My trip to the ER

[menaice]

So last night i was just sitting there relaxing then BAM all of the sudden broke out into a sweat severely light headed and felt like i was going to pass out. I started to hyperventilate. I have had panic attacks before. Also do take beta blockers for my heart, which i take inconsistency (not good). Now i vape like a champ, my pv is rarely out of my hand. I vape 24mg constantly all day long. So after about 20 min of this episode i had i couldn't get claimed down. I felt like i was going to pass out and could not get my breathing controlled. (Possibly a nic overdose) It felt restricted. I have not had an analog cig in a little over 2 months. So i get to the ER and see the doctor. I brought some liquid to show him as well as my other medicine i take. He looked at everything and said FRIST!!!! i need to be taking my beta blockers on a regular basis and that taking it inconsistency can cause complications. He said that with the combination of a possible nic overdose mostly likely caused my initial attack then hyperventilation just escalated the event making it worse. He told me to order more Juice that was lower in nic content and to MAKE SURE i got my beta blocker medicine on a regular basis and make that more consistency. I was worried and i knew it would make me mad if i gotten a doctor that immediately jumped to saying in a round about way "THIS E CIG CAUSED IT AND IS HORRIBLE TO USE" to my surprise that wasn't the case. He said he could test for a nic overdose but it would take a couple of days to get the test back and is extremely expensive and wouldn't read right anyway because of the amount of time that has passed between my attack and the time i seen him. He said all they symptoms i described having pointed to a nic overdose BUT that in combination with inconsistency in me taking my beta blockers could very easily caused this attack to happen. Also they did an EKG on my heart and there was no sign of damage or anything irregular going on. So the end result was...

Doctor ordered me to:
Take my beta blocker on a consistent basis everyday (will take 4 to 5 days of consistency to straighten out).
To lower my nic in take (he said get a bottle of 12mg or maybe less)

[Kurt]

menaice, thanks for posting this! The doc sounds very sensible, IMHO. In general, it is actually hard to OD on nic with a PV. You simply put it down before symptoms get too bad. It does sound to me like a secondary reaction, and it is quite possible not taking the beta-blockers combined with a bit too much nic created the scenario. The fact that you actually got to the ER yourself probably told the doc that the nic levels were enough to cause discomfort, but were not highh enough to be life threatening. With 24 mg, you would have to ingest over 2 mL of juice all at once to be in the life threatening levels, and nic levels fall off fairly fast in the body. A truly dangerous nic OD means you would hardly even be able to call 911 for paramedics, the symptoms are that horrific.

I agree with his advise: take your meds and cut back on nic a bit. 24 mg is not as high as some vape, but it is high, especially if you are vaping heavily...it would make me sick to chain vape 24 mg all the time. If that level is not really satisfying you, consider swedish snus. It could be nic alone is not enough for you, and swedish snus is far safer than american snus or dip, let alone analogs.

Good luck!! And let us know how it all turns out for you!

[HippyJonny]

Thanks for sharing this story. Sometimes when I vape before bed, I'll lie awake worrying that I've taken too much nicotine. I've had panic attacks with too much caffeine mixed with ......... (I haven't smoked pot in years) but I still worry that stimulants will send me into a spin.

I've been vaping 18mg but I just ordered a couple bottles of 24mg. Maybe increasing isn't such a good idea. Does anybody know the average nic strength most people use?

[keyzygirl]

I vape 24 with my morning coffee,then its 12-18 for the day.Used to be 36 then 24 for the day.I may cut down more.If you can cut down,its good.I never felt a big difference.

[stltransporter]

been doing 24 mostly all day now for 6 months or so and started with 36 for the first couple of weeks or so Never had anything like the description happen to me but i tend to be hyperactive to begin with so thats probably normal for me.

[Seabrook]

I vape 24 with my morning coffee,then its 12-18 for the day.Used to be 36 then 24 for the day.I may cut down more.If you can cut down,its good.I never felt a big difference.

You said "I never felt a big difference." Exactly -- me too. I ordered over 30 flavorings from Capellas (only a few min. drive from my home), and I've turned my kitchen into Seabrook's mad lab, LOL. I first mixed the flaves up on their own in a 60/30/10 PG/VG/PGA base without nicotine. Didn't dose it to my usual 11mg of nic, cuz I thought, what if I get them fubar? So, I'm vaping all these flaves for 3 days, and then the thought hit me, OMG, I have been vaping 0 nic -- duh. So having said that, I haven't felt particularly bitchy at all, even with the case of beer I got for Labor Day, LOL. So, YMMV, but I'm wondering for myself if I am over-rating the nic addiction for myself? I think I just like the vaping of the wonderful world of flavors.

Menaice, I'm sorry about your trauma. How scary that sounded. Your doc knows best. I got sick too from too much nic, but not that sick. I just got headaches because I should have started out on 18mg instead of 24, being I was such a light smoker. Hang in there and take very, very good care of yourself. Thanks for sharing your story.

[DemonCowboy]

i've gotten into a routine of 36mg in the morning and sometimes during a night where i feel stressed and want to FEEL the nic working. other than that it's 24mg constantly all day, but then i'm probably a-typical and might have to look into snus or the like for the other things i'm missing and need

[juicefreak]

glad you're ok. sounds like a great doc. when i first started vaping the way i'd gauge my nic level was to ask myself could (not would) i smoke a cigarette right now? if i was nic'd up, it would be "hell no", so there was my answer = put the PV down for awhile.

kinda like drinking and you have a good buzz, but you're thirsty. "if i have another sip/drink, am i going to get the whirlies?" = cut myself off for awhile.

after over a year of no cigs, it's harder to tell if i'm nic'd up, because i don't crave cigarettes anymore at all.

and yes beta blockers aren't hit or miss. lol. gotta keep them regular

[SSOD]

Started with 24mg. after about 3 months went to 12-18mg for the last 9 months. my wife went from 24mg to 8-12 now. but she vapes menthol.

[sanjosse]

Menaice,
Sorry to hear about your twisties. I vape 18mg all day for 18 hrs a day. It works for me, but i'm not on beta blockers either. I'm glad your dr. was so cool about your vaping. Did he/she say you should cut back?