Vaping has become an excellent alternative to smoking cigarettes. While vaping is less harmful than smoking cigarettes, many e-liquids still contain nicotine. It’s easy to get carried away enjoying your vape without realising how much nicotine you’ve consumed – we’ve definitely been there!
One of the most common side effects of excessively vaping nicotine e-liquid is feeling nauseous. However, it can also cause you to feel dizzy or get a headache.
In this piece, we’ll discuss how to avoid these adverse side effects and what causes them to occur in the first place.
Why Does Dizziness Happen To Beginner Vapers?
If you’ve recently quit smoking and have switched to a vape device, then you may get a lightheaded feeling when vaping. This will generally only apply if you consume nicotine in your e-liquid.
The reason for this is that vaping provides you with more nicotine than tobacco smoke. Vaping carries nicotine into your bloodstream much faster and more intensely than cigarettes do. This is especially common if you’re vaping nic salts, a type of e-liquid with fast-acting nicotine that is so smooth to vape you might forget that there’s nicotine in it!
This increase in nicotine consumption can make you feel dizzy or lightheaded, especially if your nervous system isn’t used to the nicotine strength you are vaping.
Why Does Dizziness Happen To Those Used To Nicotine?
Even experienced vapers can feel dizzy after vaping sessions, and there is a reason for this. If your nicotine strength is too high and you are consuming too much nicotine, you will get a lightheaded feeling.
As mentioned above, nicotine enters your body more quickly when vaping, so vaping too much in one session can cause you to consume too much nicotine as well. This, in turn, can make you feel dizzy, regardless of how long you have been vaping.
Is Dizziness From Vaping Dangerous?
While dizziness from vaping can cause you to feel sick, it isn’t something you should worry about all that much. If you are feeling dizzy after vaping, it just means you have consumed too much nicotine. Just take a break from your vape and wait for it to pass.
While uncomfortable, the feeling will go away relatively quickly and is mostly harmless. Some vapers even enjoy this feeling, but if you don’t, there are ways you can stop it from occurring as frequently.
What To Do To Avoid Dizziness When Vaping
While some vapers enjoy the nicotine rush they get from vaping, many others don’t. Thankfully, there are ways to limit the possibility of you feeling dizzy in the future.
Use the right nicotine strength
As mentioned above, a nicotine strength that is too high for you and your body will likely make you feel dizzy. If you want to stop this from happening when you vape, then you should change to an e-liquid with a lower nicotine strength. Switching from a 20mg disposable vape to a 10mg disposable is a great way to reduce your nicotine intake while still enjoying the same great vaping experience, for example.
You can experiment with different nicotine strengths until you find one that is still satisfying but doesn’t make you dizzy.
Use the right type of nicotine-containing e-liquid for you
While nicotine strength is important when choosing an e-liquid, you should also consider the type of e-liquid you are using. Both nicotine salts and freebase nicotine have benefits and drawbacks, but both can cause you to feel dizzy.
Nicotine salts
Nicotine salts are more commonly found in disposable vapes and pod systems. They are better for beginner vapers, as they offer a smoother throat hit, but they also offer faster-acting nicotine that is more intense.
If you aren’t used to nic salts, then this is what might be causing you to feel lightheaded or dizzy when vaping. If you want to avoid this feeling, you should consider nicotine salt e-liquids with lower nicotine strengths. Alternatively, you could also change to a freebase e-liquid.
Freebase nicotine
If you have quit smoking cigarettes, and want more of a throat hit without more nicotine, then a freebase e-liquid would be best. The stronger sensation of vaping a freebase nicotine e-liquid is a good way to remind your body that you are vaping nicotine, helping you stick to your limits more easily.
Be mindful of how hard you’re inhaling
If you are used to smoking cigarettes, you should be wary of how hard you pull on your vape. If you frequently take large vape hits, you will be consuming a large amount of nicotine at one time.
Taking shorter puffs will have less of an effect on your nervous system and will help you to avoid feeling nauseous or dizzy.
Be mindful of the number of puffs you’re taking
Chain vaping can also cause you to feel lightheaded even if the nicotine content of your e-liquid is relatively low. This is because you will still be consuming more nicotine by vaping too often.
The best way to avoid this is by using your vape in moderation. This means you should limit the number of puffs you take during vaping sessions and increase the time between them as well.
Be aware of higher wattages and temperatures
Setting the wattage and temperature of your vape too high will cause your vape to produce more vapour. This will, in turn, mean that you will be consuming more nicotine.
You can simply turn down both the wattage and temperature of your vape if you wish to avoid this.
How Long Does A Nicotine Rush Last?
A “nic rush” generally lasts for between 15 and 20 minutes. However, if you are an experienced vaper, it is unlikely to last that long, and you may not even get a nic rush at all.
This is due to the fact that your tolerance will have increased. When you start vaping, your body is not used to nicotine, so you will receive the full effects of the compound, but once you have been doing it for long enough, you may not even notice a nic rush at all. This is because your body has become used to nicotine.
How To Get Over A Nicotine Rush
Exercise
Some light exercise will help get your blood pumping and get excess nicotine out of your system quicker. Just be sure not to overdo things, as this can make you feel even more nauseous.
Walking
Walking will also help improve your circulation and will help your body get rid of nicotine faster. Once again, don’t overdo things, or you could make yourself feel worse.
Water
Water helps to flush waste products from the liver and kidney, so if you have consumed too much nicotine, and want your head rush to end, then you should drink some water.
FAQs
Why do I feel sick after vaping?
If you feel sick after vaping, it is likely due to you consuming too much nicotine. The best way to avoid this is by consuming less nicotine, either by vaping less frequently or by switching to a vape juice with less nicotine content.
How to stop headaches from vaping?
Headaches caused by vaping can also be resolved by just consuming less nicotine through some of the methods we have mentioned above.
Conclusion
Not everyone enjoys the nic rush that they get from vaping. Thankfully there are ways to avoid getting an unpleasant head rush from vaping. Follow these tips, and you can enjoy a hit of nicotine without getting dizzy.
And, don’t forget that you can always vape nicotine-free shortfills if you want to enjoy your vape without any worries about dizziness or nausea. Or, if you prefer disposables, opt for a nicotine-free disposable vape such as the Riot Bar which comes in 0mg, 10mg, or 20mg varieties.
