Nicotine Intake

[MikeE3]

I'm confused about my nicotine intake moving from analogs to vaping. I was/am smoking ultra light marlboro at .6mg of nicotine. I smoked 2 packs a day which means I was taking in 24mg of nicotine a day. (big shout out for vaping, almost from the git-go I'm down to 1/2 a pack of analogs).

I was concerned about nicotine withdrawal, etc when switching to vaping so I've started with e-juice at samples that are 25 and 26mg nicotine, in 5ml sample bottles.

Does that translate to having to vape an entire 5ml bottle to consume 25/26mg of nicotine? (I surely not vaping that much per day, maybe 3 to 4 carts with 15 to 18 drops per cart.) The 5ml/25mg nic bottle also shows the percentage of nicotine as 2.6% (how is this calculated?)

And then if I bought a 15ml bottle of e-juice rated at 25mg nicotine would I have to consume the entire 15ml to take in 25mg of nicotine? More confusion

Any math wizard, scientists or just some with more smarts than me, in the house that can help me understand this?

... for the sake of argument let's assume the absorption rate of analogs and vaping is the same - 'tho from what I've read and googled know one really knows the 'real' difference ...

 

[Stef64]

Nicotine content in juice is measure in mg/ml. When a company advertises juice at 24 mg it means 24 mg of nicotine per 1 ml.

 

[Spazmelda]

If you are using 25-26 'mg' juices, that means (usually) 25-26 mg/ml. So one ml of the solution would contain about 25 mg of nicotine.

Absorption and delivery both from e-cigs seems to be lower than what you'd get in an analog, and IMO there's no real direct way to compare the two.

As long as you are satisfied and your analog cravings are under control I'd say don't worry about 'I'm getting x mg of nicotine/day' because there's just no way to know.

 

[Puffadder]

Stef is correct in that the measurement is mg / ml so that 1 ml of 26 mg juice contains 26 mg of nic. you won't need to worry about the % nic too often as the standard measurement is mg/ml and not % nic. However a quick and easy conversion is to multiply the % times 10 to get mg/ml so 2.6% nic = 26 mg/ml.

Now that we got the math out of the way IMHO 24 or 26mg juice is going to be waaaaay too strong for you since you used to smoke Ultra lights. A 2 PPD habit tells me you like to smoke frequently at lower doses instead of fewer cigs at higher doses. A mistake that is often make is only looking at the nicotine when analyzing your habit. Nicotine is only a part of it and there are behavioral aspects to a habit as well such as hand to mouth actions.

Someone with a 1 PPD habit with generally vape 2 - 3 ml a day of niquid. Since you were a 2 PPD smoker you will likely vape more than 3 ml a day. (Note: Smoking habits do not always directly correlate to vaping habits and you may vape more or less frequently than you smoked) Most people who were used to Ultra lights will start out with 6 mg/ml or at the most 12 mg/ ml liquids. As Spazmelda pointed out absorption rates are believed to be lower with vaping compared to smoking so it is not an exact science.

If you start getting headaches, nausea and or dizziness after vaping than you are likely ODing on the nic and need to either use a lower strength juice or vape less.

 

[JuniorNA]

This has been a question for a long long time. A lot of discussions have came and went regarding how much nic we're actually vaping, vs. how much nicotine we're getting from an analog.

Like you said, your analog provided you with .06mg of nicotine, but that is apples and oranges since other chemicals come into play, during the combustion process, and during the inhale process, such as other alkaloids like WTA's, and TSNA's.

I'm still an analog user because I can't find the right mixture to vape to achieve a level of satisfaction. I'm down from 2 packs a day to 5-7 analogs a day...but I still can't kick the analog habit so clearly something is missing.

I've also introduced nasal snuff into my life, and skoal, so my nicotine intake is much higher now, and I still crave analogs. So clearly this is psychological since I'm surely getting the nicotine I need from these other options I use.

A lot of companies claim that 1 cartridge contains the equiv. to 1 pack of cigarettes, which is a TERRIBLE statement, but yet it seems to bring in the masses when people buy those crappy starter kits at 7/11 for a rip off price.

I vape all day, probably every 5-10 minutes, and take about 5-6 drags each time...and it's still nowhere near the same as one analog.

I used to think that I would be able to vape 10 hits, and then stop like an analog, but it's clearly not the case. Also, you need to add in that the absorption method with eCigs are not through the lungs like analogs, but mostly through the mouth, throat, and nasal cavity, so nicotine absorption is slower. But they are not to be compared as 1 to 1.

The previous posters are right, if you have 24MG liquid, that means 24MG of nic is in each ML of juice, but again...how much of that is actually absorbed is not known? people tend to just vape until they feel the trigger to smoke goes away, or people only vape when they get a bad craving, it varies from person to person.

I would love to see if any good solid discussions have been done to discuss the difference between intake on eCigs and Analogs, but like i said, i don't think you'll find much, or maybe you will.

Some people go to eCigs, and never tough an analog again...but others are still trying their best, but can't kick the analogs due to the "something missing" factor, which means it will take them a lot longer to stop and go to vaping 100%.

 

[jericoriver]

Your milage may vary. I also smoked ultra lights,about 2 1/2 packs a day. I started with 36 mg and later switched to 24mg. I use about 4 ml/day. I may cut back to 18. You just have to see what works for you. A friend smoked regular full strength cigs.and more than me. He vapes 24 and and only uses about 2 ml/day.

 

[dormouse]

The nicotine is per ml of liquid.

But it's not absorbed the same as cigs. Some say it is absorbed less. However to me it does seem to hang around longer so there seems to be a bit of a cumulative effect like it takes longer to wear off.

Approx 24mg is a typical strength for a full-strength smoker. And the packs don't matter if you are vaping at least as much as you smoked. If you get too much nicotine you will probably know - headache, rapid or irregular heartbeat, cold fingertips, feeling hazy or just yucky are typical symptoms.

You might want to have some lower around in case you find yourself vaping a lot more than you smoked.

 

[baerencongo]

In my experience it is not only the liquid but also your kind of vaper that is deceisive. I started with ego-t and the level of nicotine was sufficient. When I switched to 510t taste was better but I hardly reached the necessary level of nicotine. Now that I use an A2 I frequently have headaches due to overdosage. (Liquid was always identical). So I would say the vaping device does make a difference too.

 

[mostlyclassics]

But it's not absorbed the same as cigs. Some say it is absorbed less. However to me it does seem to hang around longer so there seems to be a bit of a cumulative effect like it takes longer to wear off.

I'm both an experienced analog smoker (inhale smoke) and a pipe smoker (no inhaling). For me, the nicotine uptake from vaping seems to be somewhere between the two very different kinds of traditional nicotine delivery systems. If anything, the vaping nicotine uptake experience is more like pipe smoking than cigarette smoking.

But your mileage may vary . . . and probably does.

 

[WhiteLabelDon]

I've had the same question, and I vape a lot on campus in the library and such and I still get the urge to smoke my friend smokes and if he says let's go have a real cig I don't yet have the will power to say no. I smoked camel filters 99s about half a pack a day. when I get a craving I find that a short continual vaping session gets rid of most of the craving and I'll be fine so it's seems to be more mental in my case. I'm using both 24mg and 18mg liquids and they do kill the craving if your willing to keep vaping while your mind says let's go have a cig just one lol.

I have cut down a lot and hopefully over time it will be down to next to nothing, but I have finally gotten over the morning cig and chain vaped instead but it worked, and try getting enough liquid as similar as possible to the cigs you smoked I found that helped me best when I got a turkish USA 24mg blend. The Happy vapping

JOYE 510

 

[MikeE3]

Thanks everyone for your comments. I've only been vaping 6 1/2 days so I really am quite new to this. I tend to agree with a couple feeback comments that 25-26mg nicotine is on the high side for me (coming off of Marlboro ultra lights 2 ppd). I was anxious starting lower that I wouldn't get my nicotine fix, that's why I selected 25mg nic to start. I smoked the analogs constantly, I've got this anxiety thing (my doc say I'm an anxiety machine, I can generate it at will over nothing ).

With analogs, if I smoked a few of my wife's, just 1 step up to 'Lights' from 'Ultra' I could feel the extra nicotine. And when I vaped my first hits of e-juice at 25mg, it reminded me vaguely of my 1st cigs, as a kid in the woods behind our house - that nicotine 'hit' .

I'm also beginning to think that the TH by the end of the day is too strong/harsh. That might be do to the level of nic in my juice. I've got 100% PG and 100% VG both at 25mg nic and the harsh TH at the end of the day doesn't seem to be associated with either the PG or VG juice - that's why I'm thinking it's the nic level.

Today, I've been vaping some of my wife's peach juice at 18mg (it's a 50/50 PG/VG). It's a nice change from what I've been vaping the last few days. It still has a satisfying TH for me and seems to be doing OK with respect to my nicotine 'needs'.

For my next order of juice, I'm going to go with a 80/20 PG/VG at 18mg nic. My goal over the coming months is to get down to around 11mg nic. If the 18mg nic do me, I'll work with that for awhile before trying to reduce again. I still need to form the new habbit of vaping instead of smoking and that'll take a couple weeks. Change don't come easy for us old folks, but I want to and I'm willing to change.

I'm already noticing a difference with my breathing during exersize and sleeping at night being down to 1/2 pack of analogs from my 2PPD. It can only get better