My take on Nic levels

[mico2222]

I've had many new vapors ask what Nic level they should start with. What i tell them is start low or at least something similar to what they are currently getting from their cigs. Ultra lights 6, Light 12, Full flavor 18 and something like a NP 24. If you start low you will notice you vape a lot more. So next time buy a higher level until you find what works best. If you start high, it may make you sick or discourage them from vaping and they give up.

 

[fiddleshe]

I think that's probably a good general rule to go by but I found that for me every time I have quit the stated level of nicotine in whatever product I have used really made a huge difference based on delivery. The gum at 4mg which is recommended for heavy 1 pk/day or more smokers is too strong for me. The patch at 21 mg is not strong enough. The inhaler at 10 mg (4mg delivered) is almost sickly too strong. When I started vaping I chose 24 mg because of the "highest" dose recommendation of other products and things I have read on the internet. Vaping at 24 mg quickly became too strong after the first few days. I am now using 16 or 12 mgs with no problems. Granted I know that those numbers are not all equal thats why I chose the highest dose of each because I was a more than a pack a day smoker. But I think each of our bodies are different.

I highly suggest no new vaper buy more than one bottle at first of any strength because it may just be that what they buy based off recommendations maybe too much or too little and they maybe stuck with juice they cant use.

 

[Grimwald]

The best advice is to buy some plain VG. It's easy to lower the nic level...harder to put it in.

 

[wv2win]

I've had many new vapors ask what Nic level they should start with. What i tell them is start low or at least something similar to what they are currently getting from their cigs. Ultra lights 6, Light 12, Full flavor 18 and something like a NP 24. If you start low you will notice you Vape a lot more. So next time buy a higher level until you find what works best. If you start high, it may make you sick or discourage them from Vaping and they give up.

Most vet vapers recommend the exact opposite. Many who start too low just get frustrated (rightfully so) and give up. I have found no one in over 4 years of vaping who got sick by vaping 18mg - 24mg eliquid. They may have found it too strong, but didn't get sick from it. Secondly, it is easy to dilute an eliquid that is too strong and continue to vape. It is impossible to make it stronger. You have to wait to get a higher level, leaving analogs as your only option.

 

[wv2win]

I've had many new vapors ask what Nic level they should start with. What i tell them is start low or at least something similar to what they are currently getting from their cigs. Ultra lights 6, Light 12, Full flavor 18 and something like a NP 24. If you start low you will notice you Vape a lot more. So next time buy a higher level until you find what works best. If you start high, it may make you sick or discourage them from Vaping and they give up.

Most vet vapers recommend the exact opposite. Many who start too low just get frustrated (rightfully so) and give up. I have found no one in over 4 years of vaping who got sick by vaping 18mg - 24mg eliquid. They may have found it too strong, but didn't get sick from it. Secondly, it is easy to dilute an eliquid that is too strong and continue to vape. It is impossible to make it stronger. You have to wait to get a higher level, leaving analogs as your only option.

I also know plenty of "light" analog smokers who needed 24mg - 36mg to get off the analogs and Winston smokers who found 12mg - 16mg to work fine for them. You just can't easily compare nic levels in analogs to vaping due to how inefficient vaping is in getting nicotine into your system in comparison to smoking.

 

[fiddleshe]

The problem is Grimwald, as a new vaper, I haven't been able to find VG or even PG locally and waiting to get it via snailmail when first quitting is not something I could tolerate. Secondly, how many new vaper's even realize you can dilute juices?

 

[Ryedan]

I've had many new vapors ask what Nic level they should start with. What i tell them is start low or at least something similar to what they are currently getting from their cigs. Ultra lights 6, Light 12, Full flavor 18 and something like a NP 24. If you start low you will notice you Vape a lot more. So next time buy a higher level until you find what works best. If you start high, it may make you sick or discourage them from Vaping and they give up.

IMO that's a pretty good way to go mico. I smoked a PAD of light cigarettes and I started vaping at 18 mg thinking more was better. What I found was that when I wanted to vape through a cigarette pang, I would make myself feel bad and have to back off vaping for a bit. I dropped to 12 after a month or so becasue of that, but I suspect I would have been better off to start there.

I think it would be best to have a juice at your values, one at +1 and one at -1 to start out with. 10 ml bottles and in three flavors too. People are different so one size does not fit all

 

[Baditude]

The problem is Grimwald, as a new vaper, I haven't been able to find VG or even PG locally and waiting to get it via snailmail when first quitting is not something I could tolerate. Secondly, how many new vaper's even realize you can dilute juices?

I just purchased a 6 fl.oz (177 ml) bottle of USP Vegetable Glycerin at Walmart a couple of weeks ago for under $5. Ask the pharmacist if you can't find it. You should be able to find it at any drug store or pharmacy. Among other things, its used as a skin emollient.

I was a pack per day Marlboro Menthol Light smoker for over 30 years. I started at 24mg nicotine. For the first week, I could have even used 32mg as I still had nicotine cravings for an analog. I experienced the coughing with vapor initially, but as your body adapts from smoke to vapor, it goes away.

As pointed out elswhere, its not necessary to inhale into the lungs to absorb the nicotine in vapor. The mouth inhale is adequate for the nicotine absorbtion. Gradually learn to inhale into the lungs over time as you are able to tolerate it.

 

[mico2222]

Valid points made by all, everyone is going to be different. The reason i crated the topic was to make it argumentative and informative for new vapors. Since it's in the new members area, it will give them multiple points of view about the world of Vaping.

 

[Nightcall]

I can't imagine 6 mg being enough for most people when they first start vaping even if they smoke ultra lights, if they were an every day smoker.

 

[tomvonc]

I was a 30 a day strong roll your own smoker, and I started on 24. a month in and I'm down to 18, but still like to binge out on 24 now and again for a wee nico buzz, especially first thing in the morning with coffee. I also OD a little on 24 if I crave an analogue. Nothing like the shakes and nausea to put you off a ... ;-)

 

[tomvonc]

p.s. Would not recommend the latter if you have any kind of heart disorder at all :-{

 

[danny4x4]

I was lucky that the ego kit I started off with was 18mg. Any lower and I would have given up on vaping. It at least provided some semblance of throat hit for me. I then found that only 36mg or 24mg truly satisfies me.

So yes, each person will react differently to the nic levels. So for those who are just starting out and frustrated, try different nic levels.

 

[AmandaD]

I was an almost 40-year PAD smoker of Malborough Ultra Lights. When I bought my first cigalike the shop owner tried to persuade me I only needed 12MG nic or I might become lightheaded. Luckily I insisted on the 18MG! That did it for me, and I haven't had a single craving for an analog since. I did go down to 12 MG after a week, and today (2 weeks later) I've bought some 6MG eliquid which I'll probably try when I'm chain vaping one evening. I'm quite sure if my first experience had lower nic I would have still reached for my analog....as it is those unopened packets will go stale in my kitchen cupboard!

 

[StrikeIII]

So what would be the best way to dilute e-liquid if you find the nic level too strong?

Sent from my Galaxy Note 3 using Tapatalk 4

 

[AmandaD]

Actually I find I just don't inhale if the juice is too strong - I bought 6MG today, because quite often I find I can't inhale 12MG without coughing. However, just keeping the vapor in my mouth gives me the nic fix I need!

 

[fiddleshe]

Someone else suggested to me to buy the same thing but in 0 nic level and cut it in half or whatever you need. That way only the nic level gets cut and not the flavor. I thought that was a brilliant idea.

 

[FlamingoTutu]

I smoked over 40 years, 2+PAD Basic Ultra lights and had to go to 24mg to completely off cigarettes. I tried the 4/8mg several years earlier and thought ecigs were just another NRT failure. I might have quit back then if I hadn’t seen, and believed, a formula like that at the time. Everybody is different, it works for some, not others, but I’ve seen very few (if any) that have quit using 6mg. I think it’s better to start in the middle—12-18mg-- and work your way up or down.

AmandaD, unlike cigarettes, the nic in ecigs is absorbed in the mouth, throat and nose. There are a number of people on here that do not inhale at all. There's a post around here saying the proper way to use an ecig is not to inhale, most of us are very improper.

 

[ccubed]

I smoked over 40 years, 2+PAD Basic Ultra lights and had to go to 24mg to completely off cigarettes. I tried the 4/8mg several years earlier and thought ecigs were just another NRT failure. I might have quit back then if I hadn’t seen, and believed, a formula like that at the time. Everybody is different, it works for some, not others, but I’ve seen very few (if any) that have quit using 6mg. I think it’s better to start in the middle—12-18mg-- and work your way up or down.

AmandaD, unlike cigarettes, the nic in ecigs is absorbed in the mouth, throat and nose. There are a number of people on here that do not inhale at all. There's a post around here saying the proper way to use an ecig is not to inhale, most of us are very improper.

I know I've been improper (in so many areas). I was a pack, plus a day smoker. Started with 18mg and it seemed to hit the spot. Started mixing in some 12mg vapes a couple of weeks ago and it's going well.

I do inhale when vaping, but used the advice of folks here. Slooowwww draw into my mouth, pause, then inhale...then exhale. If I drew too fast, no good throat hit. If I inhaled directly into my lungs, burn, cough, choke, cough. I am grateful for the advice of slow draw into the mouth and pause before inhaling. Way more and better flavor and WAY less cough and choke (in fact almost none).

 

[Jenn Perry]

I've had many new vapors ask what Nic level they should start with. What i tell them is start low or at least something similar to what they are currently getting from their cigs. Ultra lights 6, Light 12, Full flavor 18 and something like a NP 24. If you start low you will notice you Vape a lot more. So next time buy a higher level until you find what works best. If you start high, it may make you sick or discourage them from Vaping and they give up.

I have been trying to get my husband to vape for a year now. Smokes are so damn expensive. we bought him a set up and 24mg of nic that we think was way too strong he would vape and it gave him headaches. Now he says it drys his throat out. Not sure what to try/do next. I love to vape saves me tons of $$ except for all the mods I want and juice flavors LOL