19-year-old who quit four-year vaping addiction cold turkey as part of a $3K BET documents the horrific realities of withdrawal – from binge eating and vomiting to brutal manic episodes
- McCall Mirabella, 19, from Arizona, decided to stop using electronic cigarettes back in January, after a friend offered her $3,000 to abandon the drug
- While McCall – who is going to donate the money to charity if she completes the bet – thought it would be easy, she soon realized the hold the drug had on her
- She was hit with severe withdrawals, which resulted in her becoming violently ill, vomiting, and breaking down in tears while battling urges to smoke
- McCall video taped the entire thing and uploaded it to her YouTube channel, in an attempt to warn others about the dangers of nicotine addiction
- One clip – taken 10 hours after she took her last hit – showed McCall bawling and trembling as she struggled to fight the intense cravings
- Despite it feeling like she was ‘at war’ with her body and mind, McCall pushed through, and is now 125 days clean. She said, ‘I have my life back in control’
A teenage YouTuber documented herself quitting nicotine cold turkey after spending four years vaping, capturing the horrifying side effects of her withdrawals – which included throwing up, mood swings, manic episodes, insomnia, and binge eating.
McCall Mirabella, 19, from Scottsdale, Arizona, decided to stop using electronic cigarettes back in January, after a friend offered her $3,000 to abandon the drug.
However, she was soon hit with severe withdrawals, which resulted in her becoming violently ill and breaking down in tears on numerous occasions – all while fighting intense cravings.
She video taped the entire thing and uploaded it to her YouTube channel, where it how now received more than 456,000 views, in an attempt to warn others about the dangers of nicotine addiction.
A teenage YouTuber documented herself quitting nicotine cold turkey after spending four years vaping
She captured the horrifying side effects of her withdrawals – which included throwing up, mood swings, manic episodes, insomnia, and binge eating
McCall Mirabella (seen before she quit), 19, from Scottsdale, Arizona, decided to stop using electronic cigarettes back in January, after a friend offered her $3,000 to abandon the drug
According to McCall, she started vaping in 2017, during her freshman year of high school, explaining that ‘practically everyone’ in her friend group does it.
‘Vaping is as common as teen drinking in my world,’ she explained in the now-viral YouTube video.
However, she decided to stop earlier this year, after a pal told her he’d give her a large chunk of money if she didn’t smoke for one full year.
However, she was soon hit with severe withdrawals, which resulted in her becoming violently ill and breaking down in tears on numerous occasions – all while fighting intense cravings
While McCall – who said she’s going to donate the money to charity if she successfully completes the bet because she wants to do it for ‘herself’ and not for the cash – thought it would be easy to quit, she soon realized the hold that the drug had on her body.
‘If you’ve never been addicted to anything before this probably sounds like a really good idea and easy way to make cash,’ she said.
‘But addiction is a disease, one that shows you the ugliest parts of yourself. I had no idea what was coming.’
The YouTube video featured McCall throughout the various stages of her withdrawal. One clip – taken 10 hours after she took her last hit – showed her bawling and trembling as she struggled to fight the urges.
‘This s**t is hard,’ she told the camera as tears flowed from her eyes. ‘I don’t know why the f**k I’m crying. I don’t know, I feel weird.’
On day three of her quitting journey, McCall said it felt like she was ‘at war with her body’ – and her mind.
‘I really feel like I’m about to cave and just give up,’ she said. ‘I’m very irritable, I’m in a bad mood.
‘There’s an angel on my shoulder saying, “Don’t hit it.” But the devil is saying, “Why? Why shouldn’t we hit it? We’re young. Our lungs will heal.”
‘The most important thing right now is keeping busy,’ she continued. ‘I feel like I’m at war with my body. My throat hurts, my head hurts, I’m craving it. I’m really hungry. I’m crying.’
Other clips showed her becoming physically sick and vomiting, but she continued to push through – despite a voice in her head telling her, ‘It’s more worth it to die young than to never hit it again.’
While explaining why she decided to ‘put herself through this,’ McCall said she was ‘discouraged by how much of her life revolved around nicotine.’
She said she was also ‘terrified’ of the damage that vaping can do to your lungs, adding, ‘I don’t want to be estranged with tubes by the age of 40.’
One clip – taken 10 hours after she took her last hit – showed McCall bawling and trembling as she struggled to fight the urges
While explaining why she decided to ‘put herself through this,’ McCall said she was ‘discouraged by how much of her life revolved around nicotine’
On day three of her quitting journey, McCall said it felt like she was ‘at war with her body’ – and her mind
McCall recalled feeling like everything was ‘perfect’ when she would smoke, however, she knew deep down that she was ‘permanently scarring her lungs.’
‘The bliss manipulates you into thinking it’s worth it,’ she said. ‘When you’re hitting it, everything seems so perfect – the vapor filling your lungs, the buzz of a head high, the satisfaction of hitting it right when you wake up.
‘You feel like you just can’t get away from it. All the while, you’re permanently scarring your lungs.’
Other clips showed her becoming physically sick and vomiting, but she continued to push through. She is seen throwing up
McCall explained that one of the hardest parts of quitting was being around the drug; while most of her friends attempted to stop with her, they began to ‘cave’ as time went on and soon went back to it.
‘The thing about addiction is that you have to say no every day. Every day you have to commit to stay off it,’ she continued.
‘I respect all of my friends decisions. Unfortunately, however, it became a lot harder to quit when I was around it all the time.
‘I was living with three to five people who were constantly hitting it around me. I could smell it, I could see it every day, every hour.’
McCall used various coping mechanisms to fight the cravings, which included going for runs in the middle of the night, which helped her regain ‘control.’
She shared: ‘It was really hard for me to sleep. The late nights were extra hard but running kept me resilient. I craved it so bad and I would have to go on runs to get in control.’
McCall said she was also ‘terrified’ of the damage that vaping can do to your lungs, adding, ‘ I don’t want to be estranged with tubes by the age of 40’
McCall used various coping mechanisms to fight the cravings, which included going for runs in the middle of the night, which helped her regain ‘control’
She also turned to her favorite foods, estimating that she ate more fast food in the last four months than she consumed in her entire life
She also turned to her favorite foods, estimating that she ate more fast food in the last four months than she consumed in her entire life.
However, when she discovered that she had gained eight pounds from the binge eating, she was horrified.
‘It’s hard to see your body change. Whether you’re losing weight or gaining weight, it’s hard to see yourself in a different light,’ she stated.
‘That was something I really, really struggled with. Especially with my mood swings and irritability, it did not help at all. But I knew that my body was healthier nonetheless.’
The 19-year-old said the first 20 days were the ‘toughest’ and that things started to get a little easier after that. At the time that the video was uploaded last month, she was 125 days clean and couldn’t be more proud of herself.
‘Even though I had a really hard 20 days and my body went through so much, my head is more clear,’ she said.
‘I’m more myself, I have my life in control, I am so much happier now. I used to not want to hang out with people if I didn’t have nicotine and now I don’t have to worry about that.
However, when she discovered that she had gained eight pounds from the binge eating, she was horrified
McCallsaid the first 20 days were the ‘toughest’ and that things got easier after that. At the time that the video was uploaded, she was 125 days clean. She is seen on the 100-day mark
She concluded with a message to others who feel like they may not be able to handle it. ‘If I can do it, you sure as Hell can do it,’ she shared
‘I can’t believe I was using something that made me throw up and have mood swings when I quit it. It had so much control over my body.
‘I’m so happy I stuck it out because I feel like I am in control now, of my life and my body. It was so worth it and I encourage everyone watching to do the same.’
‘I’m so happy I stuck it out because I feel like I am in control now, of my life and my body. It was so worth it and I encourage everyone watching to do the same,’ she said
When asked to describe the feeling of withdrawal to those who have never had to experience it, she said it’s similar to when you’re dehydrated and need water.
She explained: ‘Think of a time when you have been very dehydrated, and your brain is sending you these messages: “Water, water, you need water.” It’s telling you you need it.
‘When I quit vaping, my brain was telling me: “We need it.” I was throwing up my food, I was moody, I [had] headaches. It wasn’t this feeling of, “I really want nicotine.” Because I was addicted my brain was saying, “You need it.”‘
She concluded with a message to others who feel like they may not be able to handle it.
‘If I can do it, you sure as Hell can do it,’ she shared, adding, ‘No amount of usage is healthy. A lot of people say they vape just for social events, it doesn’t work like that.
‘Most people don’t know the true hold it has on them until they try to quit. That’s what happened to me.’
Source: Read Full Article
