How to lower your vape nicotine strength step by step

What the number on the bottle means#

The strength is the amount of nicotine in each millilitre of liquid, written as mg/mL. A 20 mg/mL liquid has 20 milligrams of nicotine in every millilitre. That number tells you the strength of the liquid, not how much you take in. How you vape it changes that, which is why this guide asks you to count puffs as well.

Start from the strength you use now. The example below starts at 20 mg/mL. If you already use a lower strength, start from your own number and skip the steps above it.

Read the label on every bottle rather than assuming the next one matches the last. Strength is printed in mg/mL, and two liquids with the same flavour name can come in different strengths. Buying the same strength each time is what makes a step-down plan measurable.

A worked step-down table#

This is an example, not a prescription, and we did not find a published schedule for stepping down the nicotine strength of vape liquid. Check any plan with a pharmacist before you change strength. Each step runs for about two weeks.

The puff rule is the column that matters. If your daily count goes above your ceiling on more than two days in a week, repeat that step for another week before you go lower. That rule is ours, not a clinical one. It exists because the research below found that people can puff more on weaker liquid.

Change one thing at a time#

Try not to change the strength, the device and the liquid brand in the same week. If you do, you will not know which change caused a difference in your count. Keep the device and coil the same for the whole plan, and change only the strength at each step. If a lower strength means a new device, treat that as its own step and count puffs for a week on it before you go lower.

Illustration with made-up numbers: say your first week averages 150 puffs a day, so 150 is your ceiling for the 12 mg/mL step. If the next week averages 175, you are over the ceiling, so repeat the 12 mg/mL step rather than moving to 6 mg/mL. The count tells you the move, not how you feel about it.

Write down how each step feels as well as the count. Urge to vape and withdrawal symptoms were measured as outcomes in the study below, and they were higher on the weaker liquid. A note of your own cravings at each step will show you the same pattern, or show you that it does not apply to you.

Why puff counts matter more than the number on the bottle#

The most useful study we found is small. Dawkins and colleagues had 20 experienced e-cigarette users vape in their everyday setting over four weeks, one week on each of four setups: 6 mg/mL or 18 mg/mL liquid, each with fixed or adjustable power.¹ Daily puff numbers and the amount of liquid used were higher on the weaker liquid. Puffs were also longer on weaker liquid with fixed power. Urge to vape and withdrawal symptoms were higher on the weaker liquid, and nicotine intake was lower.

The authors' conclusion is the line to keep in mind. They wrote that use of a lower nicotine concentration e-liquid may be associated with compensatory behaviour, such as a higher number and duration of puffs, and with increases in negative affect, urge to vape and formaldehyde exposure.¹

Twenty people over four weeks is not enough to tell how common this is. It is enough to make counting puffs a fixed part of a strength plan. Write down your daily count at each step. If it climbs when the strength drops, hold there rather than assuming the lower strength is working.

The Australian 20 mg/mL rule#

If you live in Australia, the pharmacist model lets adults aged 18 and over access therapeutic vapes with a nicotine concentration of 20 mg/mL or less without a prescription, where the pharmacist is satisfied that supply is clinically appropriate.² Higher strengths need a prescription, and a prescription can also be required where state or territory legislation says so.²

That is a rule about pharmacy supply, not a limit on every vape or every bottle sold. Ask your pharmacist what they can supply, and see how to quit vaping in Australia for the rules and the Quitline. The practical guide to quitting vaping puts the strength steps into a full plan.

Pair the strength steps with a puff log#

Strength is one lever and puffs are another. If you are also cutting how much you vape, the taper guide covers the daily puff targets, and how to track your vape puffs shows how to keep the count without it becoming a chore.

Track every strength step in ExHale#

This plan leans on one number, your daily puff count, and we built ExHale to keep it for you. One tap logs a puff or a craving, the calibration week gives you the baseline that becomes your ceiling, and the Stats and Health screens show whether your count climbs after a strength drop, the compensatory puffing the study above describes. The step-down plan adapts to what you log, so a step you need to hold shows up in your numbers, not in a guess. For the strength steps themselves, a pharmacist is the right person to check.

Questions about lowering nicotine strength#

References#

1. Dawkins L, Cox S, Goniewicz M, McRobbie H, Kimber C, Doig M, Kośmider L. 'Real-world' compensatory behaviour with low nicotine concentration e-liquid: subjective effects and nicotine, acrolein and formaldehyde exposure. Addiction. 2018;113(10):1874-82. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29882257/
2. Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), Australian Government. Vapes: information for individuals and patients (the pharmacist model). Accessed 5 Nov 2026. www.tga.gov.au/products/unapproved-therapeutic-goods/therapeutic-vaping-goods/vaping-hub/vapes-information-individuals-and-patients