Signs You’ve Had Too Much Nicotine — and What to Do

Nausea, dizziness, headache and a racing heart are the usual signs. They typically arrive within minutes of taking in more nicotine than you are used to, and mild cases ease within an hour or two of stopping.

What it feels like

• Nausea, sometimes with stomach discomfort
• Dizziness or light-headedness
• Headache
• A racing or pounding heartbeat
• Sweating, or feeling clammy
• Shakiness in the hands

These are unpleasant rather than subtle. If you are wondering whether you have had too much, the answer is usually yes.

What to do

1. Stop vaping. Put the device down and leave it down.
2. Sit somewhere cool and let it pass.
3. Drink water.
4. Do not have more nicotine. It will not settle it.
5. Expect to feel washed out for a while afterwards even once it eases.

When to get medical help

Seek help if symptoms worsen rather than ease, or if there is vomiting, confusion, seizures, chest pain, difficulty breathing, or a heart rate that stays elevated.

If a child has swallowed e-liquid or put a device in their mouth, treat it as an emergency and get medical help immediately. Concentrated nicotine is seriously toxic to children at doses that would barely register in an adult. In the US, Poison Control is 1-800-222-1222.

Why it happens

Usually strength. A 5% device is 50mg/mL, which is aimed at established nicotine users. Someone without that tolerance can reach an uncomfortable dose quickly.

Nicotine salts compound it. They are smooth at high strength, so the usual signal that you are inhaling a lot — throat harshness — is largely absent. It is easier to overshoot without noticing.

Chain-vaping does the rest. Nicotine absorption lags behind inhalation, so puffs taken in quick succession stack up before you feel the earlier ones.

Avoiding it

• Choose a strength appropriate to your tolerance, not the strongest available. Our guide to choosing a first device covers this.
• Pause between puffs and let the last one register.
• Do not push through early nausea.

Nicotine is addictive. There is no benefit to a higher strength than you actually need.

Products sold by VIP Sales are for adults 21 and over. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.