Be Aware of How Much you Vape!

[Hellen A. Handbasket]

Not to side track this discussion but does this mean there is more nicotine left in vapor than in smoke? Just thinking if it not as easily absorbed than maybe there is more nicotine in exhaled vapor than smoke. Also I never considered what form the nicotine was in. Are you sure it isn't free base? If not, is it nicotine hydrochloride or what?

Sorry Harry... I was off making dinner and cleaning up Hate that part!!

I hope I didn't spout it off wrong! It is my understanding that cigarette tobacco is/can be a freebase. When I was first researching e-cigs (before buying one) to make sure it wasn't going to be something awful for me, I came across lots of references to freebase in cigarettes. This is one article I just pulled up.

OHSU researcher publishes first measurements of 'free-base' nicotine in cigarette smoke

If you put freebase in the forum search you'll get lots of hits. This is one of them: Interesting stuff by Kinabaloo on the chemistry of nicotine (who we should probably confirm my mouth shoot off with ):
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...89-chemistry-nicotine.html?highlight=freebase

Harry, we should post there to see if we can get more info. and clarify this (I'd like to know for sure). Point was, we aren't ingesting as much nicotine through vapor as everyone thinks. I'll try to find that thread later and post it (or someone else can... I'm getting evil looks from husband who wants to start a movie... akkk).

Ok... Enough of the derailment here.

I just wanted to make sure we weren't jumping on someone if they had an actual diagnosis, and I wanted to get more info. from the OP on their nicotine levels, test results, etc.

 

[Jules22871]

Sorry to hear that you got sick. I had the same symptoms a few times a week. Finally went to the doc Wednesday and was diagnosed with H. Pylori, a stomach bacteria that will sneak up on you and also come and go until it is cleared up. I never once thought is was the nicotine making me sick. I chain vape 22mg all day long and it never bothered me.

What did the doctor say it was from?

 

[CJsKee]

Here is another link on nic absorption from vaping vs. smoking...

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...5034-nicotine-absorbtion-vaping-research.html

 

[webtaxman]

Why did you call 911?

 

[framitz]

The only way I can imagine a nicotine overdose hours after vaping is if you had spilled a bunch on your skin, but it seems that you would feel it in the skin. I wash my hands every time I get juice on them so it's never had a chance to soak in.

I've vaped 36mg until I felt flaky, shaky, and just BAD, then stopped, the symptoms cleared up after 15 minutes or so.

 

[maryjo]

I have to admit there have been a few times when I would feel kinda sick and crampy after chain vaping. At first I didn't connect it with vaping, but then I started to wonder. I'm still not sure - shouldn't be nic overload. I smoked 1 to 2 packs of cigs a day for a long time. I am vaping about 8 to 12mg. That shouldn't be too much - should it? Maybe it is something else - pg?

 

[Jules22871]

I'm not saying this is what's causing the sick feeling but... If anyone has an ulcer or has had one, you might want to be checked for H. Pylori. It is a pretty common stomach bacteria that often goes along with ulcers. This is the third time I've had it. I knew that was what was wrong with me, but I really hate the cure for it so I kept putting off going to the doctor for it. Symptoms can/will come and go. There are so many more things that can cause an upset stomach than nicotine. Unless you are bathing in it or drinking it, I think you would feel symptoms long before you would overdose with it, ie headache, dizziness, etc. But that is just my opinion.

 

[chad]

...in the middle of the night I ended up wretching, so dizzy I couldn't walk, and having cold sweats so bad that it was pouring off me. Ended up calling 911 and spending the day in the hospital until they felt I was well enough to go home.

I don't doubt your episode and I'm sorry to hear of it. Those kinds of symptoms are miserable. I do know that anytime people try something new (either new to them or new to the world) they often attribute anything that happens around that time to whatever it is they're trying out. This is a natural thing to do. The mind looks for patterns and associations. You'll see evidence of this in clinical trials. There's always a "less than 1%" section of symptoms no one else experienced. Sometimes it's attributed to bodies handling things differently than the statistical norm and other times it's purely coincidental. In a clinical trial, subjects have to report everything going on with their bodies.

The problem here is that most everyone is weary of the "deal breaker" side-effect that will keep them from using PVs. It's like waiting for the other shoe to drop - spoilage of a good thing. Maybe your episode was somehow related to vaping, maybe it wasn't. Unless there is other data to back up that it indeed was caused by vaping, I'd take the correlation with a grain of salt and chalk it up to coincidence. Not medical advice mind you, just my layman's opinion.

 

[Jules22871]

I don't doubt your episode and I'm sorry to hear of it. Those kinds of symptoms are miserable. I do know that anytime people try something new (either new to them or new to the world) they often attribute anything that happens around that time to whatever it is they're trying out. This is a natural thing to do. The mind looks for patterns and associations. You'll see evidence of this in clinical trials. There's always a "less than 1%" section of symptoms no one else experienced. Sometimes it's attributed to bodies handling things differently than the statistical norm and other times it's purely coincidental. In a clinical trial, subjects have to report everything going on with their bodies.

The problem here is that most everyone is weary of the "deal breaker" side-effect that will keep them from using PVs. It's like waiting for the other shoe to drop - spoilage of a good thing. Maybe your episode was somehow related to vaping, maybe it wasn't. Unless there is other data to back up that it indeed was caused by vaping, I'd take the correlation with a grain of salt and chalk it up to coincidence. Not medical advice mind you, just my layman's opinion.

Very good layman's advice! You put that just right. Way better than I ever could have,lol

 

[ramblingrose]

I'd be very surprised if it was nicotine poisoning.

Nicotine kills quickly. With severe symptoms of nicotine poisoning like you describe, I would have expect you to say they tested your cotinine level, and maybe even that they administered activated charcoal.

MLD for nicotine in an adult is .5-1mg/kg absorbed; halflife is 2-4 hours. If my math is right, for a 165lb man that makes the MLD around 38-72mg. Dr. Laugersen's study concluded that 300 puffs on a 16mg e-cig yields 3mg of nicotine absorbed. So, if you were using 36mg eliquid, unless you managed to vape nearly 5 times that in a few hours, smoked heavily at the same time or had an accident with the juice, its just (IMHO) not likely.

 

[lookin2quit]

I want to apologize to everyone for what amounts to a post made in haste after a long, stressful day. It was truly done from wanting to help, and I truly did believe everything I said when I wrote it.

I do, however, after reading some of these posts realize that there were far too many other factors going on that could also have caused the problem. (and thanks to all who posted in a way that didn't sound like an attack or an assumption that I was lying).

It was never my intention to cause any trouble, I did sincerely believe I was helping someone avoid the same thing happening to them. One of you wrote about attributing something to something new you're doing (or something to that effect) and I think maybe that is part of what happened here. I may have made an incorrect interpretation and then pulled the trigger too fast without thinking first. I guess part of that was that when I told the ER doc about the whole e-cig stuff and how much I was doing it he came to the conclusion that it "probably" was the cause. Of course looking at it now, I didn't ask if he had done any test that would proveit, I just assumed it would show up in the blood tests.

Anyway, I hope the community can forgive me for posting this and not think less of what I post in the future. It truly hurts me to think that people might think that I'm lying or something and I would ike to continue here as I like vaping and this community has so much valuable information to offer.

 

[TropicalBob]

Probably not nicotine overdose. That is highly unlikely given the low nicotine users get per puff. And know that nicotine poisoning hits quickly and hard. It does not wait hours, only to emerge in the middle of the night. It will happen within 30 minutes of overdosing. Also check how quickly your body rids itself of nicotine. All of that points to something other than e-smoking as the cause of your distress, which no one doubts you experienced.

Posted prior to above: Don't worry about being accepted here. Just keep posting your experiences. Plenty of knowledgeable people will help you.

 

[yknotagain]

Nothing I would ever recommend, but when my doctor prescribed the patch years ago I found it did nothing to even slow down my 4-5 pack-a-day habit. I even tried up to 3 patches (for which my doc SCREAMED at me) at once and still smoke 4-5 packs. Not once did I hit a state of OD.

Since it has been proven that vaping gives us less nic than smoking, I highly doubt this was a nicotine OD.

 

[crazyhorse]

A few hits of 36 mg gives me an acute overdose. The symptom is it makes my head spin. I know enough to stop taking more hits. It's the obvious thing to do.

 

[Olio]

What does it mean if you have a lot of snot running out of your nose?

 

[Hellen A. Handbasket]

Anyway, I hope the community can forgive me for posting this and not think less of what I post in the future. It truly hurts me to think that people might think that I'm lying or something and I would ike to continue here as I like vaping and this community has so much valuable information to offer.

We're all here for ya! Nobody wants you to feel bad and we all want you to learn about what you are using and use it well. I'd suggest you find out what tests they ran on you so you feel comfortable that you weren't having an episode with nicotine.

Keep in mind that some people do have allergic reactions to PG... (you may want to search for threads on that) so if this continues, you might want to look into VG based liquids.

I came down with a terrible cold (bronchial infection) exactly the same time that I first started using the e-cig and I wondered if my symptoms were caused by vaping! Fortunately the Nurse I saw asked about it and the ingredients and had no concerns. So, I was a little ramped up for nothing LOL... the bug went away, and I've been happily chain vaping away for about 6 months now feeling better than ever.

If you have continued using the e-cig since your episode, and have not experienced any other issues, we'd like to hear about that too.

 

[Hellen A. Handbasket]

What does it mean if you have a lot of snot running out of your nose?

That you don't know how to use a tissue?

 

[paladinx]

LOL@ all the people here getting defensive and telling her its not the e-cigarette. Why couldnt it be from vaping? It could very well be. or it might not, but why are some so sure it isnt. She might have gotten a batch of liquid that had way more nicotine in it then it was supposed to have. No one knows. But her symptoms sound like she got too much nicotine, plus the amount of time it lasted. She might have gotten a bad batch of liquid. Anything is possible so why attack her for

 

[smokinsimon]

Thats a good reason to ask what she was vaping.
So we know where the bad batch is coming from and to stay away.

 

[Jules22871]

I want to apologize to everyone for what amounts to a post made in haste after a long, stressful day. It was truly done from wanting to help, and I truly did believe everything I said when I wrote it.

I do, however, after reading some of these posts realize that there were far too many other factors going on that could also have caused the problem. (and thanks to all who posted in a way that didn't sound like an attack or an assumption that I was lying).

It was never my intention to cause any trouble, I did sincerely believe I was helping someone avoid the same thing happening to them. One of you wrote about attributing something to something new you're doing (or something to that effect) and I think maybe that is part of what happened here. I may have made an incorrect interpretation and then pulled the trigger too fast without thinking first. I guess part of that was that when I told the ER doc about the whole e-cig stuff and how much I was doing it he came to the conclusion that it "probably" was the cause. Of course looking at it now, I didn't ask if he had done any test that would proveit, I just assumed it would show up in the blood tests.

Anyway, I hope the community can forgive me for posting this and not think less of what I post in the future. It truly hurts me to think that people might think that I'm lying or something and I would ike to continue here as I like vaping and this community has so much valuable information to offer.

Most of us, if not, don't think you were in any way lying, just maybe misinformed. You had some scary symptoms show up when you started vaping so it is not out of the question to think about nicotine overdose. We are all still learning the ins and outs of vaping. This is just one more thing to learn from.

I for one think you are still a valuable member of the forum and hope you keep posting and let us know how you are doing. I would call and get a copy of your medical record to see exactly what they did and what the tests show, but I'm funny like that. I always want copies of my medical records, just in case something goes wrong.