How to quit vaping: nicotine withdrawal and what helps
How to quit vaping: how it compares to quitting smoking, how long withdrawal lasts, what research says helps, and how to track vape-free days in Break3.
A vape, or e-cigarette, heats a liquid into an aerosol that you inhale. Most liquids contain nicotine, the same substance that makes cigarettes addictive. Vapes are always within reach and easy to use often and discreetly, so puffs can stretch across the whole day.
It helps to keep two questions apart. For people who smoke cigarettes, the NHS calls vaping far less harmful than smoking, though not risk-free, and doesn't recommend it for non-smokers. The CDC notes that the FDA has not approved any e-cigarette as a way to quit smoking. If vaping has become a habit of its own that you want to drop, this page is for you.
How quitting usually goes
The CDC says quitting vaping is likely similar to quitting smoking: both involve nicotine addiction, and stopping may bring withdrawal symptoms.
For cigarettes, those symptoms are well described. The National Cancer Institute's Smokefree program says they are strongest in the first few days or weeks, and the worst of them last from a few days to a couple of weeks. The typical ones are cravings, irritability, trouble sleeping, trouble concentrating, restlessness, feeling sad or anxious, and feeling hungrier. We couldn't find a day-by-day measurement specific to vaping, so it's reasonable to expect a similar picture, with the first week likely the hardest.
The second challenge is ritual. Vaping gets tied to situations: study or work breaks, the commute, friends, boredom, an evening on your phone. Those moments keep calling for a puff after the strongest cravings have passed.
What helps
Text-message support. The most direct evidence for vaping comes from This is Quitting, an automated text-message program from the anti-tobacco nonprofit Truth Initiative. In a randomized trial run by its researchers with 2,588 people aged 18 to 24, seven months later 24.1% of those who got the texts had quit vaping, compared with 18.6% in the control group.
Medication and counselling. The CDC says adults who smoke have the best chance of quitting for good when they use medication and counselling together, and suggests talking to a health care provider about medication for cravings and withdrawal. For vaping, that's a conversation to have with a doctor too.
A plan for cravings. Changing what you're doing, a walk, slow breathing, gum or a message to a friend can get you through a craving, as Smokefree suggests. Planning ahead helps too: for each familiar situation, decide what you'll do instead of a puff. In Peter Gollwitzer and Paschal Sheeran's meta-analysis, "if X happens, I'll do Y" plans had a medium-to-large effect on reaching goals across 94 independent tests.
Out of sight. Throw out the device and the liquids, don't carry a spare, tell friends you're quitting and ask them not to offer.
A daily check-in. In a meta-analysis by Benjamin Harkin and colleagues covering 138 studies with 19,951 participants, people who monitored progress toward a goal reached it more often.
Free help and when to see a doctor
In the US, the CDC points people who want to quit any nicotine product to free quit coaches at 1-800-QUIT-NOW and to the Smokefree programs, including a section for teens who vape. Talk to a doctor if you vape heavily and have for a long time, if you used to smoke and are worried about going back, or if quitting comes with heavy anxiety or low mood. Teens are better off telling an adult they trust and going to a doctor together.
How Break3 helps
Break3 is a habit tracker. It helps you count the days and stick with your decision, but it doesn't treat anything. There's no separate vaping template: use the "Quit smoking" habit or create your own, for example "Vape-free".
- One check-in a day for a day without a puff, with an optional note and up to four photos. A timer shows how long is left until midnight.
- One missed day is forgiven on its own. For hard days ahead you can set a three-day freeze. A broken streak can be restored for free within a week, once every 90 days per habit.
- Milestones at 3, 7, 14, 21, 30, 60 and 90 days. Check-ins earn steps: 10 for the check-in, 5 more with a photo and 3 with a note, up to 120 a day. Steps add up to levels.
- Each new level opens the next portrait of your future self. You answer a couple of questions about who you want to be in a year and upload a selfie, and an AI draws you. Every day that future you leaves one line on your home screen. Your selfie is never published.
- An AI coach in the chat remembers your goal, sets up habits and can check in for you.
- Quit with friends: a group habit for 2 to 50 people by invite, each with their own streak, check-ins in the feed and the week's top 10. Or make the habit private.
Break3 is free for now and works at break3.app and in Telegram (@break3_bot). Without an account you can start a habit and check in. The portrait, steps, the coach and group habits need an INITE account.
Read next
If you also smoke cigarettes, see how to quit smoking. Why one missed day doesn't reset your streak is explained in how streaks work. If puffs and scrolling go together, the page on cutting down phone time may help. If you're choosing an app to help, quit vaping apps compared lists the free and paid ones honestly. How Break3 differs from QuitNow is covered in Break3 vs QuitNow.
Questions and answers
How long does vape withdrawal last?
We couldn't find measurements specific to vaping. The CDC says quitting vaping is likely similar to quitting smoking, and for cigarettes, withdrawal symptoms are strongest in the first few days or weeks, with the worst lasting from a few days to a couple of weeks.
Is vaping safer than smoking?
For a smoker who switches completely, the NHS considers vaping far less harmful than smoking, but not risk-free. It's not recommended for non-smokers, and the full benefit only comes from stopping cigarettes completely.
How do I quit vaping if I used to smoke?
The main risk is going back to cigarettes. Talk to a doctor about the plan and about medication for cravings, and track one habit that covers both. The CDC notes that using vapes and cigarettes together is not an effective way to protect your health.
Do quit vaping apps work?
There's direct evidence for text-message support: in a trial with 2,588 people aged 18 to 24, seven months later 24.1% of those who got the texts had quit, compared with 18.6% in the control group. Trackers like Break3 haven't been tested in trials like that. What is known is that monitoring progress toward a goal raises the chance of reaching it on average.
Does Break3 have a vaping template?
Not a separate one. Pick the "Quit smoking" habit or create your own with a length of up to 365 days and call it "Vape-free". Streaks, freezes, milestones and portraits work the same way.