In a way, this thread is a relief to me. 10 months in, I have SOB. I had an xray today and a lung test in a few days time.
What I have noticed about vaping:
1) Mixing vaping with smoking causes very bad lung responses (like double trouble).
2) Dehydration is a fact of vaping (this worries me).
3) PG and/or VG seem to suppress any ability to clear out the lungs (this worries me).
4) When vaping I rarely cough and it is never productive (this worries me).
5) The SOB comes with anxiety and frustration which may make it feel worse than it is (psychosomatic?)
I'm wondering about getting a steam inhaler to use at the end of the day to replace lost fluid in the lungs. I sometimes stand over a boiling kettle and inhale the steam (not sure if it has any positive effect).
I've always been concerned about this dehydration problem too, Slopes. The problem is, both PG and VG cause it and no, drinking more water does not necessarily rectify the symptoms for everyone. Acute dehydration is resolved by replenishing the body's water after exercise or strenuous activity and symptoms of the usual fatigue, thirst, etc., go away by themselves in matter of minutes.
But the symptoms of chronic dehydration are easily not associated with dehydration at all and build up over time and are unlike the acute variation. From what I've read, which was sourced to medical doctors, these are the symptoms of chronic dehydration:
(The Water Prescription, by Christopher Vasey, N.D, Your Body's Many Cries for Water by Dr. Batmanghelidj, MD. and a website called Diagnose Me - compiled notes for candida-cure-recipes.com/symptoms-of-dehydration.html)
Yawning, Fatigue, Lack of Energy: Dehydration of the tissues causes enzymatic activity to slow down. Also, blood carries oxygen to the brain. If blood volume is low due to dehydration then the brain can receive less oxygen than is optimal, resulting in fatigue and yawning.
Constipation: When chewed food residue enters the colon, it still contains a high percentage of water, which the colon reduces to form a stool. In chronic dehydration, the colon takes out too much water from the stool for other dehydrated parts of the body, which leads to hardened, compacted stools.
Digestive Disorders: In chronic dehydration, the secretion of digestive juices are less than optimal, which can cause some trouble in properly digesting your food.
High and Low Blood Pressure: Low blood pressure can be due to there simply not being enough blood volume. Here's the really interesting part - high blood pressure can be a state of adaptation of the body to chronic long-term dehydration. As the body fills blood vessels with volume to normalize low pressure due to chronic dehydration, the constriction of the vascular system forces the water from the blood vessels into the cells in order to deliver vital nutrients and oxygen. Such effort by the body can lead to a high blood pressure reading which can actually be traced to dehydration as the root of the problem.
Gastritis, Stomach Ulcers: To protect its mucous membranes from being destroyed by its own acidic digestive fluid, the stomach secretes a layer of mucous. When there is not enough liquid to go around for all the body's vital functions, there can be a reduction in the amount of protective mucous formed.
Respiratory Troubles: The mucous membranes of the respiratory region are normally slightly moist, which protects the respiratory tract from substances that might be present in inhaled air. Again, in chronic dehydration this is a part of the body which might not get enough moisture.
Acid-Alkaline Imbalance: Dehydration causes a slowing down of enzymatic activity which can produce an overly acidic condition in some people.
Excess Weight or Obesity: Thirst is often confused with hunger. If you tend to overeat it's good practice to drink a glass of water about 5 minutes before each meal.
Eczema: Your body needs a sufficient supply of water to sweat out enough moisture, thereby diluting toxins so they do not irritate the skin.
Elevated Cholesterol: When dehydration causes too much liquid to be removed from inside the cells, the body tries to stop this loss by producing more cholesterol.
Cystitis, Urinary Infections: If toxins contained in urine are insufficiently diluted, they can cause problems for the urinary mucous membranes.
Pain: Localized pain may be a warning of localized thirst. The pain signal may be a warning of dehydration in that specific area, for example; low back pain, migraine headache, joint pain, and angina.
Rheumatism: Dehydration abnormally increases the concentration of toxins in the blood and cellular fluids, and rheumatoid type pain increases in proportion to the concentration of the toxins.
General Malaise: Chronic dehydration can contribute to a reduction in lymph flow (lymph fluid carries excess toxins from the body) which in turn may cause general feelings of malaise.
Premature Aging: The body of a newborn baby is composed of about 80 percent liquid. This percentage declines to no more than 70 percent in a healthy adult and will then slowly continue to decline with age. If you're aging prematurely you might just be drying up!
When I read this list I had to wonder because most of it I would have never associated with dehydration and I never knew the difference between acute and chronic either.
While I didn't get it, my cousin wound up with SOB as you did, only within 2 or so months of vaping for her. She stopped the next morning and chewed the gum instead and within a few days the SOB resolved completely. She vapes every now and then, but not nearly what she was taking in. I don't see any harm in picking up some nicorette gum or SNUS for a few days JUST to see for yourself and I highly recommend it. You are not psychosomatic, dear. Your body is trying to tell you something.
Pardon my curiosity, but how did your lung x-ray and tests go? And if they were all good, perhaps consider asking your doctor if there is a test to gage the moisture content of the lungs? It seems that if we are wondering if chronic dehydration could be a factor in vaping and determine that for sure medically, we could explore some possible solutions BEFORE these symptoms get to the panicky level, as I'm sure SOB would panic anyone.
See also:
www.glovesinabottle.com/news.php?include=1335 for stages of dehydration and some do's and don't. (This is interesting! It would explain the reason for bloating, eczema, joint pain, etc., and how if hydration is off by as little as 1%, where we start to see problems and why.)
