DIY Nicotine liquid making me sick

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AnthonyB

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Hi there,

I have a question related to some DIY 48 mg nicotine 100% VG liquid I got from ............

I am a veteran vaper but have only had some brief flings with DIY mixing. I am taking more of an interest in it now because I have started macerating my own tobacco extracts so it will be necessary for me to do some of my own mixing with flavourless PG/VG and nicotine.

About 3 months ago I decided to try some of my own mixing with some doublers and concentrates I got from two good vendors in Australia. I had a friend gift me a bottle of 48 mg Nicotine liquid from ............ This bottle is probably now about 18 months old but could be older.

I made some mixes with 33% (a third) of this 48 mg 100% VG nic liquid with doubles and concentrates into my own blends of liquids a few months ago. I calculated that my juices would contain 16 mg of nicotine, which is the strength I usually vape at.

I find that these liquids make me feel ill pretty quickly. I mixed several good doubler flavours with this 48 mg nicotine and all the liquids leave me feeling jittery, light headed and put me off vaping for a while. As far as I know I've never had an allergic reaction to PG or VG.

In order to rule out that there was too much nicotine in my mixes I mixed some trial batches. In one I put 20% of the 48 Mg 100%VG liquid and in another I went down as low as 10%. At 20% the nicotine should be approximately 10 mg and at 10% it should be as low as 4.8%.

Now the problem I am having is that even at these lower ratios which ordinarily should barely give me a throat hit, I am still feeling a bit ill when I vape them.

What can be possibly causing this reaction? A few days ago I vaped a 33% mix of the 48mg liquid (16% by my calculations) and it left me feeling ill all day. I lost my desire to vape and I felt off colour. Today, when sampling my lower ratio blends I was getting that jittery feeling even just puffing the mixes. Surely, if my calculation are out a little it shouldn't cause this sort of reaction.

The way this DIY nicotine liquid plays is like a 100mg nicotine liquid which has been mislabeled. Has anyone ever experienced this before or heard of it? What else could be making me sick that is in 48Mg nicotine 100% VG liquid?

The other curious thing about this liquid is that it is not giving me a strong throat hit that indicates a high nicotine content like a good solid liquid with high nicotine. It's a smooth hit that immediately leaves me feeling off colour and jittery.

Any advice would be appreciated.
 

CreepyLady

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Hmm....Is there any color or odor to the nicotine prior to mixing it? At 18 mos it could have maybe gone bad. If it is crystal clear (or virtually crystal clear with a tiny hint of yellow) and does not have much aroma then it is time to test the nic level.

Something like Nicotine Test Kit would be great. :) Hope this helps some!
 

Bunnykiller

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I have some 100mg/ml nic juice and did a 1:3 mix ( 1+3=4, 100/4 = 25 therefore 25mg/ml) and no problem with illness but there may be 2 things you might have 48% nic juice (480) or mislabeled 100nic juice
I dont remember where I read it but there is a test using titration to find the nic levels in nic base. Its here on ECF in this main thread (DIY E-Liquid).

how potent is the smell of the nic base? does it burn your nose when taking a light wiff of it? I base my hi level of nic concentration in my juices by putting a small drop on my thumbnail and lick it, if it gives me hiccups, then that is my bodies limit on that nic level, from there I cut it by 50%. Even though I use the math to do the reducing at first, I find certain tobacco extracts have more kick than others and need to reduce the nic further down the scale...
My chocolate cherry pipe extract needed to be dropped to 22mg/ml but the Cigar extract was good at 36 mg/ml
 

AnthonyB

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Creeplady, in fact there is a bit of an odor to the liquid.

The friend that gifted it to me told me that it would have a bit of an odor but that it was not anything to be concerned about because plain VG smells that way.

You can test nicotine levels? Well damn, thanks! I will follow that link.

Hmm....Is there any color or odor to the nicotine prior to mixing it? At 18 mos it could have maybe gone bad. If it is crystal clear (or virtually crystal clear with a tiny hint of yellow) and does not have much aroma then it is time to test the nic level.

Something like Nicotine Test Kit would be great. :) Hope this helps some!
 

wheelie

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Classic signs of to much Nicotine. I get light headed, feeling ill and unbalanced and stop vaping. Goes away in a couple hours. I vaped a 30ml of 24mg in a day and collapsed on a hockey rink. I now know the signs. Started to get that from 24mg all the time so I went down to 18 to 15mg now. Did you use a juice calculator for making it up and make sure you put in proper nic strength. either buy some new nic or get a test kit. I would stop using it until you are sure what is causing the problem. don't let it happen to you what happened to me. I was a 42 year smoker of 50 a day.
 

AnthonyB

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It is burning my nose actually. I wouldn't dare put any of it on my finger and lick it. I think I would get more than just hiccups!

But even at 20% I was getting jitters. The 33% of 48 Mg Nic was making me feel off just puffing it, i.e letting the juice contact my mouth only and not my lungs.

If it is more potent than 48 mg, say 100 mg, it should still only give me 20 mg of nicotine. I sometimes vape 25 mg WTA juice that doesn't make me feel like this.

It is 100% VG so I can't possible be suffering a PG allergy.

I lost two days of my vaping life and $70 of good doublers mixing with this stuff.

I have some 100mg/ml nic juice and did a 1:3 mix ( 1+3=4, 100/4 = 25 therefore 25mg/ml) and no problem with illness but there may be 2 things you might have 48% nic juice (480) or mislabeled 100nic juice
I dont remember where I read it but there is a test using titration to find the nic levels in nic base. Its here on ECF in this main thread (DIY E-Liquid).

how potent is the smell of the nic base? does it burn your nose when taking a light wiff of it? I base my hi level of nic concentration in my juices by putting a small drop on my thumbnail and lick it, if it gives me hiccups, then that is my bodies limit on that nic level, from there I cut it by 50%. Even though I use the math to do the reducing at first, I find certain tobacco extracts have more kick than others and need to reduce the nic further down the scale...
My chocolate cherry pipe extract needed to be dropped to 22mg/ml but the Cigar extract was good at 36 mg/ml
 

AnthonyB

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Thanks Twg,

That is a good point. I do add the nico last. But surely 3 month old mix has properly permeated through the juice.

I will mix vigorously and see how I go.

But why am I not even getting that great a throat hit if the problem is likely to be nicotine levels? it's more like a HEAD hit than a throat hit. In the throat it feels smooth. No solid thump, no blissful zing. Just a head hit that makes me feel tingly and light headed.

I've had something like this happen before with commercial juices. The throat hit didn't really indicate an overdose of nicotine and yet I got jittery and light headed very quickly and was down for 2 days before I felt normal and enjoyed vaping again.

Also, make sure you've mixed the juice very thoroughly (particularly if, like me, you add the nic last).

Have you re-wicked your head?
 

twgbonehead

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It is burning your nose? Just sniffing the concentrated nic? That ABSOLUTELY doesn't sound right to me!!!

I don't think that bottle contains what you think it does...

I also find it suspicious that ECF is censoring the name of the vendor; they must have been kicked off the forum.

My advice would be to get rid of that bottle.
 

crxess

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To late now, but you never try mixing more than a small sample to test a theory. Especially with an unknown element.

It could be that the Nic is bad, nic carrier is impure or even the doublers are not what you expected and they are making you ill.
Dizzy/nauseous/sick is not always a nic issue.

I think the only thing left, that I would do is add .5ml of the made e-liquid to 4.5ml pg/vg, give it a hot water bath and let cool to room temp. Sample and if still bad - Dump the whole thing before you get any more invested in a failed plan.
 

AmandaD

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That sounds exactly like too much nic!

I would think that nic past its due date would be less strong - does anyone know the effects of expired nic?

One way to test is to treat it as 100mg nic. Make a small mix at your strength assuming it's 100mg nic, not 48.

But more reliable to use a nic test kit. Hope you get to the bottom of this!
 

Mrs C

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I'm sitting here SMH ... if you took something from the pantry shelf or fridge and it made you feel like that would you continue to ingest it?

Something is not right with what's in that bottle. Your body is screaming that message to you. I would be more worried about what that is doing to your body than what you have wasted financially.
 

AnthonyB

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It is burning your nose? Just sniffing the concentrated nic? That ABSOLUTELY doesn't sound right to me!!!

I don't think that bottle contains what you think it does...

I also find it suspicious that ECF is censoring the name of the vendor; they must have been kicked off the forum.

My advice would be to get rid of that bottle.

Thanks twg. The vendor is e c i g . C o m. It's a Chinese vendor.


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AnthonyB

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PG gives the throat hit. VG does not give a throat hit but gives more vapor.

I mix the 100% Vg 48 mg nic liquid with the concentrate or doubler and zero nic PG liquid. If the nic juice mixes with the zero pg wouldn't that provide throat hit?


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