Allergy

[nwohiopma]

Hello...I've been buying my juice from Mt. Baker for 7 years, until they shut down. I need Max VG because PG makes my chest hurt. I had no trouble for those 7 years using Max VG.

So last month, I went to a local store and bought Element Vape Max VG. Within a couple hours, I was covered in hives. I took a Zyrtec and it went away. I put a new coil in and a clean tank and used the other flavor I bought. Again, hives in a few hours.

Ordered some Max VG from Velvet Cloud. Again, hives in a few hours.

Anyone else have this problem? I'm going to have to stop vaping if I don't get this figured out, I can't continue to take Zyrtec just to vape. TIA

 

[Richard Winter]

Max VG isn't always 100%VG. If your intolerant to PG then even a small amount of PG will bring on hives.
My son has the same condition.
Going down the diy mixing route works for him. Use VG nic, VG flavor and AVG base, that's VG and distilled water. No more hives.

 

[nwohiopma]

The flavors from Element and Velvet Cloud are much stronger than Mt. Baker, so it's probably the flavors that are too much PG for me. I'm also severely allergic to PEG in vaccines, that makes my throat swell, so warn your son if he gets any vaccines to be aware of any difficulty swallowing within the first 24 hours. Thanks.

 

[Opinionated]

Hello...I've been buying my juice from Mt. Baker for 7 years, until they shut down. I need Max VG because PG makes my chest hurt. I had no trouble for those 7 years using Max VG.

So last month, I went to a local store and bought Element Vape Max VG. Within a couple hours, I was covered in hives. I took a Zyrtec and it went away. I put a new coil in and a clean tank and used the other flavor I bought. Again, hives in a few hours.

Ordered some Max VG from Velvet Cloud. Again, hives in a few hours.

Anyone else have this problem? I'm going to have to stop vaping if I don't get this figured out, I can't continue to take Zyrtec just to vape. TIA

You can buy VG, nicotine base, and flavors yourself and mix your own e-juice. Many long term vapers mix, myself included... it's easier than it seems, and would be a way to get e-juice your not allergic to.

 

[nwohiopma]

What I can't figure out is why Mt. Baker's didn't give me hives, it was also 90/10 VG/PG like the other brands. I think it's the low volume of flavor in their juices, might be the flavorings giving me hives of the other brands. The only symptom I had with Mt. Baker 50/50 is chest pressure, no hives. I do know that I'm also allergic to clove, which I found out after dental work.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

"Max VG" is not a specific term. The term "Max VG" merely means "this juice contains the minimum amount of PG needed to achieve the recipe". So one "Max VG" juice may be 90% VG, while another might be 71% VG, and yet another might be 84% VG.

What I can't figure out is why Mt. Baker's didn't give me hives, it was also 90/10 VG/PG like the other brands.

might be the flavorings giving me hives of the other brands

If you know for a fact that the MBV as well as the other juices are all 90% VG, then you may be correct that maybe it's not so much PG that you are allergic to but something in the flavors (or the percentage of flavoring used).

Because of this, even DIYing your own juice will be an uphill battle because you'll have find flavors that you are OK with and figure out the proper percentage - all using trial and error. This means you might have to go through a lot of flavors before you find ones that are suitable for you. This could take a while and you may have to lay down a decent stack of cash before you find these flavors.

You may even have to learn to like flavors you don't usually like.

You are between a rock and a hard place.

The problem with finding a commercial juice that works for you is that it might not be available 2 months from now, so you are back at square-one looking for another commercial juice that works for you. And IMHO, come Sept 2021, 99% of juices on the market will be illegal for sale to US vapers because it is my opinion that very little, if any, bottled juices will be accepted by the FDA for sale to US consumers. In fact, some of the juices being sold today are already illegally being sold on the US market because the manufacturers did not file PMTAs for them (not naming names! ). When the FDA gets around to figuring out what juices are being sold illegally, they will disappear from the US market.

 

[nwohiopma]

I stocked up on hardware. What a waste. I guess I'll have to go back to gum. Thanks for all the info.

 

[Aerodan]

Some great advice here from others! I can only add that I have a similar thing, but get headaches from PG. I mix my own, but when I get lazy there's a place in Arizona that mixed 100% organic undiluted VG that gives me no issues: Velvet Vapors. So far they've been my only real online go to.

Good luck!
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[UncLeJunkLe]

I stocked up on hardware. What a waste. I guess I'll have to go back to gum. Thanks for all the info.

I'm sorry to hear that. Unfortunately if you don't have the time or the ambition to find juices or DIY flavors/recipes that will suit you, I guess you can just try to sell whatever hardware you have on the classifieds, assuming you have the time and ambition to ship stuff..

 

[nwohiopma]

Thanks to everyone who replied, I'll give it some thought while I chew gum. Sigh

 

[nwohiopma]

I'm on the Velvet Vapors website - what is the difference between diluted and undiluted? TIA

Some great advice here from others! I can only add that I have a similar thing, but get headaches from PG. I mix my own, but when I get lazy there's a place in Arizona that mixed 100% organic undiluted VG that gives me no issues: Velvet Vapors. So far they've been my only real online go to.

Good luck!
AD

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

If you can get yourself to tolerate vaping unflavored juice, that would make DIY really easy. Get VG and VG-based nicotine and thin it out using distilled water (instead of PG). This takes flavors and PG out of the equation entirely. Would be REALLY easy to mix.

If unflavored VG is too sweet for you, there are additives I've heard about that are used for bitterness, but if you use just a little it won't make the vape bitter, rather it will remove the sweetness of the VG instead. But you'll have to ask others about that, I have only heard about it but never used it.

 

[Aerodan]

Undiluted means they don't use any distilled water to thin it. A lot of VG has that. I haven't really noticed undiluted being that much thicker, so opted for it. But then I wick for thick. Ooh, Trademark! "Wick For Thick!"

AD

I'm on the Velvet Vapors website - what is the difference between diluted and undiluted? TIA

 

[nwohiopma]

Thanks so much, I'm going to try it.

Undiluted means they don't use any distilled water to thin it. A lot of VG has that. I haven't really noticed undiluted being that much thicker, so opted for it. But then I wick for thick. Ooh, Trademark! "Wick For Thick!"

AD

 

[nwohiopma]

Mt. Baker's juice was basically unflavored, really mild, so that's probably why I didn't get hives from it. I'm going to look into your suggestion, thanks.

If you can get yourself to tolerate vaping unflavored juice, that would make DIY really easy. Get VG and VG-based nicotine and thin it out using distilled water (instead of PG). This takes flavors and PG out of the equation entirely. Would be REALLY easy to mix.

If unflavored VG is too sweet for you, there are additives I've heard about that are used for bitterness, but if you use just a little it won't make the vape bitter, rather it will remove the sweetness of the VG instead. But you'll have to ask others about that, I have only heard about it but never used it.

 

[Richard Winter]

The flavors from Element and Velvet Cloud are much stronger than Mt. Baker, so it's probably the flavors that are too much PG for me. I'm also severely allergic to PEG in vaccines, that makes my throat swell, so warn your son if he gets any vaccines to be aware of any difficulty swallowing within the first 24 hours. Thanks.

Thanks for the info, I will definately let him know.

 

[nwohiopma]

Also, and sorry for the off topic, but if he gets throat swelling, call 911. It's an emergency. A coworker died in his car on the way to the ER from throat swelling after eating seafood, it's a true emergency because it can close your throat in a matter of minutes. Any allergy to anything can cause throat swelling and death.

Thanks for the info, I will definately let him know.

 

[SlowTalker]

Have you tried contacting Mt. Baker customer service and asking them about the problem? They may be familiar with the issue.

 

[nwohiopma]

No, but I've spoken to the other vendors I got juice from recently and they don't admit to knowing about flavor allergies. I never had a problem with Mt Baker juice in over 7 years, and I never used any other kind of juice. While I was researching vaping, this website recommended Mt. Baker, so I ordered hardware and juice from them and never used anyone else's juice in all that time.

 

[JCinFLA]

@nwohiopma - There are some flavorings that people use in DIY eliquids, that are 100% VG based. I'm going to send you a PM (private message) later this morning about some of them.