A noobies adventures in vaping!

[Pick739]

First off id like to say how glad i am that i found this forum. The community seems great and i have already found tons of answers for questions that a noob has. I was a smoker for ten years and now, thanks to vaping, a non-smoker for 14 days .
I first picked up a blu starter kit and although i liked it, it just wasn't enough for me. So i headed to a local ecig shop and got an ego-t, along with 2 bottles of e-liquid. I love the ego-t it works great. The e-liquid on the other hand was really harsh and left a scratchy feeling on my throat that made me want to cough/gag. Is this what a "throat hit" is? If so i do not like it.
I thought it might be the juice i got so next i ordered sampler packs from Johnsons creek. I got both the regular (PG) and the red oak (VG). My order arrived and I'm pretty happy. I was right, apparently i don't like PG vapor. It really leaves a bad burning feeling in my throat. Does this mean I'm allergic? The VG on the other hand is amazing! I really like the Tennessee cured. So now i have 10 bottles of PG from Johnsons creek that i can't/won't vape. I guess that's why u get the sampler so u can figure out what u do or don't like.
After reading the forums here i found some vendors of 100% VG juice and decided to place small orders from a few of them. So last night i ordered 5 small bottles each from Alien Visions, Vapure, Totally Twisted eliquid, and Vaperite. as of 9pm the next day (today) only my Vaperite and Totally twisted orders have shipped. I hope i picked good suppliers to order from but am a little concerned that i have no word from AV or Vapure yet.

Thanks for reading my first post ever. I'm going to end by asking a few questions i couldn't find answers to in the forums.
1. Is the scratchy burning sensation i get when vaping PG a "throat hit"? and does this mean im allergic to PG?
2. Has anyone had a bad experience with any of the vendors i ordered from?
3. As a VG vapor i was wondering if anyone could recommend vendors to order from? I've already seen the list on this forum for VG suppliers but i am looking for some personal recommendations.

 

[bushmasterar15]

Welcome to the ECF.

 

[elfstone]

Welcome!

Hmmm... throat hit is quite a subjective thing, but I'm pretty sure it isn't a burning, scratchy feeling. What you describe sounds more like the "dry atty hit" - often referred to as "burning death in the throat". It might be that your Ego-T doesn't work as well as you think - and that's not uncommon. If the atty isn't fed enough juice, that's what you get.

On the other hand, it might be just too intense throat hit, and PG is thought of "allowing" more throat hit. It is the nicotine, and other "irritants" that actually cause the TH sensation (others would be menthol, alcohol and can you believe - they tried cayenne pepper). Anyhow, VG "smooths" the TH, and to some extent mutes the flavor. Also, VG gives off thicker vapor. So it's always a compromise between these two that you're looking for - hence various mixes (70/30, 50/50, 20/80). Now, the 100% VG juices from AVE (you ordered from them, goood!) have good throat hit even being just VG, so the rule isn't absolute.

Allergy to PG is not common, but certainly not uncommon. Usually is more "spectacular" than just a little scratchiness but you never know. I hope with your 100% VG juices from AVE and the others you'll be able to tell if you like that more.

I don't know much about the Ego-T, but again, maybe someone could help you make sure you're not getting dry atty hits.

 

[base234]

Welcome to ECF and congrats on 14 days! PG has a harder throat hit . Most people aren't allergic to PG so it may just be a case of being new to vaping. You'll figure that out real quick. If you prefer the VG juices then go with it. And I also like Alien Visions and Totally Twisted. Drink lots of water and that will help with the dry throat/mouth. You didn't say what nic level you were using but 24 mg or higher can also be harsh on the throat. Good luck and happy to have you with us.

 

[dlsw]

Hi and welcome. I also have about 50 little trial size bottles sitting in a box that I don't like and about 5 juices that I really like to vape. Oh, and the ones that I like to vape are not the same that I liked when I first started. Don't be surprised if as you heal from having smoked that your tastes change. Yay for 14 days!

 

[sailorman]

The scratchiness could be a mild intolerance to PG. I have the same thing, although I can handle 30% or less without too many problems. It's definitely not "throat hit", so rest easy about that.

PG doesn't cause throat hit. That's a common misconception. Throat hit is a function of the nicotine or any added alcohol. The reason people associate PG with throat hit is because high VG mutes the throat hit from the nic. If you have low VG, then you have high PG and the throat hit isn't muted by so much VG. Consequently, people think it's the PG when it's really the nicotine not being muted by so much VG.

I don't know about Vapure, but Alien Visions is a reliable vendor around here, so I'd rest easy on that one too.

If you contact Anette at VirginVapor.com, she makes her juice usually the day you order it. I'm sure she'd be happy to make you 100%VG. She's not the cheapest, but she uses all organic ingredients and flavorings and it's high quality stuff.

You might want to try some low, say 20% or less, PG. 100% VG causes problems for cartos and attys by clogging and/or gunking them up faster. It also mutes flavors and some of the throat hit from the nic.

When I use 100%VG, I'd get extra flavoring, when I could, to make up for it. Then I found out that I wasn't really allergic, just slightly intolerant. Most juice is very high in PG, so that was the problem.

Juice is so subjective that personal recommendations are unlikely to mean anything, except in terms of price or service. Finding the right juice is the hardest part of all of this because you are pretty much on your own and you'll end up with a lot of stuff you don't particularly like. Don't throw it out. A lot of juice needs time to steep, especially if it's just been made. And the juice you don't like today, you may love tomorrow. Your taste changes.

 

[dee5]

I love the Red Oak series from Johnson Creek as well, good choice! I'm inclined to think your scratchy burning throat symptoms are from a too dry atomizer also. Make sure you keep it topped up (but not sopping wet either), it will produce more vapor and a smoother taste and throat feel that way. If you get alot of "gurgling" sound and little to no vapor then it's too wet.
Just like it took you awhile to get used to smoking, it can take awhile to get used to vaping. Keep it up, you're doing great so far!

 

[Pick739]

Thanks alot for all the prompt responses. I'm fairly certain I'm not getting a dry atty hit because there is lots of vapor and flavor. Its an odd sensation to explain but definatly unpleasant. The nicotine is 18mg. Maybe you guys are right and the PG percentage is just to high for me. I think next time i will order a 20%PG 80%VG mix and see how that goes. Thanks again to everyone for all the help! I'll make sure update as i get my orders throughout the week next week.

 

[Retriever]

Hello and welcome to ECF! Please let us know how your next order of juice is. Glad you are here!

 

[Ladypixel]

I'll be honest: don't give up on the PG yet. I tend to agree with others that it's likely a dry atty hit, because I suffered from those, and it's precisely the symptoms you described. What I found fixed part of it is to put two to three drops of juice directly onto the atty when you're filling your tank. Do NOT completely fill that tank -- only fill it about 2/3rds of the way up -- and when you put on the cap, put a nice dollop of juice on the end of the tank cap before sliding it back onto the atty. The combination of pre-dripping, leaving airspace in the tank, and priming the end of the tank for a good seal fixed a LOT of that dry hit.

I still got vapor when it was dry... the difference is that the vapor was partially burning wick, which made that scratchy-throat feeling. HOWEVER. Part of the scratchy-throat feeling was also related to not drinking enough water, and since nobody's emphasized this about a dozen times, DRINK WATER. Lots of it. You'll slow down after your body's acclimated to vaping later on, but PG has a tendency to make a sensation for me that amounts to a sudden dryness of the throat, and while VG will fix part of that, it won't fix all of it. The water will help.

Also, if you're detoxing from cigarettes at the same time as starting out with vaping, throat issues can be a detox symptom. Your body immediately starts working on healing itself when you stop smoking, and it can cause all kinds of oddities. There's a whole thread that relates detox symptoms (and also relates some vaping symptoms after the detox symptoms):

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...hen-quitting-tobacco-changing-ecigarette.html

Read it. For real.

 

[tidegirl]

My experience with dry hits was a horrible burnt taste. And with the ego tanks, once I got that burnt taste the atty was toast. Every hit would have the burnt taste. I tried a few hundred methods around here to clean and remove the taste but none worked. I lean toward thinking it is dehydration, mild sensitivity to PG, or just getting used to vaping. When I began vaping, I would get a dry sore throat that went away when I became more accustomed to it and upped my water intake.

Another tip for the ego tanks- once you push them onto the atty, give it a little twist, about half a turn. My vape shop told me to do that, and I never had a problem with leaking tanks, although that is the biggest problem reported around here.

 

[Bradder]

Appears that most of your questions have been answered, so I will just welcome you the vaping and the ECF.

 

[Pick739]

So just thought id give an update. Today I purchased a glv2 5v made by great lakes vapor. I have to say although i haven't owned many PV's, I'm impressed! This thing is solid. It gives amazing vapor and the button feels so sturdy.

I also received my shipment from Vaporite today. This juice is really good. Each flavor tastes awesome and doesn't leave an bad feeling on my throat.

I'll make sure and do updates as i get the rest of my orders.
Today was a good day!

 

[nansc]

Hi and welcome.

 

[Bullmastiffguy]

Welcome to ECF.
Glad things are getting better for you.

 

[Pick739]

Update time! I'm loving my glv2. It is absolutely amazing. Also I received my order from Totally twisted and Alien visions.

Totally twisted's juice was ok for me. It seemed that all of the flavors kinda had the same after taste. my fav was the peach rummy.

I haven't gotten to try all of these yet. Just the strawberry cooler and it is really good. Cant wait to try the rest tonight. Also love the envelope. I mean i do rock but how did they know!?
Just waiting on one more order from Vapure...

 

[dee5]

Didn't take long for you to get a nice little juice stash going! Glad things are working out for you.