A little scared

[CMD-Ky]

I enjoy the heck out of your posts, you do not equivocate. Rarely could your opinions be misunderstood.

I smoked for 32 years of my life. Began at the age of 13 and ended almost 4 years ago. vaping was the only thing I had found to help get me off cigarettes, and believe me I tried everything multiple times.

I was 27 the first time I tried to quit.

In 2008 I was having throat problems so my doctor put a camera down my throat to see what was wrong and told me my throat was ate up with pre-cancer cells. Told me if i quit smoking i might still have a chance.

By 2008 I was hospitalized at least once a year with pneumonia - smoking related.

By 2014 I couldn't breathe well enough to make it to my mailbox without taking several rest breaks.

From the time I was 27 to 2014 I made attempts to quit smoking two to three times every year. Tried everything known to man, prescription and non prescription both. Couldn't quit til I found vaping.

Since I began vaping in 2014, my health has done a complete 180. I can breathe better than I can ever remember breathing in my life, my lungs function better, my blood pressure is improved, my pain level is down generally speaking because of the increased oxygen levels, I heal faster overall and I've only had pneumonia once since I started vaping.

In short, vaping saved my life. I don't know what my throat looks like now but honestly I don't want to know - but the problems there were 100% attributable to smoking.

I am a healthier happier person now that I stopped smoking.

Are there potential dangers in vaping? Well yes the only thing that's 100% safe is breathing clean air.

But does it contain the same levels of potential dangers inherent in smoking? No! It's much safer!

People die of smoke inhalation, combustible smoking cigarettes is suicide, plain and simple.. same as if you set your house on fire and breathed in the smoke all around you..

If your choice is to vape or wait for cigarettes to kill you, I'd definitely choose the one with less potential dangers - I'd choose vaping.

I have, and it saved my life. It's up to you to decide, but I can promise you that feeling like your being suffocated and unable to breathe is a frightening and miserable way to die.

I don't pay attention to biased "studies " for this reason. I know factually which is better for a smoker to do.. and it's to quit smoking.. even if you have to vape to stay that way.

I do wonder sometimes, why these anti-vaper people would rather see us dead than to see us have a chance at a healthier life. I guess they see us as disposable.

 

[MacTechVpr]

I on the other hand fully believe that nicotine has some very positive uses and that I function better with nicotine. Some day we will know this stuff when this battle is over. Some research has already been done over the benefits of nicotine. Not my goal at all in vaping to get down to zero nicotine.

You have a point…

Is Nicotine Bad? 28 Proven Health Effects of Nicotine
Nicotine, the Wonder Drug?

Make no assertions as to the usefulness of the above but most interesting compilations.

Good luck.

 

[Eagle1]

The easiest way I know of to look at "this" is to look at the vaping juice (that's the ONLY thing) ingredients: food flavoring, glycerine, propylene glycol, and maybe nicotine (I stopped including nicotine years ago).

Food flavoring is used in commercial kitchens -- if it's bad for people, restaurants and bakeries should be prohibited from using it.

Glycerine and propylene glycol -- used in tons of medicines, including eye drops.

Nicotine -- like has been said if it caused cancer the patches, gum, etc. should not have been approved.

Like others here, I used vaping to stop smoking years ago, after trying everything else - cold turkey, Rx, patch and gum. I don't have a smokers cough, and I NEVER want a cigarette (first drag from my last cig tasted awful and I've never wanted one since). I still "vape" sometimes, but only because I enjoy the feel of the vapor in my mouth.

And all the "experts" who claim that vaping leads to cigarette smoking or drugs are just showing their ignorance. If they had any actual experience they would never make such absurd claims.

 

[Big Me]

The news items about junk science and vaping get recycled from one news place to another. I also feel that the Anti smoking/vaping organizations send request to news places to put them on.

Did you actually open the links that were posted? One was a blog post from CRUK and the other a discussion on another part of this forum. Both were refuting the report referred to in the OP.

What does your comment about things being recycled or anti-vaping organisations seeding news media have to do with either?

 

[ScottP]

I hope you don't go back to cigs when it's possible to vape without the nicotine.

What does vaping without nicotine get you? Nicotine is NON-carcinogenic and is NOT the most potentially harmful component of vaping. The primary concern when vaping is that if PG and VG are heated above 450F they can start breaking down into aldehydes, which ARE carcinogens. This is a result of oxidation from partial combustion of these ingredients at high temps. The secondary concern is going to be the various flavorings. While they are 100% approved for food and beverages, we do NOT know what they can potentially do to lungs, nor do we know what happens when all of these extra ingredients are heated to higher temps.

The absolute safest way to vape is to vape using TC, below 450F (on a tested accurate device) using unflavored juice. The nic itself adds very little to any risk and is "Generally Regarded As Safe" for ALL stop-smoking aids, including inhalers by the FDA.

 

[ScottP]

Food flavoring is used in commercial kitchens -- if it's bad for people, restaurants and bakeries should be prohibited from using it.

Glycerine and propylene glycol -- used in tons of medicines, including eye drops.

Yes bakeries/commercial food/candy companies do use them all the time (as well as PG) but they are more than likely to only heat them all to about 350F-400F. We know that the PG and VG don't have issues until heated beyond 450F, after which they do break down into carcinogens. So the real question is what happens to those food flavorings at those temps? What do they break down into?

 

[DaveP]

My TC mode is set at 420F. My 10W vape in power mode is usually satisfying without going higher than about 13W. That said, I find myself varying from 10W to 14W at times in TC mode, keeping the temp lower than 420F. I'm perfectly satisfied vaping around 370F to 380F. The 420 setting just keeps me from going higher than I need to in TC mode.

My entire experience with vaping has been occupied with recreating the sensation of smoking without the carcinogens and tars in cigarettes smoke. Not creating big clouds suits my stealth vaping style in public. I get away with vaping everywhere without people staring at me and that's good.

 

[MacTechVpr]

My TC mode is set at 420F. My 10W vape in power mode is usually satisfying without going higher than about 13W. That said, I find myself varying from 10W to 14W at times in TC mode, keeping the temp lower than 420F. I'm perfectly satisfied vaping around 370F to 380F. The 420 setting just keeps me from going higher than I need to in TC mode.

Sounds like you found some joy P. And I'd agree that much higher temp's aren't really needed to get there. Except for testing, I rarely vape below 20W anymore. But I'd venture to say that at most power levels I'm not seeing vapor temp's much different than you are. In fact, most mech builds I share for a taste with others regardless of gear or build, whether big clouds or no, are noted for being markedly cooler. For those running scared I'll put in my props here for 3M Nextel (RxD), the much and unduly maligned ceramic wick, which starts to run muted and a bit dry in density when getting to higher than a moderately cool vape temp. A sure sign you're running lean. That is, if you built it right for the wick and of course, for the atty. So I'd agree with your above, I'm just getting a lot more production at higher watt's, and not the burn. And I do enjoy the cloud.

My entire experience with vaping has been occupied with recreating the sensation of smoking without the carcinogens and tars in cigarettes smoke. Not creating big clouds suits my stealth vaping style in public. I get away with vaping everywhere without people staring at me and that's good.

Right on. It is about limiting the harmful artifacts from smoking. Although poss not totally absent from a vape as we do accrue some on coils which might be. We can avoid them being significant. My take of late is that it's easier to build and control temp with larger builds (both wire and diameter) and achieve much cleaner, thorough and robust production. Then, how much volume you achieve is totally up to you and your draw. IOW, have it anywhere anytime.

And I do. You have to conceive that it's possible.

Enjoy and good luck.

 

[redeuce]

If you google “vaping causes” and put in any random word, you will find articles on everything from depression to sexual dysfunction.

Google is your friend if you read and digest the information. Google is your enemy if you don’t check the source or read both sides of the issue.

 

[r055co]

If you google “vaping causes” and put in any random word, you will find articles on everything from depression to sexual dysfunction.

Google is your friend if you read and digest the information. Google is your enemy if you don’t check the source or read both sides of the issue.

Don't forget it makes you Deaf and Blind, yes I've seen this spewed out by some City health departments ........

For me I just go to the UK's National Health to get actual peer review legitimate information.

 

[AzPlumber]

If you google “vaping causes” and put in any random word, you will find articles on everything from depression to sexual dysfunction.

Google is your friend if you read and digest the information. Google is your enemy if you don’t check the source or read both sides of the issue.

Heck, you don't even need Google, you can cruise this forum and find all kinds of interesting speculation.

 

[stols001]

I don't JUST use google anymore either. My newest browser uses Bing which I have not used in a while, so decided to start using it as well, and the things that will come up under the same search can a) be widely divergent and b) listed in very "interesting" orders. I don't trust search engines trying to take over the world, because they are inherently politicized these days. I wouldn't have believed it without seeing it with my own eyes. I will still sometimes "check" something on both search engines but I don't use it exclusively. Google "cares" what information you are provided with, and they grow huger all the time. My inherent distate/distrust for that type of thing.... Encarta can also be useful, but I no longer throw all my eggs in one basket....

Anna

 

[bobwho77]

If this was a recent study you read, they were talking about culture petri dishes that were being "fed" vape. The amount of vapor they were exposed to (for cell tissues) was likely MUCH much more than a live human being would be exposed to over a life time, not to mention that petri dishes DON'T function the same way as live tissues let alone live animals let alone human beings.

I know what I'm talking about, both my parents were geneticists and I also worked in that field for a while after college. So it's easy for me to spot "junk" science, vs. "actual" science.

Vaping is currently politicized, with big tobacco trying to save itself, the states and federal government trying to figure out who to "choose" and how to "tax." Britain, which ALSO already has established, cultural regulations for vaping IN PLACE has been studying vaping for quite some time. The figures you are hearing about 95% safer than smoking, well many of those studies were completed by the Royal College of Medicine and have been ongoing for some time.

There are lots of researchers who are refuting this kind of "junk" science nowadays, overseas but also here. There are not yet TRUE longitudinal studies done yet of vaping as it is still relatively new.

There have been NO cases (that I know of) where "vaping" has been conclusively determined as a cause for cancer, and if there were, we would have HEARD about them, as big tobacco would GENUINELY want to TRUMPET that to the skies.

As a former smoker you are already at risk for a cancer diagnosis, as well as heart attacks, COPD, etc. Unless you stay switched to vaping. Vaping does not cause cancer, and as someone who ALMOST got the dreaded COPD diagnosis, I will tell you that my lung tissue has recovered nicely over the past 7 months. That tells me my body is healing from smoking, and my doctors concur. They do not believe that vaping causes cancer, and nor do I. They do inform me that my YEARS of heavy SMOKING place me at risk for cancer and that the best thing I can do is to continue vaping.

Also, I would take cancer over COPD any day of the week. You can BEAT cancer, you can mostly merely HALT the progression of COPD although some folks DO see some lung function recovery IF THEY VAPE.

Do not let a single study (that it sounds like you don't really understand) let you go back to smoking.... Unless you would like to die of COPD and/or a heart attack like your ancestors.

Tell me.... If vaping is 95% less risky than smoking, (and that would INCLUDE cancer diagnoses) why would you return to something that is 95% MORE likely to give you cancer AND COPD and a heart attack? That makes no sense.

Of course, you can let the media and junk science control you if you want. Or do a little more research.

Much of "media" nowadays is simply not the truth. You do understand that just because "the media" says it, doesn't make it true, right?

Anna

Go get 'em sister.

 

[Reyth_]

Dont forget Dogpile.