Quitting Smoking, Starting Vaping
Last year I attempted to give up smoking — I was unsuccessful. My ten-year-old son, not impressed, spent the next few months hounding me to try again. Each time I gave him a new date I failed. In November I made the decision that I would try on the 1st of January. Yes, I decided to try on a day when New Year’s resolutions don’t always go well.
On the first of January, I failed within ten minutes of waking up, I hadn’t prepared for it. My son peered at me over his glasses, eyeing me with a stern disapproval that made me feel like a role reversal had happened. The same thing happened the next day. By the third day, eager to keep to my word this time, I was set up and ready to go. I had nicotine replacement patches that refused to stick to my arm, I had to use surgical tape to keep them in place. I also had a vape. As a smoker, I had used vapes previously, but they didn’t have the same impact as smoking a cigarette. Neither did they smell the same. I also had the NHS Quit Smoking — Apps on Google Play. The app was easy to set up with a few questions about why I wanted to stop, how much did I smoke and how much did I spend on it. There are tips to help with cravings and a simple game to play. There are also success stories to read to keep that motivation going. After that whenever I opened the app the first question was ‘Have you smoked today?’ with the option to choose yes or no. The app contains a progress screen, how long I have stopped smoking and how much I have saved. There is also a section to inform of the changes that are happening to my body now that I’ve stopped smoking.
The first week was tough, vaping helped. My son refused to congratulate me until I had completed a whole week. After that, he said I could treat myself to a chocolate bar. I wasn’t impressed. My partner constantly asked what was up with me whilst he continued his habit of smoking. I explained numerous times I had stopped smoking whilst resisting the urge to grab his tobacco pack and run off with it. The NHS app informed me that my breathing would get better on day 3. I woke up expecting to breathe better, but it didn’t happen. By day 7 I was supposed to have more energy and my sense of smell and taste should have improved. These didn’t happen either. Week 2 was the same.
By week 3 vaping becomes firmly established in my life. I feel like a cheat because I am still addicted to nicotine, just in a different format. The NHS app says I should now be full of beans, I am not.
Week four comes around. I have now started asking my son how many days I’ve not smoked just to have some acknowledgement of not smoking, surprisingly he always roughly knows. My sense of smell is returning. I know this because I brought a tuna panini and it stunk so that much, I thought it had gone off. A friend smelt it for me and told me that it smelt fine. I was shocked tuna smelt so strong. Worryingly, my vaping addiction continues. In the back of my head, I am aware that the health benefits I should have been feeling by now may have been prevented or delayed by vaping instead. Of course, vaping may not be the issue, I have been a smoker for many years. But one thing is for sure, vaping will be the next thing for me to give up.
