Medically reviewed by timothy j.  Legg, phd, psyd — by the healthline editorial team — updated on august 11, 2017 quitting smoking can be one of life’s most difficult challenges. You may need several attempts to finally reach your goal. The most common causes of relapse are stress , weight gain, and symptoms of nicotine and tobacco withdrawal. The good news is that there are helpful ways of coping with smoking relapse. “slips” may occur within the first week, months, or even years after you decide to quit smoking. While these unexpected urges may be dangerous, there are ways to cope with them. Think about your past attempts at quitting. What was helpful? what made it difficult? what was the trigger that prompted you to pick up a cigarette again? once you've identified it, make a plan for handling it in the future. Learn from your slip, so that you'll be better prepared next time. This may also be a good time to rethink your quitting strategy. Consider trying a nicotine replacement therapy or joining a quit-smoking program , for instance. Negative emotions like depression, anxiety, and feeling overwhelmed are among the biggest contributors to relapse, says jorenby. A

Nicotine concentrations vary in vape juice. You can find vape juice that is nicotine free to vape juice that has concentrations as high as 50 mg. Depending on the concentration, nicotine can linger in the body for a couple of days to an entire year. How long nicotine stays in your system greatly depends on the type of vape juice you use and its nicotine concentration. Generally, it takes 1 to 3 days after you stop using tobacco for nicotine to clear your blood system and up to 10 days for cotinine (the major breakdown product of nicotine) to be gone. This is an estimate because people process nicotine differently depending on their genetics and it also depends on how much you inhale and how much nicotine is in the cigarette. Cotinine is the substance most often tested for with a nicotine test. Cotinine is the major metabolite of nicotine and does seem to have pharmacological effects, although more research is needed. Cotinine is usually the substance tested for because it is much more stable than nicotine and lasts for longer in the body. The older you are, the longer it can take for nicotine to leave