I’ve had a vape in my hand since before it was even considered an ick; when I first started vaping, nobody knew what it was.
2026 is the year of nostalgia. Every Instagram story seems to be littered with throwbacks to 2016, skinny jeans and all. But my 2016 throwback pics stopped me in my tracks.
Standing out like a sore thumb among the poor quality selfies and hashtags was my original vape. Yes, it was ugly, but it was also low-key giving Audrey Hepburn if she were alive in 2016.
Looking back at those images was kind of like watching an old episode of Doctor Who (Eccleston-era) - my very own sonic-otine screwdriver.
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It was also a wake-up call. How had I been vaping for ten years?
It's safe to say that vaping has soared in popularity since I first picked up the habit, with an estimated 5.5million adults using e-cigs in the UK as of September 2025, according to data from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).
While it's touted as the healthier alternative to smoking, we've all read the horrific stories of people suffering lung collapse and even heart attacks, with medics stressing that the long-term effects are still unknown.
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Of course, there's the dreaded 'popcorn' lung, too. But I never thought any of this would happen to me.
What I thought was a cheeky puff here and there turned out to actually be over a decade of chronic lung destruction.
2026 is the year of nostalgia - it’s also the year I quit vaping.
Here's everything that happened in the first week of ditching the vapes for good after 10 years.
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Day one
4.30pm. I finished work and put down my addictive pacifier for good.
All was fine for a good ten minutes. Then my chest began to feel tight (yeah, I know - ten minutes is weak. I’m ashamed).
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Luckily, I’d come prepared. Having done a bit of research online, I found this thing called the Capnos.
It’s essentially the most expensive breath of air you’ll ever take, but it came highly recommended.
All it does is filter the air you breathe and make it ‘pop’ into the back of your throat - basically giving you that ‘hit’ a vape gives you. It looks and feels like a vape, and was a welcome distraction in those first few hours.
According to experts at Truth Initiatives, within just 20 minutes of putting down my vape, my heart rate and blood pressure will have dropped towards healthy, normal levels, and my circulation will have started to improve. So, at least there's that.
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Day two
My second day vape-free began at 2.00am.
I woke up in the middle of the night, sweating and gasping for air. Well, gasping for a vape.
It was disconcerting to say the least, and as good as the Capnos was at having something to do in that moment, it didn’t satisfy my sleep-deprived craving.
While medics explain that the risk of a heart attack has decreased by this point, it's also when nicotine withdrawals really kick in, which explains the broken sleep.
I tossed and turned for a few hours more before finally accepting my fate and getting out of bed in the early hours of the morning to start my day.
This was when I noticed my first embarrassing side-effect.
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Normally, I go to the loo first thing and clear out everything I ate the day before (no, I didn’t do biology A-level, but I reckon this is an accurate description of how bowel movements work).
On day two, however, I couldn’t. Nothing happened, despite my best efforts; I was well and truly constipated.
Other than that, I kept myself distracted. Went for a walk, drank lots of coffee, etc.
Turns out that constipation is a very common side effect of quitting nicotine, as Verywellmind explains that this is because 'nicotine affects the small bowel and colon', meaning 'your body needs to adjust when levels of the substance suddenly decrease or disappear'.
Fortunately, it's supposed to resolve itself on its own, thank God.
Day three
Another sleepless night commenced. Again, I was woken up in a pool of my own sweat, craving a vape. Tragic.
This is when I discovered another unwelcome side-effect of going vape-free.
As I wiped the sweat from my brow, I felt a lump on my forehead. A pea-sized, painful lump. It was a spot.
You might think it's dramatic, but this was very concerning to me. I rarely get spots, especially on my forehead.
I was also under the illusion that giving up vaping would be good for my skin, so this pimple-sized reality check was extremely surprising.
It wasn’t just my forehead either - spots began clustering around my chin, neck and mouth. Coupled with my foul mood, it was like puberty all over again.
Again, it turns out bad skin is another common side effect of ditching nicotine, caused by skin inflammation from the body's stress response.
Speaking to Glamour, Daniela Ferri, Licensed Esthetician specialising in Adult Acne and sensitivity, explained: “Any drastic change, even when it’s for the better, can put the kind of stress on the body that can throw hormones off enough to cause huge oil surges in the skin."
But that wasn't all.
Alongside my sweats and spots, my mouth was screaming at me for it to be occupied.
I was in a perpetual state of both thirst and hunger, and nothing could quench either.
No amount of water made me feel better, and no sweet treat was enough to satiate my ravenous cravings. This, alongside the fact that all I wanted to do was vape, put me in a very bad mood.
Day four
So far, we have the following symptoms:
- Spots
- Sweats
- Unquenchable thirst
- Insatiable hunger
- Bad Mood™
- Constipation
Google would’ve told me I was dying, but I was somewhat sane enough to know these were all direct consequences of me finally letting go of a ten-year addiction.
I'm only four days in, but am determined to see it through - I just pray that my body returns to normal soon.
Alabama Jackson