Newbie with 510 and 8mg juice -- too much nicotine! help!

[Sevenchan]

Hello all,

Long newbie story and plea for help here. PLEASE read! I really really want this to work for me!

I recently discovered e-smoking (bear with me I'm new and the term "vaping" still weirds me out) and ordered a 510 from Eastmall. Which is an excellent vendor, by the way -- fast, courteous, everything one could ask for. I also ordered a selection of their 8mg juices.

I'm a pack-a-day smoker of 0.3mg Philip Morris Extra Light 100s. I believe this is a brand only sold in Japan, where I live. Anyway, they're kind of like super-super-light Marlboros, with a massive throat kick (from all the added chemicals I expect). But the nicotine content only adds up to 6mg / day. If I smoke more than a pack and a half (say 10mg) in one day I feel yucky.

In other words my tolerance for nicotine is pretty low.

So, my package arrived today. I figured out how everything fits together, tried it out with the storebought cart, but was not happy with the lack of "throat hit." So I immediately performed the "straw mod" I read about on this forum (thanks guys!) using a blank cart, the 8mg juice, and one of those weensy straws that come with the little bottles of Yakult.

Presto fixo, much more vapor, but still BARELY enough throat hit to keep me happy. Still though, I figured this was working for me! So, I smoked away for a bit -- about 2 cigarettes' worth of puffs -- and then it hit me... nicotine overdose... a "tight" headachy feeling and a bit of brain fog... NOT GOOD!

I think I got a day's worth of nicotine out of those 15-20 puffs

So, is there any way I can cut down the juice so as to not feel sick, without losing the throat hit? I'd really like even more of a throat hit if that were possible. Help! Please give me any suggestions you can think of! I'm desperate to get off the cancer sticks!!

Oh, and I really don't give a damn about the taste of the juice. I ordered 5 different "cigarette" flavors -- they all taste the same, kind of like a hookah, perfectly acceptable. But it HAS to KICK like a cigarette!!!

 

[happily]

It is very common to get that head rush when u first get the e-cig.. You just started and you very likely still have cig chemicals in you... Give it a day and see if it goes away. There is an adjustment period, especially if you haven't been off the marblos long. It is a different method of nic intake so take it easy til you adjust. If it continues then you should dilute it.

 

[stevo_tdo]

I got that from the pg. Switched to vg and no horrible light headiness. Good be the nic though.

 

[Sevenchan]

Thanks for the reply, happily!

I think that what I'm after may not be "throat hit" but "lung punch." You guys know what I mean... where you really feel it in your chest. I get SOME of that with my 510 and 8mg juice, but not really enough... and I'm afraid I can't just continue with the 8mg until I get used to it. I'm just getting way too much nicotine

 

[Sevenchan]

Oh! That's interesting, stevo. So are the prepackaged liquids from Eastmall PG? Which ones are VG?

 

[smokaholic]

why don't u just dilute it with some vg?

 

[happily]

Thanks for the reply, happily!

I think that what I'm after may not be "throat hit" but "lung punch." You guys know what I mean... where you really feel it in your chest. I get SOME of that with my 510 and 8mg juice, but not really enough... and I'm afraid I can't just continue with the 8mg until I get used to it. I'm just getting way too much nicotine

with me it was just my first vape session and then went away after an hour or two...........but you do need to stop if it is too much. (listen to your body)

 

[DC2]

It definitely sounds to me like you are getting too much nicotine. Same thing happened to me at first.

I am not sure about the lung punch, but you sound like the perfect candidate to cut your juice with vegetable glycerin (VG) because supposedly it will signficantly increase the amount of vapor and at the same time allow you to reduce the nicotine. I think I read around here somewhere that you can get VG in a drug store or maybe cooking store.

Maybe others who have done this before can give you more information on that, but it sounds like the direction you want to be heading in from what I can tell.

 

[Sr.Shankly]

i got my VG (vegetable glycerin) from Michaels the arts and crafts store in the cupcape section, or you could order your juice online with vg from juicyliquid.com so im making my e-liquid with half pg half vg, the smoke is noticeably thicker so maybe that can help you with the lung hit and it will cut your nic content in half.

 

[KreeL]

Thanks for the reply, happily!

I think that what I'm after may not be "throat hit" but "lung punch." You guys know what I mean... where you really feel it in your chest. I get SOME of that with my 510 and 8mg juice, but not really enough... and I'm afraid I can't just continue with the 8mg until I get used to it. I'm just getting way too much nicotine

No you are not getting way too much nicotine with 8mg juice. You also did not OD on nicotine.

If the nic levels you are used to are that low, you should have no trouble quitting cold turkey. Do you ever get nicfits? Get some zero nic juice, vape until bored with it, and then quit.

 

[Sevenchan]

Thanks for the replies, guys!

Kreel: if only I could just quit... I've been smoking for 15 years and tried every quitting method in the book. I need my pacifying, calming ritual, so there it is, unfortunately. But I think I'm going to enjoy "vaping" just as much once I get the nicotine content right!

Deadcat and Shankly: So cutting with glycerine makes the vapor thicker, thus providing more of a "smoking" experience? That sounds great! I'm off to order some plain glycerine then

 

[DC2]

Deadcat and Shankly: So cutting with glycerine makes the vapor thicker, thus providing more of a "smoking" experience? That sounds great! I'm off to order some plain glycerine then

My understanding from reading around here is that you can get either PG or VG (vegetable glycerin) at various outlets, but that the VG will give you more vapor than the PG (propylene glycol) does.

 

[David Bruno]

Thanks for the reply, happily!

I think that what I'm after may not be "throat hit" but "lung punch." You guys know what I mean... where you really feel it in your chest. I get SOME of that with my 510 and 8mg juice, but not really enough... and I'm afraid I can't just continue with the 8mg until I get used to it. I'm just getting way too much nicotine

I would get some empty carts, a few bottles of real low nic, a bottle of PG/VG and mix the liquid to your liking. Experiment. Its not hard to mix and load cartridges. Don't give up!!!
Dave

 

[Sevenchan]

Update!

So I got my plain vegetable glycerine and made some carts using half VG and half Eastmall 8mg juices -- Marl and 555. And it was NASSSTY! Tasted burnt and really hurt my throat.

Am I doing something wrong??

 

[wdave]

I went and blamed PG and bought VG. But may have jumped the gun.

With a little experience, I'm pretty sure I was just getting too much nicotine. Because I was chasing the elusive throat hit.

At times, I think I was getting one good throat hit for every five actual hits. Basically sucking the life out of the ecig I would guess that every puff delivered the nicotine--throat hit or not. And I was probably vaping way too often.

I'm now moving from analogs to ecigs gradually until I find ecig/juice combo with consistent throat hits and I can space apart my vapes like I did for analog cigs.

Hope this helps.

Dave W.

 

[gr8dane]

Update!

So I got my plain vegetable glycerine and made some carts using half VG and half Eastmall 8mg juices -- Marl and 555. And it was NASSSTY! Tasted burnt and really hurt my throat.

Am I doing something wrong??

VG is very thick, so you may have to thin it a little with distilled water and/or vodka/everclear to get it to wick right.

 

[wdave]

My experience:

I tried Totally Wicked 24 mg menthol and hilton--headache and sick to my stomach.

I tried JC sampler 18 mg and vaped way too much trying out all the flavors in one afternoon--sick to my stomach

I tried JC non-PG (VG) chocolate and vanilla at 11 mg--sore throat and stomach ache.

Then I tried JC Tennessee Cured 18mg PG and was careful not to overfill. I had no side efffects at all. And I still don't have any after over 45 days. Neither have I had any side effects from JC 18mg PG peach nor vanilla.

After that all that, I still had a lot of 11 mg chocolate and vanilla VG left over, so I thought I would give VG a try again. But once again VG gave me a sore throat and a stomach ache. That led me to throw away all my VG so I wouldn't be tempted to try it again.

In the face of others' experience with VG, I don't understand why it should bother me more than PG. But facts are facts

I also find it difficult to draw conclusions, though my experience leads me to agree with some opinions in the forum.

1) Do not overfill, nor do anything else that would lead to a lot of liquid in your mouth.

2) It takes a while to get used to PG--don't vape to often in the beginning. Once a week or so has passed, you will be okay with it. So don't give up

3) At least for me, I could not tolerate VG even after several weeks of vaping. If you are like me, then VG is probably not the solution for you either.

4) Definitely try Johnson Creek juices. Like I said, I have gone as high as 18 mg without any side effects.

5) For those that can tolerate it, Totally Wicked definitely has the most punch. I can see why so many prefer it. But for those of us with sensitive stomachs, I recommend avoiding it.

Dave

 

[Scaralouche]

As always, when buying your own VG or Glycerin, make sure it says USP or in some way says it is safe for food use.