The damaging effects can creep up on you
Puff after puff of harmful stuff, the damaging effects of vaping can creep up on you.
Quitting can be hard but possible with support.
Puff after puff of harmful stuff. [dry spluttery cough]
- [woman] Are you okay?
The damaging effects of vaping can creep up on you.
Qutting can be hard,
but possible with support on your side.
Find tools and support to quit.
Health impacts
Vaping is harmful to your health. Here’s what you need to know:
- Vapes can have high levels of nicotine and over 200 different chemicals have been found in vapes, which may be harmful to your lungs and your health.
- Vaping can lead to shortness of breath, cause persistent coughing and wheezing.
- Vaping can leave you feeling nauseous and dizzy.
- Vaping can irritate your gums, leading to redness, swelling or bleeding of the gums (gingival inflammation).
- Vaping can result in a temporary loss of taste or change in taste.
- People who vape are more likely to report poor sleep quality and patterns, resulting in feeling tired.
- Vaping can increase your blood pressure and heart rate during use and for a short time after.
- While some packaging may say otherwise, most illegal vapes in Australia contain nicotine which is highly addictive.
- Social vaping or doing it occasionally can quickly lead to dependence on nicotine and a desire to vape more often.
- Vaping can lead to smoking – non-smokers who vape are 3 times more likely to take up smoking cigarettes.
Vaping can make mental health issues like anxiety and depression worse, but quitting can improve your mental health.
There is help available if you’re experiencing mental health difficulties. You can talk to your GP or a health professional or try one of these organisations.
- 13YARN (13 9276)
- Beyond Blue (online or phone 1300 224 636)
- Head to Health (1800 595 212)
- Headspace (online or phone 1800 650 890)
- ReachOut (online)
Learn more about the effects of vaping.
Benefits of quitting
You have many reasons to quit vaping.
You’ll be free from nicotine dependence
When you quit vaping, you’ll break your body’s dependence on nicotine. You’ll feel more in control and have more freedom to make choices about your life that don’t revolve around vaping. You won’t be restricted by thinking about finding time and places to vape.
You’ll have more money
Every dollar you save by not vaping can be spent on other things that are important to you. You could be spending thousands of dollars a year on vapes. Work out how much you could save by quitting vaping with this free online tool. Think about what you could do with this money instead.
You’ll be helping your friends, family and the environment
When you vape, it affects those around you as well as the environment. Quitting improves the health of those around you by reducing passive vaping and protecting them from the nicotine and toxic chemicals in vapour. This can make a big difference for children or young people in your family if you vape in your home.
Vapes have a big impact on the environment. Many vape pods are plastic (made from non-renewable fossil fuels) and can’t be recycled as they contain toxic chemicals and nicotine. When vapes are littered or go into landfill, they contaminate the environment with poisons including nicotine, heavy metals and flammable lithium-ion batteries. This waste can take centuries to break down.
Learn more about the benefits of giving up vaping for good.
Quitting vaping
You won’t be alone if you choose to say no to vaping.
Quitting nicotine isn’t easy but the results are worth it, and there is lots of support available to help you do it. Quit support services are proven to help people quit nicotine – no matter how long you’ve been doing it.
If you have been using vapes to help you quit smoking, your doctor, pharmacist or trusted health professional can provide advice and help to support you quitting smoking and vaping and manage nicotine dependence while you quit.
There are a range of safe and effective products available to help you quit smoking. They include Nicotine Replacement Therapy (or NRT for short – which includes nicotine patches, gum, oral sprays, inhalers, lozenges and tablets) and other prescribed stop smoking medications. These products have passed strict safety standards and are proven to help people reduce cravings and ease feelings of withdrawal. Many NRT products are available at your local supermarket or over the counter at the chemist, some are even subsidised through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, making them cheaper.
Therapeutic vapes, which are only available at participating pharmacies and under the guidance of a health professional, should only be considered if you have been unable to quit smoking using other treatment options - like NRT. It is important to remember that evidence about the impacts of vaping on health is still emerging and requires more long-term research.
Therapeutic vapes are different to those sold illegally by other retailers or online. Therapeutic vapes supplied by pharmacies are required to meet product standards to reduce certain risks associated with the use of vapes. However, there is no guarantee about their safety, quality, efficacy or performance.
Using vapes without clinical guidance is not recommended as they can be harmful to your health and may not be an effective way for you to quit.
If using vapes to quit smoking, you should have a follow-on plan to eventually quit smoking and vaping entirely – and become nicotine free.
Start your quit journey here and join the thousands of Australians who are giving up for good.
