Cutting down nicotine level

[hittman]

I have been using 24 and 36mg liquids from day one and have not cut down any even with a high voltage pv. I am wondering if others that have cut down their nic level over time still vape as much or as often or even more often. I vape pretty regularly thru the day and still get cravings. I am beginning to think that it must be something else that I am craving besides nicotine. I would be interested in hearing other peoples experiences with this. Surely I can't be the only one.

 

[Madame Psychosis]

Absolutely. You're not alone. And there are very good neurochemical reasons you might not feel satisfied from nicotine vaping alone.

I've been pacifier vaping like crazy (all day, nearly constantly -- I need at least two charges on my Xhaler's 750mah batts) on 6-12mg. I can't switch to a higher mg because it makes my heart race, otherwise I would. (I'm on a medicine that makes stimulants pack a bigger nervous-system punch.)

But there's been something else besides nicotine that I'm definitely missing -- something that calms me and lifts my mood more than nicotine, and satisfies for longer -- and there are quite a few psychoactive alkaloids in tobacco that we are, indeed, not getting from ecigs.

There are more than a few of us who have stuck around to talk about those missing components. Read the "are we getting it or are we not" thread if you'd like to join a bunch of us who are talking about that "X-factor" or factors. (There are other threads of interest regarding MAOIs and alkaloids as well you might wish to check out.)

I'm going to try Swedish snus, personally. You can get your missing alkaloids through other means as well (see the Other Alternatives To Smoking subforum). They may cut down your desire to vape all the time. I hope they do so for me.

 

[martha1014]

I started vaping 36mg 9 months ago and I am still at 36. I sometimes vape 42. I have no intention of decreasing my nicotine. It takes this to keep me off of cigarettes.

 

[Kent C]

But there's been something else besides nicotine that I'm definitely missing -- something that calms me and lifts my mood more than nicotine, and satisfies for longer -- and there are quite a few psychoactive alkaloids in tobacco that we are, indeed, not getting from ecigs.

I agree with this. What I found and I don't know if it has anything to do with the flavor or method, but I only get that 'relaxing vape' with RY4 on the Janty Stick. It's a cooler vape and I like the flavor a lot, and early on I had the consideration that 'this is more like a smoke' to me. I'm sure you could check my posts and find that But I hadn't thought much about it until you brought this up.

 

[catlvr]

I had to go up. I started with 24mg and just couldn't get rid of the cravings or take the darn thing out of my mouth. Went up to 36mg and 48mg and no more cravings and I can take a few hits and put it down for awhile now. Would be nice to decrease but for now I'm sticking with what's working.

 

[hittman]

Martha, do you actually feel satisfied after vaping the 36 or 42mg? Or do you still feel like you are missing something? I can vape 30mg for 10-15 minutes and still feel like I need something else. I stopped smoking and vaped only for about 8-9 weeks and then one day a couple weeks ago had an analog after having problems with my boss at work. Since then, I have had a few. Not every day but probably at least one every other day. I am beginning to wonder if I should try bumping up my nic level but I don't know if it's the nic that I am craving or just the other crap in analogs. One other small issue I had with vaping is that I would vape for long periods because I never felt like I got enough. When I smoked, I would finish a cigarette and then go do something else. You knew you were done when the cigarette was gone.

 

[freqflyer]

I feel sorry for you guys. I started with 24mg and worked down to 11mg without much trouble. The 6mg is killing me though.
hh.h

 

[hittman]

I feel sorry for you guys. I started with 24mg and worked down to 11mg without much trouble. The 6mg is killing me though.
hh.h

Thats great that you were able to do that. I thought I would be able to cut my nic level when I finally bought a high voltage pv but still have not been able to. I thought for sure at 5 or 6v that I would be able to cut down at least to 12mg. Now I am thinking about going up to 36mg.

 

[Rahz]

I started out using 18 and 24 mg, was still smoking well over half a pack a day, and I wasn't really satisfyed with the vapeing. I bought some 48 mg and that really helped, though I still wanted tobacco. The 48 mg was overkill and that only lasted for 3 weeks. There was no pleasure for me in vapeing 48 and I needed to like vapeing in order to move away from tobacco.

So I moved to 36 mg several months ago and made progress on the tobacco. Currently not using any tobacco and have switched to 24 mg.

Take it in steps, and don't force or plan any timeframes, you'll just kinda know when to take the next step. It is possible to ween yourself off the other drugs in tobacco. Figure out how many cigarettes a day you need to keep from feeling the 'non-nicotine withdraw'. How many cigs does it take to keep you a happy vaper? Smoke that much and no more.

Plan on lowering this # of cigs 1 at a time, but don't plan any timeframes.

I felt like I could get by with 6 cigs a day, and stayed there for at least a month. Then one day I decided that 5 a day would be enough because I was saving more cigs for the end of the day. At each step I was smoking less simply because I just didn't want them as much. I kinda feel like the initial jump down to the 'minimum I need to stay happy' was most importaint. For someone else it might be 8 or 10 or 4 or whatever.

 

[DinosaurVapor]

going to a hv mod i switched from 24 mg and have settled on a sweet spot between 13-17mg

 

[yano_jl]

I feel sorry for you guys. I started with 24mg and worked down to 11mg without much trouble. The 6mg is killing me though.
hh.h

Agreed. We're Lucky.

I was Marb. Lights for 20+ years. After 1 month vaping, I am down to 6-11mg; and have absolutely no desire for an analog. What's more, I prefer less TH. It seems that higher nic steps on the flavor a bit. And somehow, flavor has emerged as a higher priority for me than nic or TH.

So, I am hooked on vaping now; and I have a 510 in my mouth far more often than I did with analogs. Even with the lower nic, I am still getting my fix (quantity vs quality).

 

[Rahz]

Something else I should mention, I was smoking american brand ultra-lights, and wanted something lower tar and lower nicotine. This is a difficult task in America!

I ordered a couple cartons of duty-free cigs from Europe. Virginia Slim Blue (3mg tar, .3mg nic) and Virginia Slim One (1mg tar, .1mg nic)

I started out using the Blues shortly after switching to 6 cigs a day, and then switched to the Ones before lowering that number to 5.

 

[Chasm]

I started out using 18 and 24 mg, was still smoking well over half a pack a day, and I wasn't really satisfyed with the vapeing. I bought some 48 mg and that really helped, though I still wanted tobacco. The 48 mg was overkill and that only lasted for 3 weeks. There was no pleasure for me in vapeing 48 and I needed to like vapeing in order to move away from tobacco.

So I moved to 36 mg several months ago and made progress on the tobacco. Currently not using any tobacco and have switched to 24 mg.

Take it in steps, and don't force or plan any timeframes, you'll just kinda know when to take the next step. It is possible to ween yourself off the other drugs in tobacco. Figure out how many cigarettes a day you need to keep from feeling the 'non-nicotine withdraw'. How many cigs does it take to keep you a happy vaper? Smoke that much and no more.

Plan on lowering this # of cigs 1 at a time, but don't plan any timeframes.

I felt like I could get by with 6 cigs a day, and stayed there for at least a month. Then one day I decided that 5 a day would be enough because I was saving more cigs for the end of the day. At each step I was smoking less simply because I just didn't want them as much. I kinda feel like the initial jump down to the 'minimum I need to stay happy' was most importaint. For someone else it might be 8 or 10 or 4 or whatever.

Being a former Pall Mall non-filter king smoker, 2 ppd, I figured I would need lotsa nicotine, so I ordered the highest I could get with my 402 starter kit, 30 & 36 mg/ml, and immediately cut analogs down to 1 pack per week. Two weeks into it I tracked down some 48 & 60 mg/ml juice, and a week later, alternating between the 48 & 60, I had cut it further to about 3 or 4 cigs per week. A couple weeks of that and I was down to 1 cig a week and started cutting the juice with glycerin/water by a third, down to 32 & 40 mg/ml. I seem to have smoked my last analog a couple days before Thankgiving.

It took me 2 months to get there and I had to go to the highest nicotine levels I could find, but it seems to be just what the doctor ordered. (That's a joke - any doctor who says the cravings are gone in 72 hours should have his license revoked.)

And I'm still using 32 mg/ml juice. I tried some glycerin/water with 0 nic, and about 4-5 hours into it I realized I was sucking that ecig like a hungry baby.

 

[Rahz]

You wouldn't think that extra nicotine would help so much, but in our case, that seems to have been a good strategy.

I was an ultra-light smoker, about a pack and a quarter a day, so the 48 was a bit much... though using it for those three weeks really helped to kill the cig craving.

And some people it seems, don't need that extra nicotine... whatever works. Start low and move up if needed before moving down again.

WTG not smoking since Thanksgiving Pall Mall non-filter is hard core!

 

[hittman]

I had been a solid pack a day smoker for about 22 years and then the last year was up to about a pack and a half and decided I had to do something otherwise I would end up like my father with copd. I have been vaping for over six months and did not force myself to quit smoking. Like alot of people I was immediately down to 8-10 a day and it just kept going down from there until I had not smoked for about 8-9 weeks. I gave in to a craving and have been smoking a little here and there but I kinda feel like I am back at square one. I don't know if it matters but I smoked newport 100's for a long time and was smoking camel menthol at the end.

 

[VapingRulz]

I started at 36mg and now I'm vaping both between 24-36mg; mostly 24 & 30. I think that whatever it takes to curb the cravings and keep you off the analogs, it's worth doing. Chances are good that you will be able to wean yourself down to low levels - or off nicotine altogether. If you can't, and you find that you still need to vape with nicotine, it is better than smoking.

 

[pmd]

I started out using 18 and 24 mg, was still smoking well over half a pack a day, and I wasn't really satisfyed with the vapeing. I bought some 48 mg and that really helped, though I still wanted tobacco. The 48 mg was overkill and that only lasted for 3 weeks. There was no pleasure for me in vapeing 48 and I needed to like vapeing in order to move away from tobacco.

So I moved to 36 mg several months ago and made progress on the tobacco. Currently not using any tobacco and have switched to 24 mg.

Take it in steps, and don't force or plan any timeframes, you'll just kinda know when to take the next step. It is possible to ween yourself off the other drugs in tobacco. Figure out how many cigarettes a day you need to keep from feeling the 'non-nicotine withdraw'. How many cigs does it take to keep you a happy vaper? Smoke that much and no more.

Plan on lowering this # of cigs 1 at a time, but don't plan any timeframes.

I felt like I could get by with 6 cigs a day, and stayed there for at least a month. Then one day I decided that 5 a day would be enough because I was saving more cigs for the end of the day. At each step I was smoking less simply because I just didn't want them as much. I kinda feel like the initial jump down to the 'minimum I need to stay happy' was most importaint. For someone else it might be 8 or 10 or 4 or whatever.

That is a very logical and honest approach Rahz, I wish you the best of luck.
I know this experience is new and different to so many and everyone has a different approach to this. I love to hear how folks are feeling better and enjoying vaping, but sometimes, and this may just be me, I am a little
skeptical of someone who has smoked 30+ yrs and never touched another once they touched a pv. Of course it can and does happen but nice to hear your point of view.
To me vaping isn't a mandate to all who try it that they have to imediately give up cigerettes or else they failed somehow.
- just my 2 cents

 

[midwestfarmboy]

Do people really smoke 48mg....I have some and thought about trying that much MG but I thought i would keel over and die...I was so paranoid about the nic poisoning. So tell me can you vape 48mg??? I am curious I am on week #3 of no analogs...but I would like to try 48 just to see how it feels... and then move slowly down in the nic dept. but 24 and 26 and even 36 isn't doing it much for me...I am nursing like a baby.

 

[Spiker]

I have taken a few hits on 48 (got some with Doublers to cut down, stretch out the liquid!), and had to try the 'hard stuff.' Yes, it's pretty tough, but doable. On the other point, I too have been Pacifier Vaping latley... started with 12-18, now at 24mg all the time, thinking of going higher... I'd rather be going DOWN in mg, not up, but yes, been getting 'the need.'

 

[midwestfarmboy]

Thanks Spiker!! I wil definetly give it a go..I just feel that I need a bit more right now...in the beginning I was doing 26mg and that was ok...for awhile then I went to 36mg but now I am experiencing something that I can't put my finger on..So I will definetly give 48 a shot and then coast with my 26.