Trying to wean myself off of nicotine and need some insight

[flobiwan]

I have been trying to wean myself off nic for a while because i don't want the addiction. I'm down to 3mg and fine with it but i noticed that if go 3-4 hours without it i get antsy. I'm going down to 2mg shortly as soon as i get my next batch.

I thought 3mg would be enough to eliminate cravings but it didn't. I'm looking to get to a low enough dosage to where i don't feel any cravings anymore - or to where they're so mild, it doesn't bother me. For those who have weaned themselves completely off of nic, at what level did you feel you just didn't need it anymore? Is there a point at, say 2mg or 1mg where the cravings are so mild you don't really notice them if you go without?

Also, did you limit the times you vaped? I vape constantly and i like it too much to want to limit the times i vape so i just keep lowering the mgs.

 

[DarKm4773r]

Also, did you limit the times you vaped? I vape constantly and i like it too much to want to limit the times i vape so i just keep lowering the mgs.

Hi there. I think that you've answered your own question. Try to limit your puffs, then put it down until you get cravings again. Make it into a game for yourself; that's what I've been doing, anyway. You're in control of yourself. =)

 

[AndriaD]

You may just have to go more slowly than you're trying -- when you went to 3mg, had you been at 6mg before that? That's a 50% reduction. If you go to 2mg from 3mg, that's a 33% reduction. That's a very fast "weaning". I've gone from 10mg to 5mg barely even noticing... but I went to 9mg back in April and stayed there for quite a few months. From there, I went to 8mg, stayed there a couple weeks; then 7mg for a couple weeks... after that, I went by .5mg on a weekly basis -- and hardly noticed any difference at all when I got to 5mg.

If you go slowly enough to give your brain a chance to get used to the new level, then it won't notice when you go a little lower. But if you try dropping by 50% or 33% or even 25% at one time, it's definitely going to notice, and complain.

Andria

 

[supertrunker]

i kept reducing it until it became an irritant to have to bother putting it in my juice because i was using so little.

That amount was something like 0.75 mg/ml at which point you'd have to make a pretty big batch to justify adding any at all and doing so was a hassle. Nevertheless, i was still worried that i'd miss it - but in fact i never did.

That was back in August and i've been nic free since.

T

 

[coilburner]

What mod are you using, what tank/atty, what ohms and how many watts are you using?

 

[Racehorse]

I have been trying to wean myself off nic for a while because i don't want the addiction. I'm down to 3mg and fine with it but i noticed that if go 3-4 hours without it i get antsy. I'm going down to 2mg shortly as soon as i get my next batch.

I thought 3mg would be enough to eliminate cravings but it didn't. I'm looking to get to a low enough dosage to where i don't feel any cravings anymore - or to where they're so mild, it doesn't bother me. For those who have weaned themselves completely off of nic, at what level did you feel you just didn't need it anymore? Is there a point at, say 2mg or 1mg where the cravings are so mild you don't really notice them if you go without?

Also, did you limit the times you vaped? I vape constantly and i like it too much to want to limit the times i vape so i just keep lowering the mgs.

I started weaning because I knew they were passing laws in my state and I would not be able to purchase eliquid online anymore. I just don't want to be involved in all that hassle, and so far, it HAS been a hassle.

One day I thought to myself: isn't it strange, the thing I do to keep stress levels down is CAUSING me more stress?

Had the opposite experience than you though, which just proves all our bodies are different. I was doing 0mg-3mg nic---- and vaped some 6mg because I forgot to cut it. My nic cravings increased exponentially just from doing that. It kinda scared me.

So as long as I keep my nic low I haven't had any cravings. Of course, I started vaping in July of 2012 with 18mg. So it gives ya'll an idea of how SLOWLY I transitioned downward. (and I am a tootle puffer on single coil old school clearos, so it's not like I'm subohming and getting a lot more nicotine/vapor and had to drop down.)

My only advice to you is: Experiment.
You may need both a physical effort as well as a psychological one in order to lower.....almost all vaping for ME is behavioral. I'm just so used to puffing and all that jazz.

If you find yourself being *tied* to your vape maybe leave it on the counter so you have to get up and walk over to use it; when out on short errands leave it at home.

It takes the brain 21 days to re-route and to start to "change" a habit.

 

[Racehorse]

i kept reducing it until it became an irritant to have to bother putting it in my juice because i was using so little.

That amount was something like 0.75 mg/ml at which point you'd have to make a pretty big batch to justify adding any at all and doing so was a hassle. Nevertheless, i was still worried that i'd miss it - but in fact i never did.

That was back in August and i've been nic free since.

T

Wow Super, didn't know this. Congratulations on meeting your goal.

 

[AndriaD]

I started weaning because I knew they were passing laws

This, all the political crap, isn't the main reason I started reducing -- at first I just had to go slightly lower on nic when I got an Achilles, and the TH was at "brushfire" level. But then when it got into fall, and I knew I wanted to be at 5mg before cold weather, I started dropping again, VERY slowly; the only difference I could tell at all was that the TH was getting lighter, so I just added a bit more Flash to my juice, which made up for the nic TH.

But, now that I'm at 5mg, and it was so easy to get here, I figure I'll just stay at this level indefinitely -- unless my body signals that it would prefer even less -- because it effectively doubles my nic stash, from 5 yrs (calculated when I was at 10mg) to 10 yrs. I did the math and realized that at 5mg, I use only about 72ml a year of 100mg nic, so the 3/4 liter I have stashed is actually somewhat more than 10 yrs' worth. And now that I know how easy it is to lower the nic level, I'm not afraid of maybe needing to halve it again, to double my stash yet again; I'd just prefer to stay at 5mg for the beneficial effects of the nicotine -- I ain't getting any younger!

Andria

 

[DarKm4773r]

I suppose my method is a little masochistic, lol. IMO, these are all good tactics to take. Just take mine with a grain of salt because I'm on 18mg and still transitioning(At least until I receive my VTC Mini).

 

[supertrunker]

What mod are you using, what tank/atty, what ohms and how many watts are you using?

Now i'm using a Tmod with dual coil Claptons in a Dark Horse at 0.3Ω. But for years i used 18mg in a Reo Grand with a Reomizer2 atty.

i dropped the nic and turned into a cloud chaser!

Incidentally - i take the view that you can always take or leave the nicotine; if you get cravings for it - add some! My wife has never had any intention of reducing hers and puffs away quite happily the same as ever.

T

 

[BreSha6869]

Now i'm using a Tmod with dual coil Claptons in a Dark Horse at 0.3Ω. But for years i used 18mg in a Reo Grand with a Reomizer2 atty.

i dropped the nic and turned into a cloud chaser!

Incidentally - i take the view that you can always take or leave the nicotine; if you get cravings for it - add some! My wife has never had any intention of reducing hers and puffs away quite happily the same as ever.

T

I am similar...

I started vaping just over a month ago at 12mg and am down to 6 for MTL and 3 for lung hits. 90% of the time I am vaping at 0.25-0.5ohms at 30-70w and the 3mg is perfect for me.

I am having fun with subohming 200w mods and buildings yo own coils. Beyond just using vaping to quit smoking.

To Andrea's point, I have 1.5l of nic stashed away which is enough for me to subohm 10ml a day for 15-ish years. I would expect that I will be dropping my nic again in the next month or so as well....

 

[VNeil]

If I understand your post, you are down to 3mg and not having cravings until you abstain from vaping.

You may find that you don't get cravings even with 0mg juice. But when you stop vaping the cravings start.

That is when you come to fully understand the psychological aspect to smoking and now vaping. At least that was my experience.

 

[AndriaD]

If I understand your post, you are down to 3mg and not having cravings until you abstain from vaping.

You may find that you don't get cravings even with 0mg juice. But when you stop vaping the cravings start.

That is when you come to fully understand the psychological aspect to smoking and now vaping. At least that was my experience.

This is exactly why I see no need to ever drop to 0mg; even if I vaped at 0mg for 6 months, if I quit vaping, I'd be back to smoking inside a week. Obviously not for the nicotine, it never was the nicotine for me, with those ultra-light cigarettes -- but because a behavior reinforced for 39 yrs, 3/4ths of my entire life, will be impossible for me to lose. It would be great if I can eventually get to "casual" vaper status, instead of having to do it constantly, but I don't expect I'll ever quit it entirely; and even if I did, to oblige my asthma, I'd still wanna stick a nicotine patch on my person, because nicotine might be the only way I can evade the loss of all my marbles as I grow older.

Andria

 

[VNeil]

This is exactly why I see no need to ever drop to 0mg; even if I vaped at 0mg for 6 months, if I quit vaping, I'd be back to smoking inside a week. Obviously not for the nicotine, it never was the nicotine for me, with those ultra-light cigarettes -- but because a behavior reinforced for 39 yrs, 3/4ths of my entire life, will be impossible for me to lose. It would be great if I can eventually get to "casual" vaper status, instead of having to do it constantly, but I don't expect I'll ever quit it entirely; and even if I did, to oblige my asthma, I'd still wanna stick a nicotine patch on my person, because nicotine might be the only way I can evade the loss of all my marbles as I grow older.

Andria

When nic is taxed at $1000/liter and your stash runs out or degraded THEN you might find a reason
And this ties into what I've been saying in that other thread today
I too haven't quit the nic but only because of perceived health reasons. Oh the insanity of it all

 

[Yiana]

I'm down to 2mg, but I vape constantly. But I always have. I tried a couple months ago to 0, from 3mg and yeah that didn't last long at all. I definitely craved nic. So that's when I went to 1.5mg. Nope needed a bit more, but I've been happy with 2mg. When I first started 2 1/2 years ago it was 18-24mg. I just gradually dropped down. But seeing how you want to go down to 0, do it gradually over time until you get there, maybe .5mg at a time.

 

[flobiwan]

Thanks for all the replies. I've actually been off the internet for a few weeks so i'm seeing all of these for the first time. To respond to various posts - I'm using a Smoktech Aro tank with ego-c twist VV batteries with the voltage on the highest setting - 4.8v. and i always vape 100%PG (to get more TH). up until about a year ago, i was vaping 6MG at work and 3MG at night when i was home. Last December on my annual vacation, i cut down from 6mg to 3mg. I figured it would be easier without the work stress. By the time i was done with vaca, i found i had no problem on 3mg. This vacation, i did the same thing going from 3mg to 2mg. A few days of cravings and then they were gone and now i have no problem on 2mg. I do vape constantly but i enjoy it so i don't want to quit. I just don't want to HAVE to do it. Even at 2mg, i find myself craving nic. The place i order my liquid from recently started putting out 1.5mg liquid so i think that will be my next drop. I'm hoping that by the time i get to 1mg, i will have no problem with the nicotine cravings.

 

[Canadian_Vaper]

I tried going from 6 to 3.. No luck starting vaping 20ml a day lol.. then tried 4mg still same thing pretty much, I went from 6 to 5.5 now and no problems, I'm gonna go down .5 a month from now on...

 

[AndriaD]

I tried going from 6 to 3.. No luck starting vaping 20ml a day lol.. then tried 4mg still same thing pretty much, I went from 6 to 5.5 now and no problems, I'm gonna go down .5 a month from now on...

You might even be able to go faster, by dropping in such small increments -- I did it weekly, dropping .5mg each week, and I really didn't even notice. The TH got lighter, so I just added a bit more Flash to my mixes, but I didn't continue with that -- once I got the nic down to 5mg, where I wanted to park, I found that I'm a lot more sensitive to TH than a used to be, it just makes me cough if it's too much. But I never felt a single craving, dropping such a small amount each week.

Andria

 

[Canadian_Vaper]

You might even be able to go faster, by dropping in such small increments -- I did it weekly, dropping .5mg each week, and I really didn't even notice. The TH got lighter, so I just added a bit more Flash to my mixes, but I didn't continue with that -- once I got the nic down to 5mg, where I wanted to park, I found that I'm a lot more sensitive to TH than a used to be, it just makes me cough if it's too much. But I never felt a single craving, dropping such a small amount each week.

Andria

Meh not that big of a issue for me, actually like nic, no intentions of getting rid of it completely just cutting down to save money and if the vapocalypse happens my supplies will last me twice as long lol.

 

[AndriaD]

Meh not that big of a issue for me, actually like nic, no intentions of getting rid of it completely just cutting down to save money and if the vapocalypse happens my supplies will last me twice as long lol.

Same here -- I started 2015 at 10mg, and ended at 5mg, so that doubled my stash. Mainly I wanted to get it that low before cold weather, and I'm really glad; it's been really cold the last few days, and I really see a big difference in my cold hands/feet -- the only time I've had to go and use the blow dryer on my hands was after I'd been doing the dishes; haven't needed to use it on my feet at all.

If the deeming turns out as badly as we fear, then I may go on and drop to 3mg; I'd still have the benefit of having some nicotine, but it would stretch my stash from 20-22 yrs, to about 35-37 yrs. I might live another 20, 25 yrs, but really kinda doubt I'm good for another 35-37.

Andria