Am I vaping more than I used to smoke?

[Chillerhippie]

I used to smoke around 7 cigs a day between 6 and 10mg of nicotine depending on brand. I am now vaping 18mg e-juice and having to refill my mini e-cig about 4 times a day. The inside cartridge is smaller than a car's dust cap so I'm not sure how much I'm putting in although at a guess, it would be something like 1 - 2ml

Am I vaping more than I used to smoke? What is the chance of overdosing on nicotine?

Thanks,
Chiller.

 

[KarlH007]

Almost everyone who vapes does so more than they smoked and the rule of thumb on these boards when it comes to worries of overdosing it to listen to you body. I had it happen once after I chain vaped for hooours, I became really lightheaded and dizzy, bad nausea, yadda yadda. I just sat down and let it pass over me. So vape to your hearts content and if you start feeling like you're full of nicotine take it easy for a bit but at 18mg you should be able to manage rather easily. I think I was puffin 24mg when I got sick.

 

[Eddie.Willers]

+1 to KarlH007

You'll know when you're overdoing it.

For reference, most vapers seem to go through around 2mL of liquid a day - depends on the nic strength of the liquid.

Bear in mind that 1)you are ahead by not burning tobacco and inhaling all the smoke - vaping is, by far, much 'cleaner' and 2)the amount of nic delivered by vaping seems to be less than by conventional smoking, probably why most people seem to vape more than they smoke.

 

[tsmckenney]

Almost everyone who vapes does so more than they smoked and the rule of thumb on these boards when it comes to worries of overdosing it to listen to you body. I had it happen once after I chain vaped for hooours, I became really lightheaded and dizzy, bad nausea, yadda yadda. I just sat down and let it pass over me. So vape to your hearts content and if you start feeling like you're full of nicotine take it easy for a bit but at 18mg you should be able to manage rather easily. I think I was puffin 24mg when I got sick.

Agreed. Cigars were absolutely no different. There's a lot of nicotine in some cigars. You could easily get light headed, a head ache, nausea... Your body will tell you to slow down. It should be a concern though, how much you're vaping. I try to keep an eye it, limit myself to certain occasions. Like all day at work.

 

[79Silo]

Don't worry you will reduce eventually. I remember when my first vaping i can finish a 10ml in 2 days.. . Now 3ml a day for me depends on my stress of work..

 

[Jaymzifer]

I suppose there is one thing you could try to bring your vaping time down; it is mentioned on here that for the most part the nicotine in vaping is absorbed through your mucus membranes in your nose and your mouth, not your lungs. If you were to draw into your mouth, inhale and then exhale through your nose you might increase nicotine absorption. I do it and never feel like I am lacking in nicotine delivery.

P.s. using 24 at first and now 18mg.

 

[recidivus]

As a new vaper I am finding myself regularly taking a draw off my ecig @18 every few minutes. A roundabout guess is I'm smoking around the same, on a "drags per day" basis. Now it's just spread out over the entire day instead of several dedicated blocks of 5 minute breaks followed by 45 minutes of nothing.

 

[epetrillo]

I am also new to vaping and vaping more than I smoked. I was a 15 cig a day smoker but I'm vaping anywhere from 2ml a day on weekdays to 4ml on weekend days at 18mg strength. The only time I have felt sick was last night. I had improperly overfilled a blank carto and when I took my first drag I got a mouth full of liquid! Won't be doing that again.

 

[dgm76513]

I used to smoke around 7 cigs a day between 6 and 10mg of nicotine depending on brand.

6-10mg per day based on 7 cigs sounds reasonable. Nicotine, Tar, and CO Content of Regular Cigarette Brands

It is a fact that e-cigarettes deliver nicotine less efficiently than traditional cigarettes: E-cigarettes deliver almost no nicotine. | Freedom From Smoking | Healthline

If you feel symptoms of an overdose, Nicotine poisoning: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia Call a doctor immediately!

However, it is unlikely you would overdose from nicotine as your body has a tendency to tell you when you've had enough.
Just ask the thousands of PV users here on ECF Some vape 0mg juice, and some are on higher concentrations such as 36gm/ml with no ill effects. I think it all boils down to your personal tolerance and "need" for nicotine. If your 18mg/ml juice is satisfying you then I believe you are safe. I am, however, not a doctor.

Am I vaping more than I used to smoke?

In my opinion, it is reasonable to conclude that you are not consuming more nicotine with vaping than you did previously with smoking.

ETA: I am recently vaping a quantity of 5-6ml of e-juice per day at an average of 11mg/ml nicotine. I just stepped down from 16mg/ml strength at a quantity of 3-4 ml per day.

 

[Chillerhippie]

I like to do the in though the mouth and out though the nose thing so I guess I am getting the maximum amount of nicotine per draw. I might get a lower strength e-liquid next time, 8mg might be better as I am sat here and my head is feeling a bit heavy around my temples lol

I might be vaping so much simply because I am "new" to it and like a kid with a new toy, I cant put it down, especially since the e-juice tastes nice!

 

[dgm76513]

I might get a lower strength e-liquid next time, 8mg might be better as I am sat here and my head is feeling a bit heavy around my temples!

I had that problem too. It dissipated with time and I personally felt it was related to the way I was vaping. That is, I was using more/different muscles to draw on my PV than I did with regular cigarettes. Chances are you are putting the mouthpiece between your teeth, or are opening your mouth a little wider while drawing, and you are drawing more vapor which takes up more room in your mouth, causing it to open even wider while still maintaining a vacuum, where as when you smoked a cigarette, your jaw was closed a bit more, and you likely took smaller drags.

That's what I thought, anyway. Does that sound about right?

 

[niterider]

I have to be careful too as I catch myself chain vaping on 12 mg. Usually, being very thirsty is my first indicator.

 

[DC2]

The inside cartridge is smaller than a car's dust cap so I'm not sure how much I'm putting in although at a guess, it would be something like 1 - 2ml.

I'm trying to remember from back in my old days, but I think one of those mini cartridges is probably about 0.5ml give or take.

 

[Joe_13]

That article seems a bit,... Unscientific.

The study is published in the latest edition of the journal, Tobacco Control. Professor Eissenberg had 16 smokers abstain overnight, then come to the lab. on different days and (a) smoke two of their usual cigarettes (b)puff on two unlit cigarettes or (c) “smoke” 2 leading brands of E-cigarette using their “high nicotine” cartridge (16mg), each brand on a separate occasion. On each occasion he measured the blood nicotine levels before, during and up to 45 minutes after using the products.

As expected, the smokers started off with very low nicotine blood levels (around 2 ng/ml) and went up to around 17 and 20 ng/ml after smoking the usual cigarettes. However, when the smokers used 2 E-cigarettes their blood nicotine levels hardly budged, peaking at 3.5 ng/ml (i.e. not significantly different from before they used the E-cigarette or puffing on an unlit cigarette). Similarly, unlike smoking real cigarettes, the E-cigarettes did not affect heart rate and had a relatively small (but observable) effect of reducing craving for a smoke.

Uh a sample size of 16???

I can tell you that I am indeed getting nicotine in my bloodstream .
After puffing on my KGo for a couple minutes, I will have significantly raised nicotine buzz,... Is that not nicotine then??
Of course it is... I've puffed on unlit cigarettes before, for hours,... No buzz.
WTF kind of e-cigs were they using.? In two cigs time, I can get completely saturated with nicotine with a halfway decent VP...

 

[DC2]

That article seems a bit,... Unscientific.

If you look at studies like the one Dr. Eissenberg did awhile back, yeah, some people are getting little or no nicotine.
And those people would be first time users who have underpowered devices that they are using incorrectly.

This is the thread where we convinced Dr. Eissenberg that he was doing it all wrong...
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...-cnn-com-today-eissenberg-study-feedback.html


If you look at the current studies Dr. Eissenberg is doing, the conclusions are very different.
People with quality devices that know how to vape are getting plenty of nicotine.

This is some information from his current study...
"Electronic cigarettes CAN deliver nicotine": Smoking Cessation Community - Support Group

One of the most interesting studies was presented in a poster by Dr Andrea Vansickel and colleagues at Professor Tom Eissenberg's laboratory at Virginia Commonwealth University. This group had previously published a study of e-cigarette use in cigarette smokers which found that they obtained only negligible levels of blood nicotine from the e-cigarettes. In the poster last week they reported preliminary results from the first 3 subjects in a new study of regular e-cigarette users. Each of these e-cigarette users used their own modified e-cigarettes and at least two of them obtained significant increases in blood nicotine concentrations, reaching more than 10 ng/ml from 10 puffs over 5-minutes, and one reached over 30 ng/ml with continued use. These levels are comparable to the venous blood nicotine levels that can be absorbed by a cigarette, and I believe this is the first time this has ever been reported. I am looking forward to reading the full results when the study is completed and published in a peer-reviewed journal.

 

[CommaHolly]

you can always buy some yummy flavors of o mg juice and vape away to your heart's content!!!!!

 

[Chillerhippie]

you can always buy some yummy flavors of o mg juice and vape away to your heart's content!!!!!

I will do eventually, but I'm going to work my way down to that. I've only been off the cigs 3 days lol

 

[DaveP]

Remember that first cigarette that you ever smoked? You turned a little green around the gills, a little dizzy, maybe a touch nauseous? If that happens with vaping, you went over the limit. Finding the right nic mix and vaping frequency comes naturally after you vape awhile.

Puff for puff, the tests show that we get somewhere around 10% to 30% of the nic we got from smoking when we vape. That's why we vape like fiends instead of spacing out our sessions.

Try holding off for a while to see how long it takes for the nicotine urge to hit. If I go for 20 to 30 minutes without vaping, I get that mental flag that tells me it's time.

 

[dgm76513]

That article seems a bit,... Unscientific.

Uh a sample size of 16???

I apologize for not clarifying, that was one example I came up with to show that e-cigarettes are not as effective as
traditional cigarettes at delivering nicotine. I didn't mean to show that e-cigarettes were completely ineffective at delivering nicotine. I will try and find a better article that compares the two a little more effectively.

 

[CommaHolly]

I will do eventually, but I'm going to work my way down to that. I've only been off the cigs 3 days lol

LOL, I meant for when you know you've had enough nic,,,,just a bottle or two to keep around when you know you've had enough nic but you want to continue vaping. and congrats on the 3 days! I'm six days today! I started on 18 mgs,,,,,but for times I've had enough, I've got some six mgs and intend to buy some 0 mgs too!