Slowly decreasing nic levels long term for a long term vaper...

[Vapinginmyboots]

Hi all! I been doing this for a long time, I quit smoking all cigarette smoking june 6 2009 (over 6 years now) and have been completely over any urge to smoke cigarettes via vaping, my only smoking habit is vaping nicotine and the hand-to-mouth addiction which I love to do constantly, by that I mean chain vaping for over 6 years. My usual vape has been a steady standard 24 mg juice for a few years but I started out at 36 mg juice at the beginning and chain vaped that for a few years as anything to break that 2+ pack a day Marb. Reds and RYO addiction was a "whatever it takes to stop this aweful habit" kind of attitude that I felt at the time, I had to go with that for any hope of quitting "no regrets there" lol.

I post this as I have been thinking about the consequences of reducing my nicotine intake. Ive been mixing my own juice (100 mg nicotine base down to 24 mg, no flavoring added) for about maybe about a year now and over the last month or 2 (I don't really even keep count these days lol) I been reducing that level 1 mg per 125 ml batch as I make them in 125 ml batches. I realize this is a kinda slow rate of reduction and so far I'm down to 22 mg now and by next week down to 21 mg and so far I haven't really noticed any difference aside from a bit of TH but I just wanted to ask has anyone done anything similar as in like 1 mg per 125 ml drops over time? I'd like to go to zero but am a bit afraid of gaining weight (and failing) as in a post I made a few years ago when I went down on nic far faster than this and failed because of the urge to eat too much.

Ive done some searching but came up with not much on going down on nic consumption this slowly but have found people dropping nic levels and vaping more to make up for it (and eating too much as a consequence). In all honesty I just want to be done with the nic addiction and if need be vape 0% nicotine for the rest of my life,or quit entirely ideally, at this rate it will be around 21 months or maybe less to reach the 0% nic threshold, possibly less if I vape more to make up the the loss of nicotine in the juice. Dropping down to a certain level and then just keeping it there is also a possibility but I wouldn't want it over maybe 12 mg but that's just numbers lol 0% or quitting vaping entirely at that point would be ideal!

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[juggler86]

Long post and i dont have much to contribute, besides if its working for you who cares.

I vape 6mg and dont ever plan on going lower. Nicotine isnt bad for you in doses we vape. I smoked for 15yrs and didnt like it, but if i vape for the rest my life it wont bother me, especially with unflavored we have no worries

 

[Frenchfry1942]

I switched overnight and used 36mg nic. It has been 1.5 years+ and am down to 6mg. For me, I lean towards following my urges for determining my needs. 4-5 draws per hour is my measurement. Whatever nic mg does that, that is where I am.

When I step down, I know that I will vape more than that but I also know that my distractors will get me back to once per hour break during the day. It takes about 2-3 weeks to settle down to the lower level. For another month or two, I just continue to do the same and enjoy it. Then I do another step-down.

Morning wake-up is a challenge (variable). When I do step-down, I save some of the old juice and use a topper just for breakfast nic level juice. I see it as a strong cup of coffee. When that juice runs out, I just use the current juice.

Now, evening time when I am in front of the TV or on the porch, walking, etc. I know that I want to vape more for the enjoyment of vaping. So, I get some juice, usually my most enjoyable flavors in a step lower nic level so that I don't O.D. myself.

So, currently, I have some 9mg/12mg juice for breakfast in one topper. Then, for the day, I have 6mg juices (bunch of toppers) and can change toppers (flavors) quickly. At night, I have 3mg juices and use toppers and RDAs to drip.

I know I have a lot of choices running at any one time, but to me, that is the beauty of vaping over smoking. Cigs were soo boring.

Anyway, my being 30+ years military, I hold formation for all my RTAs/RDAs in the early morning to make sure they are filled and metal-shined for the day. I carry my coffee cup as I inspect each one.

I drop down about quarterly.

Life is good.

 

[PaulBHC]

I started in 2009-10 with 36mg in blue foam and gave up with all the fuss. I find the newer stuff gives better nic delivery and started this time in Dec 2013 with 24mg. No time schedule for me just went along and decided to try lower levels when chain vaping gave me the shakes. Went to 18 then 12 then recently 6. I chain vape if I'm driving or sitting around but find that I can go long periods without vaping and don't get the crazy cravings that I did with cigs. I've gone close to 24 hours just to see if I could. I could probably quit if I had to. I'll stick with 6 for now and probably go to 3 next time.

 

[gmoney$]

I'm at 6mg, started at 12. What I'm interested in right now is reducing the amount of flavor in my juice. I love flavor, but think if something bad is discovered about vaping health-wise, it'll be flavor related. Some juices hide the flavor of cotton and or stainless steel better than others I DIY using concentrated flavors so I'm able to adjust pretty easily.

 

[Train2]

Personal experience for me is that nicotine addiction is not as strong a cigarette addiction.

When I was a smoker, I would crave one if I couldn't have one. With vaping, it's not such a big deal. I mean, yes - I'd rather be able to vape all day, but if I'm in meetings for 4 or 6 hour blocks, it doesn't drive me nuts like it used to.

Anyway - I've been reducing my nic slowly, mostly because I DIY and it's easy to do so. And fact is, I don't even notice the difference.

I started with 24mg and now I'm at 9.5. Why not 1/2? LOL.
Not really "trying" or anything - I just figure there's no reason NOT to.

 

[Grimwald]

I've always let my body tell me what to do. I was a 40+ year heavy chain smoker. Stated in August 2012 at 24mg on cig-a-likes and cartos. After 2-3 months I began to get woozy, anxiety, sleeplessness, so cut to 18mg. Also found I had to cut back on caffeine...something about how the liver works when you cut out cigarettes.

As my equipment improved, I continued to cut back every 6 months or so by threes - 18mg to 15, 15 to 12, 12 to 9...etc. If I got cravings, I went back up.

It's the 12mg to 9mg, and 9mg to 6mg steps that I found hard...maybe just in my head. I cut 10 to 9 to 7.5 to 6. My last batch I mixed at 5mg and I mix enough for about 5 weeks. If all goes well, I plan on trying 4mg next month an so on.

I use unflavored but my wife uses a tobacco flavor. I've been cutting hers without her knowledge and she hasn't complained a whit. I do find I can go quite a while before I really need to vape (airplanes, restaurants etc.) but I still prefer to chain vape.

The downside is the 2 liters of 100mg nic in the freezer that was supposed to last a few years is now enough for 20-25 years (If I live that long). I don't know how long that stuff lasts and I doubt anyone has done a 25 year study.

 

[Completely Average]

I've been cutting back by 2mg every month since I started vaping. I started at a 24mg juice and now vape an 8mg juice in my Nautilus and 3mg in my subohm tanks.

Initially I tried cutting from the 24mg to an 18mg but that was too much of a jump all at once. I ended up vaping 50% more juice to fight off the cravings. For me, reducing by just 2mg at a time and giving myself a month between drops has been much more effective. I don't notice the slight reduction in nicotine and don't significantly increase the amount of juice I'm using to compensate.

 

[Frenchfry1942]

I don't know if I am fast or slow and I really am not that concerned. What i want is to be able to go for a few hours without urge. But, I wonder if that is psychosomatic out of habitual situations. That is what keeps me moving to lowering the nic. I do so much in my study so that may be my last vaping bastion. Maybe breakfast coffee and final dog walk, too.

Yes, the slow steps seem effective for me, too.

The 100mg liter...maybe the classies?

 

[Vapinginmyboots]

I been pretty busy lately (vacation coming up + car trouble, bad combo lol) but I finally had a chance to come back and check out my thread. Looks like lots of people are cutting the nic slowly and some content with where they are at, lots of info in you guyses responses thanks! I got 3 liters of 100mg unflavored juice but they are in a closet, the other day I inspected them and 1 was a purplish color (will be disposing of that one lol) there's no room in the freezer unfortunately. Luckily I'm adjusting very well to 22mg and can expect I think it to be the same at 21 when I get to that bottle, I'm more worried about when I get down to the lower levels but luckily theres a lot of time tween now and then lol. I will stick with my ego tank around 4.2 volts (been using that type e-cig for a long time and nothing else) throughout the long process of getting down through the nic levels and have never had the urge to cloud-chase or anything like that. I notice I'm chain-vaping more lately but not gonna worry much about that, specially at no flavoring

 

[SleeZy]

I smoked 20-30 "reds" (1mg per cig, strongest we've in swe) a day.
Started out with 24mg for quite some time, then slowly moved down to 18.
Nowadays i'm 12mg in kayfun / RTA tanks (not subohm.)
And 6mg in my subohm RDAs/RTAs. I don't know if i even want to go any lower than 6mg realy.
As mentioned already, the nicotine in itself isn't more harmful than caffeine. Granted i can go a day or 2, without the need to even vape.
To me the hand to mouth experience is the hard part to get rid of, due i loved to smoke (not the bad parts but the hand to mouth) So vaping satisfies that.
So that would be hardest part for me to quit all in all.

Take it slow and you'll get there eventually. But don't rush it, why would you want/need to?
I might have missed it or, you didn't mention it. What device are you using today?
The device/tank plays a huuuge factor when lowering the nictoine intake.

 

[Frenchfry1942]

I been pretty busy lately (vacation coming up + car trouble, bad combo lol) but I finally had a chance to come back and check out my thread. Looks like lots of people are cutting the nic slowly and some content with where they are at, lots of info in you guyses responses thanks! I got 3 liters of 100mg unflavored juice but they are in a closet, the other day I inspected them and 1 was a purplish color (will be disposing of that one lol) there's no room in the freezer unfortunately. Luckily I'm adjusting very well to 22mg and can expect I think it to be the same at 21 when I get to that bottle, I'm more worried about when I get down to the lower levels but luckily theres a lot of time tween now and then lol. I will stick with my ego tank around 4.2 volts (been using that type e-cig for a long time and nothing else) throughout the long process of getting down through the nic levels and have never had the urge to cloud-chase or anything like that. I notice I'm chain-vaping more lately but not gonna worry much about that, specially at no flavoring

I don't worry about the flavors. I do buy from better vendors and I specifically look for indicators of quality. I think going to the supermarket is a lot more dangerous.

 

[AquaJoe]

I have the same plan as you. I want to get to 0 nic and then eventually quit vaping altogether. When I started vaping 2 yrs ago I was at 24mg. For about the first year I stayed with the 24mg, and this past year have been slowly dropping my nic level. I am currently at 6mg.

Since I don't DIY, what I've been doing is buying 2 different nic levels of the same flavor and mixed them. I didn't want to jump from 24mg to 18mg, so I started filling my tank with 50/50 of each 24 and 18mg. Then over the course of a week or 2 (how ever long the 2 bottles lasted) I would add more 18 and less 24 until I was only vaping 18mg. Then I would vape the 18mg for a little while and repeat with 18mg and 12mg juice. This has been working for me and I haven't noticed any changes with the lower nic level. I still vape the same way, with a Nautilus mini/istick.

The way you talked about dropping the nic should work fine. You probably won't even notice dropping 1mg ever couple weeks. I've had the same experience as Train2. I don't crave vaping as much as I did cigarettes. I can go hours without vaping and not even notice or want to vape. With cigs I NEEDED one at least every hour. I would usually have to stop what I was doing to go smoke. With vaping I can wait.

If 1mg every month is working for you keep with it. Who cares how long it takes? I figured I smoked for 15years, whats another 3 years to lower my nic level to 0.