What is considered "heavy vaping?"

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thenut

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Hi folks...
I'm sure this has been discussed more than once (especially on a site as enormous as this), but I'm curious how people define what "light vaping", "moderate", or "heavy vaping" is.
I often hear this when referring to battery life. People will say things like: "That battery should last you a good 4 or 5 hours of heavy vaping".
As I mentioned in my "introduction post" a few days ago, I'm coming up on my third week without a single analog (which still absolutely amazes me, considering I've failed miserably numerous times at every other method I've tried using to quit analogs).
Anyway, the first week I was using my PV, I drove myself completely nuts (thus the user name), trying to keep track of my vaping. I was a complete lunatic. (Well, ok, I still am).

Initially, I was writing down the number of "puffs" I was taking on a piece of paper, and then comparing it to the typical 10 to 12 puffs I would get on an analog, in order to figure out how many "cigarettes" I was smoking a day, to somehow compare the two. And/Or, writing down the number of drops I was putting in my carts, cartos, etc, and adding them up at the end of the day.

I quickly realized how crazy this was...(not to mention I was running out of paper) :laugh:, so I finally said the hell with it and just vaped when I felt like it and tried not to worry about it.
I don't even know how much juice I go through, as I have so many different flavors and I've been switching a lot to find something I like. I simply notice eventually that some bottles are running down faster than others.
I would have to consider myself a "heavy vapor" at this point because I simply can't put the thing down for any length of time. However, as I also mentioned in my very first post here, my vaping "habit" is quite different than what my analog habit was.
I don't have 10 or 12 "puffs", and then put it down, but rather have 3 or 4, put it down, and then pick it up only a few minutes later and repeat the process over and over pretty much all day long.

Do you guys somehow keep specific track of how much Juice you use a day? (This seems difficult to me, especially if you switch juices often). Or, how often you're hitting on the PV? Or both?
That is, maybe a "light vapor" would only use it every couple of hours or so. Then again, light vaping might also be defined as using it often, but with very few puffs.
Then there is also the Nicotine strength to be considered in order to put yourself in a certain category.
See what I'm getting at here? And can you also see why they call me "thenut"?

Sorry for the long winded post, when I basically said very little that made sense. :confused:
I guess what I'm getting at here, is what category would you put yourself in, and how exactly do you determine that you belong in that category?
Man, why do I have to over analyze everything I do in life? :(
Aren't you glad you're not me? Hehe. :p
 
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Nomoreash

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Heavy, moderate and light are loose terms. I think what most people mean buy heavy is never or rarely letting the pv leave the hand, a better measurement would be how much juice is consumed.

You'll learn not to worry about it and get your own groove. Doesn't really matter how it compares as long as it's satisfying you.
 

Wingapo

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When you go to sleep because you can't see straight, you might be vaping too much. When you find yourself vaping in the shower, you might be vaping too much. When you find that your PV is always glued to your lips while you're awake, you might vape too much. But as long as that smile is on your face you'll never get enough.
 

Brewlady

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I have two mini reos that each hold a 3ml bottle. One holds my daytime flavor, and one holds my evening flavor. If I fill both bottles up today (Sunday), I will usually not have to fill them up again until Tuesday. So that would mean I vape about 3ml a day, except that doesn't count the fact that I am always switching to my Buzz Pro too. At one of the vape meets, someone commented that he vapes about 10mls a day.

I know I vape more on weekends because I can't vape at work. I pretty much vape nonstop while I'm driving to work, which is a half hour drive. Then I usually take one or two breaks to go outside to vape, but I also stealth vape at my desk occasionally. I don't really keep track, but when I find a flavor I like I usually re-order when I've gone through half of a 30ml bottle. I started out vaping 24mg strength, and went down to 18mg, which is where I intend to stay. At least for now.
 

thenut

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When you go to sleep because you can't see straight, you might be vaping too much. When you find yourself vaping in the shower, you might be vaping too much. When you find that your PV is always glued to your lips while you're awake, you might vape too much. But as long as that smile is on your face you'll never get enough.
Lol! Well, I havn't hit on it in the shower yet, so maybe I'm doing ok. :D
I am waking up at rediculous hours of the morning though since I quit analogs (like 3 or 4am). Not sure though if it's because I'm getting too much Nic during the day, or not enough.
 

kazz63758

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I'm just about at the same scenario and time frame as you. I've also been vaping approx one month and have went from two packs a day to a pack every 3-4 days.

I guess I consider myself a heavy user as I also seem to take a few puffs every few minutes. I just haven't really considered how that would convert to tobacco cigarettes. I do like the fact that I CAN put it down and not watch my money literally "go up in smoke" sitting on an ashtray. My wife says I smell better, too!

I'll be interested in following this thread to see how more experienced folks comment...
 

Wingapo

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We adjust to the switch differently. I've never slept well so I don't if my staying up all night is normal or not. But until recently I've felt just as bad as when I was smoking. I do know that I was a heavy smoker and I'm vaping at least three times as much as I ever smoked. All these wonderful new flavors are just too tasty to stop vaping them. As you vape more you'll get a better feel for your nic level. I went from 24mg down to 6mg within two weeks of starting and the way I vape I probably should go lower but I just can't bring myself to do it. I mean that last little 6mg is the only real vice i've got left and don't we all need at least one vice?
 

Wingapo

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When I quit/switched I was at about three packs a day and combined with all the smoke from the forest fires I finally realized it was time to try something different and luckily one day every movie and commercial on the tv was about these newfangled gadgets called electronic cigarettes. Gave it a shot and now I vape far more than I ever smoked. My Pv's are glued to my lips as long as I'm awake. I don't know if you've tried tanks or a REO yet but once you try one you realize that you're really vaping through the ml's at an alarming rate. I think there's just something about I can have all I want and it's not really bad for me that kicks in the "I gotta have more," response.
 

thenut

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.....
I think there's just something about I can have all I want and it's not really bad for me that kicks in the "I gotta have more," response.
Yes, that may be the case with me as well. And I'm also so amazed I've actually been able to quit analogs for the first time after trying everything under the sun, that I'm "rewarding myself".
Sometimes that makes me happy, and other times I feel like some kind of .... head who just can't put my pipe down. :facepalm:
 
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rolygate

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The basic thing is that in the first two months, there is no such thing as too much - unless you OD. You can find the symptoms of nicotine overdose in the Medical forum. There are a small number of people who cannot show any sign of nicotine OD, until their heart starts to go wonky - so even for them there is a finite limit :)

Generally, unless you are getting OD symptoms, you are not vaping too much. However, if you are using very large quantities of 36mg liquid per day then it is worth considering if you are one of the group who show no signs of nic OD until things have gone too far. Some show signs of OD even with slightly too much 6mg liquid, so people are hugely different in their tolerance levels. It is not even related to physical size, sex or amount smoked - it's unrelated to anything you might think influences these kinds of things (ex: a woman I know vaped large amounts of 40mg, any less and she had severe cravings; a small man I know who smoked 3 cigarettes a day needed lots of 36mg to make it work).

If you think you are vaping too much, then you can either increase the strength of your liquid and see if that works (if there is no decrease in vaping frequency / consumption then cut back to the strength you were at before), or try adding Snus to see if that helps. Use low strength Snus as you are just using it to get the WTAs that are missing from e-liquid.

How much e-liquid?
A light user consumes 0.1ml to 2ml per day
An average user consumes 2ml to 4ml per day
A heavy user consumes 4ml to 6ml per day
A super-heavy user consumes 6ml+ per day.

There is no positive or negative message in these user levels - if you were a heavy smoker then you will probably be a heavy vaper. Some manage to reduce their consumption gradually. Most manage to reduce the nic strength gradually and this is probably a good idea. If you can get down to an acceptable minimum nic strength - whatever that is - it is probably better than continuing to use the high-strength nic that may have been needed at first.

Waking up early could be a sign of too much or not enough nic, or more likely the process of withdrawal from the various ingredients in tobacco. You can always try Snus to fix these kinds of issues, it is not necessary to have the pain as there is a way round it - the Snus fixes it for many.

You are probably vaping too much if you take your PV to bed and wake every 20 minutes for a few puffs :) Otherwise, especially in the first couple of months, I wouldn't worry too much. In the long term it's probably a good idea to reduce the nicotine, and maybe the flavoring quantity as well, but otherwise - why worry?

As yet no one has died from vaping, and in the same timescale that e-cigs have been around, Chantix (aka Varenicline, the quit smoking drug) has caused hundreds of thousands of heart attacks (one for every 30 patients - that's 62,500 heart attacks in the US last year), around a thousand suicides, many thousands of suicide attempts, and even a few murders.

Compared to that, Russian roulette might be safer, never mind electronic cigarette use.

Some long-term e-cig users are going to have lung issues due to intolerance to certain ingredients (which might be avoided by a process of trial and error to eliminate the problematic item/s), and some long-term users are going to have heart issues due to massive overconsumption of nicotine due to the use of high strength liquid for far too long while being in the group that shows no nic OD signs. Apart from that, and some other unusual contra-indications or medicine interactions with nicotine, there isn't much need to get too worried.

As always, people need to see their doctor if they have any unexplained symptoms, as there could be something else going on - but 'over-vaping' is nothing to worry about, especially at first.
 
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thenut

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Thanks for the comprehensive post, rolygate...I'm learning more and more every day. And as you and others said, I think for now at least, I've just got to try and stop worrying so much about it.
Your comment about the Chantix hit home (which I also tried...three different times).
Waking up early doesn't even begin to describe how lousy that stuff made me feel...I thought I was losing my mind for sure until I finally threw that crap away.
 
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sidetrack

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About the only way I could figure out how much I vaped was by the # of mls per day X the mg. This required me to vape one niquid for a day so I could measure it. When I started vapeing I was just like you and had that need to know and compare. After 8 mo. of vapeing I really don't care anymore especially since I am nicotine free now. I had smoked 1.25 packs per day for over 45 years and vaped about 2 ml in the beginning. I now vape 1-1.5ml per day. I think most all of us vaped more in the beginning. I would consider myself a light vaper due to 0 mg and 1-1.5 ml per day. Below is a link that willl help you determine what you were smoking in terms of nicotine. There are several threads here on ECF on how to determine how many mg per ml to replace what you were smoking.
Erowid Tobacco Vault : Info on Nicotine Content of Cigarette Brands
 

wv2win

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We adjust to the switch differently. I've never slept well so I don't if my staying up all night is normal or not. But until recently I've felt just as bad as when I was smoking. I do know that I was a heavy smoker and I'm vaping at least three times as much as I ever smoked. All these wonderful new flavors are just too tasty to stop vaping them. As you vape more you'll get a better feel for your nic level. I went from 24mg down to 6mg within two weeks of starting and the way I vape I probably should go lower but I just can't bring myself to do it. I mean that last little 6mg is the only real vice i've got left and don't we all need at least one vice?

You may be vaping so much because your nic level is too low for your need. There have been a number of posts that stated they actually reduced how much liquid they used once they moved back up to a nic level that better satisfied them.
 

Wingapo

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You may be vaping so much because your nic level is too low for your need. There have been a number of posts that stated they actually reduced how much liquid they used once they moved back up to a nic level that better satisfied them.

I'm vaping low nic because I got a REO and it makes it just too easy to get all nicced out. thanks to REO i went from 3ml's a day close to 10ml's some days, so the nic had to go down. In the morning, and sometimes at night, I will have a bit of 24mg.
 
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