Personal Stories

I Thought Vaping Would Make Me Cool And Attract My Crush. Instead, It Made Me Very Sick

During my university years, I met a group of friends who attended the same course as I did. We did everything together – eating, studying, and taking part in sports and activities like going to the movies. Among them was a guy I eventually developed a crush on. My crush was a vaper who used the device at all times - secretly during classes and during lunch breaks. Surprisingly, the vapour from the device didn’t smell as bad as I had imagined. In fact, it smelt rather pleasant. Vape had a slightly sweet smell to it, and my friends said it was just full of perfumed water. When I asked my crush how the vape felt like, he described it as a casual thing where he could destress from school and during exam periods. Curious, I asked him how it tasted, and he said it was like eating bubble gum. I knew that vaping wasn’t good, as my parents and some seniors had warned me about it, but in that moment, it somehow seemed harmless. Maybe I should give it a try, I thought. I even convinced myself that by being his vaping buddy, I could help him get over his addiction. So, one day, I asked him if I could try his vape. It felt weird at first, but after a few puffs, I started to get used to the sensation and it became a habit to puff at every break. After that, I slowly got into the habit of vaping. It was on and off at first, but my habit escalated to the point where I was going through one pod a day. No one told me that finishing a single pod is roughly equivalent to smoking a box of cigarettes. To make matters worse, weeks of vaping made it increasingly difficult for me to fall asleep. My insomnia got so bad that my brain seemed to have “forgotten” how to enter deep sleep, leaving me feeling like it was switched on all night. This was probably a contributor to my poorer grades. Soon after I started out working and I ended up losing focus at work because my body felt exhausted, but my brain was always on high alert. I also took many “coffee breaks”, so much so that my supervisor was displeased with my continuous missing in action. I even received a poor review for my probation appraisal because I was always lethargic at work. If that wasn’t enough, all those sleepless nights led to high blood pressure, forcing me to start taking medication to keep it under control. That was the last straw. My family has a history of strokes, and I knew that if I continued with this habit, I might end up losing my life. It took some time, but today I am finally free from my vape addiction. I am sleeping better and have more energy now. I am also trying to get into healthier habits, like going for walks or playing pickleball, to stay active. And if you are wondering whether anything ever happened between my crush and me, nothing did. It was a love story, with bad outcomes. Looking back, I picked up this bad habit for nothing!Vaping, or the purchase, possession, and use of e-vaporisers (vapes), is illegal in Singapore.​From March 2024 onwards, all offenders (including first-time offenders in schools and IHLs) who are caught for purchase, use and possession offences for e-vaporisers are referred to HSA and subjected to a fine of up to $2,000. This article is part of TSS Confessions, a weekly column where we delve into personal finance topics that are unscripted and genuine real accounts from people.