hey tek - i was 1/2 pk smoker when i started my journey in the e-cig world (actully it was in february), i started out low with 12 mg. i did this for a couple of wks and still i found it too harsh for me. i then went to 8 mg which i found was my comfort zone. now in saying this, i did have a few smokes here and there, for about a month and then one day i got up with no cravings and that is when i knew i was done with the ciggy's... for some reason i didn't feel comfortable doing high nic-it didn't settle right with me. so in all honesty this was my way of quitting the bad ugly habit of the ciggy world... so i think it was in july i went down to 6 mg and i was fine with this, so i felt it was time to try lowering it again, so i tried the zero out, but i found out that i wasn't quite ready for this, so i went to 4 mg... but i did place an order for a few more of 6 mg and the only reason i did this was -lost a dear friend last night and not coping very well. all i have is the chinese juice in 8 mg and i can not vape this stuff. all i taste is chemicals in there juice-yuc.. but at least i will have some of the good juice here, when something unexpectantly happens and that i will have a little higher crutch to fall back on... but as you can see i wasn't a heavy smoker, but it was still a struggle to get off of them... this was my way of handeling my nicotine quantity... i think you will know when you want to step down, maybe a month or two, give it a shot... you know i might of been okay with the zero nic, but you know how your mind works - OMG you do not have any nic in you system - i wonder if its a mind over matter deal... who knows,but what i do know is that when i tried the 0 nic it made me cough for some reason , maybe there was more pg in it to give a litte TH.. not sure as to why, but in any event i will try again in the near future... tc