Struggling to adapt

[Oberon75]

I tried this once before and failed miserably. Not sure if I had the wrong equipment or what the problem was but the throat hit was unbearable.

This time around I'm having a bit more success however over the past couple days, the cigarette cravings have been overwhelming. Now I haven't smoked much lately, only two cigarettes so far today and maybe three, yesterday but I want one really bad. I'm.also coming off of about 2 packs a day of McClintock RYO menthol tobacco. It took me two days to get over the throat hit issue and for the next three days, I was perfectly fine. I even went to a party the other night sitting in a basement full of smokers, while not even thinking about a cigarette. But now it seems to be a different story.The nicotine doesn't feel as satisfying and my flavors are getting bland.

So how long did it take everybody else? I'm really excited about my new vaping hobby and am trying to transition as stress free as possible.

 

[williamclarkonet]

I was a 2 pack a day smoker too and when I started I was lucky enough to transition really easy into vaping but i know its not that easy. hang in there! You can try a 24mg strength e-liquid that did the trick for me and you can easily reduce your nicotine content if needed. I really like vaping now I really embarrass the regular smokers with my big clouds

 

[Fattlestar]

Everyone reacts differently, but it's good that you're trying again.

For me, it took three days to switch completely to vaping.

I'd suggest you adjust the level of nicotine in your juice if possible. If you're at 12mg, you could try 18mg, etc. That could help.

Flavors getting bland could be a lot of different things. Sometimes juice will change flavor over time, sometimes the heating elements in whatever you are using to vape get gunked up, and sometimes people get a condition that's commonly referred to as "vaper's tongue" which makes your juices taste much less satisfying. There are other reasons too. It would take more information to figure out why that is specifically happening

 

[dhood]

If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say to check your tank. The coils may be starting to gunk up. you mentioned the throat hit being tough to adapt to. you might have the voltage set too high and that would burn the wick if they are not fully saturated. other more experienced vapors will chime in i'm sure. it would help to know what kind of setup you have.

-D

 

[DroopyDogs]

It took me about 3 days to switch over. I smoked 1 1/2 packs a day for over 30 years of RYO Marlboro Lights equivalent. I found that playing with flavors and not looking for tobacco flavor worked for me. I am using 12mg nicotine, and have been lucky to have no cravings at all. You'll get there, maybe you need a higher nic level like others have said. GOOD LUCK, you'll get there!!

 

[Rat2chat2]

to ecf Oberon75. So glad you are here. The important part is that you are trying again. That tells me that you have the desire to quit so maybe it is as simple as you need a stronger nic juice to help out in the beginning. I vaped and smoked both at the beginning. I kept cutting back on cigarettes because I loved vaping from the beginning. After you cut down so much, it honestly gets to the point where the cigarettes just started tasting nasty. I didn't mean to quit because I had tried forever and just accepted the fact that I would never be smoke-free. It has been almost a year and a half since I even had the urge for one. I think anyone can quit smoking if they will give vaping a chance. The key is finding a juice that makes you taste buds dance. Good luck to you and I look forward to reading about your success. I just know you are going to do just fine.

While you are looking for juices that you like, here is a thread where you can find some really good deals. I used it a lot before I started making my own.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/pay-forward-pif/418767-deals-steals-241.html

 

[Dickyjim]

I agree with Droopy when I stopped trying to replace the cig/ tobacco flavor I had a much easier time making the switch. The again I didn't go straight to no analogs I did both for a few months slowly replacing more smoke breaks with vape breaks at work and so on. From what I have read from others on here we all had the same issues especially replacing that morning cig with our coffee. The way I see it if you need to break down and buy one last pack for those bad cravings over the next week or so go for it and you will start to realize how bad they actually taste by the end of it.

 

[Oberon75]

If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say to check your tank. The coils may be starting to gunk up. you mentioned the throat hit being tough to adapt to. you might have the voltage set too high and that would burn the wick if they are not fully saturated. other more experienced vapors will chime in i'm sure. it would help to know what kind of setup you have.

-D

I have an iTaste MVP 2.0 that came with an iClear 30. I also have a 900mAh variable voltage battery from a company called Gravity. I use that with a Kanger Pro Tank 3 mini.

I'm assuming I didn't have my voltage and wattage set right and did find a chart on a site with recommended adjustments. I adjusted the MVP according to the suggestions and things do seem a bit better although I think I might have toasted the coil. I was under the assumption that I could just crank everything up to whatever I wanted to because that's what the guy at the smoke shop told me to do.

I would like to know though, what the proper volts should be on my gravity battery, using that 1.5 Ohm coil.

 

[joesquid]

Welcome to ECF! What gear are you using?

 

[joesquid]

Start low and work your way up until you start tasting a little burnt. Then back it down a notch or two.

 

[joesquid]

You might also want to look at getting something like an Aspire Mini Nautilus. Most folks get rid of those iclears pretty quickly.

 

[FallenRawToast]

Lots of good advice from the others so far, I would like to add one more thing.

A lot of times, when first making the transition, we tend to "hit" the ecig like we did a cig, and think it will be the same.... well it isnt. One is smoke the other is vapor. One is burnt stuff the other is mist. How your body absorbs them is different. Slow easy drags of an ecig, held in the mouth and then slowly exhaled through the nose will get you a lot more nic, than trying to do it like a cig.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/ecf-library/337017-inhalation-technique-e-cigarette.html

 

[Oberon75]

Thank you everybody and I will look into that thread about the deals. I also picked up a new liquid tonight which has a big, bold flavor. Only problem is, it's a bit more expensive then the other liquids I was vaping. I was kind of enjoying spending $5 for 10ml of Mister e-Liquid but now I'm discovering it tastes rather thin. Right now, I'm vaping Midnight Apple from Halo and am starting to really enjoy it. I only wish it was a bit cheaper.

Something odd just happened to my setup though. For some reason, my 2 Ohm coil was reading at 4.3 Ohms. Not sure if vaping with the wrong wattage/voltage damaged the coil or perhaps it's clogged. I put in a fresh coil with my new liquid and the Ohms are back to normal.

 

[Towmotor]

Does sound like your coil was gunked up there. To answer an earlier question, if you are using a 1.5ohm coil, I would suggest voltage in the 3.8-4.2 range. My personal taste is a little higher than that tbh, experiment with it, but I would think 4.5 volt would be the highest you would find satisfactory.

 

[Mark in Florida]

I smoked a pack of reds a day for 35 years. I met a guy at a business meeting last year who was using an EVOD kit and started asking him about it. I had never seen an ecig before that. When I got back home I ordered a starter kit. The day it came in, I bought a fresh pack of reds, left unopened, and threw them on my bar. I began with 24mg nicotine ejuice because I wanted to have a fair chance at success. The ejuice I bought was inexpensive and harsh (probably because of the high nic...), but it didn't taste all that bad. I literally had to kind of force myself to keep at it. I was getting plenty of nicotine, in fact in the beginning it gave me a little head rush, so apparently 24mg is stronger than marlboro reds. Basically, getting my nicotine through another source for awhile bought me enough time to research other vape equipment and figure out another solution with a little more longevity.

My next step was to get a kayfun and a mechanical mod. Building coils is easy and, with the better ejuices I started buying, my vape became very satisfying.

Just don't give up! There's a combination of juice and vape equipment out there that you are going to really like. As for the occasional feelings of withdrawl... it's funny because I just hit 10 months and I've been in the middle of those for a couple of weeks now. I've been dripping 6mg juice for the last few months, and I think it may just be a little weak for me. So I'm going to have to move back up to a slightly higher juice again for awhile.

 

[cmcgann90]

I smoked cigarettes for 10 years about a pack a day. I was quite suprised how quickly I was able to ditch cigarettes when I started vaping. I think it took me about 4 days of vaping to completely stop smoking cigarettes. I started off with 24mg nicotine juice and I am currently vaping 9mg but because I am now using an RDA so my next order will be 6mg. I have been tobacco free for almost 9 months. I still feel a cigarette craving once in a great while but after how far I've come I refuse to go back. Good luck!

 

[FallenRawToast]

The Halo juice is a goodness, if you are buying it through their site, make sure to use the reward points, so you can eventually get a bottle or two free.