often results in headaches. Simply said, this is the outcome of a change in the bloodstream’s nicotine concentration.

The dreaded withdrawal headache has been experienced by any smoker who has ever gone too long without a cigarette. It’s possible that you’re not getting your typical amount of nicotine now that you vape. On the other hand, you can be consuming too much nicotine.

If you were a heavy smoker, start with high nicotine strength e-liquid and then gradually decrease the nicotine strength until you’re vaping no nicotine liquid.

Dry Mouth

Another common side effect of switching from smoking to vaping is dry mouth. Although smoking causes dry mouth, stopping smoking typically results in even more dry mouth. This is primarily due to the stress and anxiety associated with quitting, but it can also be a normal side effect of the adjustment period.

Similarly, vaping itself has been linked to dry mouth. This is due to two essential components of vape juice: VG and PG, or vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol. Both VG and PG are humectants—chemicals that keep things moist—but they also collect moisture from their surroundings because they are hygroscopic.

There are two quick cures if vaping causes you to feel dehydrated or have a dry mouth: one, reduce how often you vape, and second, drink more water!

Apart from being one of the greatest things you can do for your health in general, staying hydrated is especially beneficial for those who are moving from smoking to vaping or quitting altogether.

The Best Vape to Quit Smoking

So now you’re wondering which vapes are the best in the aid of stopping smoking, and whether you just want an easy vaping experience or you want to start your vaping journey, we have the perfect suggestions!

For a hassle-free switch to vaping, we recommend using disposable vapes, they feature mouth-to-lung vaping which mimics smoking cigarettes, ready to use straight out of the box and have endless tasty choices to satisfy your cravings (you can even get no nicotine disposable vapes!)

Disposable vapes are 600 puffs, any disposable vape that contains more than 600 puffs or more than 2ml of e-liquids is unfortunately illegal, this is due to TPD regulations, so you have to be careful when buying disposables and making sure you’re buying them from a reputable retailer.

But with well-known brands like Fantasi Mesh Bar, Elux Bar, Lost Mary, and even cigar disposable vape brand XO Havana, you can now crunch your nicotine cravings with a delicious flavour, knowing you’re vaping regulated products.

For a more cost-effective solution to constantly buying disposable vapes, we recommend using a pod vape device or a starter kit vape. These easy-to-use devices can hold 2ml of vape juice at a time, and you simply just refill and recharge whenever you need to.

Our experts have put together vape starter kits with the best-suited vape liquids, so you don’t have to aimlessly search on your own because each vaping device is best suited for a specific type of liquid. We go into this more in our E-Liquid Guide and our Vape Kit Guide.

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So, Should I Start Vaping?

So there you have it! You should be informed about what happens when you quit smoking and start vaping instead, and it’s obvious that if you’re quitting smoking you should probably start vaping to make it easier for yourself.

If you’re wondering if vaping is cheaper than smoking, you can find our break down in our recent blog.

But if you’re still unsure how or where to start, contact us and we will be happy to give you advice and steer you in the right direction.