New to vaping. Need help please.

[mommylondon2586]

Hey everyone...New here...Its been a super long time since I've used a forum, but I really need some sound advice. I've been a smoker for 30 yrs. I also suffer from Complex PTSD which is no fun believe me...It causes my system to be super sensitive to change. I've even been advised by a couple of my doctors not to quit smoking because it could cause more issues with my disorder. That being said, I lost my oldest son back in July of this year. Its been awful trying to keep my anxiety in check...I started smoking wayyyy more...well over a pack a day. I wanted to try to stop. I decided to try vaping. I picked up an easy to deal with vape. Joytech AIO....love this thing...Started with a low nic juice from Halo, Tribeca, which I love the tasted of. My issue is that everytime I vape for more than a day, I seem to start having issues with my anxiety. I tried upping my nicotine level because everyone was saying it wasnt high enough..I'm not willing to go up past the 6 mg because I know I will over vape and end up with jitters and headache, if not worse. I am down to about 12 cigarettes a day and vaping here and there...but I can not figure out what it could possibly be with the vape that is making me feel weird...It makes me feel like I've been smoking (other stuff)....which I do not do because it makes me feel like this...I dont like this lol. Any ideas or suggestions? I'm worried I just may be someone that cant vape which makes me sad as I dont want to be a smoker anymore.

 

[Gramdogg]

How many cigs did you smoke before? Sounds normal for someone who is cutting back and not replacing the nicotine enough. Not sure the exact numbers but 6mg about 1ml = 1 cig. Thats alot of vaping to make up for 1 cig. If you were a chain smoker I'd go higher or cut back slower. Usually the important thing is to quit first then cut back mg/ml but in your situation whatever is easier.

 

[Letitia]

Welcome to the ECF community.
Sounds like nic overload to me. What I did when I dual used was take a couple puffs off a cig and put it out. Then pick up my vape. You absorb nic at a slower rate vaping than smoking. I found I wouldn't smoke the rest of the cig for several hours. Best of luck to you.

 

[stols001]

I'm sorry to hear about your complex-PTSD that is a very difficult disorder to manage.

The anxiety you are probably feeling after a day of "straight" vaping may have a lot less to do with vaping itself than the fact that you are starting to "detox" from all the complex alkaloids found in tobacco, which have both anti-anxiety and anti-depressant functions, in fact even tar itself has been shown in some studies to be an MAOI-B in the brain.

There are some things you can do to help. If you are sensitive to change, you want to perhaps WEAN yourself very slowly from tobacco and into vaping, so whether that means a taper schedule, or lasting as long as you can while vaping with the hope that over time, your brain will adapt to the changes.

One thing that helped me very much initially (though it does not work for everyone) was something called Whole Tobacco Alkaloid juice. It's not inexpensive, but it is a specially formulated e-liquid that has some of the alkaloids found in tobacco, but since you aren't combusting it, it is not as dangerous as smoking. Aroma E-liquid and Umbavape both make good WTA juice. I bought their wholesale juice and would add about a half a tank to my mixes at first and then very slowly weaned off that once I was done with the "tar" detox. While vaping only I would hit a time of day around 3 p.m. where I felt like I was going to chew through steel, and WTA was helpful with that feeling. I still keep a tank around for stressful situations or situations where I want to smoke, which arise on occasion.

With that said, I still had to go through detox, and I am pretty FAR from the person who picked up a vape and never looked back, I dual used for a long time and was not an instantaneous success. But I approached quitting this time-- as I had to, I pretty much was going to develop COPD if I did not stop-- with the idea that my health mattered more than anything else. I took a leave of absence from work. I dual used, and vaped right before and AFTER every cigarette, to reinforce that I was becoming a vaper, not a smoker, and I was able to quit, with some pain and dismay, but I was ABLE to get there.

I also rewarded myself by counting cigs I did not smoke, not those I did. I used ECF as a resource for learning and as a source of support (and still do).

I wish you all the luck in the world, and I believe that some of the strategies above may help. Even if you NEVER quit smoking, if you reduce your cigarettes, that is harm reduction. Maybe it will take you some time. But using available tools and being willing to do what was needed really helped me. I am not an "instant" success story, but I *AM* a success story and that is what matters to me NOW, not how long or difficult it was to get there.

Take care and I hope you keep vaping.

Anna

 

[Grimwald]

When I started vaping over 5 years ago, I had been a 40 year 3 pad smoker. I started on a cig-sized model at 24mg of nicotine, After a few weeks I found I had sleeplessness, woozy, anxiety...what I described as "running around like a chicken with its head chopped off".

So I had to cut back on nicotine...first to 21mg then 18mg then 15mg, etc. If I started having too many cravings, I went back up. Jitters, I went down. (I'm using 1.5mg now.)

Over the years, my devices have become more powerful, but I've used the same method to control my nicotine. I just listen to my body.

 

[suprtrkr]

Hi and welcome. What you describe sounds pretty normal. It takes a while to get rid of the smoking thing. Already you're down from over a pack to half of one; that's a thing worth doing all by itself.

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

Welcome to ecf. Sorry you are having these problems and its upsetting you. I would follow Anna's advice. Aroma ejuice has a forum here at ecf. You can go there, read, ask questions. Just remember you are not alone and no matter if it takes longer to ween yourself off of cigs or not, ECF is a great resource of info and support.

Aroma Ejuice

Look for thread called WTA or Whole Tobacco Alkaloids.



eta. I forgot to tell you to increase your liquid intake. Water, tea, soda, your beverage of choice. Vaping dries out the mucous membranes in the nose and throat and it helps you to keep hydrated and it makes the vaping much more enjoyable.

 

[mommylondon2586]

Thank you all for the replies...Its so appreciated as I have been feeling pretty alone with everything as of late. I will admit I'm pretty terrible at not drinking enough water, I'm bad about staying hydrated. Could dehydration cause me to feel this odd feeling you think? I will make a very honest attempt to drink more and see if it helps. Thanks again for all of your help.

 

[AzPlumber]

Sorry for your troubles and wish you well. I agree with the posts above suggesting you look into WTA liquids.

 

[AzPlumber]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[MJCSD]

Hello and welcome to ecf

 

[jmur]

As others have said, welcome to ECF, glad you found it. I can truthfully say that the help and knowledge (and support) here is most likely the only reason I no longer have a 45 year 2 - 3 PAD habit. And have stayed that way for going on 5 years now. You'll get through this spell, you'll be able to finally ditch the cigs altogether, you just have to absorb the help and knowledge the fine folks here are more than happy to give. My best wishes to you!

 

[Possum64]

Hello @mommylondon2586 and welcome to ECF! You have received great advice so far from the lovely people here. I think you are doing a terrific job....30 years smoking, recently over a packet a day and you have cut down to 12?!? That is fantastic!

The suggestion of the WTA's is a good one. I just bought a few bottles from Umbavape as I am struggling with dual using and would love to stop smoking those last few ciggies. They are having a great sale on at the moment and for me, where I live, the shipping was very reasonable.

Hang in there...please try not to feel alone. I can only imagine with the loss you suffered earlier in the year that this is going to be a difficult Christmas.

You will find a wonderful support network here with people more than willing to help out or just to have a 'chat' with.
Take care,
Catherine

 

[tgs3]

Welcome. You have received a lot of good advice on this thread. I doubt the strange feelings you have are caused by vaping - more likely, you are detoxing. A 40+ year 25-30 cig a day smoker, I began vaping in August. I was ecstatic that I was able to cut down to 10-12 per day, but I wanted to reduce more. Better devices and WTA juice were key. I have just finished a week at 2 cigs per day. It has been a struggle to get to this place, but the struggle was mainly psychological - not physical. I began at 24mg and only just reduced to 18mg for daytime vaping (days are harder for me). Since I basically chain vape in the evenings, I have reduced my nic to 12mg for vaping at night.

I can honestly say that I never had any physical withdrawal symptoms; nor did I ever experience a nic overdose, even when I chain vaped.

For some of us, the road to quitting is longer. In any event, it is a good road to be on.

Good luck!

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

Thank you all for the replies...Its so appreciated as I have been feeling pretty alone with everything as of late. I will admit I'm pretty terrible at not drinking enough water, I'm bad about staying hydrated. Could dehydration cause me to feel this odd feeling you think? I will make a very honest attempt to drink more and see if it helps. Thanks again for all of your help.

When I started vaping, I had to force myself to drink more liquids. My lesson was learned when I began getting headaches and muscle aches/charlie horses and just feeling 'off'. Once I made the corrections, I began to feel better and all those symptoms went away. The additional drinking also helps to flush those toxins from cigarette smoking out of your body(a good thing). Now I always have something to drink sitting right next to my vape.

A lot of members here at ECF have come to realize that vaping is a journey. One size does not fit all. The journey is filled with lots of ups and downs(mostly ups) and we all travel different roads to get to the same goal of kicking the cigs to the curb. Listen first to your body and what it tells you. Don't get bogged down with the amount of nic used to satisfy your cravings. Once your body adjusts to being without cigarettes, you can then focus on cutting that level down, but the first most important step is to satisfy those cravings. Once you realize that this 'really does work' the pieces start falling into place. So its ok to up that nic. If you do accidently over-nic yourself, you will know to put that vape down for a while and get something to eat(to help your body absorb the extra nic) and you will be fine. Then you will have a base line of what level of nic not to exceed. It may help if you buy one ejuice at nic level of 12mg and sit up a tank for the times you feel you want to smoke. Then take a couple of tokes of that instead of smoking that cig. Just a suggestion.

There is always someone here at ECF 24/7/365.

 

[Gramdogg]

Couldn't have said it better. Try to start the day with a large glass of water too. Your already dehydrated when you wake up so coffee and vaping isn't as great as a coffee and a cig were. You can just drink down the water fast though :

 

[redeuce]

Welcome. You have received a lot of good advice on this thread. I doubt the strange feelings you have are caused by vaping - more likely, you are detoxing. A 40+ year 25-30 cig a day smoker, I began vaping in August. I was ecstatic that I was able to cut down to 10-12 per day, but I wanted to reduce more. Better devices and WTA juice were key. I have just finished a week at 2 cigs per day. It has been a struggle to get to this place, but the struggle was mainly psychological - not physical. I began at 24mg and only just reduced to 18mg for daytime vaping (days are harder for me). Since I basically chain vape in the evenings, I have reduced my nic to 12mg for vaping at night.

I can honestly say that I never had any physical withdrawal symptoms; nor did I ever experience a nic overdose, even when I chain vaped.

For some of us, the road to quitting is longer. In any event, it is a good road to be on.

Good luck!

You’re doing great tgs. To the OP, the day I began vaping I went from over a pack to 10. Did that for a few weeks. Then down to one with morning coffee for about a month or so. Realized it wasn’t physical, but a mental thing. Then I put them down.

 

[miteret]

Welcome mommy, to ECF. The only family better than this is your blood relatives. Sorry for your loss and PTSD. I was a 63 year idiot on stinkies and have been vaping for 2 years. I was very fortunate to find ECF for support and guidance which allowed me to toss the cigs and never look back. The journey is well worth the effort, not as easy as lighting a stick. I'm sure you are determined and we're here to help.

I hated water while a smoker, but found it a great flushing agent for toxins in your system. Just add lemon, lime or some flavoring and drink 2-3 liters a day. Really, and good luck.

 

[Baditude]

Great advice given thus far. We have a saying here:

"It's not how many cigarettes that you smoked today that is important. It's how many you DIDN'T smoke that is."

 

[BrotherBob]

Thank you all for the replies...Its so appreciated as I have been feeling pretty alone with everything as of late. I will admit I'm pretty terrible at not drinking enough water, I'm bad about staying hydrated. Could dehydration cause me to feel this odd feeling you think? I will make a very honest attempt to drink more and see if it helps. Thanks again for all of your help.

Welcome and glad you joined.
Best to work with your doctor and discuss. If your doctor is not knowledgeable, could he refer you to one that is?
Might like to read:
https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/still-smoking-support-and-chat-thread.519384/
http://www.apa.org/monitor/2013/07-08/symptoms.aspx