If you dropped your nic level, when/how did you decide the time was right?

[Rickajho]

Hi

I had a hard time of it when I started in April - major quit smoking withdrawal symptoms. I ordered a typical range of nic strengths, and found in the early phase I needed 26 mg nic, and for some bad fits of cravings I had to go to 30 mg liquids. I have since dropped the 30 mg stuff and have stuck with 26 mg liquids since.

The amount I vape has been pretty consistent throughout - I go through approximately 12 ml's of liquid a week. That seems to be on the light to low average side of vaping, from the ranges of liquids I see people report for their usage in various posts.

Now I'm into month eight and not much more than some kind of instinct is telling me it may be time to drop to 16 mg nic. I can't say I'm experiencing any obvious symptoms or signs of getting too much nicotine. It's just a little "something" telling me that 8 months in the 26 mg stuff may be a little too much now. Not much more than a gut instinct, to be honest.

I have no program, goal or agenda to quit nicotine. So, for the folks out there who don't have a goal to get to 0 nic levels, what told you it was time to drop your level?

Input appreciated. (My next order could be interesting...)

Rick

 

[Riverwolf]

I started at 24 mg. and used that til about april or may I had some issues with hypoglycemia and Isaac from Ikenvape suggested to drop my nic level so I went down to 18 and it worked very well for my sugar levels, I found the drop in nic so easy on me that I only used up what I had of the 18 and then went straight to 12 and again had no problems. So about a 2 months or so ago I tried to go to 6 ....not so lucky this time but have plenty of 12 still here..then a few weeks back I started buying my faves 15 ml's at a time 1 in 6 and 1 in 12 and mixing them to get it to about 9 and thats working for me now........sorry for the long story but I wanted to cover everything...LOL

 

[Briar]

Well, I started at 18mg, and stayed there for awhile. Years, actually. And I didn't completely quit cigs until recently, either. I was still doing somewhere between 2 and 5 cigs a day, depending on how much stress there was in my life. I tried increasing my nic, thinking that it will help me to quit cigs, but I couldn't. More nic caused me chest pains and heart palpitations.

Recently I tried WTA, and quit cigs completely with no cravings at all. That was a godsend. I also had less desire to vape. I am currently decreasing my nic to 12mg as I order new juices. It's kinda gradual, but, to be honest, I am not noticing the difference. I also had that "gut feeling" that it was time to "go less". Though in my case, it's more than gut feeling - I have high blood pressure, and nic has bad effect on that.

Anyway, if you are doing 26, I'd suggest you go down in small increments, don't jump right from 26 to 16. Easy does it, IMHO. Try mixing 26 or 24 with 18 or 16 half and half, and see how you do. If that causes no problems, then go to 18, and so forth. You don't want to backslide, ya know? No reason to cause yourself unnecessary problems, methinks.

Just my

 

[Rickajho]

Thanks guys. I know I can always "mix up" if I need to tweak the nic level. Since I'm one of those who is allergic to PG I have found fewer nic level options in the flavors I like: 26, 16, 6 & 0.

At 26 mg I did truly quit butts altogether - last one 07/31/2011 - and have no "wanna cigarette" cravings at all now. There is just "something" telling me 26 mg might be more than my body needs (wants?) perhaps. It's something like: I would rather have the option of vaping more at a lower nic level now - to satisfy the "hand to mouth" thing and the physical act of vaping - than more nic and having using the pv less.

Does that make sense?

Whatever works! I will figure it out. This is the first time I have been able to truly quit and never see going back.

Rick

 

[jamesthompson]

You know I did a test on this with my business partner. I mixed all his juice and I wanted to know what would happen if I started dropping his nicotine level on him without telling him anything . Anyways he was very consistent at 15ml of 24mg strength juice a week. So I did an insane drop and put him down at 6 on his next bottle. He went through that bottle in 3 days. So he started vaping ALOT more. I kept with the test for a couple more weeks. He didnt seem to have a problem going through a bottle every three days LOL. Then I put him back up to 24mg juice. Once again his bottles were 7 days apart. He never questioned me on it and I feel bad doing the experiment on him but I had to know!

I know that when I am at home so I feel ok about chain vaping I vape 6mg juice. When I go off to work I smoke 24. Just the way I like to do things

 

[otrpu]

I pretty much vape continuous when I can. At work it's whenever I get a chance. Alittle over a month ago I overdid the Cinnamon in my DIY, fried my tongue. Made up another batch, decided to leave the Flavor out to allow tongue to recover. After a week on this new blend I discovered. . .I'd also left the Nicotine out of the blend. Up to that point I'd been using 18mg/mL nic. Now. . .I can't say I miss it at all. JMHO

Cheers,
otrpu

 

[Rickajho]

You know I did a test on this with my business partner. I mixed all his juice and I wanted to know what would happen if I started dropping his nicotine level on him without telling him anything . Anyways he was very consistent at 15ml of 24mg strength juice a week. So I did an insane drop and put him down at 6 on his next bottle. He went through that bottle in 3 days. So he started vaping ALOT more. I kept with the test for a couple more weeks. He didnt seem to have a problem going through a bottle every three days LOL. Then I put him back up to 24mg juice. Once again his bottles were 7 days apart. He never questioned me on it and I feel bad doing the experiment on him but I had to know!

You went all evil genius/mad scientist on your business partner!? But I like it! lol.

I know that when I am at home so I feel ok about chain vaping I vape 6mg juice. When I go off to work I smoke 24. Just the way I like to do things

Yeah, the next order is going to just be a mixed up mess of my usual 26 mg, at least half the order at 16 mg... and maybe even a couple of 6 mg trial sizes just for "what the heck". Gee! It sounds like the model for my very first order all over again.

Play. That's the beauty of quitting with e-cigs. You have permission to play.

 

[teabagger]

I started at 32, went to 24 for a long time, then 18 about 7 months ago, and now 12mg, all of them have been pretty painless, except i received a couple of bottles of 24mg this week(due to shippers error) So i tried to vape it, and i found it way to strong for me.

 

[n2xe]

I've been vaping for 1 year. Started at 24mg and one year later I'm at 6mg. It's been pretty painless dropping the dose every few months or so from 24 to 18 to 12 to 10 to 6. My gauge is if I can go 4 to 8 hours with no withdrawal symptoms, then it's time to drop the dose.

 

[jamesthompson]

You went all evil genius/mad scientist on your business partner!? But I like it! lol.



Yeah, the next order is going to just be a mixed up mess of my usual 26 mg, at least half the order at 16 mg... and maybe even a couple of 6 mg trial sizes just for "what the heck". Gee! It sounds like the model for my very first order all over again.

Play. That's the beauty of quitting with e-cigs. You have permission to play.

Today I had to go hours without vaping. I was at a private poker game with a bunch of doctors and realestate agents and lawyers. Not a single smoker there. They were not very vapor friendly. Asked but was denied. Could not leave though there was a ton of money in that room. I think it was karma for what I did to my buddy! LOL! Playing poker without vaping was painful. Maybe next time I wont bring such a bizarre looking unit. My 1000 mah ego battery with a ego booster and 5ml ce2 tank with some 50/50 menthol juice. They didnt like how long my vapor lingered! LOL

 

[CES]

I started at 24, about 8 months in I started to get some anxiety-like symptoms. I dropped to 18 and was good for about a year, then i started noticing the anxiety-like stuff and went to 15 then 12 (with 6 sometimes). Right now I'm under a bit of stress, so I'm using a bit more juice, so I'm probably getting about the same amount of nicotine i as when i used 15, but my levels are staying more stable rather than the big ups and downs that i can't tolerate anymore.

Listen to your body- if you go too low you'll vape more, but you may find that you're fine with a lower level.

(hehehehe @ jamesthomson )

 

[redgirl]

I started at 24mg and went up to 30/36mg and stayed there for a year. I got pregnant and weaned myself quickly to zero and quit vaping for 9 months. Now that I started vaping again, I still use 30/36mg. I did have anxiety issues back around when I started vaping, but I think it was unrelated to the nicotine level because I don't have them anymore. I just can't imagine dropping even to 18mg. And it's not even the nicotine level for me, it's the throat hit. Maybe one day I will start lowering my nic - if only 0mg had throat hit (and yes, I've tried all the "tricks").

 

[MegaBee]

I started out on 18mg and im only at 2 months Im thinknig I should start dropping because im not vaping as often thats the only reason, my next order is 11mg, if that doesnt work for me I still have 18mg Im too scared to push myself as I still have cravings at times, how am I supposed to know I should drop? lol

 

[jamesthompson]

I started out on 18mg and im only at 2 months Im thinknig I should start dropping because im not vaping as often thats the only reason, my next order is 11mg, if that doesnt work for me I still have 18mg Im too scared to push myself as I still have cravings at times, how am I supposed to know I should drop? lol

You do what feels right. Your body will tell you what you need to do. If your mission is to give up nicotine then just slowly drop yourself.

 

[TennDave]

Started at 18- it wasn't enough...upped to 24 (also someone sent me 36)...stayed there for awhile (6 months) and found the 36 too strong- I would over-nic...so 24 was the magic spot for me. About 3 months in, I tried 18 again but found I just vaped more...so upped again to 24. Then in June sometime, I found myself over-nic'ing at 24...my body told me. I've been at 18 since that time and that's my sweet spot now. I don't know if I'll lower it again or not. I find the nic helps my ADHD/memory...something I didn't notice until I started messing with my levels. I'll decrease my levels again if my "body" tells me it's time.

 

[throatkick]

Hi.

I strive to go as low as possible. This is not part of a program. Why vape 18 when I can vape 12?

There are other factors involved though. For me the thrill is strictly throat hit. Throat hit is directly related to hardware and liquid. For example, when I started with 36 mg I was using 3.7v devices. Once I switched to 5v I immediately went down to 24. Once I perfected the setup, I saw that I could easily go to 18 and did so. Depending on your setup and preferences, hardware changes may enable you to very easily go down a notch.

Now, that I am 100% satisfied with 18mg I am experimenting with 12mg. I think it is a matter of finding the right flavor and pg/vg mix. Only time will tell

All the best!

 

[Retriever]

I started at 36mg but found that a bit harsh, so I cut back to 24mg. I still feel like I need more, so I wish they made maybe a 30mg but I can't find that. So I just vape more.

 

[redgirl]

I started at 36mg but found that a bit harsh, so I cut back to 24mg. I still feel like I need more, so I wish they made maybe a 30mg but I can't find that. So I just vape more.

Ms. T's makes 30mg.

 

[Cyatis]

I started at 24mg. Didn't bother me until the evenings, when I'd get a headache. Thought, I used to get those when I smoked more than normal in the evening also. I dropped down to 15-20mg (depending on the vendor), and haven't had a headache since then. I tend to vape the same I used to smoke in frequency.

A little off topic ...

I don't do normally do DIY juice, I tried using a bottle of 36mg raspberry sparingly once. The flavor in it wasn't that awesome to start with to me, I had received it by accident. I eventually tried to make a couple of 18mg bottles out of it, but there just wasn't enough flavor in it, to recommend that to anyone. I ended up just ordering a new bottle elsewhere, though I probably could have just added raspberry flavoring in to make up the difference. I'm not sure if that would have been good, bad, or ugly to be honest, perhaps I should attempt some basic DIY juice, and then I'd know.

 

[Beans]

I started high too with no intentions of cutting my nic, but over time my body has requested that I cut back.....about 6 months ago I noticed that my head and stomach didn't like my normal level I mixed so I diluted it some, vaped that batch again I had more of that icky feeling of too much nic, cut it again and on and on and on. Now I'm at 2-4 mg sometimes 0 of nic and don't at all miss anything. I think the other drugs in cigs intensified the nic addiction,(for me) without them now for a period of time I'm kind of leveling out......