I am just starting out with vaping (3 weeks now, still on analogs as well). There seems to be a very defensive attitude towards anyone who is questioning the safety of e-cig amoung
some vapers. My take is that anything besides atmospheric air is not supposed to go in the lung (analog smoke of course included). The lungs evidently are able to withstand some pollution - exhaust gasses and whatever may pollute the air that we breathe, since most of the human population lives to reach old age. I absolutely don't believe that e-cigs are "safe" alternative to smoking. But I think that it may be safer than smoking, if vaping in moderations. So my plan is to gradually get rid of the analogs and later phasing e-cig out as well, or a rare non-nicotine vape when the crawing is there (and it will be forever if you once was a smoker).
When I first got my e-cigs I was able to cut my smoking to virtually nothing (1 or 2 analogs pr. day vs 1 PAD). I owe this to the novelty and the fact that it delivered the nicotine in sufficient levels. The "1 or 2" was due to the fact that watermelon or caramel didn't work for me with a glass of red wine.
Was also having severe dissatisfaction-frustration with my hardware and my juice so at the time just wrote it off to nerves and frustration.
In the last days I found that I didn't get the same satisfaction from my e-cigs anymore and my smoking has increased again, however not above 5 to 10 - still an improvement. It no long "felt right" and clean.
Today I cleaned all of my atomizers and carts (dry-burn, rinsing, boil-off, rinsing with vodka). And the satisfaction has increased again (though I am not too crazy about the liquids I have like you).
The point being that I think in addition to the vapor a bad performing atomizer may play a part in our perception and our physical reaction as well. I was really supprised how much "gue" I was able to burn off the atomizer. This foul stinking smoke was definately traceable in the vapor before cleaning. I am sure this can't be healthy too.
I will for the future clean my atomizers regularly. I am also getting in to DYI liquids, and hopefully I will be able to find a flavor that will work for me when drinking reds too, that I will be able to quit the analogs completely.
Another thing, I found that vaping has made me incredibly conscient sensitive (aware) about my health. I feel everything in my body and think about it and think about the relation to vaping. As writing this my right eardrum is flapping a little bit, making a slight noise in my ear. Does the vapor reach the ears? Would I be experiencing this if I used straight VG or...?
I probably experienced a flapping eardrum 1000 of times before and never gave the reason a thought before. It's not necessarily bad to be aware of the body, as long as we remember that what we feel my not be a new feeling that we didn't experience in the body before. I have had tightness in my chest a lot when I smoked too much, I expect that too now if vaping too much. Vaping is probably just as bad for the lungs as smoking except the carciogenics. That may be enough for some, but I wan't to quit completely. E-cigs are a step of the way I hope, and if not it was a cheap attempt.
