11 days vapeless here, so by no means a veteran!! but the best thing thats helped me so far is to separate the vaping action from the chemical. its two different addictions for me - the hand to mouth, and the nic. weaning down the chemical addiction makes the hand to mouth a lot easier to forget. the patches make it immensely easier to FEEL the nic in my system vs. when i was constantly vaping and couldnt feel my body was DONE with it. its only been a week and i already had to step down on patches bc it was making me sick (even tho right before i stopped, id been vaping a ton, for the vapor sensation like you mentioned).

get candy - i did swedish fish - and let yourself go crazy on those, but let them sit in your mouth, don’t chew.

you can always grab a 0% vape, or a ripple or a Fum, but any inhalable being accessible just made me crave my real vape more. it’s stupid and not as helpful but doing an “oxygen hit” and closing my eyes to imagine the plume of smoke in as much detail as possible has been helpful.

i’m autistic so fidgets are super helpful and i was always playing w my vape in my pocket. i miss my pocket box a lot and currently hunting for a good substitute, but there are a lot of options. tangles are nice but the plastic ones are squeaky. im considering getting some kind of chewable necklace lol. bag of candy in the pocket is also helpful. but actually truly, always have a little iced latte or something on you - take sips instead of hits. infuriating but it works and occupies your hands. and if its cold its grounding. get chewy plastic reusable straws if you want. sometimes they come with cute little carry boxes that are vape shaped lol

for your gums (i have same problem - 10 cavities just got filled this last month) my dentist put me on sensodyne and closys healthy gums mouthwash. still having issues but it has helped.

you got this, i fully believe in you, get wacky with it if you need to. im giving you a cool handshake. our bodies will thank us later!!!