On stopping analogs completely...

[sea]

Oh those things! Ugh. American Spirit was tested and contained a higher ratio of freebase nicotine than even Marb Reds. Like 30% IIRC, one if not the highest. How this plays into addiction needs further study.

That's very interesting, actually. I used to smoke Parliament Lights, but wanted to smoke something "more natural" if I was going to smoke at all. I hated Spirits at first, because I liked all the chemicals, but continued smoking them and then got to like them to the point where I couldn't smoke anything else. It's a progression.

I actually feel better knowing that Spirits were higher and feel more relaxed about a higher nic juice working for me.

 

[FreakyStylie]

I'll toss in a couple votes for higher nic, and for not worrying too much.

Stress will make you want to smoke. If you're too worried about not smoking, you'll just want to even more. It's cool, you've started down a different road and don't have to get there overnight.

Have multiple nic levels for different times. I usually use 18, but I'm vaping 24 right now . . . it's one of those Mondays.

 

[sea]

Instead of getting stressed and immediately stepping outside for an analog, I vape the heck out of that cherry flavored goodness and it definitely did the trick. I did this all throughout the day and I have been analog-free ever since.

I appreciated your whole post, but am curious what brand of cherry flavor you like. I love cherry candies and fresh cherries, but the one I have tastes like soap!

 

[dormouse]

You may need to send him a PM and ask. My total guess is Cignot.com's Basic "On Top" since I see him loving Cignot flavors in some other posts.

Have you tried cartomizers? I love those Boge soft caps and with the Ego you could also try the LR ones. You may need to remove the cone or buy a 510 extender at Madvapes to lift the carto above the cone. LiteCigUSA.net usually has both the standard and LR ones. I can get 3-4 weeks use out of a Boge standard using it 1/2 the time. With the LR ones - if they are hot on the lips you might want to replace the soft white end cap with a plastic or delrin drip tip to use as a mouthpiece. I sue those (I don't drip through them though - afraid the juice would aim right for the air channel in the middle of the carto). I don't have an Ego ut I know lots of people love those LR ones on Ego and the standard ones I use give a cooler hit.

I love them - you can vape a lot more drags without needing to add juice. Just fill them well to start with, clean up any drips (I hold a tissue on the threaded end when dding juice to catch any), puff through the threaded end to clear the air channel and on the first fill let it sit for a while (I lay it on different sides) to make sure all of the stuffing has a chance to absorb the liquid. When you have just added a lot of juice it may vape badly at first like a flooded atty but that will clear up. then any time the vapor seems light or a bit dry and you can't revive it by tilting the Ego carto down for 5 seconds, then take the carto off and add 5-8 drops or whatever more it wants, check the threaded end and clean if needed, puff into the threaded end, cap and vape.

BTW - my two non-tobacco faves are vanillas and chocolates. I usually vape Backwoods Brew Vanilla Bean for the vanilla and I'm vaping Vapor4Life WOWbacco for the dark chocolate (it is predominantly cocoa or dark chocolate) and they also have WOWBoy which si the same but adds a bit of mint.

 

[OgreLokon]

Less than a PAD of American Spirit Yellows or American Spirit Organic Lights.

That's what I smoked, and I use 24mg.

 

[Rosa]

+1 on going up to 24mg
+1 on making a pact to vape for 10 minutes before you go ahead and smoke.

I smoked less than a pack a day most days and couldn't have quit without 24mg juice. One time I tried dropping down to 18mg and started having fond memories about my smoking days, I went back to 24mg and the smoking thoughts disappeared.

Get some 24 and whenever you want a smoke tell yourself you can have one IF vaping doesn't work. Then vape for 10 minutes and see how you feel.

Good luck

 

[lavixen]

hi
i smoked heavily for 16 yrs @1.5/2 packs a day with quite a few periods of brief cold turkey episodes, patches, gums, etc. i started smoking with virginia slims lights for 10 yrs., then moved to american spirit lights for the same reasons you did for 5 yrs, which sent me into ICU with pneumonia that spread to my blood because my lungs stopped taking in oxygen (at 25 yrs old and healthy!). six weeks of hospitals and recuperation, nearly died. got out, healed, six weeks later back to smoking. american sprits are bad news, they always made me feel edgy and cough a lot, wish id never picked them up. so i went back to virginia slims.

anyway i started vaping 4 months ago, i started on the ecig you can get at 7-11. also have concurrently smoked lightly during this period, adjusting to ecigs, big learning curve, which products you need, etc. the first move i made was to up the nic. i started at 16 mg. did nothing for me aside from making my trip to buying another pack of cigs less frantic. went up to 24. some help there. went up to 36 mg. this is when i realized i could do this. i am still smoking maybe a pack a week because i am waiting for my "real" ecig to come = ego plus cartomizers (im still on the 7-11 one which isnt bad but you need a good device plus high enough nic to win this battle).

ive lurked these forums for months but this is my first post. ive read a lot of people thinking 36 is crazy but i strongly disagree. i read the articles on nicotine freebasing technique referenced above and agree with the post above that you cant really follow the numbers. and the numbers have been hidden from us by the tobacco industry anyway. you are not ingesting 36 mg of nic anyway, vaping is reputedly not the most efficient way for your body to process nicotine.

 

[Rosa]

Welcome lavixen Nice first post.

 

[lavixen]

thank you! this forum is great and has helped me immensely. great to be here.

 

[WiKiD]

I appreciated your whole post, but am curious what brand of cherry flavor you like. I love cherry candies and fresh cherries, but the one I have tastes like soap!

It is Basic brand 100% VG "On Top" (Cherry on top, get it? Haha!) from Cignot. It is the flavor that really helped me quit analogs. It tastes amazing and it gives a really good throat hit compared to the other flavors. I'm not quite sure why it is stronger than the other 25mg's I have tried. The combination of TH, nicotine, and excellent flavor makes it one of my all-time favorites. Right up there with Basic "Forbidden", which seems to taste like a Jolly Rancher.

 

[SilentVapidity]

Less than a PAD of American Spirit Yellows or American Spirit Organic Lights.

Hi sea - I have the same issue. I smoked 16 - 18 American Spirit Yellows a day for years, and while I've cut down a lot since I've started vaping, I can't quite seem to quit cigs completely. Whenever I reach for a cig I go through a list -- vaping is tastier, more interesting, less toxic -- yet there's something in my brain that makes me want an American Spirit, and I'm still smoking 5 - 6 a day.

I found this article:

2. Smoking smarter?

which talks about American Spirits as "freebasing" nicotine, so I think it's a trickier brand of cigarette to quit. I've got no scientific information to back that up, but it sorta makes sense after reading the article. And I love to have an excuse, something on which to blame my inability to quit cigs is awesome!

For me, cutting down is really a great start, and I'm taking a sort of "sandwich" approach. I've replaced the first cigarette of the day with vaping, and replaced the last 10 cigarettes of the day with vaping. I'm going to see if I can keep eliminating them one at a time until I've just got that one left, and then tackle that one.

I agree with the folks that mention the higher nicotine content, that's a good thing to try. I also have a lot of 6 mg/ml so that I can vape a ton, keep the mouth occupied, without risking overdose. That's working for me, as well as having a variety of flavors so I don't get bored.

 

[sea]

Hi sea - I have the same issue. I smoked 16 - 18 American Spirit Yellows a day for years, and while I've cut down a lot since I've started vaping, I can't quite seem to quit cigs completely. Whenever I reach for a cig I go through a list -- vaping is tastier, more interesting, less toxic -- yet there's something in my brain that makes me want an American Spirit, and I'm still smoking 5 - 6 a day.

I found this article:

2. Smoking smarter?

which talks about American Spirits as "freebasing" nicotine, so I think it's a trickier brand of cigarette to quit. I've got no scientific information to back that up, but it sorta makes sense after reading the article. And I love to have an excuse, something on which to blame my inability to quit cigs is awesome!

For me, cutting down is really a great start, and I'm taking a sort of "sandwich" approach. I've replaced the first cigarette of the day with vaping, and replaced the last 10 cigarettes of the day with vaping. I'm going to see if I can keep eliminating them one at a time until I've just got that one left, and then tackle that one.

I agree with the folks that mention the higher nicotine content, that's a good thing to try. I also have a lot of 6 mg/ml so that I can vape a ton, keep the mouth occupied, without risking overdose. That's working for me, as well as having a variety of flavors so I don't get bored.

OMG! I was so ...... off at reading that American Spirits add freebase nicotine to their products.... Not that I am surprised by anything that big tobacco, but I wish the FDA would crawl over that instead of PVs. And that I was paying more for freebasing nicotine! I told my sweetheart about it who also smokes Spirits and has been trying to stop. Anyway, he said he never had a problem stopping for a long period of time before Spirits and it makes sense.

Your sandwich approach sounds like a good method. Good luck! I think the higher nic will work for me. I got my samples from Vaperite today and am loving the Organic VR4 Tobacco with English Toffee. It's 16 mg and helping, but I think once my 24 and 36 stuff comes it will do the trick. I've only had 1 analog since I got the shipment.

 

[sea]

Have you tried cartomizers? I love those Boge soft caps and with the Ego you could also try the LR ones. You may need to remove the cone or buy a 510 extender at Madvapes to lift the carto above the cone. LiteCigUSA.net usually has both the standard and LR ones. I can get 3-4 weeks use out of a Boge standard using it 1/2 the time. With the LR ones - if they are hot on the lips you might want to replace the soft white end cap with a plastic or delrin drip tip to use as a mouthpiece. I sue those (I don't drip through them though - afraid the juice would aim right for the air channel in the middle of the carto). I don't have an Ego ut I know lots of people love those LR ones on Ego and the standard ones I use give a cooler hit.

BTW - my two non-tobacco faves are vanillas and chocolates. I usually vape Backwoods Brew Vanilla Bean for the vanilla and I'm vaping Vapor4Life WOWbacco for the dark chocolate (it is predominantly cocoa or dark chocolate) and they also have WOWBoy which si the same but adds a bit of mint.

I haven't tried cartos yet. I was thinking about placing an order tonight and getting some actually. There were two options with different ohms and I wasn't sure which one to order and too lazy to look it up!

I haven't even tried LR attys yet. I've been dripping with the attys that came with my eGo and it's been great.

 

[sea]

It is Basic brand 100% VG "On Top" (Cherry on top, get it? Haha!) from Cignot. It is the flavor that really helped me quit analogs. It tastes amazing and it gives a really good throat hit compared to the other flavors. I'm not quite sure why it is stronger than the other 25mg's I have tried. The combination of TH, nicotine, and excellent flavor makes it one of my all-time favorites. Right up there with Basic "Forbidden", which seems to taste like a Jolly Rancher.

I will have to try it! I would so love a good cherry vape!

 

[sea]

That's what I smoked, and I use 24mg.

Have you stopped analogs completely?

 

[sea]

Update: I now have my 24 and 36 mg juice and haven't smoked an analog since. I have a few left in a pack downstairs and I'm not even interested right now. I am very hopeful that increasing the nic will do the trick.

THANK YOU again for all the thoughtful comments. I am so grateful for this site!

 

[Rosa]

HOoray!! I'm glad it's working

 

[chuckw]

I switched to e-cigs from the day it shipped in the mail.. I started off with 18 mg carts cuz the 24's were out.. now I puff on 24's.. but ya.. think about upping the dosage.. it helps me.. I don't drip though.. I use a couple cartomized e-cigs.

 

[tami]

when I vape 18mg, I go back to smoking. When I vape 24mg, I don't need smoking, but am getting nic overdose: headaches, nauseas, heartbeat, etc.. Go figure!! LOL Oh well... At least I smoke MUCH less, and to me it's good enough.

 

[Sojourn]

../snip The craziest part is it was the day before two final exams and 2 papers due. I was stressed out for sure. I think this was the best time for me to convert because I essentially rewired my mind and body. Instead of getting stressed and immediately stepping outside for an analog, I vape the heck out of that cherry flavored goodness and it definitely did the trick. I did this all throughout the day and I have been analog-free ever since.
...

I'm soo stressing finals coming up, my last semester of my Masters and I just know I'm going to think about having an analog because that's what always got me through But makes sense that if you can make it through that then you're gtg.

As for the OP, like everyone says up the nic to 24mg. I have 2 juices that I hit when I'm really feeling the need for an analog and both are 24. Edit: nm, just read that it's working, grats!!