I'll start this with some background...I was a lifelong smoker, 2 packs a day for over 40 years. Luckily I did not get any heart or lung disease. I also have neurogenic sinus bradycardia, meaning there is a disconnect between my nervous system, my heart rate and blood pressure. Essentially I have a very low heart rate and blood pressure level. A pacemaker will not work, as the condition affects both HR and BP. What very few medicines on the market do not work, and in fact almost killed me. What does work and keeps me from passing out are "stimulants". Yes, that could be amphetamines (which I refuse to take), caffeine and nicotine.
My wife is the opposite, high BP, so it was necessary that she quit smoking. Yet, we all know how difficult it is for someone to stop smoking when their partner is puffing away. Plus, I always hated the smell and now the unbelievable cost of smoking is outrageous. How to accomplish the two goals...nicotine to help keep me going, no nicotine to keep her going, reduce costs. Hello Electronic Cigarettes!
It has now been about 9 months since we began the shift from tobacco to juice. We were doing the "make your own cigarette" thing, which gave us a better flavor and cost a fraction of the retail cost, but it also meant we had about a 3 month supply of materials to finish off of the DIY analogs. We gave some supplies away and went through the rest, mostly vapeing with the occasional cigarette in between. By the first of November 2011 we were out of tobacco stuff, threw away the machine and had fully shifted to e-cigs.
Our e-cig journey began using several flavors and nicotine levels of between 18 and 24 mg. I kept a log of how my BP and HR were doing during the transition and found at these levels they were a tad higher. After a few months, we had reduced our average nicotine levels down to 11mg for me, 6mg for her. We had absolutely NO withdrawal symptoms, none, nada. We had tried stopping smoking before and it just did not work. This DID!
At 11mg for me my BP and HR were holding steady. At 6mg for wifey, her's had dropped. She is now down to between 0mg and 6 mg, her BP and HR have dropped substantially and are now in the normal range. I keep my nic level between 6 and 11 mg, and it works. I did go to 0mg to see what would happen and after a few days HR and BP dropped, so I returned to a reasonable level. Yes, I could substitute caffeine for nicotine, but to be honest, drinking that much caffeine makes me really sick to my stomach.1
Now something I need to make clear, we have NEVER had any type of withdrawal symptoms, even going down to 0mg for her. We vape a lot, probably considered chain vapers. I have also now started making my own flavor concentrations, simply to be able to know exactly what is in the juice and mainly to maintain a consistent flavor level.
The VCU study on nicotine isn't delivered doesn't hold water. If that is the case, then how can our HR and BP be affected as I reduced levels. This isn't psychosomatic, as the phenomena crosses over a substantial amount of time. A placebo effect would go away.
But what we learned, even assuming nicotine is actually delivered, is that reductions to 0mg nicotine do not create withdrawal symptoms such as one would have with tobacco.
dave
My wife is the opposite, high BP, so it was necessary that she quit smoking. Yet, we all know how difficult it is for someone to stop smoking when their partner is puffing away. Plus, I always hated the smell and now the unbelievable cost of smoking is outrageous. How to accomplish the two goals...nicotine to help keep me going, no nicotine to keep her going, reduce costs. Hello Electronic Cigarettes!
It has now been about 9 months since we began the shift from tobacco to juice. We were doing the "make your own cigarette" thing, which gave us a better flavor and cost a fraction of the retail cost, but it also meant we had about a 3 month supply of materials to finish off of the DIY analogs. We gave some supplies away and went through the rest, mostly vapeing with the occasional cigarette in between. By the first of November 2011 we were out of tobacco stuff, threw away the machine and had fully shifted to e-cigs.
Our e-cig journey began using several flavors and nicotine levels of between 18 and 24 mg. I kept a log of how my BP and HR were doing during the transition and found at these levels they were a tad higher. After a few months, we had reduced our average nicotine levels down to 11mg for me, 6mg for her. We had absolutely NO withdrawal symptoms, none, nada. We had tried stopping smoking before and it just did not work. This DID!
At 11mg for me my BP and HR were holding steady. At 6mg for wifey, her's had dropped. She is now down to between 0mg and 6 mg, her BP and HR have dropped substantially and are now in the normal range. I keep my nic level between 6 and 11 mg, and it works. I did go to 0mg to see what would happen and after a few days HR and BP dropped, so I returned to a reasonable level. Yes, I could substitute caffeine for nicotine, but to be honest, drinking that much caffeine makes me really sick to my stomach.1
Now something I need to make clear, we have NEVER had any type of withdrawal symptoms, even going down to 0mg for her. We vape a lot, probably considered chain vapers. I have also now started making my own flavor concentrations, simply to be able to know exactly what is in the juice and mainly to maintain a consistent flavor level.
The VCU study on nicotine isn't delivered doesn't hold water. If that is the case, then how can our HR and BP be affected as I reduced levels. This isn't psychosomatic, as the phenomena crosses over a substantial amount of time. A placebo effect would go away.
But what we learned, even assuming nicotine is actually delivered, is that reductions to 0mg nicotine do not create withdrawal symptoms such as one would have with tobacco.
dave
