Are you feeling more nauseous after vaping? Struggling to go to the bathroom without extra help? Noticing heartburn and acid reflux before meals? What about bloating and cramps after eating? 

If yes, then your vape might be harming your digestive system, and more specifically, your gut health. 

You might be wondering why you haven’t heard about this. Unfortunately, there are still major gaps in our understanding about gut health generally, partly because it's a historically taboo subject. However, recent years have seen a surge in both the science and conversation around gut health, as the medical community continues to discover just how much our digestive system influences our overall well being. Some  doctors  even liken the gut microbiome to the gut’s “brain,” with real effects on not only digestion, but mood, overall health, and cognition. 

If you’re a vape user, and you’re left wondering why your stomach hurts so much, you’ve come to the right place. And while there are plenty of  articles, TikToks  (#guttok), and  studies  devoted to healing your gut with juices and diets, the answer to healing your gut (and feeling better) may lie in your hands—your vape. 

Smoking ultimately disrupts your gut “brain” by  increasing inflammation,  leading to stomach pain and overall discomfort. Smoking can also lead to a host of other (seemingly) unrelated symptoms: tongue discoloration, loss of smell and taste, nausea, gastric burning, and altered bowel habits. And in the long term, nicotine dependence can lead to  chronic conditions , most notably “inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, peptic ulcer disease, and gastrointestinal cancer.” Simply put, nicotine, on its own, causes stomach pain.

Unfortunately, vaping doesn’t always offer a safer alternative. One study found that vaping liquid is  highly damaging , causing even more systemic inflammation and significantly altering your gut flora.  Dr. Frank Lipman  notes, "vaping does compromise the gut lining and leads to a leaky gut with the consequent possibility of triggering inflammation in all parts of the body." Symptoms of a compromised gut barrier can look like abdominal pain, food insensitivities, cramps, bloating, gas, and aches. In short, your vape might be making you feel a whole lot worse. 

Protecting your gut flora means feeling not only better after meals, but throughout your day, without having to worry about how your body will react. And even if you don’t suffer from stomach pain, cessation can still mean less brain fog and more energy, as your gut learns to process nutrients more efficiently. So whether you’re looking to finally heal your gut, or simply feel better, this might be your call to put down the vape.

Nicotine can also cause stomach pain because it stimulates your bowels so much. Like any stimulant (think coffee), nicotine can  accelerate  your bowel movements. And since vapes often contain a much higher concentration of nicotine, you might notice that you need to go to the bathroom with far more urgency. The sudden influx of stimulation is a lot on your stomach, and this can lead to not only cramps, but bloating and general discomfort.

If you vape too much, the side effects get even worse. This nicotine overdose, or nic sick, can lead to nausea, vomiting, stomachache, loss of appetite, headache, mouth watering, dizziness or tremors, and confusion and anxiety. Symptoms generally last one to two hours, but can go up to 18 or 24 hours, depending on your exposure. And since it’s a lot easier to ingest too much when vaping, cases of nic sick are slowly on the rise. Maybe you’ve already experienced being nic sick for yourself—feeling physically ill after using your vape a little too much one day.

But nicotine withdrawals can also hurt your stomach. Common withdrawal symptoms include constipation, bloating, indigestion, gas, and general discomfort, meaning you’ll probably be feeling uncomfortable in the opposite direction. This is because your stomach is recalibrating to the loss of such a powerful stimulant on your digestive system. 

NRT, or nicotine replacement therapy, can help ease this pain by providing regular, pre-measured doses. That means you won’t be flooding your gut and bowel with nicotine, but you also won’t be experiencing major withdrawal symptoms. And NRT, like Jones mints, increases your chances of quitting by 50-60%, meaning you’re that much closer to a healed gut and happy stomach.