just had my very first vape...

[CGlassford]

The closest juice I have found that tastes like an analog is My PV shop's PG free tobacco flavors. My Virginia is my fav. Tastes like a cig smells pre-lit with a touch of fresh apple.

By "harsh" and "strong" do you mean the burning or scratching feel in your throat or the "buzz" or bit of headache?

If it's the feeling in the throat, you may want to try a higher vg ratio or 100% vg juices. Less th, sweeter flavor but it will gunk up your cartos and clearos faster.

If it's the buzz or headache, drink lots and lots of water. Then drink some more water! lol

 

[varitablevoltage]

Worth noting that nicotine isn't distributed at the same rate when vaping as oppose to analog cigarettes. For me medium strength nic e-juice gave me a buzz after 3-4 draws. I switched to low strength. Also try experimenting with flavors and PG/VG ratio.

 

[zuzette]

I have not read all of the replies - forgive me if this is a repeat.

It seems to me you are dehydrated. That harshness is partially getting used to it but a whole lot of lack of water in your system. Being well hydrated makes a huge difference. I think smokers are often dehydrated and never even know it.
18mg juice sounds about right for the type of cigs and how much you were smoking. Try drinking something when you vape and, since vaping dehydrates you further, drink much more than you are used to doing all day long. your body will get used to the extra water pretty quickly.

 

[Plumes.91]

hello Jen, welcome to the forum. I'll be around if you need any help. Private message me if you want.

If you smoked 15 cigarettes a day then you'll do well with 12 to 18mg juice. A lot of us start with 24mg juice and step down to 12. In my personal opinion, 18 and 24mg juice is way too high. Especially if you like longer drags. In my opinion, the amount of cigarettes you smoked each day has NO correlation to your juice's nicotine level. lol. Thats just my opinion. Your juice's nicotine level more-so correlates to how long a drag you take, how many drags you want to take before you put your PV down, Throat Hit, etc etc...

If your vaping like you smoked, and it seems harsh, or it seemed like you were feeling a buzz before too quickly or too easily, and you want to continue vaping in the way that you are, then you'll want to lower the nicotine amount. Although you will find that the first day or two of vaping, it will be a bit harsh on your throat no matter what MG juice your using. The nicotine in the juice hits your throat differently compared to cigarette smoke, and your throat will need to get used to it. But do not fear, it WILL.

I personally vape 12mg juice. This forum is full of people that swear by 18, 24, even 36mg juice. GROSS! YUCK! lol. If I picked up 18mg juice and tried to vape it like I vape now, I'd get sick within 4-5 puffs. And idk about you but my cigarettes lasted longer than 3-4 puffs. So, if you want to shorten the amount of puffs you take, stick with the 18mg juice... if you want to vape like you smoked, at least for the first few months, then you'll want lower MG juices.

As was said above, Walmart has pure Vegetable Glycerine. Just ask a pharmacy technician to find it for you. If they cannot find it for you, just ask to speak with a manager and they will be able to locate where it is in the store via a registry computer. You can then use the pure flavorless vegetable glycerine to lower the nicotine in your juices. Unfortunately it will also reduce the flavor. Which may or may not be good, lol, depending on how you like those flavors.

As for new juices, there are a ton of GRRREAT vendors that advertize here on this forum. You can find them by going down the forum to look for the vendor's forums. Again, if you have ANY more questions, feel free to shoot me a message by clicking my user name and selecting "PRIVATE MESSAGE" from the menu.

Enjoy your journey

 

[tartanraven]

I always advise new vapers to hit it quickly at first...then gradually slow down the hit as you get used to the intensity of the vape. As for cigarette flavour..I have found great luck with RY-4 Double at 18mg/ml.

 

[Slabb]

I always advise new vapers to hit it quickly at first...then gradually slow down the hit as you get used to the intensity of the vape. As for cigarette flavour..I have found great luck with RY-4 Double at 18mg/ml.

Haha! I just keep finding you on here.

Jen, I've found good luck in buying some juice that was 70/30 pg/vg, and buying some juice that will compliment it at 100% vg. In the beginning I was a hot mess trying to vape 80/20. It felt worse than a reburn cigarette! I found that VG worked in the beginning for me. Then I mixed my VG juice with some 80/20 and it worked out ok. Recently I got some 50/50 and it doesn't have the harshness, but is still fluid enough to not gunk up my tanks.

 

[cuoreboy]

first time i vape i cough like hell not use to it after 1 day no issue ... but first 1-2 day i suffer from nicotine withdraw iam vomit for a day

 

[Plumes.91]

sounds like nicotine overdose to me cuoreboy, what MG were you using? sorry to hear this sad story friend.

the #1 mistake of new vapers is picking an 18, 24, or 36mg juice in my humble opinion.

 

[cuoreboy]

I using hangsen 12MG , i feel my stomach traping alot of air feel not comfortable until vomit and stomachache keep go toilet n release

but now no more ... just the beginning of vaping

 

[Plumes.91]

hmmm that sounds like you were.. you were inhaling too deeply? IDK. glad you feel better haha.

 

[cuoreboy]

already vape for 3 months soo now ok already no issue , maybe i vape too much feel fun soo keep vape

 

[varitablevoltage]

For me a good indicator that I am getting too much nicotine is my face gets a lil flush. So I slow down on the draws or go to a lower nicotine level.

 

[jayscott]

I smoked about 15 american spirits a day and 18 mg was too much for me as well. I keep the 18mg for quick at work vapes, 6mg for at home chain vaping and 12 mg for everything inbetween. Vaping gave me a sore throat for the first week then it went away and didn't come back. Getting used to drinking lots of water is important. I also figured out that despite being a smoker, I didn't like tobacco flavored juices at all. It's all trial and error.

 

[Suzro]

Hiya! I just started in October cause I was getting seriously sick from smoking (20 years.) I started with a 12mg and though it kept me from lighting up I was getting really bad head aches and a bit nauseous from the vapor. Then about a week later i was seriously depressed and tried smoking normal cigarettes again. They didnt help at all they just made me madder at myself. That all went away eventually and my lungs are so much happier with me now. Vaping I've learned takes some adjusting but its been so worth it. I hope you find a liquid that you love!

 

[Suzro]

For me a good indicator that I am getting too much nicotine is my face gets a lil flush. So I slow down on the draws or go to a lower nicotine level.

I'm so glad you wrote this! I was afraid I was getting hot flashes at 34 but didn't see anyone else commenting on that sensation. I went to the doctor, I'm fine.... But I did seriously freak out about it.

 

[varitablevoltage]

I got the same thing with the gum and patch. You get a flush prickly feeling in your face (maybe other areas too but for me in the face). Too much nicotine in your system at one time. I think your body absorbs nicotine faster via vapor hence why many find "medium" strength nicotine in e-juice too strong.

 

[Bundles]

Don't give up! Get lots and lots of flavor samples when you're starting out. Get liquid in different nicotine levels to try out... I think the secret to getting into vaping is having LOTS of options as soon as possible, so you're not tempted to go back to analogs.

 

[DC2]

I got the same thing with the gum and patch. You get a flush prickly feeling in your face (maybe other areas too but for me in the face). Too much nicotine in your system at one time. I think your body absorbs nicotine faster via vapor hence why many find "medium" strength nicotine in e-juice too strong.

Fun fact...

Nicotine is absorbed via vapor at approximately the same rate as patches, gum, and other NRT products.
All of which have a much slower absorption rate than cigarettes.

Just wanted to clarify that.

 

[IWOCS]

If your using a carto then treat it like a zippo lighter. Keep it moist at all times and you wont get a burnt taste.

 

[Plumes.91]

yeah, you absorb it slower than with cigarettes.. and more nicotine is absorbed through your mouth and throat than your lungs, unlike cigarette smoking. interestingly enough, while it does take a while longer for the nicotine from vaping to build up in your system enough for you to feel that "HIT" like you would halfway through a cigarette... I feel the nicotine buzz lingers LONGER than cigarettes. And it builds upon itself. And we tent to vape more and more frequently than we smoked.. because.. well.. our PVs don't burn down to a filter as quickly as our cigarettes did. lol. So while vaping does take longer to kick in, i always felt that once the nicotine does kick in from vaping, its easier to get sick because the nic buzzing lingers longer and thus, you'll be overlapping vape sessions and getting more and more nicotine buzz building up over a longer period of time. its not like with cigarettes where you instantly feel it, and then it goes away in 3-5 minutes. with vaping, I can feel that buzz up to 10 minutes probably. these are just my OWN hypothesises really, but, I think they have to be at least partially right. anyone else experience something similar?