How to compare my usage?

[ricky59]

I tried searching and all my terms came up as too common, so sorry if this has been asked a thousand times.

When I smoked, a cigarette has a beginning and end and you can pretty much know how many you smoke in a day. With vaping, I'm having a tough time gauging. I kinda like to take a puff or two quite often and I don't know if I'm doing this too much.

My smokestik carto's are supposed to each be equal to 30 analogs, but there's no way. They also told me supposedly that was 400 puffs. I KNOW I don't get anywhere near that from each one, so what are peoples vaping habits. I really would like to vape a bit more, but I don't want to become some whacked out nicotine junky (more than I was before I mean! ) and I don't want nicotine poisoning, so I'm just wondering how many puffs a session do folks do and how many sessions a day? (obviously, just a rough guess)

Thanks!

 

[SirVette]

Look in the Polls section like: How much eliquid do you use?
E-Cigarette Forum - View Poll Results

 

[woolfe99]

Forget about whatever the manufacturers tell you about pre-filled carts being equivalent to x amount of analogs. It's total nonsense.

You have to measure how much juice you take in per day and multiply by the nic concentration of the juice. For comparison, an analog is about 1 mg nic if you smoke it end to end. However, it appears that actual nic absorption into the bloodstream is a lot less for vapor than for smoke, which complicates the matter.

I wouldn't worry too much about getting "too much nic." My sense from the research done is that you are likely getting less than you did from analogs, even if you think you are getting more. Maybe in extreme cases of 4-5 ML per day of 36 mg e-liquid you might be getting more, but for typical 2-3 ml per day, 18-24 mg liquid, you're probably getting not much more than a pack a day equivalent, maybe less.

- wolf

 

[ricky59]

Thanks for the reply's. I am still waiting on my first order of juice to start refilling my carto's, so I can't really judge yet.

It's just that I enjoy the experience so much and especially since I don't get that "blah" feeling I always had following an analog. I would just vape away continuously if I thought I could.

 

[subperceptual]

LOL - sorry, not to laughing at you... but LOL LOL - I wondered if I was going overboard myself and I discovered I was... BUT what I did was started diluting some juice with VG so I can happily vape away the day and just save the non-diluted juice for mornings and after meals (when I really want the nico). I thought to just get 0 nic juices to use throughout the day, but it doesn't make sense when I can just dilute a bit of whatever I happened to by enjoying and vary by how much. Maybe you could try that.

(I timed how long I was vaping on average, how often, and how much juice I went through in a day/week - versus what it would have been in analogs - though as time goes on I seem to be "leveling out" and spending less and less time vaping as well as less frequently.)

 

[bonnienclyde]

Here's how I figured it in the beginning:

I would use a syringe and put one ml in it, well that was 24 mg. (or whatever mg you are using). That is a little over a pack of cigarettes, as each cig has "roughly" one mg of nicotine per cig. Lights have like .8 I think.

Anyway, as long as I vaped at least 1 ml a day(which was about a cart and a little more) then I knew I was getting enough nicotine. Which I usually went through about 3 carts a day.

Now, notice I said "in the beginning". Now, I just vape what I want. For one thing, the absorbstion of e-cigs is different than analogs,and most use a LOT more nicotine vaping than they did using analogs, my husband smoked two packs a day which was roughly 40 mg of nicotine. Well, he vaped about 120 mg. a day! 3 times as much, but he's happy. And as I said, the absorbtion rate is different, so you may need more mg's of nicotine vaping than you would usinig analogs.

In the end, just pay attention to your body. If you get the shakes,racing heart, etc. you're getting too much. If you're having withdrawls, you're not getting enough. In no time at all it'll be second nature to you, just like it was with analogs.

 

[Shortstuff116]

You'll know if and when you are vaping too much, or I should say getting too much nicotine into your system.

When I first started I used cartomizers with my KR808D-1 and I compared one cartridge to about 12-15 cigs at most. After one week I got my 510 and use an average of 2-3 ml per day. I normally purchase 18mg juice and cut it right in half 50/50 with VG so I'm only vaping approximately 9mg juice. But I vape pretty much all day long and somewhat steady, so if I compared puffs of cigs to vapes on my PV, I am definately vaping more. But my juice is quite mild and I don't get those tell-tale headaches that tell me I'm getting too much nicotine.

 

[thinblueline36]

I smoked 2 packs a day, Players Light, so 32mg a day, according to the math. I vape much, much more than that. My juices are all over the map, from zero to 24mg, but on average I go through 60mg+ a day, and probably over 100mg/d on weekends. Like the others have said, trust your body. If you're vaping and still craving nic, you're not getting enough to feed the monkey on your back. If you start feeling sick as a direct result of vaping, you're getting too much.

TBL36

 

[smokingisbad]

All I can say about this is that we do not get as much nicotine from our pv, as we did from analogs. Therefore vape on. ps. Only a few times in my vaping have I ever experienced a head rush from nicotine and I use 36mg/24mg juice, so if that says anything. Hope this helps!

 

[Kate51]

The most sensible way I have of keeping track is to watch daily usage. I make my own juice, I always make 10ml of juice at a time.
That 10ml usually lasts me from 5 to 7 days, but to expedite this I'll just say I use 2ml of juice per day. (You can use a 5ml or 10ml to put your juice in, then keep track of how long it lasts.)
My juice strength is 12mg/ml. So 12mg/ml X 2ml = 24mg of nicotine per day.
of the 24mg, I absorb about 10%, which has been shown through testing, and verified by my own plasma (blood) testing. I absorb about 2.4mg of nicotine, or the equivalent of 2 cigarettes in 24 hours. I am also very comfortable with this, after 44 years of 2-3 packs of cigarettes every day. Sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more.
When I first started vaping, I was using 2 - 30ml bottles of 24mg/ml juice each month! So you can see how I have cut down number since. 60ml of 24mg = 1440 mg/nic vs. 40ml of 12mg/nic 480 mg/nic per month. Now remember you only absorb or "metabolize" about 1/10th of those numbers. With a tobacco cigarette you're getting about 1mg nicotine. And absorbing nearly the full amount, depending how you puffed and inhaled.
I've found it extremely pain-free withdrawal-free when cutting back on nicotine/ml juice.
Which was pleasantly surprising to me.
So start with higher nic juice to stay comfortable during stopping cigarettes, and then cut it back in strength, if that's your goal, you'll be happy with your e-cig use!

 

[tiempo]

+1 on above replies.

Listen to your body. Vape when you need to. Beats smoking.

 

[Kirssstens]

Me personally, I am 2ml a day at 18mg and I vape steadily all day long, if that helps.

 

[KonaNeil]

I've been doing this for near a year and my time smoking, previous cigarette usage and my current vaping are all near in lock step with Kate's. I'm not making a big effort to cut down but consider it a good thing and a nice surprise when I do. Currently, I'm using about 1.5ml of 12mg per day.

In the forum I see a few people try to simulate the throat harshness they got from analogs and a machismo-like bragging about being able to inhale huge amounts of nicotine. I feel sorry for these people and feel they are missing the point of the opportunity we've been given.

 

[Kate51]

KonaNeil, good for you!
Most people try to make a comparison to regular cigarettes and e-cigs, just to guage their nicotine usage, but actually it can't be compared literally. E-cigs are more like using a patch, but with the hand-to-mouth prop thrown in. Tremendously helpful to smokers trying to overcome the "habit". And very EASY (without withdrawal) for most to cut back on Nicotine with an e-cig. Some use 'smokeless' tobacco or dissolvables for those hard times.
My daughter is going on the "cold turkey" method, over 4 months now, but still has to occasionally break down for a smoke, just to keep functioning. She hates that. It helps very much to have other tricks in the arsenal, such as D3 and Omega-3 supplementing & all the B Vitamins, cutting down on carbs and sugars and eating more fresh fruit and veggies, and everything anti-oxident to help the cleansing, along with copius amounts of H2O. Her doctor wanted to prescribe some Valium. Not an attractive choice. She couldn't sleep, wasn't eating well but still gaining weight, depressed, lethargic, sluggish thought processes, the whole bit. Now seems to be doing MUCH better using some of ECF poster's good advice! (Without the Valium! So much for the expensive "professional" help.)
So in the end, this new technology must be found to be an acceptable Cigarette Replacement Therapy. The Powers that Be have to be made to see the light somehow.

 

[ricky59]

Thanks for all the replies. I have still stayed off analogs. I have had a few headaches and a bout of ........, but I don't know if that was nicotine or just normal stuff. I have been reading all the debate in the nicotine forum about how much we really absorb from the vapor and I'm just as confused as ever.

I do find that the taste of one gets old within a day, so I really need to get a sampler pack and find some new flavors. I think if I had a few different flavors to use throughout the day it would help.

 

[v1John]

Try to drink enough water every day.