Seems like vaping is hurting my lungs & messing w/ my sinuses?

[Myah_June2014]

So after battling smoking along with vaping for 5 months, I quit smoking for over a month, then gave in, ended up smoking more.. I finally had enough! With the support of some great ppl it will be 2 weeks with no cheating @ 5 am lol. So, the last 2 days my sinuses are wacky, today I woke up & my lungs hurt. After walking up the stairs I felt like I was still smoking 2 PAD. I've actually felt good before this... I always lung hit, Vapor just taste better to me. I don't cloud chase, I do like more vapor though. I run single parallel .40-.50 ohms & switch between 24 & 18mg all day. I woke up today & didn't vape for 3 1/2 hours cuz my lungs hurt... Anybody know what's going on, has this happened to you, any suggestions?
Thanks all

 

[Topwater Elvis]

What is your pg/vg ratio?
Some or all of what you're experiencing could be related to / normal for quitting smoking, again.

Lung hits + single parallel .40-.50 ohm + 18mg ~ 24mg = gonna be fairly rough on the lungz IMO..

 

[FlamingoTutu]

Yes, perhaps your lungs clearing. Have you upped your water intake? It will help. Also what Elvis asked. Hang in there and congratulations on kicking the cigs to the curb!

 

[JulesXsmokr]

sound like you have a hot vape at .4 ohms and using a high nicotine content to boot.- that would make me cough too! most of the low ohm cloud chasers go down to 8mg. or less. you need good wicks and clean coils to enjoy that vape..

 

[zapped]

Also the type of juice can make a difference. In general anything that can crack a plastic tank is a lung irritant.

Butterscotch, cinnamon, lemon, all of those and many more can cause the symptoms youre reporting here.

 

[The Torch]

Seems like a lot is going on at the same time from where I stand:

1- When you quit smoking, it takes 1-2 weeks up to 2 months before getting the "quitter's flu". symptoms can vary, but often include flu-like symptoms; achy lungs, lots of coughing, short breath, phlegm, congestion, etc. Pretty much any symptom you could feel if you had the actual flu.

2- As mentioned above, 18-24mg in a rebuildable can be a little on the 'violent' side, not to mention on a sub-ohm coil.

3- your lungs do need to get used to vapor in contrast to smoking.

4- You mixed a lot of tings at once: quitting coffin nails, vaping and sub-ohming... It's a radical change. Most people switch over using a regular starer's kit that had a coil anywhere between 1.3 and 2.2 ohms.

I had a hard time vaping while my lungs were clearing themselves during my 2 week long 'quitter's flu' bout. Once that was over, I was vaping more than I ever smoked.

Hang in there and wait for other points of view... someone will make 100% sense to you (or many of us will make a little sense) and you will be able to figure out what works from a collective base.

 

[samturdo]

if i take 3-4 lung hits in a row (at 36mg) my lungs will start to hurt. and your resistance is five times less than mine so youre getting much more nicotine plus constant lung hit, thats probably whats doing it

 

[Myah_June2014]

Seems like a lot is going on at the same time from where I stand:

1- When you quit smoking, it takes 1-2 weeks up to 2 months before getting the "quitter's flu". symptoms can vary, but often include flu-like symptoms; achy lungs, lots of coughing, short breath, phlegm, congestion, etc. Pretty much any symptom you could feel if you had the actual flu.

2- As mentioned above, 18-24mg in a rebuildable can be a little on the 'violent' side, not to mention on a sub-ohm coil.

3- your lungs do need to get used to vapor in contrast to smoking.

4- You mixed a lot of tings at once: quitting coffin nails, vaping and sub-ohming... It's a radical change. Most people switch over using a regular starer's kit that had a coil anywhere between 1.3 and 2.2 ohms.

I had a hard time vaping while my lungs were clearing themselves during my 2 week long 'quitter's flu' bout. Once that was over, I was vaping more than I ever smoked.

Hang in there and wait for other points of view... someone will make 100% sense to you (or many of us will make a little sense) and you will be able to figure out what works from a collective base.

Yeah, I change my wicks a lot. I clean my coils alot & change every week. I did start with an ego, then MVP2 while I smoked, so not like I jumped into sub ohming. I love 70 VG - 30 PG. I am hopping around right now though as I switch juices a lot & am vaping one juice most of the day which is 65pg 35vg. It's just so yummy, I don't care about the ratio lol. The other main one from same company is 50-50 [these 2 are 18mg]. They are both mild tobacco juices & it's working for me this time. I've thought about the higher nic plus LH but moving to 12 probably isn't good idea so maybe I will up my ohms for a bit, dunno if that will help? Only 1 way to find out!
ty all for the input

 

[The Torch]

Yeah, I change my wicks a lot. I clean my coils alot & change every week. I did start with an ego, then MVP2 while I smoked, so not like I jumped into sub ohming. I love 70 VG - 30 PG. I am hopping around right now though as I switch juices a lot & am vaping one juice most of the day which is 65pg 35vg. It's just so yummy, I don't care about the ratio lol. The other main one from same company is 50-50 [these 2 are 18mg]. They are both mild tobacco juices & it's working for me this time. I've thought about the higher nic plus LH but moving to 12 probably isn't good idea so maybe I will up my ohms for a bit, dunno if that will help? Only 1 way to find out!
ty all for the input

Upping to 0.8-1,0 ohm can't hurt on safety, that's for sure. I wouldn't make too much of a dramatic change just to keep off death sticks, but ot seems you definitely need to change at least one parameter... like how much nicotine is being delivered. I'd say up your ohms a little and then lower your nic content if that's not enough. You don't have to jump straight to the other end of the bridge either... get a lower nic % juice and mix it with your current juice to see what happens. Worst case scenario, you still have the higher nic % juicee to rely on. Just make sure you warm the juices under hot tap water and shake the bottle plenty before putting it in a tank.

 

[Way2Gone]

i get the lung problems as well and shortness of breath sometimes. Tightness in the lungs. I have tried just about everything and don't honestly know a way not to deal with these symptoms sometimes. I have tried all different types of juice companys and nic levels and ratios. Once I do find a good juice that seems to be ok with me and don't irritate me as much I will try to stick with it as comfort is more of a priority for me. Dont feel bad, many people deal with this as I have seen multiple threads posted on ECF. I am not a brand new vapor just just have recently quit smoking for good or trying to so it could be from that i guess, but honestly I think it just has more to do with vaping within itself honestly.

Ps. also, I guess me switching up my juice ratios and companys all of the time doesn't help, as well as nicotine levels..all of the switching up all of the time probably contributes to some of this. But again, from my experience its not easy being a vapor, you have to find what works for you and don't over do it or you can feel like crap! Been there.

 

[supermarket]

Same as above poster. I've been vaping exclusively for over a year now, and vaping DOES cause shortness of breath in me, AND heaviness in my lungs....SAME feeling the OP mentioned.


Luckily, I've had doctors check me out recently, and I'm getting 99% oxygen, and my lungs look good!

Remember, how vaping affects our health is NOT understood yet. As vapers, we want to defend vaping with everything we got, but we MUST remain open-minded, and not jump to conclusions that vaping isn't harmful.


I switched to vaping from cigs for two reasons....health, and financial. So far, my health has gotten better, and I now spend about 1/2 what I spent on cigs.

Honestly, I never had the shortness of breath and heaviness in the lungs until I switched to mech mods/RBAs an RDAs. I don't even really sub-ohm, usually I build right around 1ohm (I build my RDAs at about .6ohm for dual coils, but I havent used an RDA in a month or two).

I think RBAs/RDAs can irritate the lungs more, since they are generally warmer, and hit harder then ego-style batteries and clearos.

 

[AndriaD]

My own experience is that high VG levels (anything over 25% VG) causes all the problems you mentioned, particularly being short of breath. If you're really adamant, for whatever reason, that you don't want to vape high PG juice, then your best bet is probably to thin the VG with distilled water; it seems to be the thickness of VG that causes breathing problems, probably because it coats the airways so thickly that it takes a while for the lungs to clear it, and if you just keep vaping thick Vg juices, your lungs never have a CHANCE to clear it. Thicker vapor, like the kind you get from VG, also does this to me.

Andria

 

[Way2Gone]

I definately don't want to give up vaping ever because I feel like it could really go somewhere, which i mean it already has gone somewhere..but I mean, I wish it was something that every single person could switch to and not be a fail. Alot of people start coughing and have chest problems and stuff and they quit and are forced to go back to ciggs. There is still so much with the vaping industry that I wish could improve... Juice mainly..Maybe juice could be possibly made differently as to where you wouldn't get any of the symptoms some people seem to have.. you know?

 

[Redruth]

I stopped smoking analogs three weeks ago today. I have had quitters flu for the last week. Saw the practice nurse at my GP's yesterday and she said my chest will get worse before it gets better but to just keep going. Don't think the problem is vaping because I was fine for the first two weeks.

Hope you get yourself sorted and can Vape on comfort soon.

 

[jazon1]

those sub ohm coils with 18-24 nic is pretty rough,most sub ohmers i know stick to under 8mg otherwise its to rough on them, i have a duel coil at .5 ohms and i use 6mg on it and it still seems rougher on my lungs then a carto with 18mg, as far as the sinus issues go thats from the smoking you bodys purging all that tar out it happened to me for several months, your lungs are going to be doing the same thing at some point i was coughing up some nastys for several months, i would guess it will be about 6 months before all the pleasures of quitting smokes will pass at least thats about how long it took me after 25 years of smoking, ive been vaping for about 5 years now and love it and feel great..stick with it youll feel tons better without the smokes in your life.

 

[SmokinRabbit]

Same as above poster. I've been vaping exclusively for over a year now, and vaping DOES cause shortness of breath in me, AND heaviness in my lungs....SAME feeling the OP mentioned. \

Luckily, I've had doctors check me out recently, and I'm getting 99% oxygen, and my lungs look good!

Remember, how vaping affects our health is NOT understood yet. As vapers, we want to defend vaping with everything we got, but we MUST remain open-minded, and not jump to conclusions that vaping isn't harmful.

My own experience is that high VG levels (anything over 25% VG) causes all the problems you mentioned, particularly being short of breath. If you're really adamant, for whatever reason, that you don't want to vape high PG juice, then your best bet is probably to thin the VG with distilled water; it seems to be the thickness of VG that causes breathing problems, probably because it coats the airways so thickly that it takes a while for the lungs to clear it, and if you just keep vaping thick Vg juices, your lungs never have a CHANCE to clear it. Thicker vapor, like the kind you get from VG, also does this to me.

I've had a lot of irritation problems lately, and the funny thing is, I'm probably vaping overall a whole lot less than I was at the beginning. I think the difference now is that I'm using stronger devices that give me bigger vapor hits and a lot more vapor at once. I'm not sub-ohming, but I am using lower ohms and higher wattage than I was vaping on when I first started, in the first 4-6 weeks.

For me, it has nothing to do with nicotine, since I'm at 0, though I know nicotine can be harsh and an irritant to the throat and lungs at higher milligrams -- good to be aware of for nicotine users. For me, I really think the wheezing and phlegm-in-sinuses-and-throat feeling is directly related to the amount of vapor I'm inhaling in a short period of time.

Lately, I find myself wheezing more, coughing more and feeling a lot more phlegmy in the throat and sinuses. It doesn't make me FEEL like vaping is healthier than smoking... it honestly frustrates me. Along with the annoying need for constantly charged batteries and fumbling with tanks -- which, btw, I think are ALL badly designed -- it's a relatively new annoyance that makes me want to throw up my hands on some days and just go back to smoking. Of course, logically I know that makes no sense either since I'm over the hardest part now (just passed 3-months tobacco free!)... I have no intention, at least at this point, to go back to the cancer sticks.

I've read about the "coating" effect of VG before (from Andria and others), so this weekend I'm going to get some 75-85% PG and see how that goes... I've pretty typically used 50/50 from the beginning, but that might be part of the problem, especially now with me vaping on devices that are delivering a lot more vapor.

 

[Wow1420]

My own experience is that high VG levels (anything over 25% VG) causes all the problems you mentioned, particularly being short of breath. If you're really adamant, for whatever reason, that you don't want to vape high PG juice, then your best bet is probably to thin the VG with distilled water; it seems to be the thickness of VG that causes breathing problems, probably because it coats the airways so thickly that it takes a while for the lungs to clear it, and if you just keep vaping thick Vg juices, your lungs never have a CHANCE to clear it. Thicker vapor, like the kind you get from VG, also does this to me.

Andria

Like Andria, I have trouble with VG. I verified it was the VG by dripping straight VG, no nic, no flavor. The nasal and sinus congestion hit me within minutes.

Before I realized what the issue was, I was getting a "heavy lung" feeling from some liquids and gradually started to narrow down the cause. As long as I use at least 50% PG or more, I'm OK, but I'm not a lung hitter. I might need even higher PG if I was.

 

[Myah_June2014]

My own experience is that high VG levels (anything over 25% VG) causes all the problems you mentioned, particularly being short of breath. If you're really adamant, for whatever reason, that you don't want to vape high PG juice, then your best bet is probably to thin the VG with distilled water; it seems to be the thickness of VG that causes breathing problems, probably because it coats the airways so thickly that it takes a while for the lungs to clear it, and if you just keep vaping thick Vg juices, your lungs never have a CHANCE to clear it. Thicker vapor, like the kind you get from VG, also does this to me.

Andria

How much distilled water do you recommend adding? I'm not gonna switch my nicotine below 18 right now, not gonna chance going back to cigarettes as I've worked to hard!! Most of my 24 MG is gone so I will stick w/ 18 till it's gone & go from there. My coil is at .69 so not really low.. I'm gonna vape my 65/35vg 3/4 of the day & then my 50/50 for a week & see. [Not sure if that's really long enough]?!?! I love my nickoticket juices & the ratio is what it is, no choices. It's so great & even the 65/35 produces more vapor then some of my 80/20. Like ppl have said, we DON'T know what vaping does to us... If I keep feeling heavy chested, then I gotta make decisions I guess. Hopefully with the lower VG & the nic cravings go away, the heavy chesting goes away. I would like to talk to a bunch of cloud chasers as they have 100%VG juice but no nicotine... Do they feel heavy chested? The amount of vapor they take in is crazy.. If they're not having issues, maybe it's the nicotine as they're usually low nic.. I don't live in a big vaping community so kinda stinks. And this is to everybody, not just Andrea.. Feel free & plz post back for everyone who is gonna make changes w/ certain things. Ty all

 

[TheOdessa]

I found vaping 12MG at 100%VG gives me the maximum vapor experience without the sneezing and issues.

I smoked cigars so I do not inhale my vape. I take it in my mouth and exhale thru the nose then the rest thru my mouth. It gives me the nic hit I crave with the taste and vapor production I enjoy.

I currently use an eLeaf Lemo with a 1.3ohm micro coil, Koh Gen Do cotton on a istick at 17.1 watts.

Organic cotton and Rayon were making me sneeze too. Koh Gen Do seems to cut that down as well as bring out the flavor more.

The biggest thing for me was cutting out PG. It killed me.

 

[AndriaD]

How much distilled water do you recommend adding? I'm not gonna switch my nicotine below 18 right now, not gonna chance going back to cigarettes as I've worked to hard!! Most of my 24 MG is gone so I will stick w/ 18 till it's gone & go from there. My coil is at .69 so not really low.. I'm gonna vape my 65/35vg 3/4 of the day & then my 50/50 for a week & see. [Not sure if that's really long enough]?!?! I love my nickoticket juices & the ratio is what it is, no choices. It's so great & even the 65/35 produces more vapor then some of my 80/20. Like ppl have said, we DON'T know what vaping does to us... If I keep feeling heavy chested, then I gotta make decisions I guess. Hopefully with the lower VG & the nic cravings go away, the heavy chesting goes away. I would like to talk to a bunch of cloud chasers as they have 100%VG juice but no nicotine... Do they feel heavy chested? The amount of vapor they take in is crazy.. If they're not having issues, maybe it's the nicotine as they're usually low nic.. I don't live in a big vaping community so kinda stinks. And this is to everybody, not just Andrea.. Feel free & plz post back for everyone who is gonna make changes w/ certain things. Ty all

As far as I know, nicotine doesn't seem to play any role in these heavy/tight chest problems; nicotine seems mostly to influence a) satisfaction, and b) throat hit. So if you need to stay at a fairly high nic level to stay smoke-free, I really doubt that the nicotine is what's causing the problem.

For pre-made high-VG juice (50/50 is still pretty high VG), I'd suggest a starting dilution of 5%, which might be enough, especially for a 50/50 juice. For even higher VG levels, it might need to be 10% water to thin it enough that it doesn't cause chest problems. Any more water than that would start to really affect the taste; it won't change the taste, just make it lighter. Also, you might need to swab out your driptip more often, if you add water to the mix, or it might cause the kind of gurgle that's from the condensate running down into the chimney. Be sure to use distilled water, so your coil doesn't get gunked with impurities.

As for the vast amounts of vapor that cloud-chasers emit... that may not be possible for you, if you want to keep breathing. VG just seems to affect some people this way, just because it's so thick, and the vapor it creates is so thick; some people's lungs just can't handle it, just as some people can't handle high PG, like the post just above this one. Have you ever tried higher PG? Like, 75PG/25VG? The only problem I've ever found with high PG was when I was vaping 90% PG and coming down with a cold -- between the two irritants (PG and cold virus) my throat became very red and inflamed and painful -- without a cold, 90% PG doesn't bother me, but apparently the cold virus was enough of an irritant in its own right to make that much PG very irritating. Normally I vape 85% PG, and it keeps my lungs clear; of course, I don't sub-ohm EVER, and yeah, that .69 IS low -- it's less than 1 ohm, so that is low, and it might be part of the problem, just because that much heat is going to make a lot of vapor -- and a lot of vapor is very likely what's causing the problem. And yeah, the lung-hitting too -- it's just too much heat, at that low resistance, and apparently your lungs just don't like it. Trying to keep vaping in the same fashion is just going to keep causing the same problem.

Andria