"allergic" to cotton wicks?

[slyphex]

I've always used Ekowool in my builds. I tried cotton a couple of times and it gave me a tight throat feeling right away so I stopped. The other day I forgot that happens.

Anyway I was struggling with an Ekowool build with my new rba so I put a 1.8 ohm microcoil with cotton and the vape was phenomenal. But within a couple of minutes my throat got really tight. I just lived with it but a couple of hours later when I went to bed it felt like I had just gone for a jog and couldn't get enough air in my lungs.

The next morning I hacked up some clear phlegm in the shower, but was otherwise ok. I was running late for work and took my cotton build with me and forgot to bring new wick. Immediately the tight throat feeling returned and by 10am I was feeling winded at my desk, but the feeling passed and I thought maybe I just need to get used to it.

So I vaped sparingly with it all day at work, had a really tight throat that faded after 10-15 mins or so but came back as soon as I took a hit, and the winded feeling happened two or three more times. As soon as I got home I ripped out the cotton build and put Ekowool back in and had no throat irritation.

The next morning I coughed up some more clear phlegm but could breathe fine. I have not used cotton again.

I was using sterilized 100% absorbent medical cotton that I got from the nurse at work. It was wrapped in a protective paper, inside a box with a sealed plastic over the box.

I am not allergic to anything that I know of and I have never had asthma. I really don't understand where this irritation is coming from.

Has anyone else experienced this and/or found a cure? I would just keep using Ekowool but that cotton build was the best vape of my life and I can't stop thinking about it.

edit: I also just remembered that the first Ekowool I bought was from my B&M had a cotton core and it also made my throat tight.

 

[PaulBHC]

Allergies are strange beasts. I have some food allergies from things that I ate my whole life without a problem.

You could try rayon.

 

[Dissonance]

Try boiling the cotton and see if it still happens. Not sure how legitimate the claim is, but I read in a thread on here that some companies use chemicals to sterilize their cotton... Sure, it might be germ free, but if a trace of those chemicals is lingering then inhaling them might be causing what you're describing. Either way, boiling will theoretically remove everything but the cotton, so it'll let you know if it is the cotton that's causing it or not.

 

[milescadre]

I had similar cases, which is why I avoid cotton whenever possible. I persoanlly think that bits either burn off or I suck bits of cotton in with my draw and it irritates my throat, causing swelling and that clear discharge you speak of.

Mesh wicks have treated me well, but considering I went through 5ml of juice in a day and a half I think thats my current cause of swollen throat XD

 

[crxess]

Possible, but more likely you are wicking much better and taking much larger amounts of vapor in. I Run into this with my Kayfuns and had to reduce my Nic.
Cotton is one of the least likely things to be allergic to. Also considering it is secured away from actual contact with you and saturated in e-liquid it is unlikely to be an allergic reaction.