GP lists five simple activities that make quitting vapes easier: ‘You need to keep your hands busy’
One of the hardest things about quitting cigarettes is knowing what to do to keep your hands busy when you’d typically be reaching for a smoke—and the same is true of vapes.
Britons are now vaping in unprecedented numbers, with roughly one in ten adults estimated to be hooked on the little gadgets’ nicotine-infused flavoured mist.
While vapes are still a safe method for quitting smoking, experts have warned of the health dangers from the chemicals, solvents, sweeteners and flavourings in e-cigarettes.
Dr Marc Picot, a GP and recovering vape addict, knows too well the irritating sensation of feeling like your hands are empty, describing it as ‘physical discomfort’ which can be ‘difficult to express’.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘Breaking free from vaping comes with its own set of challenges beyond just dealing with nicotine withdrawal,’ he said.
‘The physical habit of raising your hand to your mouth can be just as hard to beat as the chemical addiction.’
This happens because ‘vaping creates strong hand-to-mouth habits which become behavioural dependency’.
He added that the physical action of ‘lifting the device to your lips, breathing in and breathing out becomes part of your daily routine.
Dr Marc Picot, a GP, [pictured] has revealed how to overcome a bizarre withdrawal symptom from quitting vaping
‘This repeated motion creates a strong pattern that your brain links to pleasure and stress reliefs.
‘Physical movements like hand motions are vital to satisfaction and help reduce cravings, even without nicotine.’
And it is something to take seriously. He said: ‘The hand-to-mouth ritual is one vaping’s most addictive parts.’
Dr Picot knows the struggles of quitting vaping—and keeping your hands busy—oh too well after he weaned himself off the battery-powered devices.
He’s been vape free for a year, and his experiences and learnings inspired him to write a book, The Last Puff, as well as create the Vape Escape app, which are both designed to try to help other people who want to quit the dirty habit.
‘Knowing how these mechanisms help explain why finding something else to do with your hands is everything in successfully quitting vaping,’ he explained.
With this in mind, these are Dr Picot’s top five things people can do when they feel their hands twitching, that aren’t reaching for a vape.
Get a fidget toy
The GP recommends reaching for fidget toys when you feel the urge to pick up a vape
Fidget toys are beloved by children, and used by adults to manage stress or conditions like ADHD—and they can help retrain your brain to stop craving vapes.
‘These toys can help break old hand habits by giving them something else to do,’ explained Dr Picot.
The first he recommends are fidget cubes, which he said, ‘you can click, flip and roll just like a vape’.
If you’re feeling strong cravings to vape, he also recommends ‘stress balls’ which you can squeeze.
There are also small fidget spinners, he explained which ‘you can use without drawing attention’.
A little-known fidget toy, he said are simply worry stones—smooth polished stones that you rub your thumb back and forth on—’that give you something to touch’.
‘These items keep your hands busy during the worst cravings – [which last] usually five to 20 minutes, and teach them new patterns,’ he said.
Draw or sketch
Next, he recommends doing creative hobbies that use your hands like drawing or sketching
The second thing Dr Picot recommends is doing creative hobbies such as drawing, sketching, or playing a musical instrument.
‘Creative activities keep your mind and hands busy, which helps replace the vaping habit,’ he said.
‘A small sketchpad and coloured pencils give you a portable creative outlet’.
Meanwhile, ‘learning to play a musical instrument, such as a guitar is perfect for occupying both hands and mind.’
But, if you’ve never considered yourself creative before and these feel too daunting, he recommends journaling.
‘Document your thoughts, feelings, and healthier behavioural actions you take when you get a craving,’ he said.
Snack (healthily)
His third tip is to eat healthy snacks when you have a craving such as nuts, fruit or yoghurts
When you quit vaping, Dr Picot explained it ‘creates natural cravings for something in your mouth’… bring on the snacks.
But he said not to eat anything which is ‘high in sugar or ultra-processed’ because they ’cause transient spikes [in your nervous system], just like nicotine in vapes, that will lead to a crash afterwards’.
Instead, Dr Picot recommended ensuring you have healthy snacks easily accessible so you can reach for them.
These, he said, could include ‘almonds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and walnuts’, which he said are ‘all high in L-tyrosine’.
This he explained is ‘the building block’ to the happy hormone dopamine, which he warned ‘your brain will be temporarily depleted in’.
He also recommends having ‘bananas, yoghurts, and citrus fruits’, which he explained ‘help convert L-tyrosine into dopamine’.
Puzzles
He also recommends doing hand and mind-stimulating activities and games during cravings
The fourth thing Dr Picot recommends is doing either games or activities that are either physical or on mobile apps.
This could include ‘crosswords, sudoku, or solving a Rubik’s cube’, which he said are ‘not just good for your hands, but occupy your mind, a crucial combination’.
If you’re looking for ones on your phone, he also recommends the mobile apps ‘Flow Free, Two Dots and Fruit Ninja’.
These three games, he said ‘are all low-stress and absorbing, requiring attention and keeping your hand fully occupied’.
However, if you’re playing games on a computer, he said ‘these should be reserved for short-term use’.
He said while ‘they can be an effective tool to occupy your hands and give you a temporary dopamine boost’, long term they ‘can be addictive in themselves’.
So, for computer games, he said ‘set a time, no longer than 30-45 minutes at a time, this should be long enough to outlast a craving’.
Be prepared
His last recommendation is to put all these tools as well as sugar-free gum, mints and toothpicks to satisfy ‘oral cravings’ into a kit that you can easily reach for
The final thing Dr Picot recommends is putting together a kit full of these tools, so they are to hand when you have ‘unexpected cravings’.
In this kit he said you can also keep other things that ‘satisfy oral cravings’ such as ‘sugar-free gum, mints or toothpicks’.
This is also where you can store your fidget toys, healthy snacks and the journal to identify patterns and take healthier actions, he explained.
‘Keep your kit in places where you’ll usually get vaping urges – your car, desk drawer, or next to your bed,’ he said.
‘You should have these tools whenever the cravings hit.’
By ‘using the right-hand substitutes’ you can ‘boost your chances of successfully quitting vaping for good,’ he said in a final remark.
Why is it a good idea to quit vaping?
It’s an emerging field of research, but studies suggest e-cigarettes could pose worrying health dangers.
In 2023, a study found people who vaped had DNA damage in mouth cells at similar levels to smokers.
Another found people who smoke and vape are four more times likely to develop lung cancer than those who just smoke.
One study last year found chronic vaping is also linked to impaired blood vessel function, which is an early sign of heart disease.
There have also been several warnings from self-proclaimed vaping addicts that the habit left them in serious conditions in hospital.
Vaping addict Jordan Brielle, from Cincinnati, Ohio, was hospitalised with collapsed lungs in May last year.
She was rushed to hospital after her partner found her unresponsive with ‘black mucus’ dripping out her nose and mouth.
Once at hospital, doctors suctioned two litres of ‘black’ fluid from her lungs and placed her into a medically induced coma for 11 days.
Ms Brielle confessed she hasn’t touched a vape since and is now warning others to steer clear of the habit.
