Is this normal usage?

[doctordun]

Mom was going through a single carto per day when she first starting vaping. Equaling maybe 1ml per day.
I switched over to the mini tanks because of the ease of refilling.
Mom immediately went to two fills per day. Equals 1.5ml total.
For the last week, her use has increased to 3 fills. Equals 2.25 ml per day.

This is based on the graduation marks on the dropper. After the initial fill of .9ml, it only takes .75 to refill the mini tanks.

Is this increase something that happens normally? She is at 18mg and using exclusively Tribeca.
Does she need more nicotine content?

Not being a smoker myself, I don't understand the process. Perhaps she is experiencing an emotional issue and vaping more?

Help me to understand. Thank you.

 

[FlutterBlu]

I know that I'm pretty new at all of this, but I would like to be of some help if I can. Here is what I have noticed in my own case:

I use 6mg nic content and have the Gourmet Sampler of juices to choose from. For the first several days of vaping, I actually vaped very little. Then by about the 5th day, I realized that I was vaping much more. I found that if I brush my teeth about 4 times per day, my vaping is much more like those first days. If I only brush twice (morning and night), it feels almost as if my mouth and taste buds become slightly dulled to tasting, as if somehow a thin film is being painted all around -- and I do drink plenty of water. So by brushing, my mouth is fresh, I keep the satisfaction of tasting my various juices well, and I vape less.

Just my experience, but hope it helps! =^.^=

 

[DaveOno]

Doc,
First off is this. And remember this.
She isn't smoking nor craving a smoke. Therefore her vaping is normal, for HER.

And thank goodness for this. (Imagine life if she was getting cigs from the underground and sneaking smokes in the laundry room )

I found my use went up between 1 month and 4 months. I think it's a couple of things.

First, you enjoy it more and more. It stops being a replacement for smoking and becomes its own thing. She also is learning to be "better" at vaping. Maybe taking longer hits.

Second, there is no real visual feedback to gauge her usage. There's no ashtray getting fuller and fuller. No pack getting empty. None of the "omg, I only have 3 left. I better space these out... So there's no perception of gradually increasing the usage.

Third, I tell this to all new vapers (and quite a few experienced ones.) It's OK to put it down. We get into the habit of having it in our hand and taking a hit often. I try to break this by putting it down.

Have other things for her to do. Reading, crochet/knitting, puzzles, a deck of cards and a book on the other solitaire games... And maybe a bowl of hard candies near by? Jolly Ranchers, mints, ... (sugar free? I don't know if she has sugar issues).

I wouldn't go up in nicotine. I would only consider that if she was almost chain vaping and still not satisfying her crave.

What is she communicating back to you? Is she good with TriBeCa? Is she getting bored with it? Some people can do one flavor. Not me. I switch between 4 or 5 tanks. I like the variety.

And I'll say this again. I so admire the dedication, care and love you are showing for Mom. Other guys would be like "whatever, she's fine, is the game on?"

It warms me heart to see the love!!!

Again, tell her that her fan club in ecf is proud!!!

 

[doctordun]

Mom has "very short term memory". She doesn't seem to care what flavor is in the e-cig. So we chose a flavor we could live with when in a closed environment like a car. A couple other flavors were offensive to my wife who has asthma.
Mom "wear's" the G6 around her neck, because she was constantly losing it and then the hunts begin. Several times a day.
I often see her gripping it in her hand as she watches tv. Her attentions span and ability to follow through with reading or other endeavors is greatly diminished.
She has developed a big sweet tooth, chocolate being the culprit. I need to find a sugar free something she will like.
I use the automatic batteries, since she draws a very long time on the e-cig each time. A mini tank will last 4 to 5 hours. I always have a newly charged battery and filled mini tank ready to go.

Thank you for the comments.

 

[chesty]

for me when i first started vaping, i treated it like smoking, I would wait until i got cravings and then vaped for a few minutes, then put it down.

then after a month or two, I started vaping more often, even when I didn't have cravings. I also lowered my nic and that would increase vaping and juice usage.

I would say it's normal for you mom, and not to worry about it. if she's not having trouble falling asleep, then it's all good.
nicotine is a stimulant, and it will keep you awake if you over do it. if she is having trouble falling asleep, try giving her 12mg
after dinner and then 18 mg again in the morning.

 

[Noflers]

I know that I'm pretty new at all of this, but I would like to be of some help if I can. Here is what I have noticed in my own case:

I use 6mg nic content and have the Gourmet Sampler of juices to choose from. For the first several days of vaping, I actually vaped very little. Then by about the 5th day, I realized that I was vaping much more. I found that if I brush my teeth about 4 times per day, my vaping is much more like those first days. If I only brush twice (morning and night), it feels almost as if my mouth and taste buds become slightly dulled to tasting, as if somehow a thin film is being painted all around -- and I do drink plenty of water. So by brushing, my mouth is fresh, I keep the satisfaction of tasting my various juices well, and I vape less.

Just my experience, but hope it helps! =^.^=

Maybe your mom just hasn't brushed her teeth since she started vaping?

 

[AngiBe]

Mom has "very short term memory". She doesn't seem to care what flavor is in the e-cig. So we chose a flavor we could live with when in a closed environment like a car. A couple other flavors were offensive to my wife who has asthma.
Mom "wear's" the G6 around her neck, because she was constantly losing it and then the hunts begin. Several times a day.
I often see her gripping it in her hand as she watches tv. Her attentions span and ability to follow through with reading or other endeavors is greatly diminished.
She has developed a big sweet tooth, chocolate being the culprit. I need to find a sugar free something she will like.
I use the automatic batteries, since she draws a very long time on the e-cig each time. A mini tank will last 4 to 5 hours. I always have a newly charged battery and filled mini tank ready to go.

Thank you for the comments.

Sounds weird..but maybe try Belgian Cocoa which can help her with the nic AND chocolate cravings? Just a thought. And I think DaveOno is spot on w/the increase in mls. Once new Vapor's get use to vaping over smoking, it becomes more enjoyable and we tend to vape more sometimes.

 

[iTiger]

She could be like I am.
When I was smoking I was going threw 1 pack (1.5 packs on really bad days). When I started vaping I was vaping in smoking style then started vaping more and more. I upgraded to a better tank (Aspire ET-S with a BVC) and felt a bit more satisfied for a bit then started vaping more. I realized also I was killing my 900mah ego-t batteries (both in less than a day). At that point I got a Itaste MVP v2.0 (got it for $20 from a guy that used it less than a month) and found that I was vaping less again because the increased vapor was more satisfying & the 2600mah battery lasted over a day.

I've gone a bit vape crazy and use RDAs now most of the time but I find with them I go way longer in between vaping than I do with tanks. As an example I took my mech and RDA as well as my MVP and et-s with me the other day and the battery on my mech got too low to use so I switched to the MVP.
With the mech/RDA I'd take a couple hits once in a while but when I was using the tank I was vaping what seemed almost non stop.

I have since switched to a lower nic level for my tanks and it didn't increase the amount I vaped but at least I wasn't getting crazy amounts of nic.

Hope my crazy post helps.

Oh and yea watch that she doesn't start having trouble sleeping as stated above; my friend switched to RDAs and didn't want to go buy all new juice so he was dripping 12mg nic in RDA and couldn't sleep until his body have out.

 

[FlutterBlu]

Good mornin' Doc.

Very valuable info here, many things that I'll need to remember too. I apologize if my previous post seemed somehow unhelpful or even childish -- but as I stated, I'm very new to all of this and just wanted to share my experience. Sometimes, our experience can help others.

An area that has always been near-and-dear to my heart is geriatrics and IMHO, it is absolutely wonderful what you are doing for your mom and the terrific folks here can definitely help you along the way.

 

[doctordun]

I just chatted with Halo about this and they took the safe route out and suggested I contact a health professional before continuing to use their products. So no help there. I suppose I can't blame them.

 

[FallenRawToast]

Dont worry so much if her volume increases, by switching to the mini-tanks from the carto's she has most likely learned to be more efficient in the use of the device, and is now finding more pleasure from the ritual. Maybe consider the next time you order juice, dropping down a nicotine level.

 

[FlutterBlu]

I really feel that I should say a few things, as there is an extremely important factor in play with this situation that most likely does not apply to hardly anyone else here -- namely, your mom's memory issues. And I did not know of this when I made my first post to your inquiry.

Some things you mentioned before immediately caught my attention, the first one being: "I often see her gripping it in her hand as she watches tv." -- You have given her something that she can enjoy pretty much without restriction. For someone experiencing memory issues, this may now be her "security blanket", a life-line of sorts that she recognizes as an essential part of her day. She knows that she is not causing any discomfort to you nor your wife like she would be if she was smoking cigarettes, and even if she cannot vocalize this, I'm sure that this fact is important to her.

"Her attentions span and ability to follow through with reading or other endeavors is greatly diminished." -- I believe that this fact alone, in your mom's case, can most likely explain a large portion of her increased usage. She has become accustomed to her G6 and is comfortable using it. Since it is now a part of her daily life, she may not be realizing how often she is using it, because of the very fact of her memory issues. Problems with memory is part of what I'm dealing with right now with my own dear husband (he will be 65 in a few months).

Don't get me wrong, there could very well be other factors at work here which would take a doctor to find, but my experience (both professional and personal) says that her memory may be a large piece within the complete picture ...she is enjoying the whole experience, and may have no concept of how often she is using her G6.

 

[wheezal]

if wut flutter says is correct, you can prolly drop the nic slowly without her noticing. get some unflavored fusion or some lower nic tribeca and mix it in occasionally and see how she reacts. anything short of a sociopathic killing spree is considered a win...my bar for success is low.

 

[doctordun]

I have a lot of Tribeca 18ml due to the recent sale. I will wait until the next sale and get some reduced nicotine e-liquid.
The current sale in only on starter kits and doesn't help me much.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions.

 

[FlutterBlu]

Do keep us posted Doc, as your time permits. And as wheezal stated, you may even be able to slowly lower her nicotine content down to the 6mg, but you may not be able to drop her all the way down to 0mg. Perhaps during her next regular check-up her attending physician can find if there is anything else going on that may be also contributing to her increased usage.

Take care, and have a wonderful week!!

 

[DaveOno]

Doc,
After thinking about it, I wouldn't worry too much just yet. 2.25ml is still not much. I'm between 4 and 6 I think. Then again, I'm not monitoring very close, and it's tough to tell with many tanks going at once.

Next juice sale, do get some 12mg. The jump from 18 to 12 wasn't too bad for me. It's the 12 to 6 that was harder.

But one week? Let's see if the trend continues. And if she tops out at 3ml a day, Still fine.

It's not like it's a morphine drip and she keeps hitting the button. You say her health is improving. Unless you see some sort of issues with a bit more consumption, let it be for now. I'm so glad she likes it.

All the best!

 

[iTiger]

Come to think of it I go threw 5ml in my tanks every day I use them and its hard to monitor use on a RDA but I have been dripping pumpkin spice like mad the last few days and have used less than 5ml (bit hard to tell when eyeballing a 20ml bottle.

If you have a good place to get juice from you can get almost any nic level you can think of between 0 and 24mg.
I've been using 24mg for just over a month and going to step down just a hair on my next batch (thinking 22 or 20mg).

 

[Reverend Brimstone]

I want to echo what Dave said. I truly admire what you are doing for your mom. Not just getting an ecig for her to use. You're here, you're researching, and... Your involvement speaks volumes as to the kind of person you are.

 

[AmandaD]

I think you have nothing to worry about! I vape way, way more eliquid than your mom, but after 40- years of smoking I'm not concerned! I also wouldn't worry about the nicotine content unless there is a specific health reason that points you to look at it. In general nicotine is considered no more harmful than caffeine, so I'd just let your rmom enjoy her vaping. And again, congratulations on doing this for her!

 

[doctordun]

I was just a bit worried because from what I have deduced from lots of reading on forums.
It seems that 1ml of 18mg e-liquid equates to about 7 legacy cigarettes.
I was pleased that she had been using the equivalent of 11 or 12 legacy cigarettes which was close to her 12 or so a day before starting to vape.
Now she is exceeding that "equivalency", if the information I have found is close to accurate.