How to Reduce Your E-Liquid Strength and Stay Satisfied

As we make our way through January there’s a lot of talk about New Year’s Resolutions and something we see cropping up time and time again in the vaping community is vapers who want to reduce the nicotine strength of their e-liquid but worry they won’t stay satisfied.

It’s a valid concern and something that can put people off bringing their nicotine strength down, so in today’s post we’re going to tackle this worry and share some advice and tips to give you the confidence to try a lower strength e-liquid if it’s something that’s important to you as part of your vaping journey.

Vape Your Own Way

First thing’s first, you should never feel as though you have to reduce your nicotine strength. Plenty of vapers start off by using 1.8% eliquid and stay loyal to that strength throughout the years that they choose to vape - and that’s absolutely fine. If you’re happy and content with the strength you’re using but you feel pressure from others to move to a lower percentage e-liquid then we urge you to take a moment to step back and assess what’s best for you. Do what you need to do, to stay away from tobacco cigarettes. Vaping is a hugely personal thing and you have to use the equipment and e-liquid that works best for you personally. After all, it should be enjoyable! If you’re going to make yourself miserable by rushing to drop to 0% nicotine e-liquids then you’re setting yourself up to lose out in the long run, with harmful cravings likely to creep in and make vaping much less enjoyable for you.

However, many people want to switch to a lower nicotine strength for a variety of reasons - often because they don’t like the feeling of cravings or feeling as though they are addicted to something. It’s the same reason many of us swear off of coffee or chocolate. Feeling beholden to something is never a nice feeling so we understand why so many people see vaping 0.6% or 0% e-liquids as their end goal.

What Exactly is Nicotine Strength?

Now let’s look at nicotine strength, what it means and which strengths V2 currently offer.

In short, the nicotine strength is how much nicotine is in the e-liquid that you’re using. It can be measured either in weight (milligrams), as a percentage, or volume (per millilitre) and you’ll usually see it described as mg, % or mL when you look on your e-liquid bottle.

At V2 we classify our nicotine strength through a percentage and our e-liquids are currently available from 0% (nicotine free) to 1.8%. The strength you start out with depends on your previous habits and we have an e-liquid strength guide on our website that compares our strengths to popular tobacco brands so you can gauge the perfect strength for your needs.

So How Should I Reduce my Nicotine Strength?

If you do decide you want to reduce the nicotine strength of the e-liquid you use then our main advice is to take it slowly and listen to your body.

Never try to jump down more than one grade at a time; for example, if you’re currently vaping 1.8% then transition to 1.2% before you attempt 0.6%.

Always keep some of your previous strength on hand so it’s there to use if you feel as though you need it. It can take time for your body to adjust to the lower strength so many vapers choose to transition gradually: two days on the lower strength, then one back on the higher strength and then three on the lower strength again.

Once you feel comfortable on the lower strength you can take things one step further and switch to a week or ten days on the lower strength, give yourself a day on the previous strength and then return to the lower strength for the next week. It’s all about building up your tolerance to the lower strength and many users find this gradual transition the easiest way to curb any cravings.

Of course, there are vapers who prefer to go ‘cold turkey’ and jump straight to the lower strength and stick with it, battling any cravings along the way. Those who find success through the cold turkey method are a rarity but if it works for you then go for it. Remember, you’re an individual person who doesn’t need to follow the crowd - whichever method gives you the best results is the correct choice for you.

How to Stay Satisfied

When it comes to staying satisfied, it’s as much about listening to your body as it is about listening to your mind. Cravings can produce both physical and mental symptoms so it’s important that you take the time to determine whether what you’re feeling is a manageable reaction to lowering your nicotine strength or a signal that perhaps you’ve transitioned a little too quickly.

Think back to how you managed cravings when you first switched to vaping. Did you find success through distracting yourself by going for a walk or escaping into your favourite television show? Did you beat cravings by visualising success or using breathing exercises to gain back control of your mental wellbeing? What has worked for you in the past is likely to work again, so using tried and tested techniques that you know work for you is a great way to deal with any cravings that crop up when lowering your nicotine strength.

There’s no need to punish yourself though, if your cravings get to the point that they’re damaging to your mental health there’s no rulebook saying you can’t return back to a higher strength liquid temporarily, which is why we always advise keeping a small bottle of your previous strength on hand, just in case.

Be kind to yourself. You’ve already made the switch to vaping, you don’t need to beat yourself up if you aren’t able to reduce your nicotine strength as quickly as you wanted to. Plenty of vapers start vaping at a certain strength and decide to use it throughout their years as a vaper - you need to do you, whatever that entails.

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We hope you found some helpful advice and picked up a few tips that will help you if you decide to switch to a lower nicotine strength. We recommend bookmarking this page so you can always refer back to it if you decide to transition to a lower strength in the future.

If you have any tips or tricks you think we’ve missed out then please don’t hesitate to let us know via Facebook or Twitter.