When looking to reduce your nicotine intake, it’s important to have a clear goal in mind. Is your plan to cut back on vaping and puffing, quit vaping altogether by stopping abruptly, switching to nicotine-free e-liquids, or simply downgrading to a lower strength? Are you looking for immediate results or do you have time to reduce your nicotine levels over a longer period of time?
It’s important to remember that the reason you started vaping in the first place was to quit tobacco. Rapid nicotine reduction can be successful if done correctly, but you don’t want to relapse and return to smoking cigarettes as a result, which is even more harmful to your health. It’s estimated that vaping is 95% safer than smoking traditional cigarettes.
It’s a good idea to know your personal triggers. Do you vape more when you’re stressed, tired, anxious, or sad? If so, you need to be aware of the most common triggers and avoid slipping back into your old ways. Try to distract yourself to help reduce social, emotional, or activity triggers.
Don’t worry, you can do it!
Is Nicotine Really Bad?
While nicotine is addictive and found in cigarettes and many e-liquids, it’s not the most harmful ingredient. The real danger comes from the thousands of chemicals in tobacco smoke, many of which are toxic and can lead to cancer, lung disease, heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes. Switching from smoking to vaping can dramatically reduce your exposure to these harmful toxins. Nicotine itself, while addictive, is relatively harmless compared to the toxic substances in cigarette smoke.
9 Vaping Tips to Cut Down on Nicotine:
1. Slow and steady wins the race
Reduce your nicotine intake gradually over time, but don’t rush it for the best results. Only reduce your nicotine intake when you’re ready to ensure you don’t return to smoking as a result. Tapering off is less stressful than going cold turkey and will reduce withdrawal symptoms, making the low dose of nicotine more manageable.
2. Reduce Nicotine Strength
Establish a realistic time frame for when you want to reduce your nicotine intake, and test the waters before you jump in first, this is the best approach. Try a lower nicotine e-liquid and see if it keeps you in check. We recommend tapering down in stages, rather than dropping dramatically from a high strength e-liquid like 18mg to a low strength e-liquid like 3mg. This is likely to be a huge jump and will often lead to an unsuccessful adjustment to a low nicotine level.
If you are using nicotine salt e-liquids, you basically have three options; 20mg, 10mg, and 5mg. So if you are on 20mg, why not try 10mg and so on. Smaller steps generally lead to better results.
Look at nicotine strengths as a series of stages, from nicotine-free e-cigarettes, low-strength e-cigarettes, medium-strength e-cigarettes, and high-strength e-cigarettes. Move down to lower nicotine levels for successful quit attempts.
High-strength e-liquids: 18mg, 20mg
Mid-strength e-liquids: 10mg, 12mg
Low-strength e-liquids: 3mg, 6mg
Nicotine-free e-liquids: 0mg/ml
If you find that when you lower your nicotine levels you are vaping more than before and consuming more e-liquids, you need to ask yourself: is your goal to lower your nicotine intake or to reduce the frequency of vaping?
Your body will get used to the previous level of nicotine and your brain will signal you to vape more. This is where you need to suppress your cravings and allow your body time to adjust to the new lower level of nicotine. Over time, your new lower nicotine levels will become the new norm but it may take willpower and determination in the initial stages.
If you stay at a certain nicotine level for a while, or longer than you planned, that’s okay. Stick to your plan and make sure you stick to it.
You can experiment with switching to short and long e-liquids and adding your own nicotine doses manually to find the sweet spot. If you’re looking for strengths in between nicotine levels like 14mg which aren’t readily available, you can mix your own e-liquid and experiment to find a balance on your vaping journey. It can be very difficult to calculate nicotine strengths when mixing your own e-liquid, but find a nicotine dose that will last you throughout the day.
Alternatively, you can mix e-liquids that contain nicotine together. For example, if you’re looking for an e-liquid that contains 9mg of nicotine, you can mix equal parts of 12mg and 6mg of nicotine together to reach your desired nicotine level through dilution.
4. Try e-liquids with higher propylene glycol content
Propylene glycol (PG) in e-liquids provides a throat hit or sensation similar to smoking or nicotine when vaping. Switching to e-liquids with higher propylene glycol content may trick your brain into thinking you’re inhaling a stronger nicotine hit.
5. Try Stronger E-Cigarette Flavors
Switching from mild e-cigarette flavors to stronger flavors like tobacco, menthol, or Heisenberg may help you reduce your nicotine levels, as the stronger flavor may trick your brain into thinking there is a higher concentration of nicotine in the liquid.
6. Try E-Cigarette Liquids Containing Nicotine Salts
You can try switching from freebase e-liquids to e-liquids containing nicotine salts in an attempt to reduce your nicotine levels and cut down on smoking. Nicotine salts offer a range of benefits including; rapid absorption of nicotine into the bloodstream similar to the effect of cigarettes, smooth delivery even when using higher strength e-cigarette liquids, a strong dose of nicotine at higher levels of nicotine, and long-term craving satisfaction.
The benefits of nicotine e-liquids containing nicotine salts are that they deliver nicotine more efficiently and more strongly, which often means longer-lasting satisfaction with fewer puffs and less e-liquid consumption.
7. Try sub-ohm vaping
You can try switching to sub-ohm vaping in an attempt to lower your nicotine levels when vaping. Although sub-ohm vaping requires a direct-to-lung (DTL) inhalation method that feels different from smoking, it uses lower nicotine strengths with a higher dose per puff.
Sub-ohm vaping liquids are available ready-made or you can mix them yourself when using short-liquids and nicotine injections. They are best enjoyed at 3mg or 6mg nicotine strengths, so if you’re using higher strengths, switching can significantly reduce your nicotine intake. It can take some time to get used to, but if your goal is to reduce your nicotine intake, this can be an effective method.
8. Only use e-cigarettes when you feel the urge to smoke
Since vaping can be enjoyed in more places than traditional smoking, it can be easy to over-vape. But if you’ve read this far, you’re on a mission to either vape with less nicotine or quit vaping altogether.
Keep a close eye on how often you vape or choose a vaping kit with a puff counter, this will help you when tailoring your vaping experience to your quitting goals. Write down your nicotine-reducing vaping journey or create a quit plan, and tell those close to you so they can offer support. This is a personal journey that only you can succeed on.
Keep at it, learn from your mistakes and reward your small victories. Remember, cravings will pass.
9. Avoid quitting abruptly
Even for strong-willed vapers, quitting completely can be difficult without training your body by gradually reducing your nicotine levels. If this is the approach you want to take, I applaud you and wish you the best, but it’s important not to relapse when you’re stressed, under peer pressure or having a bad day at the office.
What are the potential nicotine withdrawal symptoms you can expect when reducing your nicotine levels when vaping?
Nicotine Cravings
Irritability
Insomnia
Anxiety
Difficulty concentrating
Anxiety
Depression
Increased appetite
Is vaping without nicotine useless?
Vacuuming without nicotine can be beneficial if you’re looking to break free from your nicotine addiction. Vaping nicotine-free e-liquids provide flavor, a hand-to-mouth action, and a throat hit, but without the stimulant nicotine.
Nicotine-free e-liquids (0mg) are completely nicotine-free and are a great option if you’re looking to cut down on your nicotine intake on your vaping journey.
Is vaping with less nicotine healthier?
Vacuuming is much less harmful than regular smoking and much less harmful than smoking tobacco. Nicotine gets a lot of bad press, but while nicotine is the addictive substance in cigarettes and nicotine-containing e-cigarettes, most of the harm comes from the thousands of other chemicals in tobacco smoke. Cigarettes release thousands of different chemicals when they burn. Many of these are toxic and up to 70% of these substances cause cancer. Evidence suggests that vaping is significantly less harmful than regular smoking and that switching to vaping significantly reduces your exposure to harmful toxins.
Vaping without nicotine can be beneficial, although nicotine itself is not very harmful. Vaping with a lower amount of nicotine can help you break free from nicotine dependence and reduce your risk of relapse in the future.
How long does nicotine withdrawal from vaping last?
If you are experiencing nicotine withdrawal symptoms from vaping, they should last for two to four weeks as your body adjusts to a lesser dependence with less nicotine. This time frame can be extended depending on how much you have vaped and how long you have been vaping. The first few days will be particularly difficult, but once you complete 5 days of cutting down or quitting, things should start to improve.
In some cases, nicotine withdrawal can cause anxiety, difficulty concentrating or irritability, and these symptoms should go away quickly as your brain learns how to
Nicotine withdrawal can sometimes cause anxiety, difficulty concentrating, or irritability, and these symptoms should go away quickly as your brain learns how to function without nicotine. In conclusion, STORYVAPE is the best store for electronic smoking and electronic vaping products.