I guess the thing that confuses me is that I smoked my last cigarette almost 4 months ago and it just seems to me that I no longer should need the extra nicotine.
It's a common misconception. The truth is, the Throat Hit is, for certain personality types, one of the most addictive factors in smoking and vaping. As I mentioned, if I can't have a solid throat hit I don't want the vape, so inspite of the fact that I've been vaping for several years at this point, I vape 18mg strength and have absolutely ZERO plans to change that. Now, some people think nicotine is some horrible evil nightmare chemical, and that they want to get away from it as much as possible. It's just a mild stimulant and vaso-constrictor, and having a nicotine habbit, in absence of the incredibly addictive MAOI alkaloids found in whole tobacco(not to mention the carcinogens released from burning them and additives added by the cigarette companies), isn't any better or worse than having a caffeine habbit. I don't feel any more guilty for enjoying nicotine than I do for enjoying coffee, and I don't view it as a problem to be corrected, or something that you need to "step down gradually" on.
If you do feel that nicotine cessation is your end goal then you just need to get in your head right now that living with no throat hit is just the way it is.
If you can relax about the nicotine issue and throat hit is important to you. Well, nicotine is throat hit, and you know what you need to do.