How to Reduce Your Nicotine Strength

Most people turn to vaping in order to quit smoking and although there are several reasons why smoking is such a hard habit to quit, perhaps the most significant of these is nicotine addiction.

Nicotine is a highly addictive substance, but isn’t carcinogenic and boasts a similar chemical structure to caffeine. despite nicotine's relatively benign nature, it makes sense to reduce your reliance on the chemical.

Why should you reduce the nicotine strength of your e-liquids?

Nicotine is particularly hazardous to health but being addicted to anything is far from ideal. You can achieve the nicotine fix you need through vaping, but there will times when you cannot vape, and these will leave you suffering from withdrawal symptoms.

The less reliant you are on nicotine, the more freedom you will have. You won’t need to worry about being stuck in the office or to dread taking long-haul flights. Neither will you be deterred from travelling to destinations where vaping is frowned upon or even banned.

Where do you start?

Smoking is a habit as is vaping not to mention ordering your juice! If you benefit from an account with vapekit.co.uk, you can access your previous purchases and reorder these with a just a few clicks. It’s all too easy to keep repeating your orders without giving a second thought to the nicotine strength of your chosen e-liquids.

When you are ready to move on, don’t simply reorder the same version of your juices because with most flavours, you can choose a lower nicotine strength.

What if the only lower strength available is a step too far?

Most e-liquids are available in a variety of nicotine strengths. You shouldn’t experience too many problems switching from 18mg to 12mg or from 12mg to 6mg. If you find that you are craving more nicotine, you can simply take a few extra puffs.

However, if the switch to the lower strength feels like too much of change, order your preferred juice both with your existing nicotine strength and a lower strength. Fill your tank with a mix of the two and you can lower your nicotine strength at a more gradual rate.

Would it help to switch to sub-ohm vaping?

Lower resistance coils deliver a greater amount of vapour with each inhale and therefore more nicotine. If you switch to sub-ohm vaping, you will get the hit you need from a lower nicotine strength.

However, it is important to remember that you are getting more nicotine from every puff, so the amount of nicotine you absorb may not be reduced.

How could shortfills help?

Shortfills are nicotine-free e-liquids that are supplied in bottles that have been underfilled to leave room for nicotine shots to be added. This gives you the ability to perfectly tailor your juice to your needs.

If your usual e-liquids are not available with your ideal nicotine strength, switch to short fills, do the maths and create your perfect juice. You will find both freebase and nicotine salt shots in a variety of strengths and you don’t have to add the entire shot to your short fill.

An online e-liquid calculator will help you to identify which strength of nicotine shot you need and how much to add to your juice.

What about salt nicotine?

If the e-liquids you have chosen feature freebase nicotine, it could be worth switching to nic salts flavours, Salt nicotine is absorbed more quickly by the body than freebase nicotine and so gives you speedier relief of your cravings. In addition, many vapers feel that salt nicotine delivers longer-lasting relief. Nic salts flavours could enable you to relieve your cravings with a lower nicotine strength.

Why should you be aware of your triggers?

You should seek a nicotine hit only when you need one. As with smoking, there will be certain triggers that see you reaching for your e cig such as moments of stress and after a meal.

If you are aware of your triggers, you can use a lower nicotine strength most of the time and switch to a higher strength at times when you know your cravings will be stronger.

Why might you be better off vaping high PG e-liquids?

The throat hit you enjoy when you smoke is one of the reasons that cigarettes are so addictive. It isn’t only the nicotine which keeps you coming back for more! E-liquids that are high in PG deliver stronger throat hits and so could enable you to get away with a lower nicotine strength.

See our guide to PG/VG Ratios for more information.

Why should you reduce your nicotine strength gradually?

As with most things in life, sudden or dramatic changes to your vaping habits could make you feel uncomfortable. Let’s face it, the prospect of getting less nicotine can seem scary.

If you try to reduce your strength too quickly, the resulting cravings will quickly see you struggling. It’s much better to reduce your strength in small steps and over several weeks or months. When you make smaller changes, you are less likely to notice the difference and you will still get to where you want to be.