How about talking about nicotine consumption?

E-liquids General
21

The unknown factor here, is how much of the nicotine in the vape we actually absorb?

When it comes to tobacco and cigarettes there has been countless test of this, and as it turns out, we on average absorb about 1mg of nicotine per cigarette, or less than 10% of the actual nicotine content in a cigarette (up to 24mg per cigarette).

When it comes to vape there however hasn’t been any such studies yet, it would however be safe to assume that it is considerable lower than 100%. Even a very conservative estimate would be that we don’t absorb more than an absolute max of 50%.

Now if we use that estimate to calculate the OP’s (@Mandrax) nicotine consumption:
15ml x 3mg x 50% = 22.5mg VS. 30cigs x 1mg = 30mg
He/she has actually reduced the daily nicotine consumption!
And doing a similar calculation for myself, I have more than halved my nicotine consumption.

Conclusion: nothing to worry about :wink:

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22

I have heard that there was no passive vaper as the passive smoker because our body absorbs 98% of the nicotine. Are not we talking about the same kind of consumption!
Now I’m confused.

23

It’s true that there has been test of the risk to passive smokers, and the content of nicotine in exhaled vape.
There has however not been any test (that I know of) of how much of the nicotine actually ends up in our blood, similar to the test of cigarettes, and that is the important number.

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EDIT: My math was really off, so I’m deleting the contents of this post - to avoid any possible confusion.

25

Let me correct a few little things

Pure nic is 1000mg per millilitre

3% nic is 30mg per ml which is very very strong people talk about 3mg per ml here which is .3%

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26

Wow, boy was I wrong - I was off by 1000. Thanks for the clarification.

So, a 30ml bottle of juice at 3mg/ml would then be 90mg of nicotine. Got it.

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27

This post says it all. Not worried about nicotine intake but rather worried about the wallet. Im sure you can still find sources where you can buy 48mg or more nicotine in 100ml or bigger bottles.

For everything else related to the question i agree with other that think the nicotine isn’t the most dangerous/ addictive and what not thing about cigarettes

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28

Of course, the biggest concern has to do with the wallet, because vices have some and nicotine is just another … lol
Regarding sources, I have some options, but these are considered contraband, and at any moment the thing may still cost more expensive… :grimacing:

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Can tottaly understand that the wallet is the main concern. But if that had been stated from the beginning we would have seen a whole other discussion then we did now which was focused on health.

Best advice i can give you, would be to stockpile it. I got 5 liters of 100mg and 2 liters of 48mg left in my fridge and i’m nicotine free the wife uses 3 mg for the moment (in an mtl device).

Try mtl vaping during the day at even at higher nic lvls you should be consuming far less liquid. Can still vape dl when you really want to enjoy it. Cigarette vs cigar thing maybe.

Anyway maybe more people can help you get your spending down without sacrificing to much. See if you can sell some juice it could cover your consumption aswell.

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30

I’m with @Duchesst about the money and the rest who talk about nicotine not being as dangerous as people make it seem. I know of a couple people who never smoked and took up vaping (NOT something I recommend btw) because the nicotine helped their anxiety. Vaping may not be as safe as breathing (unless you live in a very populated city with lots of air pollution…then it might be safer :thinking: ) so I don’t think people should take it up who haven’t ever smoked or dipped or whatever. That being said, I agree that nicotine is pretty on par with caffeine (both in high doses will kill you) and I sure as heck am not giving up coffee. :laughing:

The only reason I have and may continue to lower my nic level is because it’s expensive and it’s highly possible it will also become very hard to purchase here in the US. It’s a hassle I’d rather not bother with.

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31

I’ll share my experience with nicotine reduction. I’m probably a little further down the road to mummification than some. I’m 63, and up until I started vaping almost 3 years ago, I was a 1 1/2 to 2 pack a day smoker for 45 years.

I started DIY shortly after I started vaping. I started at 9mg/ml, and life was great. After a while, I decided to reduce my nicotine a bit, and dropped it down to 7mg/ml. I stayed there for about a year, and gradually reduced it down to 4mg/ml over the course of a few months. 9 to 7mg was no big deal, so 4 should be easy. Not in my case.

I started feeling ‘off’ and couldn’t figure out why. I couldn’t connect the dots and nicotine withdrawal symptoms never entered my mind. I wondered if something snapped in my circuitry or if I was headed for a stroke or something. Anxiety, difficulty concentrating, feeling somewhat depressed, not sleeping well, irritable, and upset stomach.

By accident, I stumbled across an article on quitting smoking and the nicotine withdrawal symptoms one might expect to face. BAM! It was almost a perfect checklist of my symptoms. I couldn’t believe I didn’t even think of it. Finally knowing what was causing it was a huge relief in itself! Knowing what it was, and that I had the power to bump my nic level back up, I decided to stick with the 4mg and ride it out a little longer. The symptoms have improved slightly, but not as much as I’d like. I’m going to bump the nic up to 5mg/ml on my next batch of PG/VG/Nic base, and see what happens.

Studies are showing that nicotine is not the demon drug that it was once branded. Here’s a link with some interesting info. It’s from 2014.

http://discovermagazine.com/2014/march/13-nicotine-fix

There are indications that nicotine helps with memory, concentration, helps protect brain cells (heaven knows I’ve killed enough of those voluntarily in the 70s), seems to help with Parkinson’s, improves neurotransmitter function, etc. All things that I could be facing in the future, at my age.

I’m going to stay on the nic train. Maybe it’s easier to reduce nic for younger people, having been dependent on nicotine for a shorter time. I have enough nic in the freezer to last a long time, so bumping it up a notch isn’t going to break the bank. I can always grab another liter if I feel I need to. As @VapeyMama said, listen to your body.

Good topic. Pardon the long winded post.

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32

Sometimes , or often, being short only leads to vagueness. Your post is clear, concise, and excellent. Ending the use of nicotine for me is nowhere in sight and the benefits are well established.

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33

Thanks. In my particular case, the hand to mouth, drawing in, exhaling the vapor, the taste, that was better than cigs, all satisfied a huge part of the habit I was trying to replace. All was grand until I reached a certain level of nicotine, and the demons crept in. They were sneaky.

Maybe others can benefit from my experience and pay attention to changes as they lower their nicotine levels. Take it slow, and don’t be afraid to bump it back up a notch to stabilize things. It’s easy to adjust and fine tune, as necessary, with DIY.

Like you said, the benefits are well established. Perhaps it will help soften some of the mental pitfalls of growing old. It wont help the aches and pains, but maybe we’ll still have enough marbles left to plan an escape from the old folks home!

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34

Thank you for sharing your experience.
My biggest fear is that my body ask more and more of nicotine … I quit smoking because I felt that I smoked more and more for that reason, not to mention that it was expensive and it was bad, and I realize that I increased the consumption of nicotine in vaping. :neutral_face:

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35

Hopefully you will find the level of nicotine that satisfies the cravings, and is still kind to the bank account. :smiley:

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36

I suffer from early onset dementia, and I can tell you first handed, that I haven’t smoked for 20 years. 5 years ago after diagnosis, medications etc, caused a huge appetite and weight gain, I wanted to smoke again, instead, I picked up vaping at 3g, that I immediately diluted my 30ml bottles to 90ml bottles mixing with VG, because of being poor. The mental acuity, stimulation at 1mg, is enough for me, and also keeps my oral fixation in check to help with appetite suppressing. Who needs to eat a dreamcicle when I can vape one :slight_smile:

This has been very good for me, and I am sure for many others. Nicotine, like anything, is bad when it exceeds its benefits.

Nicotine has its place, but I do always encourage that less is almost always better.

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37

Nicotine as its own is not the problem. Your body regulates the cosumtion of the ammount of “normal” nicotine. To much, you get dizzy, get a headache or will nearly poke. You will not feel very comfortable.

Nicotine is equal to coffeine. So prof. dr. bernhard mayer says. He is a vaper and fighter against the bullshit goverment says about vaping.

Did you ever hear about nicotine batch junkies? No! Thats because the cosumption of nicotine and the how is decoupled. The nicotine hits the brain very slow. Nearly the same with vaping. BUT vaping includes not only the cosumption of nicotine. You take something in your hand, guide it to your mouth, take a small or big inhale and exhale visible smoke. This habbit combined with nicotine makes the addiction. Its a kind of ritual. But you don´t get the hit in a few seconds, it will take a while till the nicotine reaches your brain. the addiction is not realy strong. Most of all its enough to take a inhale to feel the throat hit or see the big clouds on the exhale. In most cases the vaper is satisfied, although the nicotine has no chance to hit the brain in this short time.

Cigarettes work witth ammonium to make nicotine go under 7Ph, same with salts. Under 7ph your body can absorb the nicotine much faster and its getting nearly immedently to your brain. The ritual AND the fast hit make a very strong addiction. Every smoker knows the craving, don´t you. How often you thought “i would kill for a cigarette!”

So in my opinion, vapers, not the new one, are not addicted to nicotine. We are addicted to the ritual, the community, the mods and atomizers, and the big fat clouds we can produce. Don´t forget the throat hit and the pressure in your lungs.

Salts can be a game changer, but not in a positive way. Do you realy like a new master?

That all has not grown in my brain. I tried to put my study of addiction and what i read in german articles and forums in english language.

Nicotine is not the badass!

Over&Out
Weedhunter

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38

I strongly disagree with this but would be interested in what made you form this opinion.

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39

Faster hit. Thats one part of the mechanic of addition not my opinion.

Cocaine as its own can be nice, if you snuff it. If you use a syringe, or smoke it as crack, it ends realy bad in most times. Drinking beer and drinking whiskey. Different substances same mechanics.

40

If that is everything then it is pretty thin. While it may be true it is a faster hit than free base it is still a slower hit than smoked tobacco.

The faster hit may well be a key to an addiction but it can also be a key to breaking a worse addiction.

I will stick to my nic salts and you can stick to your freebase - I’m not interested in an argument was just interested in what facts brought you to your conclusion - thanks for sharing.

Edit: While this is based on juul (pax studies) it is an interesting read nonetheless

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