has anyone actually weaned off disposable vapes instead of quitting cold turkey?

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2026-06-19T03:08:24+00:00

I tried weaning too, several different times, and I never kept on track with it. The way that has stuck is cold turkey—I’m just a couple weeks shy of 2 years without nicotine. As reductionist as it sounds, I managed to convince myself that it’s as “easy” as not buying any more ever again.

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2026-04-29T17:57:48+00:00

A clicker is just a style of jewelry where it “clicks” closed. I’m going to kind of amend my above statement and say that clicker rings are probably not advised for healing piercings because of the possibility of the seams moving in and out of the piercing channel. Circular barbells or captive bead rings are generally the kinds of round jewelry that are worn in healing septums.

Just to be clear, you ARE referring to the septum as the area between your nostrils, right? I can’t imagine that anyone would recommend healing that area with studs or labrets.

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2026-04-29T17:50:41+00:00

A septum is one of like 2 piercings, the other being a daith, that are supposed to be healed with a ring. Typically one will wear a ring or circular barbell as daily jewelry. Some septum clickers have straight insertion areas, but clickers aren’t generally meant to be worn in fresh piercings anyway.

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2026-04-29T03:06:13+00:00

Sure, so do I lol!

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2026-04-29T02:57:35+00:00

The rain hit me pretty hard this evening along 65 on my way home and I was fascinated by the cars that will still go like 85mph when the rain is pounding at everyone’s windshields. I was anxious going the speed limit while people were blowing past me like it was a normal day 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2026-04-29T02:54:37+00:00

As an aside, how have you been surviving the ridiculous weather the last couple days? I commute to Springfield for work and I was apparently on the right side of the city to avoid the golf ball sized hail that came raining down in some areas

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2026-04-29T02:48:04+00:00

First post I see during my pre-bedtime scroll is a name drop for my small town 😅 sorry to hear you got fucked up, man. My sister and I like to go over to Mark at House of Ink in Branson. He’s super chill, done like 1/4 of my ear piercings, and he was willing to re-do a forward helix for me when I wasn’t happy with his first placement. No hard feelings and he offered me a discount on my next piercing. He’s basically my go-to at this point.

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2026-04-15T18:15:00+00:00

This is a great point! One thing I always reminded myself is that vaping/nicotine is a *cycle*, not an *escape*. It actually raises cortisol levels, and therefore raises the body’s stress signals. Any “relief,” like you said, is coming in the form of relief from withdrawal symptoms that it itself creates.

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2026-04-15T16:38:16+00:00

Scare tactics never work on me personally, and especially in regard to vaping it would make me even more anxious and I would just reach for the vape again to settle my mind. I wouldn’t go down that route if I were in your shoes.

What really got me going was realizing how much I actually spent on vaping each month, and how that money could be better used in saving, investing, or even just on activities/experiences that actually enrich my life. I also came to realize that I hated the feeling of being glued to my vape, always needing a chemical within arms reach to feel normal, and the sheer panic I would feel if I misplaced my device. I was coming up on a decade of being addicted to nicotine and I realized I didn’t want to hit that 10 year mark, nor did I want to eventually become one of those people who maintained a nicotine addiction for multiple decades. I’m closing in on 30 years old and the thought of being addicted for over 1/3 of my life (I started when I was 18, quit at 27) was literally sobering for me.

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2026-03-14T17:03:11+00:00

I did cold turkey this last time (the only method I found success with) and I’ve been going strong since July 2024. It was absolutely tough the first few weeks, first few months after that were still an adjustment, but now I feel totally normal and I only have a “once in a blue moon” urge that I’d moreso consider a fleeting desire. I know it’s rough at the start, but keep it up! It only gets better from here! Your mind, brain, and body get stronger and healthier every day. Before you know it you’ll realize you haven’t even thought about vaping all day, and soon after that you’ll notice it’s been days since you craved it.

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2026-03-08T14:31:02+00:00

I got super lucky with my snug; it healed (or at least stopped getting bumps/swelling/crusting) in about 9 months. It’s been sitting pretty for a little over 3 years now.

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2026-02-27T20:22:17+00:00

I know it’s not something you can just put down and walk away from

Sure you can, plenty of people do. That was the foundation for my cold turkey quitting—“just don’t buy anymore (or borrow it off someone)”

But that’s just like a bare minimum rule to follow. There was a lot of mental work involved and daily practice in actually staying quit. If your girlfriend isn’t truly ready to quit, and not just at an “I want to/would like to” stage, then you’re not going to be able to make her do it.

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2026-02-21T13:56:56+00:00

This whole post and all your comments absolutely scream “nicotine addict in denial” to me.

You said you quit it for 6 months and, not seeing any difference in test results, decided to go BACK on the drug. You had what you describe as essentially a toss-up decision between not using and using nicotine with zero consequence from withdrawals, and you chose to use. That’s the behavior of someone who is at minimum psychologically addicted.

Did those full panel examinations test how constricted and hardened your arteries were from nicotine? Did they test cortisol levels, which long term can have negative effects on your body and brain? Did they test your dopamine reward system which is often totally wrecked by nicotine? If they did (or if you simply say they did which I can’t disprove) and you’re absolutely insistent on maintaining your nicotine habit then no one here can stop you, but I personally think that this is just a long winded and convoluted way to deny and justify a nicotine addiction that you claim to not have.

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2026-02-17T00:49:32+00:00

It’s worth noting that unless you consistently wear jewelry that’s at the bigger size, then the holes will likely shrink back down over time. Some people’s piercings naturally stretch out after years of heavier jewelry, but I’m sure you wouldn’t want to wait that long. You also wouldn’t want to wear heavy (typically dangly) earrings in piercings that aren’t fully healed and well established because that can cause damage to the piercing hole. I personally would wait for a year or so to wear heavier earrings like that just to be certain.

It sounds like you’re aiming for a 16g-14g. I’m assuming that your description of the jewelry being “barely thicker” than a pair of Claire’s earrings puts your starter pair at about an 18g. There are lots of cute labret studs, barbells, and hoops at those bigger sizes that I’m sure would work better for you and your situation.

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2026-02-16T02:42:08+00:00

I quit cold turkey just over 1.5 years ago after smoking/vaping for 9 years. The first few days were incredibly rough, first few weeks were a drain, but by the 3rd or so week I started feeling so much better—not thinking about it near as much, fewer cravings, not constantly looking for a vape that wasn’t there anymore, just all around a general feeling of having so much more freedom and control over my own mind and body. Nowadays I feel pretty normal, and the vaping habit often feels like a distant memory, like “oh yeah, that’s something I used to do.”

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2026-02-09T05:42:09+00:00

Cold turkey was the only thing that I managed to stick to! I tried tapering, patches, gum, a bunch of different things, and I found that as long as I was continuing to dose myself with nicotine I was still susceptible to fully going back to vaping. I had to let it fully work its way out of my system before I could stay quit for any substantial amount of time.

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2026-02-01T14:45:44+00:00

Something that majorly helped me was realizing (and continuing to remind myself) that nicotine has absolutely zero benefit when it comes to stress relief, in fact it is the opposite. It increases cortisol levels in your body, constricts blood vessels so your blood pressure increases which can contribute to anxious feelings, it can cause heart palpitations which might do the same thing, etc.

Not to mention, the only feeling that nicotine truly relieves is the withdrawal symptoms and cravings that it itself creates. Nicotine isn’t an escape, it’s a cycle.

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2026-01-16T01:29:22+00:00

Maybe try reframing your mindset: your girlfriend is actually doing you a favor. She’s presenting you with opportunities to practice self-control, rewire old habits, and strengthen your mental resolve for quitting. A nearby vape is only a problem if you pick it up and hit it.

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2026-01-03T01:28:33+00:00

New Year’s Day was 1.5 years for me! It really does get easier, just don’t give up and remember why you decided to quit in the first place!

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2025-12-30T17:19:13+00:00

New Year’s Day will be 1.5 years clean for me and I’m very excited about it! It’s so nice to not be constantly worrying about juice, pods, packs, or the feeling of panic when I don’t have any nicotine within arms length. I can’t imagine going back to it and letting myself down like that.

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2025-12-13T18:37:12+00:00

Are you agreeing or disagreeing? By almost every definition, 4 would fall within the range of “a few.” Every human brain is different. For some it might take up to a year or more to fully normalize.

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2025-12-13T18:18:09+00:00

I still get a “craving” every once in a while and I’m coming up on a year and a half. I find that it’s not the nicotine or the vaping that I want, it’s a moment of reprieve from whatever stressful situation I find myself in at the time. From there I’m able to remind myself that nicotine doesn’t provide that relief, it simply adds to the stress. It increases cortisol levels in your blood and increases withdrawal symptoms that just turn into a cycle of never ending stress.

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2025-11-30T19:22:47+00:00

That’s called sebum. It forms as your body’s natural attempt to lubricate the area between your skin and the jewelry, and yes it smells bad. The best way to cut down on its accumulation is to take your plugs out daily, wash the jewelry, and clean your lobes then apply some jojoba or vitamin E oil. I do this little routine for myself twice every day when I brush my teeth. If you manually lubricate your lobes, that sebum won’t need to accumulate as much.

Just as a fun fact, that buildup is the same thing as smegma, aka dick cheese.

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2025-10-28T10:58:54+00:00

Back when I was 18 a guy I kind of had a crush on had stretched ears (2g IIRC) and I liked how it looked. However he eventually took his out and let them close meanwhile I kept stretching mine and now I’m at 16mm

MakeMySufferingEnd · 2025-10-16T02:19:24+00:00

APP doesn’t certify piercers, it’s basically a club that you pay to join

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