Just started - Vaping too much?

[Swigger14]

So this may be too early to ask this question, as I've only been vaping for around 40 hours.

First off, I'm loving it so far. I had on analog after dinner the first night, and none since then - haven't really felt the urge. I had been smoking about 8-10 Parliament Lights per day and am generally using 14-18 mg. I do find myself vaping virtually all the time - when watching TV, playing video games, or basically any time I'm hanging by myself. With cigarettes, I had my specific schedule - 1 during the morning commute, 2 during lunch, etc. I'm worried I'm taking in too much nicotine. Is this the type of thing where as I get more comfortable, I'll settle in a bit more? Is it a problem at all?

I'm also thinking that because it's so early, part of it may just be the novelty of it and the ability to do it wherever I want.

Thanks

 

[Dmegs]

Hi Swigger14!
Sounds like you weren't a really heavy smoker previously. Since you sort of like to chain Vape you might do better with say 6mg juice. I know I did the same thing when I first started vaping. It's good to keep some higher mg juice on hand for when you have a craving for nic and Vape the lower nic for more continual vaping. It's kind of trial and error, listen to what your body is telling you. If you feel shaky or can't sleep at night, maybe the nic is too high. Best of luck, Vape on!

 

[DC2]

You'll start to get a slight headache and feel a little nauseous if you're getting too much nicotine.

If you're vaping more than you want to, for any reason, you might consider RAISING the nicotine content.
That might help you to put it down more often.

The general rule of thumb is vape as much as it takes to keep you from wanting cigarettes.
Over time you can drop nicotine content or vape less frequently.
For most people the reductions seem to be quite easy.

 

[ricksinvest]

So this may be too early to ask this question, as I've only been vaping for around 40 hours.

First off, I'm loving it so far. I had on analog after dinner the first night, and none since then - haven't really felt the urge. I had been smoking about 8-10 Parliament Lights per day and am generally using 14-18 mg. I do find myself vaping virtually all the time - when watching TV, playing video games, or basically any time I'm hanging by myself. With cigarettes, I had my specific schedule - 1 during the morning commute, 2 during lunch, etc. I'm worried I'm taking in too much nicotine. Is this the type of thing where as I get more comfortable, I'll settle in a bit more? Is it a problem at all?

I'm also thinking that because it's so early, part of it may just be the novelty of it and the ability to do it wherever I want.

Thanks

For me, I absolutely ignored how much I vaped when I was first quitting the analogs. That's not to say that you can't make yourself sick with too much nicotine -- be careful.

But basically, your body is craving the other 4000 chemicals that are in cigarettes besides wanting nicotine. Expect things to get a little tough for the next couple of days. If you make it to the end of a week though, that'll be a lot easier.

Also, there may have to be a couple of re-starts. It happens to many of us. If you slip and have one .. just get back up and restart the clock. You can definitely do this. I find that honestly posting your experiences on the forum helps, there is a lot of support here which has been a great benefit for me.

Believe me, if you are experiencing something, you can bet that somebody else has to and they can help you through it.

Good Luck to you!

 

[Swigger14]

Thanks - maybe I will try to keep a couple packed with different levels - do people do that? I'll keep an eye on the symptoms - I've only smoked for 3-4 years and never tried quitting, so I've been worried about confusing the quitting symptoms with any nicotine level symptoms, if anyone knows what I mean.

Appreciate the thoughts. Rick - I love that slogan ("The beatings..._") and used to have it on an old T-shirt.

 

[mangoon]

I'm also thinking that because it's so early, part of it may just be the novelty of it and the ability to do it wherever I want.

Thanks

Thats a huge part of it. Once you get into a grove with it you will prob be able to vape a little less. I walked around dizzy for my first 4 days of vaping I used it so much lol. Congrats on cutting down on the smokes .

 

[chuffin']

i gave some advice on this thread that might be of use to you:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/new-members-forum/223607-need-advice-nic-levels.html

 

[dormouse]

If you get too much nic you may get a headache, rapid or irregular heartbeat, blood pressure changes, cold fingers, hazy or ill feeling. So you should know if you get too much.

Because I don't want to escalate my habit I don't let myself vape all the time. At home, I leave the ecigs in another room with my Kindle and I go there to vape or vape and read. When I was on 18mg I would go there every 10-20 minutes and vape. Now that I am on lower nic it is sometimes 1/2 hour or more between vapes because my body isn't as needy for it (and sometimes it is still every 10 minutes).

But sure - if you are just starting out, do whatever works for you in the beginning. Remember to drink fluids and eat and vitamins don't hurt as you get rid of those cig chemicals. And you can make up your own mind about limiting yourself later.

Some other useful ideas. For emergency cigs, only keep around a brand you hate. You can lock the cigs and lighter in a plastic bag in the trunk of your car. Get spares - spare battery, spare charger cable, spare juice, spare cartos if you use cartos. A charging cable for work is good too. With 2 cables at home you can charge 2 batteries overnight while vaping your 3rd and leaving your ecig set up all night and ready to vape when you get up.

 

[WVvet]

Although it's not exactly known, I saw somewhere (try the medical forum?) that roughly estimates e-cigs at about the same as other nicotine replacement therapies (patch, gum etc), which have at most 10% of the nic of cigs. I know when I tried to quit with nic lozenges I did about 15 of those puppies a day. I wouldn't worry about vaping too much right now, as long as you don't get nic OD symtoms as shown above, you are doing fine. Good luck!

 

[The Rebel]

Thanks - maybe I will try to keep a couple packed with different levels - do people do that?

Heck, I keep three different levels of nic around. 36mg for the morning kick and bar nights. 24mg for most of the day use. And 18mg for later in the evening when I'm winding down before bed. I average about 3ml of juice a day and haven't overdone it yet. I also keep several different flavors to suit my needs. A good strong tobacco for the morning, milder sweet tobacco for my all day, and some dessert flavors for the evening to drive the dieting wife nuts. Experiment and see what works for you. Some people take months to find their groove. I know I did.

 

[swedishfish]

I think you're body lets you know when you've had too much. The same way you know you've had too much when you were smoking.

If you're vaping too much, raise the nicotine level. But it's common to vape a lot when you first start.

 

[Swigger14]

Thanks everyone - this place really is a godsend. I've got a busy weekend coming up, so I'm looking forward to it - I always smoke more when I'm just sitting around, and I'm guessing vaping would be the same with me. Feeling fine so far but it's nice to have a place to turn to. Should be getting a bunch of juices in the mail today, so can't wait to play around!

 

[Hewoah]

I had a similar experience when I first started vaping-- I think a major factor was not having to go outside. This seemed to cause an increase in my nicotine intake, and thus I would start to feel sick etc. One of my general strategies to "reprogram" myself to prefer e-cigs over analogs (a month now with no analogs, don't even want one!) was to actively substitute the e-cig in the same situations and settings that I was previously smoking in. For example, if a group was going outside for a smoke, I'd go with and vape instead. Also I'd try not to vape mindlessly inside, and deliberately go outside as if I were going for a smoke. This way the vaping was more of a true replacement for the smoking rather than just a novel or different way to get nicotine (i.e. in my first couple weeks, I was still focused on the novelty and was still smoking, so I actually probably got more nicotine than usual).

For me, I think this strategy was a very important point because a) to successfully replace cigarettes in my life, it made sense to leave as much of the behavior/routine intact as possible (obviously, changing the analogs themselves to ecigs though!) and b) part of why I would smoke would just be to get a break from whatever setting I was in (maybe anxiety related?), be it work or being inside a crowded bar too long or whatever. Basically I'm saying that nicotine intake is only part of the whole picture in terms of the behavior of smoking.

Also, part of the reprogramming for me was learning to slightly change my smoking behavior on the micro as well as macro scale. Just in terms of my inhale style, I had to learn to take longer, slower draws and not chain smoke ("rip butts" as we say in New England haha).... and I quickly realized that fewer total distinct inhales was the equivalent of an analog for me in terms of satisfaction/nicotine (i.e. 4 or 5 slow draws instead of 15 quick ones or whatever). Much in the same way but on the macro scale, I ended up changing the time interval that used to exist between cigarettes to be somewhat shorter. In short, before I would be spacing out my smokes 20 or 30 minutes at a time, and taking many draws in quick succession when I did smoke; and when I switched to vaping, it was 15 minutes or less between "vape sessions," with only a few longer and slower drags with more time between each inhale. This definitely took me a while to settle into, so you probably will just need to experiment on your own to find the right pattern for you.


And oh yeah, I really like dormouse's tactic of pairing the vaping with another activity such as reading-- if you're finding yourself vaping too often. That's a great access-limiting idea!

 

[BadFunky13]

if your heart starts racing or your skin starts to blush i'd take a break. but when i started vaping i did the same thing. give a few days and you'll get used to it and won't vape all the time. if you still think you're vaping too much i'd up the nicotine level you're using. you're probably not getting enough from what you were used to with cigarettes.