I started smoking when I was 13, in the early 70s. I quit in 2013 when I started vaping. I gradually weaned myself off vaping by reducing nicotine content, down to zero... but continued to vape until 2018, when I quit altogether. For me, vaping became far less interesting and pleasurable without nicotine.
I developed tinnitus in my mid 50s, while still smoking and well into vaping... however, I never noticed any correlation between smoking/vaping and tinnitus/hearing loss. I also was a benchrest and competition pistol shooter and avid motorcyclist (as well as a mechanic who ran a DynoJet motorcycle dynamometer booth) for several decades... so again, I had no reason to even suspect any possible relationship to nicotine, in fact, I was far more inclined to believe decades of high decibel noise.
Fast forward to the past few days. I recently decided that, now in my mid 60s, I'd start vaping again... modestly and with a bit of nicotine. I borrowed my daughters Vuse Alto pen and some 2.4% cartridges (which she stopped using) to see if I really wanted to go down that road again, before I ordered some juice and batteries (I kept all my kit, so these items were all I really needed to start again)
I noticed after one day of vaping that I had an episode of tinnitus, so severe that I could not sleep. I came to no realization at the time as to why, as I still occasionally got a mild, short lived episode, with sometimes months in-between.
As I didn't want to use up the small supply of Vuse cartridges I had, and didn't want to buy replacements for something that I didn't really like - other than the nicotine hit - I took it easy and didn't vape the following day. I ordered a few bottles of my favorite brand of juice and a few Sony 18650s and figured I'd be good to go soon enough.
The following day, the tinnitus was dwindling to gone, and I vaped a bit... the tinnitus came back, and I got another sleepless night.
Again, I stopped vaping, not due to any theory about a tie-in between vaping and hearing damage... just that the Vuse are pretty nasty, have a tight draw and are as annoying for me to use as they are a source of nicotine.
Again, I vaped a day later (my new juice should arrive before the week's out) and the tinnitus came back. Then it hit me sufficiently to postulate a possible relationship.
I started doing a bit of interweb research and what do you know... there are several articles, by respectable sources, that nicotine can damage hearing and be a cause for tinnitus.
Here's a link to just one page - click on "articles" then "tinnitus triggers", it will be the first article on the left: Tinnitus Research and Information Guides – Tinnitus Liberty
I stopped vaping for now, until I learn more and have a better understanding of this. If nicotine is the cause of my bouts of tinnitus, if I want to get any sleep, I'm may have to stop vaping again. I don't want to - I enjoy nicotine - but I enjoy sleep more.
I will try vaping again, when I get my juice and can use my dripper and squonker attys. It's entirely possible that the Vuse themselves are the issue - I have no idea what sort of sketchy crap is in Vuse liquid, and my typical blend of 90%VG/10%PG with 9mg of nicotine may not produce a tinnitus condition. I hope.
Why did I write this? If the reader is experiencing tinnitus - and it may be a "prerequisite" that you've been smoking/vaping for a long time, like me - nicotine may, I say may, be relevant to your hearing problems. It's fairly easy to test... stop using nicotine for a few days - preferably 2-3 days, as that can be how long it takes for nicotine to leave your system, and see if your tinnitus stops or is reduced in a significant way.
OK... that's it. Not condemning nicotine or vaping in general, hell, I'm not even going to condemn cigarettes... I just want people who are affected by this issue to consider nicotine as a potential source of your hearing problems.
Best,
SoF
I developed tinnitus in my mid 50s, while still smoking and well into vaping... however, I never noticed any correlation between smoking/vaping and tinnitus/hearing loss. I also was a benchrest and competition pistol shooter and avid motorcyclist (as well as a mechanic who ran a DynoJet motorcycle dynamometer booth) for several decades... so again, I had no reason to even suspect any possible relationship to nicotine, in fact, I was far more inclined to believe decades of high decibel noise.
Fast forward to the past few days. I recently decided that, now in my mid 60s, I'd start vaping again... modestly and with a bit of nicotine. I borrowed my daughters Vuse Alto pen and some 2.4% cartridges (which she stopped using) to see if I really wanted to go down that road again, before I ordered some juice and batteries (I kept all my kit, so these items were all I really needed to start again)
I noticed after one day of vaping that I had an episode of tinnitus, so severe that I could not sleep. I came to no realization at the time as to why, as I still occasionally got a mild, short lived episode, with sometimes months in-between.
As I didn't want to use up the small supply of Vuse cartridges I had, and didn't want to buy replacements for something that I didn't really like - other than the nicotine hit - I took it easy and didn't vape the following day. I ordered a few bottles of my favorite brand of juice and a few Sony 18650s and figured I'd be good to go soon enough.
The following day, the tinnitus was dwindling to gone, and I vaped a bit... the tinnitus came back, and I got another sleepless night.
Again, I stopped vaping, not due to any theory about a tie-in between vaping and hearing damage... just that the Vuse are pretty nasty, have a tight draw and are as annoying for me to use as they are a source of nicotine.
Again, I vaped a day later (my new juice should arrive before the week's out) and the tinnitus came back. Then it hit me sufficiently to postulate a possible relationship.
I started doing a bit of interweb research and what do you know... there are several articles, by respectable sources, that nicotine can damage hearing and be a cause for tinnitus.
Here's a link to just one page - click on "articles" then "tinnitus triggers", it will be the first article on the left: Tinnitus Research and Information Guides – Tinnitus Liberty
I stopped vaping for now, until I learn more and have a better understanding of this. If nicotine is the cause of my bouts of tinnitus, if I want to get any sleep, I'm may have to stop vaping again. I don't want to - I enjoy nicotine - but I enjoy sleep more.
I will try vaping again, when I get my juice and can use my dripper and squonker attys. It's entirely possible that the Vuse themselves are the issue - I have no idea what sort of sketchy crap is in Vuse liquid, and my typical blend of 90%VG/10%PG with 9mg of nicotine may not produce a tinnitus condition. I hope.
Why did I write this? If the reader is experiencing tinnitus - and it may be a "prerequisite" that you've been smoking/vaping for a long time, like me - nicotine may, I say may, be relevant to your hearing problems. It's fairly easy to test... stop using nicotine for a few days - preferably 2-3 days, as that can be how long it takes for nicotine to leave your system, and see if your tinnitus stops or is reduced in a significant way.
OK... that's it. Not condemning nicotine or vaping in general, hell, I'm not even going to condemn cigarettes... I just want people who are affected by this issue to consider nicotine as a potential source of your hearing problems.
Best,
SoF
