Help: Cant stop vaping

[Sharona]

so it’s my 5th day without touching an Analog (Just the thought about it is revolting, yuk !!!)
I enjoy vaping so much, alternating between 18mg and 12 mg of nicotine,
And I can’t stop…

in the analog time, I used to smoke 15 cigs a day, in regular intervals, about 1.5 hours apart.
morning coffee, after breakfast, before lunch, while composing a song etc, before bedtime.

but now… I go every 30 min or so and vape and vape and enjoy way it too much…

see, my goal is to slowly drop the nic to zero and then let the whole habit of “smoking” fade away,
to be a social vaper – here and there, sometimes yes sometimes no.

now, it seems, the habit is increasing.

is it just the first phase of a newbie?
or am I developing a new dependency, increasing my body’s addiction to nic at shorter intervals – and should beware it?

what is your experience?

 

[scubasteve25]

i fail to see a problem here, i used to smoke a pack a day, now i vape way more than i smoked. if im awake, i vape, my reo almost never leaves my hands

 

[MoonRose]

I found that when I first started vaping that I vaped a lot more often than when I was smoking cigarettes. That lasted for about the first month, then I just naturally started slowing down on the vaping. Now, 7 months later, I frequently will go 3 or 4 hours before vaping and a couple of times even went up to 6 hours without vaping to my utter surprise. I use 8mg/ml of nicotine and that seems to be a good spot for me as I've found that if I try to go below that I start noticing that I have problems with mild anxiety and mild depression symptoms. I do tend to vape more if I'm using the computer and especially when I'm on ECF though ... lol.

 

[Sharona]

Scubasteve:
Problem is - i plan to quit nicotine completely and eventually, after a long period the whole habit of sucking on a stick..
but the way things turn out now, seems i am getting even MORE addicted to the nicotine and the sucking.

 

[Love Lived]

so it’s my 5th day without touching an Analog (Just the thought about it is revolting, yuk !!!)
I enjoy vaping so much, alternating between 18mg and 12 mg of nicotine,
And I can’t stop…

in the analog time, I used to smoke 15 cigs a day, in regular intervals, about 1.5 hours apart.
morning coffee, after breakfast, before lunch, while composing a song etc, before bedtime.

but now… I go every 30 min or so and vape and vape and enjoy way it too much…

see, my goal is to slowly drop the nic to zero and then let the whole habit of “smoking” fade away,
to be a social vaper – here and there, sometimes yes sometimes no.

now, it seems, the habit is increasing.

is it just the first phase of a newbie?
or am I developing a new dependency, increasing my body’s addiction to nic at shorter intervals – and should beware it?

what is your experience?

My vaping habits aren't that far from my old analog habits. I vape more when stressed less when I'm busy. If I get that "heady high" feeling I know I've had enough. My atty usually start running hot around this point anyway. Better to moderate than prematurely burn out an atty.

 

[wv2win]

Five days is a really short time frame. One of your issues could be your nicotine level in trying to make the transition away from analogs. I would up the nic strength to 24mg and vape 24 and 18 for approximately a month and then if you want to, start to lower it.

 

[scubasteve25]

Scubasteve:
Problem is - i plan to quit nicotine completely and eventually, after a long period the whole habit of sucking on a stick..
but the way things turn out now, seems i am getting even MORE addicted to the nicotine and the sucking.

ok in all seriousness, i dont know for sure, but i read somewhere, that vapeing is not as effective as smoking in nicotine delivery, so you need to vape more to = the same nic that was in the cigs that you were smoking. as far as i know, i lowerd my nic from 36 to 24mg with no issues, i may drop down again. then again vapeing was never a quest smoking thing for me, my girlfriend was just sick of ashtray mouth and my clothes smelling all the time i did it for her and the kids

 

[Astronomer]

I have the exact same concern

I am into 11 days no with no cigarettes at all, only vaping.

But I am vaping a lot, and using 24mg Nicotine. I suppose "a lot" is relative, but I am going though 2.5 tanks ( cartridges ) on an eGo T a day

I do have a concern that I am increasing my dependence on Nicotine, on the flip side, I also know that Cigarettes have been treated in such a way as to increase nicotine addiction, and I suppose we really don’t have much information on how much nicotine I am actually absorbing with vaping... it is simply an unknown.

I had the same plan, to slowly decrease the amount of Nicotine I use.

But step one was just to totally get away from cigarettes ( I don’t think you guys will ever get me to call them "analogs" without laughing ) so I planned to keep at the level I am not for at least a couple of weeks... perhaps more... just to get off of smoking.

So far so good, but I do worry that I am actually increasing my addiction to nicotine. I suppose one reason I worry about that, is just how addicted to smoking I am, and how well this is working.... almost the "too good to be true" scenario.

Anyway.. I have a few bottles of 24mg vape juice... and the plan is to start getting some bottles of 18mg juice... start mixing them, in decreasing amounts of the 24 juice until I am on 18mg alone... then do the same thing all the way down to zero.

That plan is going to take me months and months to get off of nicotine. But I think it is what will work for me.

I did find a flavor that works for me, ( I was a menthol smoker ) tastes better than the cigarettes do, I will experiment with other flavors later.... right now the job is to quit smoking.

 

[dormouse]

1. Re not being able to stop
The first 2 months I could not vape foody/fruity juices because I either vaped too much and got a nicotine headache, or I didn't feel satisfied, or worse they made me feel like I have eaten and left me craving an analog. So I just had to not vape those juices alone. I had to vape tobacco juices and if I wanted the fruit juice I mixed it with a tobacco juice. Some people can vape foody/fruity juices right away but I couldn't.

2. Re vaping often
I had I goal when I started vaping to not increase my dependence on nicotine. I saw some people started vaping constantly and I didn't want to do that. When I'm at home I leave the ecigs in another room and go there to vape. I started vaping about as much as I had smoked but that morphed into vaping more often but for fewer drags - I just stop when the immediate craving or desire is satisfied. So it might be 4 drags instead of a whole cigarette's length of vaping. At work they told me I could vape at my desk and then I started vaping more often at work, and probably more often at home.

Around 6 weeks after I started, I thought I was vaping too much at times but I didn't want to vape less so I decided to cut my nicotine. I had a small supply of my favorite juices so I started do all of my juice buying one level lower (12mg instead of 18mg). I bought all of my favorite juices and a bunch of new ones I wanted to try, only in 12mg. Then one weekend I boxed up the remaining 18mg juices, brought out the 12mg and switched. It wasn't a tough switch at all. I vaped extra to smooth over the transition and by Monday I was pretty comfortable on the 12mg. It was a drop in TH and I missed the TH, but I had juices I really liked and I had started mostly vaping cartomizers so I was more consistently getting the kind of drags I wanted. And the KR8 was a bit hotter so there was some throat sensation from that. I am looking forward to dropping to 9mg (by mixing my remaining 12mg with 6mg or 0mg) and then to 6mg. or maybe to 6mg all at once. On 12mg I feel less needy and I think I can do it. I'm already buying 6mg and 0mg juices. Dropping my nicotine definitely makes me feel better about sometimes vaping too much. And I think it also makes me less desperate for nicotine.

 

[Sharona]

well for sure i will be smarter after 5 weeks of vaping.
was just wondering if it is better to take some precautions NOW, not to develop an addiction.
even if vaping isnt as harmful as smoking, it can get addictive, no?

like, if i got addicted to cucumbers and had one very 30 min, that would be an addiction...

 

[Astronomer]

Trying very hard not to make an off color remark about the cucumbers.

Not easy

 

[Love Lived]

well for sure i will be smarter after 5 weeks of vaping.
was just wondering if it is better to take some precautions NOW, not to develop an addiction.
even if vaping isnt as harmful as smoking, it can get addictive, no?

like, if i got addicted to cucumbers and had one very 30 min, that would be an addiction...

lol. Cucumbers are good, but not that good. scubasteve25 made a valid point. You're not getting same amount nic you would from a cigarette so you're vaping more often to get the nic level you're used to. Besides getting anxious about how much you're vaping may lead to more vaping. It's enough that you've taken that first step towards better health. Sit back, vape and enjoy

 

[Love Lived]

Trying very hard not to make an off color remark about the cucumbers.

Not easy

Trust me. You weren't the only one.

 

[scubasteve25]

2 ego-t tanks i don't consider a lot of vapeing, i go through 4-6ml a day, depends on what im doing all day

 

[MoonRose]

well for sure i will be smarter after 5 weeks of vaping.
was just wondering if it is better to take some precautions NOW, not to develop an addiction.
even if vaping isnt as harmful as smoking, it can get addictive, no?

like, if i got addicted to cucumbers and had one very 30 min, that would be an addiction...

My question to you is why are you so fearful of nicotine? Are you also afraid of caffeine?

Nicotine in the amounts that we use in our e-cigs each day are no more harmful to the body's health than drinking several cups of coffee, lattes, cappuccinos or drinking sodas all day long. Caffeine is also an addictive drug, a large majority of people can't function well without their caffeine fixes and yet our society apparently sees nothing wrong with being addicted to caffeine or addicting our children at very young ages to it. Yet if one uses nicotine on a regular basis, we are called drug addicts and placed in the same category as those who use illegal drugs. The majority of vapers use 1-3 ml of e-juice a day and without all the toxins found in smoke is 95-99% safer than smoking.

 

[francis_a]

I noticed that as well, especially now that I can vape anywhere I can't smoke before, for example, I didn't smoke in the car but now I vape in the car, etc.

Could also be your nic level? I used to smoke UltraLights but the cartos and first juices I got were 18mg. Gave me headaches after vaping a while so had to stop. Then I got 6mg samplers, now I vape, vape, vape which makes me think 6mg is not enough for me. So now I mix up the 18 and 6 to come up with nic level between 10-14 and that has reduced my vaping somewhat.

 

[grandmato5]

This is coming from someone that has managed to become nic free in the six months since iI started vaping. I've no longer been addicted to nic for two months now. Do not worry about the amount of time you spend vaping. It will not make any difference in getting you to your goal of becoming nic free. You've only been 5 days without an analog and your body still wants you to smoke analogs. It wants the additives that only analogs give you. It wants its nic the old way, not the new way of vaping. If vaping is keeping you away from analogs right now that is truly all that matters. I vaped constantly and I still vape very often but I suspect as time goes on that will decrease but at the moment it makes no difference to me.

We are all different but my advice is NOT to try to rush the process. Take your time and get settled in you level of nic before you go down that ladder. Understand then when you have gone down the ladder to a lower level you will likely have times you want that higher level after you think you're doing great at the new lower level. Its ok to have some higher nic for a few hours or even a day or more before resuming to the lower level. If you are patient that lower level will become your new all time level and then you can go for a lower level from there. When attempting to lower your level mix different levels of nic into your day. I found evening to be the best time to start doing my lower levels and then added more and more into my day.

Be prepared for the fact that often after you THINK all is going well you may be hit with a day of major craving- that's normal. It hit me 6 weeks after I started when I thought all was going SOOO well. I think it was my bodies last ditch effort to get me back to cigarettes. its didn't work but boy was that hard to resist !

Good luck. Remember we are here to help you though the hard times and enjoy your successes with you!

 

[MattZuke]

Scubasteve:
Problem is - i plan to quit nicotine completely and eventually, after a long period the whole habit of sucking on a stick..
but the way things turn out now, seems i am getting even MORE addicted to the nicotine and the sucking.

That's the risk with ANY NRP, even the ones approved by the FDA. Only this way, you're at least sucking on something that isn't a cigarette.

Keep in mind that there are a ton of additives in cigarettes designed to make that nicotine delivered in your body more efficiently. As with switching to so called light cigarettes one tends to act sub consciously to compensate for the lower nicotine levels. For me, I found that my "consumption" is 50% higher in terms of raw nicotine, roughly 18mg/day to roughly 1.5ml of 18mg/ml. Even then I experienced the smoker's flu.

In any case, if you have a goal, you need a plan. Without a plan you will fail. This plan might include switching to 0nic for casual steaming, and the 18mg/ml to 24mg/ml for your real cig time. You can then mitigate the actual nicotine addition once you've migrated to the new delivery system.

 

[renstyle]

Today is my 1month vaping anniversary. Also 1 month minus a day w/o analogs (finished off my last pack).

Week #1 for me I had the stick in my mouth everywhere other than in front of my kids. Was just KILLING my KR808 batteries, burning up cartos, etc.

Week #2 found ECF, learned about refilling cartos, got some cheap clearance juice, haven't had a burnout since! Still vaping like a chimney...

Week #3 finally got my recharging rythmn sorted, and made a concerted effort to schedule vaping "like an analog", 2-3 hits every 30mins or so.

Week #4 continuing the schedule, more or less. Now the "new toy euphora" has worn off somewhat, and I feel comfortable with one of these in my life day to day. I had a "food addict" feeling when I first got the PV, so I gorged cuz my head wasn't sure if I would "run out". That has now passed, and thanks to this forum I've got a good handle on supplies to plan out the next few weeks.

As a side benefit, the DIY portion of this forum has some excellent reciepes, many of which are VG/0 nic. Walrus (one of the DIYers) had a great thread showcasing alot of tips and tricks for getting out of the nic arena and play in the zero-n zone.

Since you have expressed concern with the 'hand-to-mouth" aspect, you could try to wean yourself of nic first, become comfortable with that. Then, you should be easily able to substitute some other oral fixation (sugar free dum-dums, etc) until you are ready to do away with that as well.

I'm still vaping 18, 24, and a little 36 (got 12 10mL bottles of clearance juice for $1.49ea, high point was all they had). I can really tell when I've got the 24 or 36 in my PV, it has become overpowering enough that the high-nic alone has caused me to hit my PV less than I used to.

I do wish you luck. PVs are IMHO the best chance you have of staying analog free. Focus on small milestones in your journey. If you have "stick issues" now you will prolly have them a year from now, and by then if you stay with your plan, the nic issue should be behind you.

I, like others that have commented earlier, am coming to see this as a hobby almost. I prolly won't ever go fully zero nic myself, but I can easily see how I can measure my nic dosage and mete it out less and less if I choose.

Anything is better than analogs.

 

[dcrichard]

well for sure i will be smarter after 5 weeks of vaping.
was just wondering if it is better to take some precautions NOW, not to develop an addiction.
even if vaping isnt as harmful as smoking, it can get addictive, no?

like, if i got addicted to cucumbers and had one very 30 min, that would be an addiction...

I understand your concern. But in the grand scheme of things, you are worried about something minor, when you should be thinking about the bigger picture. In six months, it is going to not matter how much you vape right now. What will matter is that you don't smoke. If the chances of that are improved by vaping "too much" right now, then cutting back on vaping now, just to deal with a more minor problem that may or may not even happen, would be penny wise and pound foolish, IMO.

Also, have you considered leaving aside for the time being the question of when (or even if) you will quit vaping? It may be too much to tackle right now. You are doing something that is very difficult, in many different ways. Maybe it would be better to just enjoy it for what it is, and let tomorrow take care of itself.