How Do I Choose Starting mg Strength

[Seabrook]

Hi,

Is there a thread anywhere that helps people decide what strength of nicotine juice to start with according to their analog usage?

I ordered an ejuice sample pack in 24mg, and after i started vaping, i felt kind of high. I started vaping about a 5 days ago, and i have been having a couple of analogs with my coffee in the morning. But then i ran out of the analogs, so my last cig. was yesterday morning.

Also, since i have begun vaping, i have been having low-grade little headaches off and on. My smoking habit was Benson & Hedges for years, but recently switched to Sonoma generics. I was smoking about 15 cigs a day. But, i've been on a few ejuice websites, and i noticed some of them showed 24mg as very high. I'm wondering if I started off at too high a nic. level. Can you help me on that? Please and thank you.

 

[reeds101]

I don't know of any threads about it, but I smoked 2 packs a day and currently vape 24 mg. You may be a little high on your intake. If you are getting headaches then I suggest you don't vape as much, or get a slightly lower strength and see how that works for you. It's all very personal and varies from person to person, so what works for one doesn't mean that it will work for another. Just like flavors vary from person to person. It just takes time to find the right combination that works for you. Keep up the fight!

 

[CaptJay]

You have to experiment theres really no way around it - everyone is so different, even those who smoked the same kinds of cigs don't always find they fit a standard 'pattern'.
Remember you're ONLY going to get nicotine now, not the other 4 thousand chemicals, so you have to find your own personal 'sweet spot'
Its a good idea as reeds says, to get a couple of different strengths - you can always dilute the too-high one with a lower juice of the same flavor, so you dont waste money or juice
I started with 24mg - it was too high (headaches usually means its too high btw so does tummy aches) but it certainly stopped any cravings! lol
Later I went lower, with 18mg then 12. I find 12 or 12-18 perfect. I also got some zero nic juices to mix in (many vendors do a no-nic version of their own higher nic juices so the taste stays the same when mixed) and also to chain vape on.
It shouldnt take you too long to find your own sweet spot

 

[-rotordemon-]

Coming from a pack a day smoker of full flavor cigs. I bought the 36mg carts. However being that I wanted to quit I would just take a few vapes til the edge wore off. 1 cart in the beginning lasted me three days.

I'm down to 24mg now and don't vape that often unless I am having a few beers or sitting here on the PC.

 

[alter.ego]

I was a 2 pack a day smoker, and tried starting on 24mg. it was too high, but i loved the flavors soo much that i was vaping more than i was smoking. I switched to 18, then a week later to 11. now I am vaping less and less. One thing i have noticed is that vaping tends to dehydrate more than smoking did, which gave me headaches, as well as making the PG based juices taste more chemically. When I was overdoig the nicotine, I would get hicups. you'll find your swet spot, as everyone here did. My advice would be to get some 11mg or lower, and cut the 24 down with half of it, then when that is gone, move to the rest of the 11mg.

 

[AlexTM]

Both too high and too low nic intake can affect you, as can the loss of those 3999 chemicals you don't get any more without analogs.

Do have a look at this one: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...ing-your-symptoms-while-adjusting-vaping.html

 

[DVap]

Without going overboard on the details (check my blog on "getting the mg's right" if you're curious), 15 cigarettes a day is fairly light going, and puts your former nicotine intake at around 15 mg/day. Many folks do well with about 2.5X more nicotine from vaping (due to vaping efficiency), so you might try starting at around 37 mg/day.

This would be equivalent to ~1mL of 36 mg, 1.5 mL of 24 mg, 2 mL of 18 mg, or 3 mL of 12 mg eliquid per day.

See how that works and adjust up or down from there.

 

[BradSmith]

Without going overboard on the details (check my blog on "getting the mg's right" if you're curious), 15 cigarettes a day is fairly light going, and puts your former nicotine intake at around 15 mg/day. Many folks do well with about 2.5X more nicotine from vaping (due to vaping efficiency), so you might try starting at around 37 mg/day.

This would be equivalent to ~1mL of 36 mg, 1.5 mL of 24 mg, 2 mL of 18 mg, or 3 mL of 12 mg eliquid per day.

See how that works and adjust up or down from there.

I have read your posts and I am very impressed. I think that as you have said it's a good starting point. I don't really think that anyone is going to come up with anything closer anytime soon.

For the OP, when I first started I was a vaping machine and still went through cigarette withdrawl. I find 24 to be perfect, I smoked a pack and half a day of Kools.

The first couple of weeks are a little strange for everyone I think. After that you should kind of settle in. Keep in mind that even though you have an E-cig you are still dumping all the other chemicals and are now relying on the Nic alone. Once you kick all the other chemicals you will feel much better. Drink lots of water it can really be dehydrating at first. Kicking cigs has a ton of side effects. I don't remember who but a while back someone posted a great list of what you can expect when trying to get your body free from all the junk that you were putting in your body.

 

[DVap]

I have read your posts and I am very impressed. I think that as you have said it's a good starting point. I don't really think that anyone is going to come up with anything closer anytime soon.

For the OP, when I first started I was a vaping machine and still went through cigarette withdrawl. I find 24 to be perfect, I smoked a pack and half a day of Kools.

The first couple of weeks are a little strange for everyone I think. After that you should kind of settle in. Keep in mind that even though you have an E-cig you are still dumping all the other chemicals and are now relying on the Nic alone. Once you kick all the other chemicals you will feel much better. Drink lots of water it can really be dehydrating at first. Kicking cigs has a ton of side effects. I don't remember who but a while back someone posted a great list of what you can expect when trying to get your body free from all the junk that you were putting in your body.

Also not a bad idea to mention that a certain minority of folks can't get satisfaction from nicotine liquid no matter how much they use. These folks are likely very dependent on some of the minor psychoactive components of tobacco to "keep their heads right". The smokeless tobacco forum under "Other Alternatives" is where many of these folks end up... as great fans of Swedish Snus.

 

[Meat]

I'd reccommend starting at 24mg regardless. If it's too much just go to the chemist and buy some PG to dilute it, you'll get even more money's worth.

From what I've read here and elsewhere, your body is pretty good at regulating the amount of nicotine you "need", so you're not going to suddenly become more addicted just by picking a too-high strength to start with. You'll just vape less.

Just saying this because I started at 16mg and it was very unsatisfying. It's not as easy to up the strength.

 

[wmrwl]

Without going overboard on the details (check my blog on "getting the mg's right" if you're curious), 15 cigarettes a day is fairly light going, and puts your former nicotine intake at around 15 mg/day. Many folks do well with about 2.5X more nicotine from vaping (due to vaping efficiency), so you might try starting at around 37 mg/day.

This would be equivalent to ~1mL of 36 mg, 1.5 mL of 24 mg, 2 mL of 18 mg, or 3 mL of 12 mg eliquid per day.

See how that works and adjust up or down from there.

Should I vape differently? I was a pack a day smoker and I vape 25mg VG but I vape about 1.5ml a day. I hardly ever get a head rush like I did when having the first analog of the day, but I haven't had a single analog in over 3 months (since I started vaping). I'm very satisfied with vaping and I hardly get any cravings to vape probably because I'm vaping what feels like every second of the day. I strangely enjoy being able to vape all day because before I stopped analogs, I found myself chain smoking more and more often. Do you think I would vape less or just increase my tolerance if I switched to 36mg?

 

[AlexTM]

If you are satisfied with your intake, why change it? It's next to impossible anyway to calculate nic intake from vaping vs. nic intake from analogs, because nobody really knows how much nic is absorbed from vaping.

And besides, nic alone is fairly harmless. If you want no harm, use no nic. Otherwise, as long as you feel fine, who cares?