What am I doing wrong with the e-cig?

[ProtegeMoi]

Bought myself a starter kit and loads of e liquid ready to quit smoking and started on Friday stopping the fags completely.

Within an hour my throat was killing me from the e-cig though and so was advised to drop the nicotine level from 24mg to 16mg. By Saturday it was still no better and I developed a cough as well so dropped again to 8mg. Now I'm in so much agony I've switched back to fags. My throat was red raw, it hurt to talk or swallow and I was coughing to the point of choking and have pulled a muscle as a result.

3 hours back on the Fags and it's virtually gone! So what am I doing wrong? I was doing do well but couldn't take it anymore, surely that's not normal?

You need to vape in an entirely different pattern to smoking. Whereas with a cigarette you light one then smoke it constantly for 5-10 minutes until it's finished then light another say about an hour later, with vaping you should take maybe 3-4 drags every few minutes - sort of spreading it out. Don't worry too much about how many drags you take altogether, nicotine is absorbed into the body very differently than smoking and you may think you're vaping far too much/too often at first - you won't be, it will just feel that way

Most vapers also find they get a very dry throat for the first few days or weeks until their body adjusts, so make sure you always have a drink to hand & take regular sips.

Though the nicotine level does have some effect on the "throat hit" effect, that's more down to the mix of the base liquid. E-liquid is usually made of a mixture of PG (Propylene glycol) and VG (vegetable glycerine), PG giving the throat hit & VG the vapour. Usual mixes are 70:30 PG:VG, or 80:20 PG:VG. If changing the vaping patterns & drinking more don't work, you could try a liquid with a lower proportion of PG or even try pure VG base liquids - there are a few people on this forum who have issues with PG and use 100% VG liquid, so they should be able to point you at good suppliers of this.

Good luck!

Hi Protege, sorry you are having a tough time. To add to allergic's tips - you don't need to inhale much, or at all really. Most of the nicotine is absorbed through the mouth/nose/throat.

Also, as well as the PG, you might be having problems with the particular flavour(s) you are using. I can't do fruit flavours because they give me a sore mouth.

I hope you get it sorted, when you have found a setup that works for you it really is worth it. Don't worry about 'dual fuelling' (smoking and vaping) until you have ironed out the problems.

Thanks for the advice. Have tried a few flavours and it's no different. Have also tried not inhaling but I don't feel like it's curbing the craving that way. Will try drinking more and if anyone can recommend a VG one will try that also.

I had a sore throat and cough for a few weeks when I first switched from cigs to e-cigs. It did pass, though.

Also echo what others have said about getting used to inhaling in a different way. Fewer drags, not inhaling so deeply.

And what I should have said first of all - it's actually normal to get a cough when you first stop smoking, whatever method you use. That's your lungs recovering and clearing out the crap. That could be at least part of the problem, although it's clearly not all that's happening here.

Tried again today, drinking not helping. I'm literally choking on each drag I take. Have ordered a pure VG liquid so hoping that helps. I really want this to work, tried to quit smoking so many times before.

When I went through this 'transition' I found I could only vape a creamy flavour. I've since switched from 100% vg to about 60/40 now as I do need the flavour and a thought hit but full pg is too harsh.

Sore throats and coughs are normal when giving up smoking. Don't panic it's all normal.

For ages you have been damaging your throat and chest by smoking, once you stop your body has to work extremely hard to recover from the years of smoke damage.

Also be aware of bleeding gum, depressive moods, crying and more physical symptoms.

I have just started Eros by Mirage, and wondered if anyone could tell me how long before I need to change the glass chamber part as the kit came with a spare.

Thank you

Hi crazynanna, the sucky end of your kit (clearomiser) is called a CE4. If you search for CE4 on youtube you will find lots of tips for getting the most out of it. It should last anything from a few days to a month before it needs changing. Change it when it starts tasting burnt or when you are not getting much vapour off it. If it goes gurgly, take it off the battery, hold a tissue underneath and blow hard down it.

There are lots of different sorts of clearomiser, all will be compatible with your batteries. MyEpack is great for selling lots of different sorts of clearo at very reasonable prices. It's very confusing at first because there are so many different choices available. The best thing to do is get 3 or 4 different sorts and see what you prefer as it's a very personal thing.

Well done for making the switch

Thank you Plenty that is really helpful. I bought it up in Yorkshire a couple of weeks ago so now have to search locally here in London for the oil

There's a map here of shops in the UK. We're not that well served in London compared with up north but you should find somewhere fairly local to you. It's usually a lot cheaper to buy online, although of course you can't try before you buy. I get most of my juice from Premier ecigs - £2 for 10ml.