Rapid Onset Nicotine Sensitivity

[allenwjones]

Hello!

I have not been smoking cigarettes for several years but I do enjoy a cigar, on average one or two a week. I have noticed that over time, I have not enjoyed the restrictions on tobacco smoking in public places nor do I enjoy the side effects of smoke smell and bad breath associated with smoking. I have switched to an e-vaporizer hoping that I could free myself of the side effects of tobacco and relieve the social stigma surrounding smoking.

However, even with the lowest level of nicotine (6mg/ml) e-fluids I had noticed I have a very high sensitivity to the juice. What was more discouraging was that after one week of very limited use, the sensitivity increased to a point where I could not vape at all without experiencing higher levels of anxiety and tension as well as some dysphoria. When my sensitivity changed, it was very fast and the symptoms lasted for more than 2 hours, and at the worst point as much as a day.

Has anyone else experienced this kind of sensitivity, especially in this kind of timeframe?

 

[fourtytwo]

If I were you, I would talk to a doctor about this.

 

[filter]

strange, must not be from the nicotine because cigarettes and cigars provide way more nicotine than a 18mg, let alone a 6mg. perhaps its the other ingredients in the ejuice.

 

[TarFreeMe]

I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV, but I doubt this is nic related.

There's a sticky post around here somewhere containing a list of symptoms related to quitting smoking. I think I remember seeing something in there about anxiety and tension, especially around cleaning chemicals.

Let me try to find that post and I'll link to it.


ETA: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/health-safety-e-smoking/3305-list-symptoms-when-quitting-tobacco-changing-ecigarette.html

See toward the bottom of the OP of this thread "Interesting Reports"

 

[allenwjones]

FortyTwo, I had checked with my doctor previously regarding stress and hypertension but all my tests came back normal.

Filter, I have recently got the same flavor from the same vendor without nicotine and I can vape that juice with impunity. Also, none of the symptoms I have experienced to date align with reported side effects of nicotine or PG/VG vapors. In fact, I had started vaping with a non-nicotine PG juice before attempting a nicotine version without any adverse effects.

Added: TarFreeMe, I will look at the link, but as I have not smoked cigarettes in years I am not certain if I will benefit from the information.

 

[Lisa66]

If I were you, I would talk to a doctor about this.

I agree. I've not heard of this except in people who were using high nicotine level juices, where cutting back on the concentration solved the problem.

 

[Herdo]

Filter, I have recently got the same flavor from the same vendor without nicotine and I can vape that juice with impunity. Also, none of the symptoms I have experienced to date align with reported side effects of nicotine or PG/VG vapors. In fact, I had started vaping with a non-nicotine PG juice before attempting a nicotine version without any adverse effects.

It sounds like this could possibly just be mental, as in it's all in your head. I'm not a doctor either, so I can't give you a real diagnosis, but it sounds like you have doubts over the safety of electronic cigarettes and you are stressing yourself out. You shouldn't be reacting to the nicotine in e-juice any differently than you would react to the nicotine in cigars (it's all derived from tobacco).

 

[Lisa66]

Not trying to start a juice "witch hunt" at all, but - you might ask the vendor if there has been a change in the ingredients or the source of the ingredients in the juice you've been using.

 

[filter]

seems unlikely, however possible, that your body absorbs far more of the nicotine from vaping than it did from smoking. normally it is the other way around. with a typical person, your blood-nicotine levels spike much more rapidly from 10 drags off a cigarette than they would from 30 drags off of an "x-high" 24mg e-cig. but its possible that you are an exception to this and your body is somehow absorbing ~90% of the nicotine as opposed to the typical ~2%-5%.

 

[allenwjones]

I agree filter, that the scenario you outlined is unlikely.. but even if it were the case I wonder why with even a very low dose over the period of a week that overnight I became totally sensitive.

I am assuming that none of you have experienced anything remotely like this previously?

@Herdo: We are all a little mental from time to time..

 

[NancyR]

As the pg tends to enhance things with the nic such as throat hit and flavor, have you tried 100%vg with the 6% nic? and if so how did you react with it?

 

[filter]

I am assuming that none of you have experienced anything remotely like this previously?

no, i had the opposite problem. as a relatively light smoker and a very occasional cigar smoker, i started with 18mg nic and found it did not satisfy my nicotine cravings. i moved up to 24mg and vape about four times as much as i smoked and that finally satisfied me.

 

[allenwjones]

@NancyR, the juice I have tried with nicotine was a 50/50 PG/VG blend. It is the only blend I have tried with nicotine in it. I have also used no-nic 100% PG and 70/30% VG/PG without any issues.

 

[TarFreeMe]

I agree filter, that the scenario you outlined is unlikely.. but even if it were the case I wonder why with even a very low dose over the period of a week that overnight I became totally sensitive.

I am assuming that none of you have experienced anything remotely like this previously?

@Herdo: We are all a little mental from time to time..

I went through most of the detoxing type effects of quitting smoking, but I never experienced anything like this.

Some people can be sensitive to PG but I've never heard of a reaction such as you describe. And if you can vape the same juice with zero nic (assuming same PG/VG ration), then it shouldn't be a PG issue.

I think my next step would be to try a different vendor. Maybe your current vendor is using some poor grade (for lack of a better term) nic base. Maybe they use WTA and that's not agreeing with you. Not blaming anyone or accusing anyone of selling shoddy stuff, just trying to think of possibilities for your issue.

Wish I could be of more help.

 

[TarFreeMe]

@NancyR, the juice I have tried with nicotine was a 50/50 PG/VG blend. It is the only blend I have tried with nicotine in it. I have also used no-nic 100% PG and 70/30% VG/PG without any issues.

It's more rare, but some people react to VG as well. I'm assuming that your 70/30 blend was actually 70/30 PG/VG and not VG/PG. There are definite differences in quality with VG depending on the brand and grade.

Is your juice made in the US and sold by a reputable vendor?

 

[allenwjones]

@TarFreeMe, no I meant 70% VG to 30% PG.. As to my source it was American E-Liquids Store and my wife has had no issue with any of the juice we have had thus far.

 

[TarFreeMe]

@TarFreeMe, no I meant 70% VG to 30% PG.. As to my source it was American E-Liquids Store and my wife has had no issue with any of the juice we have had thus far.

Then I'm out of ideas, sorry. I've never heard of that vendor so have no experience with them. That said, my wife has had issues with certain juices that I've had no problems with. I would still recommend trying a different vendors juice. There are a lot that sell small sample bottles for next to nothing. ECBlends is one example, 5 ml for $2.50 and you can customize it pretty much however you like. I know there are a lot more that hopefully someone will come along and list for you.

I think now that you have 5 posts, you should be able to post in the "Ask The Veterans" area. Maybe someone there has run into something similar and will be able to help you more. If you DO come up with the answer, I'd sure be interested to know what it is just for future reference should I run into someone else having the same experience.

Good luck to you and please let us know how things turn out for you.

 

[kparks]

It does seem odd that nicotine in one form could cause symptoms, but not in another... However, I am unable to use Nicotine patches, even at the lowest level, due to excruciating headaches! I've tried them at different times, all with the same results.

 

[StormFinch]

The only thing that comes to mind personally is that it really is too much nic. The symptoms sound similar, and obviously you aren't sensitive to the pg and vg since you've tried both as bases.

Question; do you or do you not inhale when you smoke cigars? From what I understand, some do, most don't. If you don't, then you really aren't getting all that much nicotine from at max 2 cigars per week. Since it's summarized that the nicotine from vapor is absorbed at least partially through the mucus membranes, whereas smoke particles are larger and must absorbed through the lungs, then you would be getting a larger dose of nicotine even if you vaped like a typical cigar smoker, aka not inhaling.

My second thought is that there might be a small possibility that your most recent bottle juice wasn't cut down correctly and is in fact a higher percentage than six. Although I have heard of your vendor, I haven't seen anything on their reputation. I don't really don't know and could be completely wrong, but I also buggered up calculations on my own diy e-juice once and know that accidents can indeed happen. Was the juice that you started reacting to a new bottle?

Either way, you might try cutting your nic juice 50/50 with the 0% that you ordered and see if it makes any difference.

Good luck, and let us know how things go.

 

[~Sue~Feb2012]

You say you haven't smoked cigarettes for several years but enjoyed an occasional cigar...did you inhale? When and for how did you smoke cigs or inhale? What I'm getting at, is whether or not you have been or have NOT been absorbing nicotine in the past and you are now?
What device/delivery system are you using currently? Are you inhaling nic now and weren't before?

Also, since dysphoria is a mental or emotional state of dissatisfaction, restlessness, unease or anxiety,... you state it lasts 2 hours up to a day? I'm guessing it's not from use of an ecig. It could be, coincidentally, something else going on in your life? You state that your sensitivity increased to the point where you could not vape at all with experiencing "higher levels of anxiety and tension as well as some dysphoria"... Higher than what? This indicates you were already experiencing some levels of anxiety and tension and now it's higher levels?

Were you skeptical of evaping before you even starting using ecigs? Could you be trying to dissuade yourself from using ecigs and need some kind of justification?
Just some of my questions and 2 cents.