Time To Fess Up

[kvjeff73]

I'm hopelessly addicted to caffeine, I think coffee is harder to quit than analogs, at least for me.

I hope you all are right about nicotine alone not being any worse than caffeine. I started vaping as a step to quitting, but I love this stuff!!

I started at 18mg when I first got off of analogs, and am now onto 11/12mg. I just placed my latest juice order for 60ml of 6mg stuff. Maybe I'll find I'll be happy with 0 nic, we'll see!

[Heavyrocker58]

I suspect that some of us are more addicted to nicotine since we started vaping than we were while smoking.Think about it,if you are like me you vape from the time you roll out of the sack until you climb back in and keep it by your bed to puff on when you hear a bump in the night or get up to pee.If you are vaping high octane eliquid you would have to be consuming more nicotine during the course of a day than you ever could smoking.Any thoughts on the matter?

Ive been reading up on nicotine and its pretty harmless in its pharma form,but in tobacco it different,they add chemicials to make the nic more intense and powerful and dangerous along with all the added additives.

[Heavyrocker58]

I'm in the same boat. I start off the day fairly light, like Mike said at work it's pretty spread out, less than i ever smoked. Then when i get home i eat dinner and after that the thing practically never leaves my mouth lol.

All in all tho i don't worry about the nic content, i vape 12mg which is fairly low, and I feel like vapers take relatively quick inhales. I take long mouth drags, but the inhale to exhale time i feel like is quicker than when i smoked, when i would take slow drags and inhale as i dragged. The longer it's in your lungs the more time there is for all the chemicals and nic to be absorbed.

You hold the vapour in your mouth and it absorbs too.

[Rixter]

I guess my original thought was we are patting ourselves on the back for quitting smoking or dipping but I suspect we are every bit as addicted to nicotine as ever.Vaping is for sure less harmfull and more cost effective than tobacco .As someone said in another thread we just exchanged one adiction for another.Still kind of fun to hear our reasoning.

Harm reduction.

[Heavyrocker58]

How many ml and what strength juice do you guys use per day? For me, it's around 3 ml at 18 mg.

I havnt tried anything over 12mg,i think 12 mg is my sweet spot,i was a light smoker too before.

[mse12]

I think 90% of any addiction is mental. This is why ppl will fully detox physically and turn around and od the next week/month. Humans are strange like that. I don't get it. I know that 12mg nic leaves me satisfied so I guess that's what counts.

Edited January 15, 2013 by mse12

[GreenKnight]

I don't know about that mcquin. I don't find myself rushing to my pv when I get up in the morning or after a meal (those famous triggers). I don't that addicted anymore. I don't find myself craving my pv. I only vape 1ml of 11mg and 2-4ml of 6mg of nicotine a day. As far as I can tell, that's not a lot.

But everybody is different though. I want to quit using nicotine so much - but not completely.

Edited January 15, 2013 by GreenKnight

[Rixter]

Here's a little something from Wikipedia's Electronic Cigarette page that I found very interesting:

"Research carried out at the University of East London on the effects of using an electronic cigarette to reduce cravings in regular tobacco smokers showed that there was no significant reported difference between smokers who inhaled vapour containing nicotine and those who inhaled a placebo vapour containing no nicotine. The report concluded that although electronic cigarettes can be effective in reducing nicotine-related withdrawal symptoms, the nicotine content does not appear to be of central importance, and other smoking related cues (such as taste or vapour resembling smoke) may account for the reduction in discomfort associated with tobacco abstinence in the short term."

Hmmm.

[NorthernGirl]

I can relate to what that Wiki info is talking about. Part of the whole reason I won't go back to standard resistance is because I just can't seem to get that big beautiful cloud of vapor with a SR atty. If I'm vaping, I gotta see the cloud Otherwise, a hit is just not satisfying for me. Weird, I know.

Lately I've been vaping about 3-5 mls of 6mg per day. How that relates to what I was getting for nic when I was smoking a pack per day of Marb lights, I have no idea. Some days I chain vape at work, just because my boss doesn't care, as long as it's not in view of the public. And at night when I'm hanging out on the computer, I pretty much chain vape. So yeah, I vape pretty constantly all day long lol. It wasn't as bad when the only battery I had wasn't a pass-through. At least I would take a break when it was charging. Now, I have a pass thru and no excuse to put it down :P

[GreenKnight]

I completely feel you NorthernGirl. I feel I need those clouds of vapor and I seem to vape a lot more than my brother, and frankly I don't think he's vaping less mg than I am. I vape 6mg after 12pm but in the mornings I vape 12mg. But I want to cut down to 0mg for after 12 and 6mg for the morning, and then to 0mg.

[Vesuvius]

I started at 24mg/ml nic stength. Within two months, kicked it down to 12mg/ml.

A year latter, kicked it down to 6mg/ml, and it is fine.

But, I have always been a heavy vaper. I can go through up to 8ml of juice a day, at 4.2v with a 1.5 ohm dual coil tank carto, and that has been constant.

Less nic? I would have to think yes, I get less nic now, and working towards using zero nic juices. In fact, I am looking forward to it.

[Apphoard]

I do not see how it is possible for someone to go thru 6ml or 8ml of juice in a day. If so what are you vaping because it must be good? I have not yet found something I think I could vape all day to quit the analogs. I have tried several of the tobacco flavors and I think all of them taste very similar.

[nana]

I'm another one that has to see that cloud of vapor to feel satisfied. It never made much sense to me, but I quit trying to figure it out. I just vape on.

I easily go through 6ml per day. Usually more. I've even gone through 12ml in a day. I vape almost non-stop most days, but it depends on what I'm doing. I can be busy doing something and notice that I haven't picked up my PV in 3 hours and I'm not craving it either. Seems strange, but then I probably always have been a bit strange. I know that when I smoked, I could not have made it over an hour without a smoke or I would have been pulling my hair out. I know because I tried it when I'd try to quit smoking. I just couldn't do it until I started vaping.

Absolutely less nic!!! The nic level doesn't have much to do with my vaping anymore. I vape a lot of 0mg and some 6mg. The coffee flavor I LOVE doesn't come that low, so I get it in 11mg. I don't vape a lot of it because I use it as my "desert" or my "treat".

I don't know if it's age or vaping, but I don't seem to get nearly as stressed as I used to. I wonder if it has to do with not having to worry about when or where I can get my next smoke. Maybe because I can vape anytime, anywhere I want to, it keeps me a lot calmer.

[CASEACE79]

Mcquinn sir that's a hard question to answer... Nicotine absorbtion is much different with ecigs compared to analogs. Analogs use a number of different compounds to help get the nic into the blood stream as fast, along with as much, as possible. Without those additives the actual absorbtion rate differs person to person. In other words just because you're vaping 3.6% juice, doesn't mean your body is actually getting all that 3.6% into your body. Having said that, know my nic intake has steadily gone up since quitting analogs and cutting back on the caffeine, along with what level is needed in the bloodstream for me to be satisfied. I'm a complete nic addict....

You are right sir. There was a study just released that showed that absorption of nicotine is 3-10 times slower than smoking analogs. Also there is no sign of cardiac distress. Yes I am addicted to nicotine but science points to not dying because of it.

[Mox]

I vape 3-7 ml of 12 mg strength liquid

Im okay with that because I started vaping to get rid of the tobacco being burned to get my kick.

I cant imagine any more harmful method to get my kick than burning the substance...

I ordered some DIY supplies (plenty actually) and Im planing on reducing my does by 0.5 -1 mg per month ~

My goal is to cut it down to 3 mg by the end of the year.

Im not yet certain if im actually doing this because I feel like a vaping addiction isnt bad at all. Look at other drug addicts or gambling or computer gaming.

Vaping wont kill me or toss me out of social structure.

Vaping is a ******* alpha drug habit

[PADave]

Since analogs have been around for so long, there has been a lot of testing done on nicotine content vs. absorbtion. The accepted rule of thumb seems to be that each analog contains about 5mg of nicotine and approximately 1mg is absorbed through the smoking process. (can't accredit this) For me, that meant when i was smoking 30 cigarettes a day, I was absorbing approximately 30mg of nicotine through smoking.

Now, as a vaper, I usually vape about 3-4ml of 12mg juice daily. That equates to about 36-48mg of nicotine intake daily. Based on this I figured that I was virtually 'no worse off' even if almost all the nicotine ingested was absorbed. The question I have always had is 'how does absorbtion with ecigs compare to analogs?'. At a vape meet last year, I had the opportunity to broach that question with Kurt Kistler (AEMSA subject matter expert) a chemist with experience in ecigs and nicotine. According to my conversation with him, his professional opinion is that the way ecigs are designed (to maximize vapor production) is not the most condusive to nicotine absorbtion and that only approximately 10% of the nicotine is absorbed. Now, this is one person's opinion and I know of no specific scientific studies to back this up ......but WOW! If that is even close to accurate that means i am only absorbing approximately 3-5mg of nicotine a day! Far less than with analogs and giving potential additional credence to the Wiki article stating that nicotine intake is the most important thing.

Just my $.02 as I celebrate 2 years analog free!

[Tam]

At a vape meet last year, I had the opportunity to broach that question with Kurt Kistler (AEMSA subject matter expert) a chemist with experience in ecigs and nicotine. According to my conversation with him, his professional opinion is that the way ecigs are designed (to maximize vapor production) is not the most condusive to nicotine absorbtion and that only approximately 10% of the nicotine is absorbed. Now, this is one person's opinion and I know of no specific scientific studies to back this up ......but WOW! If that is even close to accurate that means i am only absorbing approximately 3-5mg of nicotine a day! Far less than with analogs and giving potential additional credence to the Wiki article stating that nicotine intake is the most important thing.

Just my $.02 as I celebrate 2 years analog free!

Very interesting. This could also explain why we vape more than we smoked...

[robv1978]

That actually makes a lot of sense. We generally mouth long slow drags then inhale. Well, most of the vapor isn't inhaled due to the fact that we are inhaling air with it on top if the air that we initially took in with the mouth full. That's what gives a lighter, smoother hit. Thus filling our lungs with more air than vapor. So, the concentration of the vapor is decreased when mixed with the increased air and most of what's exhaled is what stays in our mouths. Look in the mirror next time you vape. .... just my theory. :p

[CASEACE79]

If you want to cut down on the mg strength get a genny. Nicotine delivery is much more potent. Typically people cut their nicotine mg in half when switching to a genesis atomizer.

[2bsmoke4ee]

Well when I took my first vape, it was with high strength juice, and after the first 3 big hits dripping with a LR atomizer, I got so freakin dizzy I couldn't believe it. Right away I knew it was to strong, couldn't even sleep right away. Now I do the lowest strength, which is 0.8 nic %. Sometimes I feel that that is to weak, but I stick with it. I really need that throat hit though even if it's not big. My g/f smokes 0% nic, and no way could I do that, I'd probably just quit all together if 0 nic was my only option. But I absolutely agree with Northern Girl, much of the satisfaction for me comes from seeing a large, thick, billowing cloud exit when I exhale! No doubt about it. I could get plenty of nic in a hit but still wouldn't have the full satisfaction without a good cloud... Which makes me wonder... How many would still vape with very little or no cloud at all? Would simply injesting nicotine be enough? It would pretty much ruin it for me, I bet I wouldn't vape nearly as much... which then makes me wonder... How addicted to nic am I really...

Edited March 26, 2013 by 2bsmoke4ee

[daleron]

Im addicted to internet vaping forums.

Me too

[ancient11]

The amount of time you spend vaping and the amount of nicotine you intake are 2 different things. I make my own juice and have come from 28mg to 0mg nicotine.

With that said, I do add a lot of flavor with 20%vg and 80%pg and I also vape much less.

[MistaCloudStrife]

We can be taking in just as much or even more nicotine than we used to, but the thing about vaping is we actually have way more control over our nicotine intake, so as long as we're aware of it. Unlike cigarettes where we smoke however many cigarettes a day and get that much nicotine per day, we could be vaping at a low level of nicotine and be vaping 10x as much than when we were smoking and still get less nicotine. It's all up to what mg you are at. We can more easily wean ourselves off of nicotine with vaping than if we were smoking. Instead of cutting back on vaping, we can vape the same amount of juice at a slightly lower dosage and keep on lowering it until we're off of nicotine all together. It's a very strong possibility, which is infiinitely more beneficial than smoking.

[Gadzoox]

*knock on wood* I have a feeling bacon will kill me much sooner than e cigarettes ever will

Is there a bacon flavor liquid? =P

[Inspector7]

When I was initially quitting analogs, I used high-nicotene content e-liquid to compensate. I was a heavy smoker for about 15 years, and the added nicotene made it a breeze. Over the past 3 months I've cut that from ~24mg to 6mg. I suppose I'll keep weening til I'm vaping 0, it hasn't been bad at all. I find as the nicotene level in my e-liquid is dropping so is the number of "cravings" I've been having. I almost never "need" a vape anymore.