A list of symptoms when quitting tobacco and changing to an ecigarette

[bghouse]

Admin Note
We have taken the opportunity to update and edit this post since it is very popular but not in an ideal format. At some stage it will be reformatted entirely but in the meantime it has received a facelift in order to ensure that symptoms of tobacco withdrawal are not attributed to ecigarette use.

Above all, it is important to note that symptoms of tobacco withdrawal are wide-ranging, occasionally long-lasting, and may not occur for a month or more after quitting tobacco. Such symptoms are well-known and widely reported, and these cannot be attributed to ecigarette use since they are experienced by those who have never even seen one. Apart from dry throat and similar effects, there are NO known symptoms of ecigarette use - all are the result of tobacco cessation and of course are experienced by quitters regardless of whether an ecigarette is used or not.

Admin


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Hi All,

I thought it could be great if we compiled a list of common symptoms you've all gone through when switching to e-smoking. This would really help some of us newer e-smokers when trying to determine if we are experiencing things that would be considered relatively "normal symptoms" or something more.

For instance, many people list acne breakouts as normal if you switch to e-smoking completely - as you body starts expelling toxins. Another person mentioned sneezing and a tingling sensation sometimes when the vapor goes up their nose. And since PG breaks down to lactic acid, it would seem that muscle soreness might be experienced by some and still be considered normal.

If we could start posting with our experiences of common symptoms, then we could compile a list for the newer members - which would help take some of the anxiety away from making the switch.

I'm offering to compile these, as unfortunately I don't know yet if my symptoms are normal or allergy related - so I can't contribute yet.

So if you can list your common symptoms / reactions, and if you have any idea of how long it lasted, etc. we can start this list.

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Tobacco withdrawal symptoms
It is important to note that almost all these symptoms - and all of those that are either noteworthy or persist for several days or weeks - are those of tobacco withdrawal and NOT ecigarette use. Such symptoms are very well known in tobacco cessation and in some cases even have specific nicknames as they are so common (such as the 'Quit Zits'). 'Symptoms' of ecigarette use are normally minor irritations related to sub-optimal use or product choice, such as dry throat.

PG allergy
A very small number of people exhibit symptoms of intolerance to propylene glycol, the most common eliquid base ingredient. It is difficult to assess that number but it appears to be below 1%. Changing to a VG, vegetable glycerine, liquid removes the problem.
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1. The Quit Zits
A common symptom of tobacco withdrawal is skin eruption, in the form of spots through to severe acne even in those who never experienced it when young. The 'quit zits' have no relation to ecigarette use.

2. Mouth Ulcers, Canker Sores
A very common symptom of tobacco withdrawal. Oral ulcers are a common result of cigarette smoking cessation, affecting about two out of five quitters.

It may be possible that nicotine being absorbed through the mouth can also exacerbate this, as folks using nicotine gum have experienced these mouth sores although it would need to be shown that those using nic skin patches did not suffer so commonly.

It may be that after ecig use, at first, drinking something to rinse the mouth out may help. This will get the nic (or perhaps flavorings or other matrerials) out of your mouth and not give it a chance to sit there and irritate your mouth tissues and make any sore worse, if this is in fact an issue.

Admin note
Note that both PG and VG are bactericides and are used medically for that purpose, so that these materials are more likely to improve this type of symptom than worsen it. It is extremely unlikely that ecig vapor will affect the Quit Ulcers in any way except beneficially.

3. Headaches, Nausea and Shakiness
These, together with irritability, inability to concentrate, poor sleep, depression and so on, are common nicotine withdrawal symptoms. If you are using a low-strength refill liquid and not absorbing as much nicotine as when you normally smoked, you can experience these withdrawal symptoms, which typically last only a few days to a week. Perhaps the use of a higher nic strength refill liquid might be a good idea temporarily, reducing the strength as needed.

4. Coughing
Probably the most common symptom of tobacco smoking cessation, along with sputum / phlegm production. The severity and duration will depend on how heavy a smoker you were before switching, and how many real smokes you still have while e-smoking.

5. Sputum, Phlegm
When quitting smoking, with or without using e-cigs, people find that their body starts coughing up all the junk they've been putting in - tars and other materials coating the surface of the lungs. This material is coughed up in the form of phlegm / sputum.

Some folks find they start coughing up this junk within a week or two - some faster. The duration will vary, but most people were finding that the morning cough went away in the first week and the rest of the junk came up within the first month - but it's very common.

6. Heartburn
Some folks have reported heartburn / acid symptoms, which would be a tobacco withdrawal symptom. Not enough information yet to guess why - but these symptoms seem to come after a couple of weeks of tobacco cessation and then go away again.

7. Muscle Cramps and Aches
Some people report increased muscle pains. One theory is that the PG in eliquid breaks down into lactic acid, which needs to be eliminated from the body.

Increasing water intake usually addresses this problem, whatever its cause. Not reported as much when using VG (vegetable glycerin) mixtures, but this is more than likely due to statistical probability since VG users are only a tiny number of total ecigarette users.

Admin note
The possibility of exacerbation due to ecig use is not only unproven, but unlikely. The problem with attributing muscle pains to lactic acid build-up caused in some way by ecigs is that all normal muscular lactic acid accumulation is topical, that is, if you work a muscle hard then that muscle alone accumulates lactic acid. Muscles are flushed out by natural processes and all lactic acid leaves via flushing, it is not possible for it to be introduced into a muscle even if that muscle is surrounded by others containing lactic acid. This is likely to be a tobacco withdrawal symptom.

8. Night Sweats
Some report night sweats, it is not known if this is a tobacco withdrawal symptom or not.

It has been reported that an intolerance to PG may be implicated but this is not proven. A change to VG only use and the immediate cessation of night sweats would confirm it but this is not reported.

9. Diarrhoea
Again, this may be a tobacco withdrawal synptom although it has been claimed that intolerance to PG might be the cause. Once again, a switch to VG accompanied by the immediate cessation of diarrhoea would confirm it.

10. Hiccups
Hiccups are common among smokers and tobacco users and are said to be the result of swallowing nicotine. Hiccups are most common among those who use chewing tobacco, snus, dissolvable tobacco tablets. They swallow tobacco juice and hiccups can result. They are not common among pipe and cigar smokers, who neither swallow nor inhale smoke, or users of nasal snuff.

If you tend to "gulp" your vapor, or let it sit in your mouth and then inhale sharply, then it is possible that some vapor may travel to the gullet or stomach as well as to the lungs. Hiccups may possibly result from nicotine delivered via that alternative path.

11. Dry Throat, Sore Throat
PG is a humectant and when vaping the back of the throat gets coated. You can find that after sleeping, you wake up with a sore throat. Things that can help are drinking a glass of water before bed, gargling with a mouthwash to cut the PG coating before bed, drinking water throughout the day, using hard candies and drinking liquids with honey liquid thru the day to keep your mouth moist.

An alternative for those who experience more throat dryness than normal is to change to a VG-based e-liquid, which normally solves the problem.

12. Racing Pulse, Dizziness, Slurred Speech
These are nicotine overdose symptoms. Sometimes we overestimate just how much nicotine we were getting with regular cigarettes, and underestimate how much we are vaping, particularly at the beginning. Racing pulse is the most common, slurred speech less so. Try cutting down the nic dosage in your cartridges or liquids or vaping less frequently.

It is said that some people experience this even with a low nicotine liquid and find that switching to VG solves their problems, although such a symptom of PG intolerance is certainly not widely believed to exist never mind be proven. It is far more likely that such a reduction of the symptom/s would be due to an intolerance to preservatives or similar used in an eliquid flavoring, and changing to a VG liquid simply removed those flavorings - see footnote.


---- AND SOME GOOD "SYMPTOMS" ----

Since we don't want to focus on just the negatives of quitting tobacco or ecigarette use, I wanted to put in some positive words from our experienced users.

First, most people adjust in the first week to symptoms. Dry throat and sore throat are easily remedied, and things like headaches or gas tend to go away quickly.

Sinuses clearing up. A wonderful thing when it starts happening. Your sense of smell starts to come back, stuffiness goes away, etc. You start noticing the smell of other people's smoke, or more subtle smells you've forgotten about as a smoker. The downside is you also start to smell the nastier smells too.

Smoker's morning cough going away. Most find that the annoying first thing in the morning coughing session goes away. Depending on how bad that was for you as a smoker, this is a definite milestone.

Deeper, clearer breathing. As your body clears all the toxins away, you start breathing deeper. Some folks report they get dizzy initially; perhaps due to taking in more oxygen and/or having no carbon monoxide intake. Many smokers actually breathe really shallow, especially if they've been smoking for a long while - so the change can be quite dramatic.

Smoke smell begone. No more stale smoke smell in your hair, your clothes, your home, your car. Downside is once your sense of smell comes back, you're prone to go on a massive cleaning spree - especially if you smoked in your home, you might find it smells unpleasant.

(if anyone else wants to add some good or bad symptoms, keep replying to this thread and we'll keep merging into one list)


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Footnote

Allergic Reaction to Eliquid Ingredients
Just one case has been reported where some of the symptoms were similar to #12 but in addition there was severe skin tingling, a feeling of electric tingling on the scalp, headache, and a general feeling of being very unwell. The events seem to have been associated with ecigarette use, and seem to be related to one batch of eliquid used; and no previous brand used or subsequently used had this effect. It is unlikely to be nicotine OD since the smallest amount of use caused the symptoms to return.

It is possible this was an allergic reaction to one or more ingredients such as preservatives or a particular ingredient in the flavoring; or that the liquid was contaminated in some way. This is a very rare case with only one report from millions of users at present, and no other users of that brand have reported anything similar.

Due to the extreme rarity of this report (a single report from millions of users, and no other similar reports or reports from users of the same brand) it may be the case that it is unrelated to ecigarette use and the timing of the symptoms was coincidental. We would be interested in hearing of any similar case.




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[efaglil]

During the first few days I experienced nicotine withdrawal. I get it quite bad anyway, headaches, nausea, shakiness and usually end up sleeping a lot. Doesn't last more than a few days and could be attributed to learning good techniques for getting the best out of the eCig.

Had a cough that didn't go away for 3 weeks(ish).

Also had an acne breakout - started about two weeks in and is just about clearing up now, we're at 5 weeks today (woohoo!)

I still have very very slight cough, I expect that inhalng anything which isn't clean air acts as an irritant. Hope that logic is correct!

[CaSHMeRe]

When I started ESmoking, you won't believe the issues I had.

Here is my list:
1. Throat wasn't just soar, It felt like 1000 needles poking it and I wouldn't even be swallowing!!!
2. Constant 72 hour headache. Nothing took it away!
3. Night AND Day Sweats. It could be 60 degree's inside and cold, and I would start sweating profusely. Wake up in the morning and my bed and pillow were wet from sweating (at least I'm hoping it was sweat, and not an accident ... lol)
4. And the worst of them all, the Runs!!! I was in the bathroom 15-20 times a day it seemed like. Constant stomach issues and trips to the bathroom made the first week not very enjoyable by any stretch of the imagination ...

BUT ... Like most, about 8-10 days later, I gave it another round, and have been fine ever since ...

[Soot]

I’m not sure if my symptoms are common.

Efaglil’s post worries me – I’m on day 11 and wonder if I’m about to have an acne breakout so that I’ll be stealing my son’s Clearasil! Should I take the precautionary action of using it now?

Symptoms so far include:

1. MUCH higher sex drive
2. Other half doesn’t read newspaper anymore – she rolls it in to a batton!
3. Lack of sleep.

I think these are linked .

[Grenage]

Lol, Soot. Sounds like a nightmare

Spot breakouts aren't uncommon, but you're generally unlucky to get them. I know people who have gone through it when quitting normal cigarettes, I think it's just your body clearing out the crap you've been absorbing.

[No burn baby]

How can we ascertain that its the quitting of the cigarette that is causing the acne break outs rather than the commencing of the E Cig?

I have been vaping for about a week now and don't know if this is a PG symptom or not but I have been experiencing an itchy, slightly peely nose, just inside of the nostrils and a little round the outside. I also have a small ulcer on my tongue (which I would think is due to getting a little juice in my mouth every now and again whilst getting to grips with vaping techniques! Anyone else experience this?

[Kate]

I had mouth ulcers a while ago but they've gone now. I've heard that they are one of the things people sometimes get when stopping smoking.

My skin isn't spotty or dry but seems to be taking a long time to heal from minor cuts. I don't know if this is related to esmoking or not.

I had a week or so where some of my leg muscles got a little achy. That might be something to do with lactic acid from propylene glycol.

[efaglil]

Originally Posted by Soot

I’m on day 11 and wonder if I’m about to have an acne breakout so that I’ll be stealing my son’s Clearasil! Should I take the precautionary action of using it now?

If they're coming they're coming and there's nowt to do about it

Don't know if it was caused by PG or tar clearing, just know it happened and I'm not usually quite so ugly

[Grenage]

How can we ascertain that its the quitting of the cigarette that is causing the acne break outs rather than the commencing of the E Cig?

It's not uncommon for people who just quit smoking to get spots, without using e-cigs.

[dc2k08]

hic-ups (hic).