I Didn't Realize What Vaping Was Doing to Me Until I Quit

I started vaping eight years ago while I tried to wean myself off cigarettes. At that time, in 2015, it was marketed as a method to quit smoking, and where I grew up in Hawaii it was really popular—everyone was doing it.

After that, it just stuck. There was no end; I went from cigarettes to vaping, and then continued to vape.

Back then, disposable vape pens weren't readily available, so I used large refillable vapes that had really big clouds. Over the years they've become smaller, more discreet and easier to use, but at the beginning I had to constantly charge them and replace their coils.

I felt a pretty huge difference when I switched from cigarettes to vaping. It felt a lot cleaner and was far easier to do all the time—whenever I had a nicotine craving, I could easily take a puff of my vape, instead of having to go outside and light up a cigarette.

But that meant I was vaping a ton more than I was even thinking about smoking.

I definitely believe that I became more addicted to vaping than I ever was to cigarettes, because there was this mask of the vapes tasting and feeling better, so it didn't feel as though I was doing something unhealthy.

For a long time, I vaped without noticing any negative effects. I thought it was the perfect solution.

But after around five years, I was starting to feel winded and out of breath. Everything just took me a little bit longer, and as I continued to vape over time, the issue just increased.

Because of my constant vaping, I had lost a lot of weight, which meant it was really hard for me to consider quitting. I'm a professional dancer and thought: "I'm an active person, I'm keeping a good weight, this is a great way of maintaining it."

But eventually, I realized that my habit was not sustainable. I was always out of breath and felt like I couldn't perform at my best, both in class and during any professional job. It felt as though vaping was holding me back from reaching my full potential physically.

It got to the point where I realized vaping could really impact my job, the thing I love to do. I wanted to elongate my career for as long as I could, and I felt as though this habit was shortening it.

What helped most of all with quitting was my mindset; something clicked one day. I thought: "I'm actually going to do this and see what happens when I stop."

The tool that helped me the most was a nasal inhaler. I know many people enjoy having something to chew, but for me something about the smell stopped that fixation. I also used various zero nicotine devices.

I was able to vape less and less, and eventually in February 2023, I quit altogether

I felt a change in my health very quickly. Just one week after stopping I was feeling clearer and less brain fog. Something changed immediately, but every month since stopping I have noticed improvement.

The biggest change for me was my physical performance, whether it's a dance class or going to the gym, I've been way more active. I've been going on walks more and doing loads of different workouts on the side to maintain my dance shape.

It's so much easier to do physical activity, I can complete an entire workout and feel like I could do another one right after. I have trained for a long time to be able to do that, but I believe vaping was holding me back.

I still have cravings all the time, but have accepted them and realize I don't have to give in to them, which makes it a lot easier to continue on this journey.

I feel many people use vaping to quit smoking because they believe it's a much healthier alternative, but it's very addictive and feel there's not really any guidance or next step available for anyone looking to stop.

In my case, it took a few years for me to stop and think: Hey, I'm still doing this, and I feel more or less the same. In fact, it eventually got to the point where I felt just as bad as I did when I was smoking cigarettes.

In my opinion, tobacco companies are involved in maintaining this narrative. Even though people are less inclined to smoke cigarettes, I feel like their legacy is still being held onto with vaping.

Angie Miller is an artist and dancer living in New York City.

All views expressed in this article are the author's own.

As told to Newsweek's My Turn associate editor, Monica Greep.

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