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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Cigs VS salt nic vapes.

Kurt Cobain

Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 21, 2025
Messages
334
So I quit smoking Cigs a long time ago and switched to vaping (silly me thinking I did a good thing) anyways I want to know if there ACTUALLY is a fair comparison we could make in terms of this many vape hits = this many Cigs, say the standard is 5mg per ml of salt nic vape juice. I tried figuring this out but is it even a fair comparison? I know smoking hits harder than vaping and is usually absorbed faster but it's not a straight nicotine VS nicotine compassion as salt nic to my understanding is suppose to be stronger, kick in faster and be absorbed more rapidly and easily itself I thought. I know it's a dumb question and it's not important just wanted to discuss and compare and contrast the two forms of taking nicotine
 
So I quit smoking Cigs a long time ago and switched to vaping (silly me thinking I did a good thing) anyways I want to know if there ACTUALLY is a fair comparison we could make in terms of this many vape hits = this many Cigs, say the standard is 5mg per ml of salt nic vape juice. I tried figuring this out but is it even a fair comparison? I know smoking hits harder than vaping and is usually absorbed faster but it's not a straight nicotine VS nicotine compassion as salt nic to my understanding is suppose to be stronger, kick in faster and be absorbed more rapidly and easily itself I thought. I know it's a dumb question and it's not important just wanted to discuss and compare and contrast the two forms of taking nicotine

I've asked AI this before, and I got a sort of answer of "it's about equal", but obviously the type of cig as well as the percentage nic vape are the first measures.

But from experience, and I have at least 5 years of both, if I took the exact same length of drags on a cig that I would on a vape, I would feel more, of whatever the feeling is, from the cigarette. Probably the added shit.

But with the vape you are able to get an incredible amount of consistently vaporized nicotine for basically as long as you keep pulling. So in that sense, if I wanted to try and get the biggest hit out of either in 1 drag, the vape would win.
 
Ya exactly why is was wondering, I can literally rip my vape all day no nausea or nothing but after trying to go back to my cigs which I smoke camel crush menthol, I can't even smoke half a ciggie without getting sick, distinctly nicotine sick. Max in a smoke is 3mg of nicotine so I find it hard to believe it's equal at all
 
Ya exactly why is was wondering, I can literally rip my vape all day no nausea or nothing but after trying to go back to my cigs which I smoke camel crush menthol, I can't even smoke half a ciggie without getting sick, distinctly nicotine sick. Max in a smoke is 3mg of nicotine so I find it hard to believe it's equal at all

Yeah same I get nauseous from regular cigarettes now as well. Just make sure you stay hydrated 👍 and drinking water after being hydrated does very little. It's a lot better to drink water before you rip it
 
I´m not really sure on this one. I can´t really say it´s inappropriate for the forums as Nicotine is indeed a drug, but this isn´t usually something we talk about in BDD. At any rate, I have always felt that using a Nicotine vape is more potent than a cigarette, but @Kurt Cobain made good points about the length of a draw.

I have the same exact issue with cigarettes. I smoked cigarettes for years without any issues. Now when I smell them they make me nauseous. I really don´t ever have the need or desire to smoke tobacco ever since vaping became a thing. I only hope there aren´t a ton of harmful chemicals in this shit as they say there are. I don´t need any more bullshit right now ;)
 
I´m not really sure on this one. I can´t really say it´s inappropriate for the forums as Nicotine is indeed a drug, but this isn´t usually something we talk about in BDD. At any rate, I have always felt that using a Nicotine vape is more potent than a cigarette, but @Kurt Cobain made good points about the length of a draw.

I have the same exact issue with cigarettes. I smoked cigarettes for years without any issues. Now when I smell them they make me nauseous. I really don´t ever have the need or desire to smoke tobacco ever since vaping became a thing. I only hope there aren´t a ton of harmful chemicals in this shit as they say there are. I don´t need any more bullshit right now ;)
I smoked ciggies for a long time myself and ya it's hard going back for the same reasons wasn't sure if it was the nicotine being stronger in smokes or if it's the chemicals giving it an extra push lol. I can say after switching to vaping I've slowly realized it's worse for me. I hit it way more often, am way more addicted and I'm noticing more chest pain than I ever did with smokes but could be entirely unrelated. You can feel free to delete the post it's no biggie just random thoughts
 
Yeah same I get nauseous from regular cigarettes now as well. Just make sure you stay hydrated 👍 and drinking water after being hydrated does very little. It's a lot better to drink water before you rip it
I'm on kratom for maintenance so it's basically impossible for me to stay hydrated enough especially since I hit my vape 24/7
 
I´m not really sure on this one. I can´t really say it´s inappropriate for the forums as Nicotine is indeed a drug, but this isn´t usually something we talk about in BDD. At any rate, I have always felt that using a Nicotine vape is more potent than a cigarette, but @Kurt Cobain made good points about the length of a draw.

I have the same exact issue with cigarettes. I smoked cigarettes for years without any issues. Now when I smell them they make me nauseous. I really don´t ever have the need or desire to smoke tobacco ever since vaping became a thing. I only hope there aren´t a ton of harmful chemicals in this shit as they say there are. I don´t need any more bullshit right now ;)
Everyone i know that quit smoking and took up vaping seem to feel better and smell better. Now the big health thing for people that do not smoke at all is nicotine patches . I have heard all sorts of claims ,the most popular is it cures long covid and there are also studies now that smokers did much better with the virus than non smokers. Nicotine does seem to have a few health benefits.
 
I've asked AI this before, and I got a sort of answer of "it's about equal", but obviously the type of cig as well as the percentage nic vape are the first measures.

But from experience, and I have at least 5 years of both, if I took the exact same length of drags on a cig that I would on a vape, I would feel more, of whatever the feeling is, from the cigarette. Probably the added shit.

But with the vape you are able to get an incredible amount of consistently vaporized nicotine for basically as long as you keep pulling. So in that sense, if I wanted to try and get the biggest hit out of either in 1 drag, the vape would win.
I think these days you will be vaping more than smoking because you can do it inside and people dont really notice it and complain or worry because they dont know your doing it and you are not smelling bad .
 
I’ve been told 5 hits of a 20mg vape (UK) is one cigarette but the issue is quantifying the size of a hit.

(Please note I’m extremely sensitive to nicotine and it doesn’t effect me normally, I also have used nicotine to dangerous amounts, like 60+ death drag puffs of a 20mg vape a day etc)

Anecdotally for me, the feeling is distinctly different, a vape feels what I imagine is a baby version of a crack pipe, crazy head rush, with a decent touch of euphoria and rushy thoughts.

That’s from one decent hit without tolerance,

A cigarette is quite different and its effects last longer, and they are far less compulsive.

I have always thought this is due to other alkaloids in tobacco.

I personally think the vape is far more sinister, even if “healthier” the ability to repeat chain hits could be making people have absurd tolerance issues especially with silly high concentrations we have here like in the UK not to mention the unstudied affects of massive vaporised concentrations of PG etc (but I don’t want to be making uncorroborated claims)

All the trendy disposable vapes here were 20mg, and also the kind all the kids were on. I’ve seen kids as young as 11-12 vaping.

Maybe not the best comparison but I quit smoking for 3 years, and I quit many other drugs basically cold turkey (benzos, opioids, please don’t take that as any kind of brag, that is DANGEROUS) but it has taken me over a year of vaping with the new kind of vapes to finally have gotten over my insane self harm and to put the fucking thing down.

I think it’s been two days, I’ve quit 4-5 times before in the past year and a bit, with only a few weeks at a time.

It’s taken this far to make me realise how much damage it’s done to my sinuses, my breathing and how badly it’s affected my mental health.

It’s only after realising; that after taking mega doses of GYLNAC (1800mg a day) that I can only breathe properly while vaping, that I’ve started having panic attacks for the first time in years, so bad I nearly call the ambulance due to have strange my heart rhythm gets, that I generally watch my whole mind state shift to constant anxious paranoia all day, and a constant desire for obtaining more gratification.

These two days off have made me realise how badly nicotine interferes with my prescription stimulant and makes it basically not work, how I get tightness in my veins and chest pain, and the constant craving and searching.

Luckily this time the memory of a panic attack so bad that I didn’t sleep for 30 hours to come right at the forefront of any nicotine cravings and helps me swipe them away.

Being prescribed 92 mg of Methylphenidate a day has taken care of any withdrawals and this time although my track record is bad I’m actually ready to permanently abstain from nicotine.

It’s way to easy to joke about studies that nicotine prevents Alzheimer’s to watching you kill yourself with a silly electronic rod that only makes you feel continually worse and slowly degenerates your behaviour

I may be unique in this and I don’t want this to be taken as preaching or advice,

These issues basically stemmed from my use, and it’s not really the fault of nicotine or the device, but I question the ability of some to have the restraint to not be overdosing themselves with nicotine all day.

Although people argue I’ve seen a fair few studies saying vaping appears mostly safer and that it’s the most effective NRT

But a final say of I found vaping so unbelievably damaging to my health, and that I do worry their effects on very sensitive people like me with severe mental health issues.
 
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Wow ,I vape and never thought of any of this . I wonder if its causing my anxiety? I never had anxiety when I smoked regular cigarettes. I absolutely feel healthier than when I smoked. No gunk in my throat. I smell great ,kind of like butterscotch or vanilla. Hmm but the panic! I am going to have to think about that one!

It would be nice to be free of it. I always always loved nicotine for the calming effects. The vapes are not calming like a cigarette!
 
I’ve been told 5 hits of a 20mg vape (UK) is one cigarette but the issue is quantifying the size of a hit.

(Please note I’m extremely sensitive to nicotine and it doesn’t effect me normally, I also have used nicotine to dangerous amounts, like 60+ death drag puffs of a 20mg vape a day etc)

Anecdotally for me, the feeling is distinctly different, a vape feels what I imagine is a baby version of a crack pipe, crazy head rush, with a decent touch of euphoria and rushy thoughts.

That’s from one decent hit without tolerance,

A cigarette is quite different and its effects last longer, and they are far less compulsive.

I have always thought this is due to other alkaloids in tobacco.

I personally think the vape is far more sinister, even if “healthier” the ability to repeat chain hits could be making people have absurd tolerance issues especially with silly high concentrations we have here like in the UK not to mention the unstudied affects of massive vaporised concentrations of PG etc (but I don’t want to be making uncorroborated claims)

All the trendy disposable vapes here were 20mg, and also the kind all the kids were on. I’ve seen kids as young as 11-12 vaping.

Maybe not the best comparison but I quit smoking for 3 years, and I quit many other drugs basically cold turkey (benzos, opioids, please don’t take that as any kind of brag, that is DANGEROUS) but it has taken me over a year of vaping with the new kind of vapes to finally have gotten over my insane self harm and to put the fucking thing down.

I think it’s been two days, I’ve quit 4-5 times before in the past year and a bit, with only a few weeks at a time.

It’s taken this far to make me realise how much damage it’s done to my sinuses, my breathing and how badly it’s affected my mental health.

It’s only after realising; that after taking mega doses of GYLNAC (1800mg a day) that I can only breathe properly while vaping, that I’ve started having panic attacks for the first time in years, so bad I nearly call the ambulance due to have strange my heart rhythm gets, that I generally watch my whole mind state shift to constant anxious paranoia all day, and a constant desire for obtaining more gratification.

These two days off have made me realise how badly nicotine interferes with my prescription stimulant and makes it basically not work, how I get tightness in my veins and chest pain, and the constant craving and searching.

Luckily this time the memory of a panic attack so bad that I didn’t sleep for 30 hours to come right at the forefront of any nicotine cravings and helps me swipe them away.

Being prescribed 92 mg of Methylphenidate a day has taken care of any withdrawals and this time although my track record is bad I’m actually ready to permanently abstain from nicotine.

It’s way to easy to joke about studies that nicotine prevents Alzheimer’s to watching you kill yourself with a silly electronic rod that only makes you feel continually worse and slowly degenerates your behaviour

I may be unique in this and I don’t want this to be taken as preaching or advice,

These issues basically stemmed from my use, and it’s not really the fault of nicotine or the device, but I question the ability of some to have the restraint to not be overdosing themselves with nicotine all day.

Although people argue I’ve seen a fair few studies saying vaping appears mostly safer and that it’s the most effective NRT

But a final say of I found vaping so unbelievably damaging to my health, and that I do worry their effects on very sensitive people like me with severe mental health issues.
Wow ,I vape and never thought of any of this . I wonder if its causing my anxiety? I never had anxiety when I smoked regular cigarettes. I absolutely feel healthier than when I smoked. No gunk in my throat. I smell great ,kind of like butterscotch or vanilla. Hmm but the panic! I am going to have to think about that one!

It would be nice to be free of it. I always always loved nicotine for the calming effects. The vapes are not calming like a cigarette!

Wow, it's almost like you two are sitting right next to me and living the same life I am.

Specifically I'll second what Kurt said about cravings, so that Maryanne can really digest this: I used to be addicted to meth and crack, and it's more difficult / have tried a lot more times to quit smoking, and vaping even more so.

The immediate issues for me are headaches from dehydration and irritability for several days.

But reading both of your posts is leading me to believe the side affects are even worse than I imagine.. so hopefully this is one of the last, if not The, wake up call.
 
When I recently throw out my vape (has happened so many times, so much lost money, that it's embarrassing), I often have night dreams of sneaking a vape.

It's bizarre because why the fuck do I need it that much when it really just gives me a lightheaded buzz, yet like @KurtAurelius I tend to rip it like a crack pipe.

But even when I don't.. I could hardly describe what I enjoy about it aside from the quick rush.
 
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