Nicotine strengths - need help

[smacuser]

To be honest, trying flavors at a vape shop with moderate nic levels, can be overwhelming; I use 18. But, I used to lose track of how much I'm taking in while trying to discern flavors.

The problem there lies that when in a shop, trying flavors that are lower in nic, they seem less appealing. The throat hit from higher nic, and higher nic flavor, are not taken into account.

At home, I can take my time and know when to put it down.

 

[mkbilbo]

Hello all, new here. This is my second day vaping (for the second time) the first time I tried I started with a nicotine mix of 15mg (a guy mixed it for me at a market) Waaaaaaaaaaaay too strong and I made me feel really sick. So this time I got the 6mg. Which is quite frankly not cutting it!!! Do I go up to 12mg? I really really want this to work, have smoked for 40 years PLUS and need to kick the habit. Please advise

I'm suspicious of market guy. 15 is not that high. Might be on the high side for some for frequent vaping but make you sick? That sounds like a screwed up mix.

Try 12. Have the 6 around in case it is too high. Definitely read this: [url]http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/ecf-library/337017-inhalation-technique-e-cigarette.html[/URL]

Inhalation should be on an insert in vape products. It's really important. Inhale like you're used to, you're likely to try coughing up a lung (I sure did) and think this "e-cig" thing is a joke.

As others have suggested, hold in the mouth more. If you've ever smoked a cigar or pipe, it's more like that. "Puff" more than "inhale". The nicotine in smoke is primarily absorbed in the lungs. Hence, a deep inhale. With vaping, it's the mouth and nasal passages primarily. A slower, more relaxed inhale just to the mouth, taking more time, and optionally exhaling nasally will pick up the nic better. A lung inhale is purely optional. You won't absorb much nic that way. Some like it as it mimics smoking more but it's not necessary. I can do it without coughing now but don't bother. Lungs don't got no taste buds.

 

[mkbilbo]

I'll just relate my experience and hope it helps.

First, I was a very heavy chain smoker for 40+ years. I started on cig-sized with cartos at 24mg. I also had some 18mg around so I used both...but mostly 24mg. That got me off cigarettes and I continued with that for 2-3 months.

After 2-3 months, I started to get a little loopy. What I called my "running around like a headless chicken" period. Sleeplessness, anxiety, the whole works. I did some research and read that, as your liver recovers from smoking, it no longer has to process the hundreds of chemicals in cigarette smoke. So it begins to process things like caffeine and sugar (and even nicotine) more efficiently. (I'm not a doctor, so don't take this as gospel) So I backed off to 15-18mg, and used more decaf. That got it under control.

Every 2-3 months, I found I needed to back off the nic level a little bit, but I was also using better equipment. Now, after nearly 2 years, I use 7.5mg and I'm back to full strength coffee. I'm finding it hard now to cut my nic level, so I may be at the bottom, but I keep trying to cut down to 6mg.

Sounds like a lot of what I went through. Had to back waaaay off caffeine for a while. Now I'm back to normal. And I seem to have leveled out at about 9mg. Which, funny enough, I first landed at merely because I had 18mg plain in PG around and wanted 50/50 PG/VG. And it seemed to work. So I stayed.

 

[MsDejablue]

I agree, starting around 18mg would be a good start if your looking for that nice "hit" to get you over the hump. Vape at a steady pace and try not to over do it, because it can definitely make you feel sick. Soon your body will let you know if you need to step up or drop down on your nic level. I've only been vaping a few months and I find that it depends on how I'm feeling that day...sometimes I can vape 18mg all day, sometimes I will drop to 12mg. It's pretty much trial and error. Happy Vaping

 

[PeachPitDee]

I tries 18 and 16 and felt like I was going to have a heart attack..vamping more than I smoked though. Been using between 12 and 6

 

[giaccj]

I smoked cigars for many years and kicked them 4 weeks ago. I started on 18mg. In one flavor it worked fine but in other flavors 18 mg was way too strong. I switched to 6mg and it was too weak and started vaping way more juice to get the throat hit but then I was getting lots of dry burnt hits. I'm now at about 8 to 12 depending on the flavor. There are many variables that one must consider. Such as 1) How long are you firing the coils and how long are you drawing 2) what voltage or wattage are you using 3) what flavor 4) how long you wait till your next draw. I've been at it for 4 weeks and my technique is evolving and I'm continually looking for the right balance. All the best.

 

[syrach]

It's okai it happens, u just need to vape for like 5/ 10 minutes and u will get used to it !!!

 

[CrustyRusty]

See there's quite a lot of posts here already but I'll give my 2¢ anyways. I was smoking a pack of full flavored cigarettes a day and started out at 18mg. I shortly after moved down to 12mg and and am still there currently. It can be different for everyone though so just because that's what I did doesn't mean that all smokers with an equal habit to mine will use the same strength of liquid I did when starting the transition. But judging from your habit, 15mg shouldn't of been that noticeably strong imho. I would look around at some other vendors and go from there.