Started vaping to quit cigarettes. Three years later I'm more addicted to nicotine than I ever was to cigarettes. The convenience of a vape means I'm dosing constantly — in the car, at my desk, in bed.
The initial effects of nicotine are genuinely useful — improved focus, mild anxiolysis, appetite suppression. But tolerance develops so quickly that within weeks you're just vaping to avoid withdrawal rather than for any positive effect.
I've attempted to quit four times. The withdrawal is deceptive — it's not dramatic like opioid withdrawal, but the constant low-grade irritability, anxiety, and craving is relentless. It grinds you down over weeks.
Nicotine replacement therapy and gradually reducing concentration has been the most successful approach for me. I'm down from 50mg to 12mg. The goal is zero but it's the hardest thing I've done.