Shortness of breath, e-liquid question

[Dhompe]

I believe the ingredients in the flavoring is more suspect in most cases that the pg/vg ratio. As others have posted, steer clear of Diketones, acetyle propionyl.

 

[Clo]

I just switched from a 50/50 to 75/25 VG/PG and it cleared up my issues. I too was having slight shortness of breath and throat irritation. So I went to a local shop that mixed up a new blend for me and I tried a flavor without custard flavoring which may also be part of it. Today I should get my e-juice from Mountain Oak which I read about from a post on this forum and they have all their batches of juice independently tested for all the current known flavoring "nasties" and they post the report results on their website. I hope all places start doing this. I like seeing what is in my e-juice. This new one I am getting is also a higher VG. It is a custard flavor so I am going to try that and see if the high VG custard flavor gives me any kind of similar reaction as before. If not, then Mountain Oak may be my new e-juice supplier

 

[jameso17]

Flavours have often been cited as a culprit - for some people anyway. I had wheezing problems and thought it was PG. I went on to over 80% VG liquids and the problem reduced, then tried a different liquid that was 50/50. No problems with it either, to my surprise. I then tried the original liquids and the problem returned. This seemed to suggest it was a flavouring, or an ingredient, rather than the percentage of PG.

Another factor may be dry hits - if the coil is being strangled and insufficient liquid is getting to it, or the battery is supplying too much power in relation to the capacity of the atty or coil, then inhaling burnt wicking (be it silica which has also been suggested as a problem for some, or cotton) can cause an onset of wheezing and feeling of heaviness when breathing.

 

[wv2win]

In the experience of myself and many others, the high vg is the culprit. Pg problems usually show up immediately as either harshness/irritation in the throat, or a genuine allergic problem.

Edit: I am seriously down on vendors who do not list the pg/vg ratios. My preference is that no one buy from them. I certainly do not.

You are 100% correct. VG NOT PG is more challenging to the lungs. If the OP is having shortness of breath, the culprit is not vaping, although vaping will not help the situation improve but more importantly got the person off of smoking. The culprit is the many years of smoking. I would suggest getting a COPD test.

 

[Sgt.Rock]

In my experience--for me-- I find that too heavy on the VG creates more mucus...too heavy on the PG will dry out my lungs.

Staying somewhere in the 35/65 to 50/50 works well for me (given my style of vaping)

A lot depends on your device, how you vape, the frequency of vaping and the amount of e-liquid you consume.

No "One size fits all" works here. You have to discover what suits you.

 

[louie325]

i get the same feeling i went from 50/50 pg /vg to max vg different vendors same results
usually goes away if i take a few hrs break from vaping
or to prevent it i dont chain vape

 

[louie325]

In my experience--for me-- I find that too heavy on the VG creates more mucus...too heavy on the PG will dry out my lungs.

Staying somewhere in the 35/65 to 50/50 works well for me (given my style of vaping)

A lot depends on your device, how you vape, the frequency of vaping and the amount of e-liquid you consume.

No "One size fits all" works here. You have to discover what suits you.

well crap no wonder i noticed increased mucus (constant spitting out loogies lol) with max vg
gonna start trying out different vg/pg blends
sometimes it feels worse than when i was smoking ciggys

 

[Nermal]

For what it's worth, louie, it took several weeks of high vg to bring about the condition you describe, and several more for it to go away. If you experienced a very sudden change, it is likely to be something else. Naturally, I assume I'm the norm against which all others are judged.

 

[louie325]

For what it's worth, louie, it took several weeks of high vg to bring about the condition you describe, and several more for it to go away. If you experienced a very sudden change, it is likely to be something else. Naturally, I assume I'm the norm against which all others are judged.

i noticed the increased mucus production over the course of 4 to 5 months
so if in fact max vg cause increased mucus production then its prob the culprit
a local vape shop is gonna make me some 60/40 pg vg mix see if that helps
foolishly when i first started vaping i was at 80/20 pgvg and i never had the mucus issue until i started increasing the vg % and until i hit max vg i started to become concerned
might sound like i am over reacting nothing to serious more of an annoyance than anything
i just drink a ton of water and dont chain vape rarely have issues now

 

[sucram]

Also not properly steeped juice can make me wheeze. I need to make sure any alcohol has evaporated. I also wheeze when i drink. Its a long shot though

 

[Suryia]

Hi all,

I have been vaping for 1.5 years after quitting smoking. I have started experiencing extreme shortness of breathe recently where I cannot get a decent breath and feel like I am not getting enough air/oxygen. It feels like I'm suffocating and fighting for air. I have read about this issue on other forums as well and people suggest that PG in e-juice can cause issues like this. I didn't have any issues before but wonder if it's possible to develop this reaction over time? The suggestion is to switch to either a higher ratio of VG to PG or try 100% VG. My current supplier of e-liquid doesn't list their ratio so I have no idea what the current ratio is that I've been vaping. I have emailed them to ask.

I am wondering if anyone else has had this issue and tried switching to either a higher ratio of VG to PG or tried 100% VG. If so, did the issue resolve by trying just VG or a higher ratio of VG? I am thinking of going the 100% route just so I know if it helps or not. I really don't want to be forced to quit vaping! I struggled for years to quit smoking and vaping is the only option that worked for me! Never had this severe shortness of breath issue when smoking either. I don't know what I'd do if I had to stop vaping...don't want to go back to analog cigs and nothing else has ever worked for the nicotine issue and quitting!

I dont want to scare you in the least bit, but you should go see a doctor. No advice on here will really get to the bottom of the issue. When you have a sudden change like that, it is really advised to go and see your primary care physician. It might be the vaping, and it might not be the vaping, but the only way to really figure out what is going on is to go see your doctor. I wish you the best.

 

[louie325]

it can def would the pg/vg ratio ever since i found a good in house juice from a local vape shop i started using max vg
i to would get heavy chest
after seeing this very thread yesterday i went to my local vape shop and bought some 50/50 same flavoring same nic just 50/50
within an hour i wasnt having heavyness in my chest anymore out of curiosity i filled another mini i got with the max vg instant heavyness again
and today i feel badass no more heavyness
hmmmm gonna vape max vg again and see how i feel

 

[DC2]

When I started not quite two yrs. ago, people were all about throat hit, thus juices made with more pg. Now it's all about bigger, thicker clouds. Yep, more vg. and you use more juice! Where they use to have 70 pg/30 vg, it is now 50/50. I find that I can use 60 or 65 pg without getting that chest tightness.

Same here.

I do ask the B&M's what ratio is in their juices and let them know I get "congested" with the high vg juices. If they won't give me that info, then I don't buy and shop elsewhere.

Same here.

I'm currently on a search for a vendor that users higher PG and discloses test results.

Mr ELiquid tends to use a 70% PG with most liquids as their "normal" blend.
And they say they will be posting test results on their site soon.

When that happens, I'll buy a few and hope I like them.

 

[Bookworm]

Same here.

Same here.

I'm currently on a search for a vendor that users higher PG and discloses test results.

Mr ELiquid tends to use a 70% PG with most liquids as their "normal" blend.
And they say they will be posting test results on their site soon.

When that happens, I'll buy a few and hope I like them.

I've heard good things about Mr. E-liquid, especially their RY4.

If you want high PG and test results, there's always Halo. I don't know if they've ever disclosed the ratio, but it has always seemed pretty PG heavy to me.

 

[Racehorse]

extreme shortness of breathe recently where I cannot get a decent breath and feel like I am not getting enough air/oxygen. It feels like I'm suffocating and fighting for air.

Glad you got it checked out and doing better.

 

[nyiddle]

As others have said, you should see a doctor. Also, look for threads in this forum and elsewhere on the Web related to "diketones," "diacetyl," and/or "acetyle propionyl." These are chemicals that can be found in creamy flavors. While there is no definitive evidence that these substances are harmful when inhaled, there is enough concern in the vaping community that some manufacturers of e-juice and some consumers are making an effort to avoid them.

I hope you feel better.

I want to stress that diacetyl/AP/A aren't ONLY in creamy flavors. Creamy flavors are likely to have a higher concentration of diketones, yes, because natural creamy flavors inherently have diketones in them, but.. Sure Bert by Nicoticket (for example) contains ~2500 ug/mL (ppm) of AP, and it doesn't taste like a creamy flavor at all. It's almost entirely fruity. Those levels of AP are on par with Five Pawns. I'm not sure why it's not discussed more...

I recently cut that juice completely out of my regiment, and I've noticed my chest feels better than it did when I was vaping high amounts of that juice. I think Sure Bert should be taken out of the line-up (and I think it is being taken out soon, but not specifically because of the insane levels of diketones present in it).

 

[NoFumus]

Sure Bert by Nicoticket (for example) contains ~2500 ug/mL (ppm) of AP, and it doesn't taste like a creamy flavor at all.

Yeah, I saw some of those numbers.

I've noticed my chest feels better

I'm glad you're feeling better.

 

[nyiddle]

Yeah, I saw some of those numbers.

I'm glad you're feeling better.

Yeah, same. I'd like to hope I haven't done any lasting damage, as I've easily consumed upwards of 300mL of that juice over the course of the last half year or so.

 

[RandyF]

I have actually had the same feeling of not getting enough breath the couple weeks or so, not severe, but noticeable. I have been vaping for nearly 3 years, and until recently I have always got my juice from a vendor, typically 65vg/35pg 3mg. The last couple months I have started making my own (unflavored) and upped the VG to 80/20 for my drippers and 70/30 for my tanks. I'm thinking the higher VG may be the culprit, at least in my case. I am going to mix a batch of 50/50 and see if anything changes

 

[NeXtDimensionVaping]

I started with vaping mainly PG e liquids and never had problems. Now I have ventured more into VG territory and I have noticed shortness of breath the last few days!

I like VG because of the density of vapor, but I may be allergic because its hard to breath for me when I vape a high vg.

Unfortunately, I'm sitting at home right now wanting to vape, but I cant because I mixed my pg juice with vg and i have trouble breathing if I vape it. (its the only juice I have with me atm)

in the next couple days I either am gonna have to majorly dilute this batch, or just go ahead and get a new bottle pg juice.


You live and learn.

I was really interested in VG over PG but it seems its not for me.

50vg/50pg i'm okay, even 60vg/40pg, but when I get to 70vg/30pg or 80vg/20pg - thats when I start having breathing issues.