Quitting Vaping & Nicotine

[Super-Shiny]

I love my Throat Hit too much to quit/reduce my nic levels Tease-smiley

[Deleted]

I was on 24mg this time last year then flitted between 15 and 18 depending which recipe I mixed up, however since the start of this year I've been reducing the nicotine by 1mg every other mix, currently vaping at 7 I have 120ml at 6 steeping and any I make this weekend will be at 5mg, I intend to get down to zero, as to giving up vaping, not a chance as I enjoy the mechanics and the flavours too much. Dave

[oxo]

Aug 7, 2013 10:13:19 GMT nfollows1982 said:

Morning all,

Is vaping a long term hobby for you or are you planning on becoming nicotine and vaping free altogether at some point?

Also, for those who are either reducing or have reduced nic strength (and maybe reached the magic 0%) how were the withdrawals compared to going cold turkey from stinkies?

I know I’ve only been vaping for 6 weeks but I’m already starting to think about how I want to move forward with it; I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t want to be a long term vaper and I just want to use it as a stop gap to becoming nic/vape free altogether.

Ive not reached the magical 0% but Im now vaping 3mg with no cravings a light vaping cant deal with.
I would advise you to get a good VV device if you dont already possess one, as the ability to vape a couple of ml in a relatively short period helps cushion the drop in nicotine levels as you take a day or so to acclimatize to a lower mg. ( let the battery take the strain).
I will be happy to stay at this level for the foreseeable future as numbers dont mean much, 3mg is still an addiction.
 I have packed up for as long as 6 months from the cigs, after every meal came the nicotine craving.
irishcas is dealing with zero nic very well, but I shall not be putting my will power to the test for the final push any time soon.

[lobeydosser]

Over the last 15 years I have tried to stop smoking many times and succeeded every time.
The trouble was that I couldn't stay stopped.
2 months, 6 months, a year and the last time 18 months. Always something would come along that had me desperate for that nicotine kick. Then I was back on the merry go round again.
I guess that is the bottom line with any addiction, you only need one crisis and you are reaching for your comfort pillow, be it alcohol, nicotine, wacky baccy, whatever.

It is not a case of what strength you use, it is more a case of what strength your body perceives that it needs and a body can go a very long time without its needs, but when it feels threatened in some way, it will scream bloody murder to get its fix.

If giving up Nicotine was an easy option, then BP would not be making multi millions from NRT products.

I used to smoke 40 a day. About £14.50p a day.
I now vape less than 50p a day.
So why on earth would I want to stop doing something I enjoy and have made into a hobby?
After all, I am not annoying anyone else when I vape, its cheap and very affordable. I am healthier and content and just in case I forget why I am here, I can listen to my neighbours coughing their lungs out, every morning while they are "enjoying" their morning fag!!

So to answer the question, Vaping allows me to get my nicotine fix without resorting to cigarettes. That, for me is a miracle and I would consider myself very stupid to try to repeat the "giving up process" that I have tried and failed so many times before.

[Saturnalia]

Me too Lobeydosser. I could give up painlessly, stay off the cigs for months at a time, then end up smoking "just the one" and it never is one, the minute you stick one in your mouth again you're as addicted as you ever were. It wasn't even as if I ever had a good reason to get hooked again, it'd be something silly like a tough day at work rather than a real crisis that would make that black dog nibble at my ankles again.

As far as vaping goes, my only long-term plan with it is to stay off stinkies, anything else is a one day at a time and see how it goes.

Though as I have said on here before, I have 18mg and 16mg liquids now and can't feel any difference between them, so next time I'll get 16 and 14s and see how they feel for me, and step down until I find the lowest nic level that still does the job. But I don't really have getting to zero as a goal - it'll happen if and when it happens if you get me.

I don't want to stop vaping though, it feels so good!

[djs]

I'll keep it short, on 3G.
My plan is to quit vaping-but unlike everybody else, I have come down 24 18 12 and that's as low as I'm going. This stage is vaping less-in puffs and sessions . It's all very well cutting down the nic but unless you stop the habit, it's unlikely to work. In the way that smoking is need and habit, my plan is to address both on the way "down"

[mybad]

I reckon the best plan is not to have a plan in the first place , just be thankful that you have found a good alternative to smoking the nasties, and what will be will be, whether you stop or continue vaping just enjoy it while you do vape.

[lobeydosser]

Oh I plan to start smoking again.

Ofcourse that will not be until 3 days after I die and "the smoking" bit will be when I am on my way up the Crematorium Chimney!

[gaura]

Here is a cravings time table, if you can get through the first 21 days, it sounds like the battle is won. It is based on one that was made for people quitting smoking, but with just the parts relevant to nicotine ref...

after 24 hours - anxiety peaks, within two weeks anxiety levels should return to near pre-cessation levels

after 72 hours - entire body is nicotine free, Symptoms of chemical withdrawal have peaked in intensity, including restlessness. The number of cue induced crave episodes experienced during any quitting day will peak for the "average" ex-user.

after 5-8 days - most will encounter an "average" of three cue induced crave episodes per day. Although we may not be "average" and although serious cessation time distortion can make minutes feel like hours, it is unlikely that any single episode will last longer than 3 minutes. Keep a clock handy and time them.

after 10 days - The "average" ex-user is down to encountering less than two crave episodes per day, each less than 3 minutes.

after 2-4 weeks - Cessation related anger, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, impatience, insomnia, restlessness and depression should have ended.

after 21 days - Brain acetylcholine receptor counts that were up-regulated in response to nicotine's presence have now down-regulated and receptor binding has returned to normal levels

[Deleted]

Nicotine-free for 2 years once, then fell back on the fags at the funeral of the person who got me to quit. If vaping means I don't do anything stupid like that again (and hating myself for it) I'm vaping indefinitely, at whatever strength keeps me content and off the tar sticks. I'm healthier/happier, financially better off, not stressed, and not feeling like I need a stinky.
I'm more concerned about our lousy Gov' clawing back the lost revenue from ex-smokers by backdoor taxing it.

[lobeydosser]

It is all very well "those in the know" telling us how our body/minds react to nicotine withdrawal, however, according to the WHO, 95% of cigarette quitters are back on them within Two Years!!!!!

From my own experience of trying to stop smoking and from what I have observed with those around me, I reckon that WHO have it bang on.

[siffy]

Aug 7, 2013 20:49:17 GMT djs said:

I'll keep it short, on 3G.
My plan is to quit vaping-but unlike everybody else, I have come down 24 18 12 and that's as low as I'm going. This stage is vaping less-in puffs and sessions . It's all very well cutting down the nic but unless you stop the habit, it's unlikely to work. In the way that smoking is need and habit, my plan is to address both on the way "down"

I would have to do the same too as vaping has become an event, as myvsmoking habit was.

[zeldamum]

After 5 months of vaping I have noticed that like with smoking I have heavy vaping days and light vaping days. So go with the flow on the vaping front.

When MHRA get their way and eliquid does become highly regulated in 3 years time I think we will all have no choice but to cut nic levels down. This is the reason I plan to cut the levels down in my own time whilst nic base and liquid is still freely available in different strengths.

[Jerri]

I have to say I love vaping. Love everything about it. The different flavours. The shiny new toys. The community.

I vape 6mg nic. Anything else kills my throat. So I'm happy with that. In 8 months I've gone from 24mg. Not a conscious decision. Just because it started giving me a sore throat.

I don't think much about it to be honest. I think I'll vape until I get bored and don't want to do it any more.

[lobeydosser]

I too get a sore throat some days. There are also days, especially if I am grafting, that I want more of a nic kick than days when I am just pottering about.
Thankfully there is an answer and that is a Variable Wattage device.
Since buying a couple of these in a recent Forum Co-op Buy, they have become my staple device.
This now means that I can just have the one 24mg e-juice in a tank and no matter what I am doing during that day, I can up or lower the effects of the vape, depending on how much I want.

Ofcourse upping the wattage means I am using e-juice faster, but over the day it averages out.

If I do start to experience the sore throat bit, I have a fall back e-juice of soothing "Minth", my Mint/Menthol e-juice which is also 24mg. Lovely for a couple of hours but not an all day type vape.