OK so I have been a Vaper for a few weeks now....

[chauncy]

I am using standard battery NJoy Npro power units and mainly have been using the NJoy factory menthol carts. But now that I have my new atomizer units and VG juice from GoodProphets, I have realized that I am almost chain-vaping now!

When I bought a 5 pack of carts, I was more paced at using them and tried to make them last about 2 days per cart. The problem now is that I have 4 bottles of juice and it seems like enough juice to last me all year, for less than $20! I was paying $20 for 5 prefilled carts! So now, the cost to vape is like pennies per day. And I think that has played on my mind and made me not so careful.

When I used to smoke regular cigs, I would not smoke during the day, and it was easy to keep track of how much I smoked...just open the pack and see how many you have left!

With ecigs it's much harder: I use it in my office and no one smells it, I can use it in my house (even in bed) and it is not bothersome, but it is like some wierd nightmare: I have a cigarette that I am trying to finish but it never ends, it just keeps burning, it keeps producing clouds, it makes no odor, it doesn't use fire, it just keeps running, save for the time that it spends in the charger.

So I have been hitting the vapor trail pretty hard these days and I am beginning to feel it in my chest. I think I really need to cut back or learn how to pace myself, or just get rid of this thing, because I feel like my compulsive use of it is going to end up making me sick.

How can I tell if I am using it too much? How much fluid or juice used in a day is considered "heavy use"? Do you measure it in drops?

Also, I am using the VG juice from GoodProphets...the taste is great, but it makes way more vapor than the NJoy pre-filled carts. What is in the NJoys PG or VG? Why the the VG make so much more vapor? Is one better for you than the other? I am mainly using 18mg (medium strenght) juice, but I got a small bottle of 24mg to try it. I think I will stick with the 18mg.

Help me pace myself - what are the more experienced users doing?

 

[mostlyclassics]

How can I tell if I am using it too much? How much fluid or juice used in a day is considered "heavy use"? Do you measure it in drops?

If you have any symptoms of a mild nicotine overdose, then you're probably vaping too much. Symptoms include headache, dizziness, a rapid or heavy heartbeat, a sense of being "off" plus others. If you listen to your body and cut back, these symptoms are generally harmless. They go away after an hour or so, as your body eliminates the nicotine.

It's impossible to give any idea of what amount constitutes "heavy use": every person's body is different in its reaction to nicotine. A milliliter (abbreviated "ml.") is a common way of measuring an amount of e-liquid. People around here seem to vary from 1 ml. to 8-10 ml. per day. But many factors can affect your daily consumption. The device you're using is one of the bigger ones: some devices (by which I mean the battery and atty/cart combo or cartomizer) can run through double the amount of e-liquid or more than others. Another factor is the nicotine concentration. It's possible the 18 mg./ml. is too strong for you, if you're getting overdose symptoms.

Most vapers don't try too hard to regulate the number of tokes they take per period of time. But they do increase or reduce the nicotine concentration to adjust it to their vaping practices. For example, I seem by my nature to be a chain-vaper (I was a chain-smoker), and straight 24 mg./ml. is too strong for me to chain-vape all day long. So I usually have four or five different setups going at once, all different flavors, and all about evenly divided between 18 and 24 mg./ml., for an average of about 21 mg./ml. Other vapers have different approaches. It's all very much up to the individual vaper.

I am using the VG juice from GoodProphets...the taste is great, but it makes way more vapor than the NJoy pre-filled carts. What is in the NJoys PG or VG? Why the the VG make so much more vapor? Is one better for you than the other?

The prefilled cartos from NJoy probably have a heavy concentration of PG, since that wicks easier in cartos. VG-heavy e-liquids are known for making much more vapor than PG-heavy ones. They're just different vehicles, that's all: the amount of vapor does not correlate with the amount of nicotine you're getting from each toke. Neither is necessarily "better" for you, though if you have a PG allergy (which is rare and manifests as a runny nose or a hacking cough), then obviously VG should be your choice.

Hope these answers help!

 

[Slurp812]

I quit analogs over 4 years ago, and just started a month ago on E-cigs, and I use the 11mg juice. Dont need anything stronger. Maybe weaker juice is what you need if you hit it that hard....

 

[jgdovin]

I would definately agree that dropping your strength will make you feel better about your use. I pretty much chain vape 24/7 and had to drop down to low or medium juice. 24mg high is way too much and i feel like im having an anxiety attack. By dropping the strength, you can vape more and get less or equal nicotine. Dont feel that your chain vaping is a bad habit, because as long as your not having an allergic reaction to Pg or anything, just think of all of the chemicals your saving your body from that you use to get out of cigarettes.

 

[swedishfish]

Like Mlinky said, we were smokers and our body knows how to regulate nicotine usage. You didn't smoke yourself into a nicotine coma, doubtful you'll do it vaping. I've yet to hear about anyone ODing on nicotine vaping.

The average person vapes between 3-5 ml per day, between 18-24 mg. to get off cigs. Just listen to your body. Most people vape more when they first start and taper off.

 

[wv2win]

On the other hand, people who chain vape in many instances do that because they are not getting enought nicotine to satisfy their need. The most common nicotine strength used based on polls on this and other vaping forums is 24mg nicotine strength.

I would suggest having some 11mg, 18mg and 24mg in the flavor you like best. You can then experiment and mix the level that works best for you (for example: 50% of 24 + 11 = 17 mg). Understand that the lower the nic level, there will be a reduction in throat hit which is also a problem.

 

[swedishfish]

The heavy feeling in your chest could be VG. People in the Health section have said they get a heavy feeling in their chest from VG.

 

[Roach]

I have the same "problem." mostly because I like the taste and feel, I chain vape all day long. Had the same symptoms you describe until I lowered down to 11mg. My dreams were INTENSE. At 11 mg I'm fine, no jitters, no loud dreams and wakefullness, no pain in the throat/chest.

It takes a couple weeks of use and learning to determine your best practices for the way you vape. You'll catch on to your own habits and body reactions soon. Listen to what your body is telling you.

oh and... four bottles might not look like that much when you hit your sweet spot.

 

[dclee78]

I have the same "problem." mostly because I like the taste and feel, I chain vape all day long. Had the same symptoms you describe until I lowered down to 11mg. My dreams were INTENSE. At 11 mg I'm fine, no jitters, no loud dreams and wakefullness, no pain in the throat/chest.

It takes a couple weeks of use and learning to determine your best practices for the way you vape. You'll catch on to your own habits and body reactions soon. Listen to what your body is telling you.

oh and... four bottles might not look like that much when you hit your sweet spot.

Good advice. I've been noticing that my dreams have been more vivid lately.

 

[Mindfield]

When I first started, I found I was vaping a lot, too. For me, it turned out that my nicotine strength was too low. Once I bumped it up a notch I cut my vaping way down, because I was getting the dosage my body wanted with much less draw and less frequent draws. That and the stronger nic was feeding my TH craving much better. Then too there's the novelty of vaping as a replacement for cigarettes. When it's good, it's really good and you just want to keep doing it. Furthermore there is, as you have found, the disconcerting sense that there's no beginning or end to it, no familiar meter or rhythm like there was with cigarettes. No lighting up, smoking 'til it's near the end, and butting out, then waiting however many minutes you normally do until the next one. As you said, it's the cigarette that never goes out, never burns down.

But the novelty wears off, and eventually you kind of fall into a new rhythm. Keep in mind you're kind of having to go through a bit of behaviour modification because the cues you're used to with cigarettes aren't there anymore, and that takes time to get used to. But you will get used to it. It probably took me a good month or two before I learned to accept the changes and appreciate them for their benefits: The ability to vape where you may not normally have been able to; not having to stand out in the cold (although in SoCal this may not be an issue for you); not having to smoke just half a cig then either toss or .... out and put back in the pack when you only have a few minutes to cram some nicotine in your system; keeping your nicotine levels on a much more even keel instead of loading up when you can and looking forward to loading up when you can't.

Give it some time. Despite some important similarities, the things that are different about vaping require some deceptively major shifts in how you feed your habit, so you need to allow yourself that time to get used to them and embrace them and unlearn those visual and olfactory cues you were so used to when you smoked.

And just think about this: No more letting the ashtray smoke the cigarette you forgot about, no more absently lighting a smoke only to discover you already lit one and it's sitting in the ash tray; no more lighting the wrong end; no more eye tokes when you light a cig and the smoke gets in your eyes; no more flicking the lighter two dozen times before admitting it's out of fluid; and a whole mess of other fun things you can let yourself forget about.

 

[Learfz]

Congrats on quitting analogs; one thing you might keep around if you're afraid of getting too much nicotine is some 0mg juice. If you feel like you've had enough, pop in a cartridge with some 'blank' flavored juice and puff away. It can really help if you're used to that hand-to-mouth reflex.

 

[polz]

Lots of good advice here. From being a 2-3PPD smoker, I managed to quit the analogues overnight, and have been lovin' the vape for almost 2 months now. I haven't yet found my 'sweet spot'.

One day I'll find myself chain vaping 11mg (when it tastes and feels good I don't know when to stop) till I fry my taste buds and no longer taste anything, the next I may up to 18mg for more TH and taste and find I'm 'on edge' and have to lay my EGO down till things settle down. I'm still messing with flavor percentages (I mix) and haven't yet found the balance of PG/VG I prefer.

As a result my new 'hobby' has become time consuming, sometimes frustrating, interesting, FUN, and expensive all at the same time and I wouldn't change that for the world.

I know eventually I'll find what's right for me, save some money and perhaps even become complacent about it all. But for now my health is improving, my home doesn't smell so bad, I'm learning loads, and I'm enjoying the journey

 

[604chinese]

Neither is necessarily "better" for you, though if you have a PG allergy (which is rare and manifests as a runny nose or a hacking cough), then obviously VG should be your choice.
!

I've been vaping for approx 10-15 days now. i noticed the first 3-10 days i ALWAYS woke up to a hacking cough. Thankfully it seems to have subsided now.
However, the runny/stuffed nose (which started around day 3) hasn't began to subside at all. I have to blow my nose every so often, and the gunk that comes out is pretty thick/nasty.
I'm just wondering would that be: A - i'm allergic to PG or B - Just coughing up all the gunk my body has built up over the past 15 years.

 

[Sedateme]

604, it sounds like lung purge to me. Last time I quit (before I discovered vaping) I coughed like an old man with one foot in the grave for a month straight.

 

[chauncy]

thanks to all of your for your attentive and careful replies.

Glad to see that I am not the only one struggling with how to handle the habit of vaping.

I have to say that I enjoy the VG vapor because it is thicker, but not sure if this means "better" -

I also agree that if someone is going to be chainvaping then the lower nic concentrates are probably the best. It is a crazy feeling to be able to do this virtually anywhere and it is quite a different habit from smoking regular cigs.