Nicotine levels and older vapers, something I find odd. (a little story)

[Intervap]

I vape at 12 mg. I smoked for 7 years and for the last 6 months I was at 2 packs a day. I had tried to quit in the past and failed, which made quitting harder since I felt like I lost already.
My father vapes at 12 mg. He has smoked nearly every day for 38 years, consistently at a pack to a pack and a half. He has tried to quit dozens of times with the longest streak being a year. When he quit I was actually scared. I knew, even if he didn't tell me. He was easily agitated and became very angry very quickly. I always tried to get him to quit from a young age, but around 17 (after a year or two of smoking myself) I realized that he couldn't using the traditional methods.
When I had started vaping I constantly asked him, "do you want to try it?" and he always said yes. This got me very excited and eventually he asked me for his own set-up. I paid for everything to get him started, since I knew this would work for him. I got him 24 mg juice and he said it was too high. So I went down to 18, still too high. He vapes at 12 mg. This absolutely SHOCKS me. I have been smoking for a fraction of the time and we are on the same nic level? We even smoked the same brand (Camel Blues)!
He doesn't give a rat's @$$ about vapor, in fact he hardly gets any compared so some of us. I use a Reo w/ a RM2 at .8 ohms, gets clouds of vapor. He is over there looking like he is boiling a pot of water .
Its just amazing that the level of nicotine you vape at depends so much on your own body. I feel like this is something we need to stress a lot. You can't just "guess" the nic level, it takes time and money to find something that works for you.
What are your guys' input? I would LOVE to hear your stories? Anecdotal evidence is the most interesting evidence to me
Vape on

 

[Myrany]

How lONG he smoked has pretty much nothing to do with it. It is how much in a day that is going to control the nic levels. You both were in the same range of packs per day of the same cigs. Not surprising you both like 12 mg.

As for amount of vapor. As long as I get enough to feel like I got a good hit similar to a smoke I am good. Some people chase clouds and some are happy with enough to get the job done.

 

[Baldr]

How many years you smoked has little to do with the nic level you need. How many packs you smoked a day has a much bigger effect.

But I strongly agree that finding the right nic level is important. I think it's one of the most important things in deciding whether it will work for you or not. If you don't have enough nic, or if you have too much, you aren't going to be happy. With the right nic level and a flavor you like, you're half way home.

I was smoking over 3 packs a day when I started vaping. I started with 24 nic juice. That helped me cut down, but I still needed a few cigs after eating a meal. Eventually, I got some 30 nic juice. The day I did that, I quit smoking for good. I didn't need the 30 for long (and I was only using it right after meals, and using the 24 the rest of the time.) In a week or two I could use the 24 even after meals and it was fine.

Once I'd been off the cigs for six months or so, I thought "Lets see if you can move down a level" and bought some 18 nic juice. Moving down was easy, and every couple of months, I moved down a little more. Now, I'm vaping 0 nic.

 

[serenity21899]

I smoked 2 packs of Marlboro Reds a day for 30 years. I started at 18mg, but that was a bit too high for me. So, I went to 16mg. Once I got into mods, I junped down to 12 mg and I am still there today. With RBAs, I vape 6mg.

I think nic levels are just individual and don't depend on what we did before. We have many choices, so just go with whatever works for you, or him, or whomever.

 

[r77r7r]

I was at 35yrs smoking, and looking like a pot of boiling water is fine with me! Just very happy it's all over-with.

You younger fellas can go have cloudy fun, I got a different kind of fun now. Like not worrying about dying too soon.

 

[AgentAnia]

....I think nic levels are just individual and don't depend on what we did before. We have many choices, so just go with whatever works for you, or him, or whomever.

This, I think, is the explanation. Remember, every smoker, or vaper, finds the nicotine level that his/her body finds satisfaction from and the level varies from person to person. That's why some smokers are content with 10 cigs a day, or one a day, and some end up smoking 2 or 3 packs, to reach that level. Every body is different, and all bodies do not process nicotine exactly the same way. That is, to reach the same desired nicotine level, two smokers might have to smoke or vape a different amount.

This is the beauty of ecigs: each user can tailor his/her ecig to just what the body needs/wants.

 

[RubyRoo]

Yep. Agreed to the above. I smoked about a pad to half pad for 15 years. I wasn't too sure where to start so I just started at 12mg. Luckily that was the perfect level for me. I've recently bumped down to 6mg because when I chain vape, I don't want to feel all jittery. I find that I am vaping a little more now than I was before. I feel that once all my juices are around 6mg, I'll level out my vaping frequency.

 

[EvilZoe]

I vape at 12 mg. I smoked for 7 years and for the last 6 months I was at 2 packs a day. I had tried to quit in the past and failed, which made quitting harder since I felt like I lost already.
My father vapes at 12 mg. He has smoked nearly every day for 38 years, consistently at a pack to a pack and a half. He has tried to quit dozens of times with the longest streak being a year. When he quit I was actually scared. I knew, even if he didn't tell me. He was easily agitated and became very angry very quickly. I always tried to get him to quit from a young age, but around 17 (after a year or two of smoking myself) I realized that he couldn't using the traditional methods.
When I had started vaping I constantly asked him, "do you want to try it?" and he always said yes. This got me very excited and eventually he asked me for his own set-up. I paid for everything to get him started, since I knew this would work for him. I got him 24 mg juice and he said it was too high. So I went down to 18, still too high. He vapes at 12 mg. This absolutely SHOCKS me. I have been smoking for a fraction of the time and we are on the same nic level? We even smoked the same brand (Camel Blues)!
He doesn't give a rat's @$$ about vapor, in fact he hardly gets any compared so some of us. I use a Reo w/ a RM2 at .8 ohms, gets clouds of vapor. He is over there looking like he is boiling a pot of water .
Its just amazing that the level of nicotine you vape at depends so much on your own body. I feel like this is something we need to stress a lot. You can't just "guess" the nic level, it takes time and money to find something that works for you.
What are your guys' input? I would LOVE to hear your stories? Anecdotal evidence is the most interesting evidence to me
Vape on

I find I need different levels at different times of the day and in different situations.

 

[InTheClouds]

I was smoking 2 packs a day of lights, I started at 18mg, it was to high, I tried 12mg and it was a perfect fit. I weaned myself down to 3 and was happy. Then I saw the results of a study that showed in the early trials that nicotine can help slow down the effects of Alzheimer's disease. My grandmother had Alzheimer's so it is a concern for me (even though at 71 my mother shows no signs). Since nicotine has been found to be pretty harmless, I went back to 12mg and that's where I plan to hang.

 

[bhswmc01]

I didn't smoke that much, as compared to some (1/2 PAD), but I needed 24mg to quit the stinkies. Now I'm at 18mg, will probably stay here for a few more months, then knock down to 12mg. I have a bottle of 10mg that I use at night so I can get to sleep, but I couldn't use it all day.

 

[wv2win]

I think way too much emphasis is placed on what nic level anyone uses. Why does it matter at all as long as you are not smoking. Too many vapers seem fixated on nic level.

 

[Butters78]

I smoked 8 packs a day, 10 on weekends. Only thing that satisfies me is crab juice at 36mg.

 

[Exhaler]

I smoked almost 54 years. At one time 2-3 packs a day but during the last 10 years I was down to about 1-1/2 packs. I use 18 mg juice but possibly could go a little lower. I use drippers and Genny's mostly, heavy on the drippers. I don't really care if there are huge clouds of vapor, the TH and flavor is what is important to me. I use 60-70 pg and if I want fog I would go higher on VG than PG. I don't vape in the house too much mostly go outside like I did with analogs, about 25-30 vape breaks a day.
I started by reading an article on ecigs which at the time I thought were a gimmick, now I have started DIY, into rebuildables big time, and feeling better physically.

 

[Hillargh]

I smoked for 12 years, a pack a day. I started vaping two weeks ago at 12mg. I'm not sure if it was the initial change from smoking to vaping, and the semi-withdrawls that come along with it or not (I went straight from a pack of smokes on the 29th to none and only vaping on the 30th), but the day I switched to 16mg (one week in) it was fantastic. At 12mg, I vaped all day, but still felt that itch. It reminded of times when, for example, I'd been having a super crappy day at work, got no breaks, had went 10hrs without a smoke and just wanted to get in my car and chain smoke on the way home. Craving, and never satisfied. At 16mg, I'm golden. I still vape throughout the day pretty consistently, but I no longer crave in between or feel like I'm itching for a good nic fix. So for me, the level totally made a difference, and made vaping even more enjoyable than it was before.

 

[AttyPops]

HOW you smoked made as much difference as how many cigs. There's personal physiology differences too.

So I'm in with the rest of ya....you have to check it out for yourself. +/- adjustment. And differing PG/VG ratios too.
The hardware matters too. I vaped less when I went to 5 volts (this was the old days). I could have cut nic and vaped more too.

The idea is to have options, not restrictions (Hear that FDA?). People have to be able to "customize" it to their needs.

 

[NICnurse]

I have vaped 15mg for 3 years. I vaped 12mg and 18mg prefilled cartos for a few weeks when I started, but I started vaping in the dark ages of vaping where NOTHING we use today even existed, except for ego batts and 510 connectors. The juice options were crap, so I learned to DIY really early on. Split the difference between 12m and 18mg, mixed up my batches at 15mg. Some days I vape more, usually I vape less than a tank per day. No desire to change the nic level. It works well! I may rethink this if the FDA makes serious restrictions on our nic availability, but until then I will maintain 15mg.

 

[suspectK]

^Yeah, how is a big deal with smoking. Too much emphasis is placed on pack's/day and nicotine levels. I was smoking Turkish Royals about a pack a day, but I had other things involved with it. I went some place to take care of those problems, and my smoking started to increase a tad. I've always inhaled deep..mainly because I really just liked smoking something else..and held it in a tad bit longer than most everyone else. I looked like I was smoking an RBA cigarette, while everyone else looked like they were smoking blu cigarettes..to just add an analogy for easy comparison.

I started with sample bottles of 18 and a 30mL bottle of 24 with drip atomizers. I didn't start being repulsed by the idea of smoking until I started using the 24 more, along with trying the local shop's liquid in the town I was in in AZ. Once I started using carto-tanks and clearomizers, there wasn't any hassle involved with going out and about and vaping, so I just stopped buying them on the one weekly store run that they allowed at that place.. 10 points if you can figure out where I was...lol

 

[AttyPops]

I have vaped 15mg for 3 years. I vaped 12mg and 18mg prefilled cartos for a few weeks when I started, but I started vaping in the dark ages of vaping where NOTHING we use today even existed, except for ego batts and 510 connectors. The juice options were crap, so I learned to DIY really early on. Split the difference between 12m and 18mg, mixed up my batches at 15mg. Some days I vape more, usually I vape less than a tank per day. No desire to change the nic level. It works well! I may rethink this if the FDA makes serious restrictions on our nic availability, but until then I will maintain 15mg.

OMG I'm from the dark ages too....

 

[rbeckys8]

I like 6ml but still miss the teste of a real cig and I'm still looking for it after 4 months!

 

[crxess]

Nothing odd about it.
2 martini lunch every day is 2 a day whether a year or 10 years.
I smoked 1.5-2 packs a day for many years and smoked for 45+ yrs. I vape 9-12mg and plan to drop to 6mg in Nov.