Annoying subjective question!

[bennytuk]

I'm quite new to vaping but have, in a week, gone from averaging about 15 Marlboro Lights per day to half a one yesterday and none today. (I say average because I'd smoke about 5-7 on a working day and 30 with a night out involved!)

I'm vaping 12mg liquids, mostly VG, in a range of flavours. Generally I'm having about 4/5 vape "sessions" each day, lasting 15-20 mins each. I'm using a 20w Curve / iStick, set to 3.3v, 7.7w, 1.5 Ohms.

What I'm trying to work out is how long I can sit and vape for. I know the common consensus is to "vape until the cravings go" but I'm a bit timid with it and don't want to overdo it. Ironically, I seem to have the strongest craving for an analog after a vape session! I don't think I've overdone the nicotine much apart from one time where it left me a bit giddy. I am getting mild sinus headaches, but got them with cigarettes too!

I'm not finding the analog cravings unmanageable, but I have (with the kind permission of my wife) withdrawn a bit and am keeping myself to myself - so I've not had to deal with any of the kind of stress that would have me reaching for the Marlboro Lights again.

Sorry, bit of a ramble. I guess my question is this: vaping is seeing off 70% of the cravings I would have had cold turkey; Is there anything I can do to up that percentage? I don't really want to increase nicotine as 18mg liquids feel a bit strong for me.

 

[r77r7r]

Sometimes it's Time that works these things out. Many of us smoked for weeks after starting, some still smoke and vape.

For me, I tried to keep smoking but after I got down to just a few, they were just nasty and I quit.

 

[Sir2fyablyNutz]

Everyone is different but this is what worked for me.

When I was trying to quit I used a cheap clearomizer/tank with the next higher nic in it. When the "itch" got to where the regular vape wasn't scratching it I would hit the higher nicotine tank once and go back to the regular nic vape. It usually took from 3 days to a week to get adjusted to the lower nicotine level. I said usually because I used this same technique to reduce my nicotine content in steps from the high level down to the under 3mg I now enjoy.

Mornings were the worst.
I kept one flavor of juice just for the mornings. Instead of reaching for the cig in the mornings I knew I had the one flavor juice I enjoyed waiting on me (a blueberry muffin type). After the morning vape I would not use this flavor for the rest of the day. What this did was to give me something to look forward to every morning instead of the cig.

Good luck in your journey, you CAN do it.

 

[daleron]

Sounds to me like you are doing very well for only having one week in
We like to say "it's not the ones you smoke that matter as much as it is the one's you don't".

The only other advice I might could give you would be to change where you vape so as not to associate it with smoking?

 

[Izan]

Hi mate and welcome,

You are in the right track...
I would suggest you start the day at 7.7W and increase it a bit as the day goes on.
You will find a place (for me around 11 watts) that ticks all the boxes, flavour, throat hit and mouth/body sensation.
Ahhhh.

Don't be scared of nicotine. It's like too many cups of coffee or tea...you start to feel bad and you stop consuming it.

Have fun
I

 

[bennytuk]

I just had a cigarette and was furious with myself until my wife pointed out that 1.5 cigarettes over a weekend instead of 40 after just 6 days of vaping really isn't that bad!

 

[Completely Average]

I smoked and vaped for 6 months. Didn't quite smoking entirely until I quit using tobacco flavored eliquids entirely.

 

[IMFire3605]

My transition was pretty much this, disclaimer though a lot of the hardware was not as efficient as current hardware.

One tank and/or battery and tank had a high mg nicotine at the time 24mg - High stress, after eating, waking up, going to bed, bad bad urge, during a break at work
Rest of my devices I ran a 12 or 18mg - these were my daily runners and just sitting back and relaxing, lower mg nic for when I was chain vaping sitting back watching tv, gaming, toodling around on the computer, driving, etc

Some advice, have to retrain your mindset and such. High stress situations, after eating, etc like in example above, try a higher mg nic device solely for that purpose alone at first, still having a strong craving, smoke 1/3 to 1/2 a cig, then back to the vape. May sound defeatist in mentality, but it is not, there are other alkaloids and chemicals you are detoxing off of in a cig that a vape does not have, the 1/3 to 1/2 cig kinda helps re-balance your body chemistry, giving just enough of those chemicals to kill the cravings. This stage of my transition lasted about 2 1/2 weeks going from pack and a half a day, instantly to about 8 to 10, 1/2 cigs, a day, eventually to the end of the cycle I was about 1 cig a day when I put down my last cig. Don't beat yourself up on each cig you have to have, think about the larger victory of all the cigs you did not have to smoke because of the vaping.

Like stated above, everyone is different and everyone has a different requirement to transition, one or any example can help, even combine experiences from others into your regime.

Welcome to the forums by the way and a future of healthier life style =)

 

[Grimwald]

Sometimes it's Time that works these things out. Many of us smoked for weeks after starting, some still smoke and vape.

For me, I tried to keep smoking but after I got down to just a few, they were just nasty and I quit.

I think this says it best. I can't even tell you all of the times I've had cravings over the last 3 years...even had cravings yesterday morning. I do know that smoking does not work for me now. I just don't like the taste of cigarettes. I have the knowledge and experience that I can count on my vaporizer to get me thru...that I don't need or even want that cigarette.

I will tell you that you never know what will set off those cravings. On my 3-4 day vaping I had a piece of apple crumb cake. (We have apple trees and this is kind of a staple food at this time of year) Now I have not read any peer reviewed scientific research that suggest that apple crumb cake causes cravings, but I can assure you that it does...oh wow it does. Never had a craving like that before or since.

 

[Frenchfry1942]

Well, vape marathons don't help in this situation, for me. I would fill a tank/mod and just sit it out of sight. When the urge comes, take 3-4 draws and see how long it lasts. At the time, 24mg got me an hour of nic fix.

So, obviously, If I know that I am going to have a vape marathon, I vape 3mg or 6mg.

It is worthwhile to have multiple nic content juices around. Different moods, different situations, they call for different approaches (fixes).

I have, currently, eight tanks with juice in them. At this moment, early in the morning, it is Cinnamon Roll with my coffee.

It is fun finding what works and, therefore, enjoyable. Cigs were so boring and lazy.

 

[suprtrkr]

That is an annoying and subjective question! However, it seem to me the answer is to vape more Seriously, if you don't want to up your nic in the liquid, the only cure (using the gear you have) is to hit it more often. My personal experience is you will know when you're overdoing it; you'll get nic sick, with headache cramps nausea etc. When that happens, back off. Until, good to go.

 

[jada1082]

The approach I took was similar to others. I was roughly pack a day.
I started with 12mg. And for the first 72 hours just tried to soley use the vape. And when I absolutely felt like I just needed a "real" one. I did. By day 4, those real ones didn't taste good and I realized I was almost forcing myself to finish it.
Day 4 was the last "real" one I had. Month later. Still get cravings every so often, but nothing I can't handle.
I almost feel I just miss the bic lighter flick.

 

[Swifthavok]

I started on 36mg. I would literally vape until my tank ran dry. Now I'm dripping 9-12 in my rda. Everyone is different, but we're all consuming a poison. However with vape we know what's in it for the most part. Instead of jet fuel and rat droppings like analogs.

 

[edyle]

I'm quite new to vaping but have, in a week, gone from averaging about 15 Marlboro Lights per day to half a one yesterday and none today. (I say average because I'd smoke about 5-7 on a working day and 30 with a night out involved!)

I'm vaping 12mg liquids, mostly VG, in a range of flavours. Generally I'm having about 4/5 vape "sessions" each day, lasting 15-20 mins each. I'm using a 20w Curve / iStick, set to 3.3v, 7.7w, 1.5 Ohms.

What I'm trying to work out is how long I can sit and vape for. I know the common consensus is to "vape until the cravings go" but I'm a bit timid with it and don't want to overdo it. Ironically, I seem to have the strongest craving for an analog after a vape session! I don't think I've overdone the nicotine much apart from one time where it left me a bit giddy. I am getting mild sinus headaches, but got them with cigarettes too!

I'm not finding the analog cravings unmanageable, but I have (with the kind permission of my wife) withdrawn a bit and am keeping myself to myself - so I've not had to deal with any of the kind of stress that would have me reaching for the Marlboro Lights again.

Sorry, bit of a ramble. I guess my question is this: vaping is seeing off 70% of the cravings I would have had cold turkey; Is there anything I can do to up that percentage? I don't really want to increase nicotine as 18mg liquids feel a bit strong for me.

Yes.
Get a backup rig, and keep some 24mg in it, and when you have a craving, you vape that for 5 minutes.
A good option for a backup rig is an rda on a mech with a kick at 5 to 10 watts for your 24mg; when you get a craving, you drip in maybe 10 to 20 drops from the bottle, and vape for about 5 minutes like it's a cigarette;

 

[stevegmu]

Seems like if you get cravings for smoking after vaping, your nic level is too low...

 

[bennytuk]

Thank you for all of the advice.

Tonight was a bit of a triumph I deliberately exposed myself to some triggers - had a few beers, cooked a big Sunday roast, and had a couple of long phone conversations. All of these are things that would usually involve me smoking lots of cigarettes.

While I was drinking the beers and chatting on the phone I vaped my tobacco liquid (12mg) almost constantly, but I didn't give in to the cigs (even though I had some in my pocket).

When dinner was almost ready I poured a glass of wine - probably the time when I have my "favourite" cigarette of the week. I lit one, didn't think it tasted too great, so I grabbed my vape while it was lit and "did the Pepsi challenge." On balance I thought the vape was nicer. I put the cigarette out and stuck with the vape.

I'm not at all complacent, but tonight felt like a serious breakthrough. After dinner I just had a few draws on some Lime eJuice and a few raspberry custard and didn't even contemplate an after-dinner analog.

I'm almost in disbelief that I've come so far in a week!

Oh, and my sense of smell is back. When I cut into a lemon and squeezed it over the chicken it smelled out of this world

 

[NeoPagan]

You're doing great! My husband and I got our vaping equipment and juice, but decided to ease into it with a "free smoke" every evening that lasted 1-2 hours. After about a month of that, I wasn't really looking forward to the cigs, so one night I vaped while he smoked. The next night, we both vaped. That was it. Six weeks later without cigs. In that time, we've had a few serious stressors, but vaped our way through them. I think the most important thing is that we decided in the beginning not to play the "blame game" with ourselves or each other. We have some cigs around, and if one of us has one (or a few), we'll still be doing great. The truth is, though, all of the tasty juices are way more appealing than a cigarette now.

Just stick with it, and like someone else said, focus on the cigs you haven't had, not on any you do. This is a marathon, not a sprint! Good luck!

 

[Denvap0r]

Congratulations, that is a lot of progress in a week. The hardest for me was the morning cigarette. Just don't beat yourself up if and when you slip and have a couple. Cutting down as much as you have is a real accomplishment. Soon the very thought of a cigarette will make you sick. They just taste bad.