How to reduce your nicotine intake

A Step-by-Step Guide to Quitting Nicotine and Vaping

Quitting smoking is a major achievement, but for many, the journey doesn’t end there. Transitioning from nicotine-based vaping to nicotine-free vaping—and eventually quitting vaping altogether—is the next step. This guide provides a detailed approach to help you gradually reduce nicotine intake, switch to refillable vape devices, and finally let go of vaping. By taking small, manageable steps, you can make the process smoother and more sustainable

Step 1: Transition Fully to Vaping Before Reducing Nicotine

Before you can consider reducing your nicotine intake, it’s crucial to ensure you’ve completely transitioned from smoking to vaping. You need to be certain that you won’t revert to smoking cigarettes. Once you’re confident that you’re done with cigarettes for good, you can begin to reduce the nicotine strength of your e-liquid when you feel ready.

The first step down in nicotine strength might feel significant. Pre-filled pod systems usually offer higher nicotine strengths in the 50-60 mg/ml range, while the lower options tend to be around 20-30 mg/ml. When you switch to these lower-strength pods, you might find yourself vaping more frequently since you’re essentially cutting your nicotine intake per puff in half. This is normal, so don’t worry. As you get used to the lower strength, you’ll move on to a refillable vaping device, which offers finer control over your nicotine levels and allows you to monitor your daily usage more closely.

Step 2: Switch to a Refillable Vaping Device

Once you’re comfortable with the lower nicotine strength, it’s time to make another reduction. At this point, you’ll need to switch to a refillable vaping device and start using bottled e-liquid. A small vape pen with a built-in puff counter is ideal for this purpose because it allows you to keep track of how many puffs you take each day, ensuring you don’t start vaping more frequently to make up for the lower nicotine levels.

Vape pens generally produce more vapour per puff than pod-based devices, so when you switch to a vape pen, you’ll need to reduce the nicotine strength of your e-liquid again. Depending on the amount of vapour your device produces, the right nicotine strength at this stage will likely range between 6-18 mg/ml. Your goal is to choose a nicotine strength that provides a similar experience to what you had with your pod system. If the vape pen feels too intense, you’re using too much nicotine, and you should adjust to a lower strength.

Step 3: Gradually Reduce Your Nicotine Strength

Now that you’ve adjusted to using a vape pen, it’s time to continue reducing your nicotine strength gradually. Most e-liquid brands offer a range of nicotine levels, such as 18, 16, 12, 9, 6, and 3 mg/ml. The goal is to reduce your nicotine level in small increments, giving your body time to adjust at each stage.

This is where a vape pen with an automatic puff counter is particularly useful. When you reduce your nicotine strength, it’s important not to compensate by vaping more frequently. For example, if you move from a 12 mg/ml to a 6 mg/ml e-liquid but double the number of puffs you take each day, you aren’t reducing your overall nicotine intake. The puff counter will help you maintain consistent usage while you gradually lower the nicotine levels.

Step 4: Create Custom Low-Nicotine E-Liquids

Once you reach 3 mg/ml, you’ll find that most e-liquid brands do not offer nicotine levels lower than that—aside from nicotine-free options. The jump from 3 mg/ml to zero nicotine can feel quite substantial. To make this transition easier, consider mixing your own custom low-nicotine e-liquids.

For instance, you can create a 1.5 mg/ml e-liquid by mixing equal parts of 3 mg/ml e-liquid with a nicotine-free option in an empty bottle. As you grow accustomed to this new strength, you can further lower the nicotine by varying the ratios of the two e-liquids. Eventually, you’ll reach a point where your e-liquid contains only a trace amount of nicotine—just a few drops in a bottle of nicotine-free e-liquid. When you’re ready, you can make the final switch to completely nicotine-free e-liquid.

Step 5: Transition to Nicotine-Free E-Liquid and Quit Vaping

When you’ve reached the stage where you’re only adding a few drops of nicotine to your e-liquid, it’s not difficult to take the final step to vaping without any nicotine. Once you’re comfortable with nicotine-free e-liquid, you’ve successfully quit nicotine.

From this point, you can decide when or if you want to quit vaping entirely. Some people continue using nicotine-free e-liquid because they enjoy the physical act of vaping—tasting the flavours and watching the vapour clouds can help satisfy the psychological aspect of their former addiction. Others, however, may find vaping unnecessary once they’re no longer using nicotine. Listen to your body and mind, and let them guide you towards your ultimate goal of quitting vaping altogether.