Blood Pressure and E-Cigs

[Niya]

Hi! I'm new here, but have read and re-read most of the threads on this forum. I have hypertension (and mild emphysema BTW). My MD had a hard time bringing my BP down over the last year. Well, I got my first e-cig (njoy) yesterday and, since I measure my BP a couple of times a day, I was startled that my BP went from 142/85 in the am taking a B-line down to 108/60.

Does anyone else measure BP daily? Anybody else experience that? I'm going to see the nurse at my clinic tomorrow to double-check my monitor and also double-check what happens to my BP both before I smoke my e-cig and a half-hour after I smoke it.

Lowering my BP is great, but hey, 108/60 after one day's use? I'm nervous about how low it will go if I continue.

Thanks for all the great info here!!!!! And thanks for any input you all might have!

 

[Oliver]

Wow, that is a pretty amazing reduction, and it does seem to repeat the observations made by Dr Loi.

I wonder if you wouldn't mind keeping us all up to date? One of my big questions has always been the ratio between the nicotine/other chemicals in tobacco smoke and the rise in blood pressure. In other words, what is the comparative danger of long term nicotine usage?

Have you spoken to your doctor about this yet? I'd love to hear his/her thoughts.

 

[Niya]

I'll let you know what happens tomorrow. My doctor won't see me just to check blood pressure, but what the nurse observes will go in my chart and the MD will see it and call me if necessary.

Nicotine causes BP spikes, so I think it could be propylene glycol, but that's just a hunch.

 

[TropicalBob]

My BP seems directly related to nicotine intake, not tobacco smoking or e-smoking. I was able last year to jump the BP 20 points on both ends by putting a snus tobacco pouch in my cheek during an office visit and test. Startled the doctor a bit.

In my case, I think a high nicotine cartridge would jerk my BP up; a low or no-nicotine, I'm guessing, would stabilize it at a lower level. If you're already using no-nicotine cartridges, then this isn't the case for you.

Let us know your doctor's thinking on this pretty radical jump/decline.

 

[Niya]

Tropical Bob, The spike isn't really a spike in the am for me--it's a little low for my normal reading in the morning right after I take my meds. It's the plummet that I'm concerned about, because it's too low too fast IMHO. My BP has never been that low for years. I used the "Medium" cartridge, and I usually smoke ultralight cigarettes.

 

[Niya]

BP Drop NOT from E-Cig

My home monitor is faulty. Sorry if my deal was of concern to people. Off to buy a new one. Glad for the news, though.

 

[TropicalBob]

Phew. Thanks for getting back on this.

 

[jimldk]

I want to know too Niya.....BP patients on e-smoking has been under constant followup and what I found was a significant drop in Systolic and diastolic Bp...but Heartrate / pulse rate seems a little faster in some 50% of BP patients...I am still monitoring those patients but it could be anything...PG or VG version of liquids does not alter the HR/Pulse..it is linked to Nicotine.... and directly proportional to the strength of Nicotine used.

 

[Oliver]

Thanks for the info Jim.

 

[CaSHMeRe]

+1 ... excellent info.

How long have these studies been going on now?

 

[TheEmperorOfIceCream]

Had a routine BP check about three weeks ago (I take medication to control hypertension). I'm in the middle of a stressful situation at work, and I've been esmoking copiously so I was expecting to see elevated levels but it was absolutely normal.

Not looking to draw any particular conclusion here, just throwing it into the mix

Emp

 

[kramerica2]

Perhaps another throw: Not scientific in any way, but after a cigarette, I've always felt my heart rate accelerates a bit. I don't have that feeling with e-smoking...

 

[icemanmaz]

When I started on the e-cig my heart rate went sky high.
My battery had run out and the spare was still charging.
Don't worry its back to normal now I got a spare battery and a spare charger.

 

[TropicalBob]

Nicotine accelerates heart rate. The reason you don't get the same heart kick as from tobacco cigarettes is because you're getting significantly less nicotine with each e-inhalation. Your heart rate and blood pressure still rise, but not enough for you to notice. E-smoke during your next doctor's visit and let him/her monitor you. You'll see the effect of nicotine.

 

[kramerica2]

you're getting significantly less nicotine with each e-inhalation

Are you sure about that? It seems to me that on the contrary, e-puff delivers more nicotine than a puff. I'm saying that for 2 reasons:
1. The nic hit in the throat is much stronger with a e-puff.
2. Let's say each cig contains 0.9 mg of nicotine. 11 puffs = 1 cig, so each puff delivers about 0.08 mg of nicotine. Let's take a regular e-cig cart containing 18 mg. From my experience, it lasts about 150 e-puffs, so each e-puff delivers about 0.12 mg of nicotine. That's more than a puff. Add that to the claim that the intake of nicotine from e-cig is much higher than a regular cig (where according to the Dr. a lot of the nic is lost), and you get a lot more nic per e-puff.

Of-course, I might be totally wrong... do you have another explanation?

 

[katink]

I find that any calculation using puffs is a method that gives awfully subjective, so in fact uncomparable, results. Just to illustrate: when smoking tobacco I need around 30 (!) puffs per cig to finish it... put that next to the 10 you might be using, or the 15 a next user may be using... This gives distortions in the outcome of up to 300%... I think a method is needed thatis objective and doesn't lead to wide differences per user; else it gets simply impossible to make any comparison that even faintly rings true...

You can easilly find your own usage while using a far more objective so same for all method as follows:
- Take how many cigs you smoked per day on average. Look on the pack to see how much nicotine is in each cig. Multiply. Ok, now you have your nicotine-number you were on before going to e-smoking.
- Now, find out how many ml's e-liquid you are using each day (refill an empty and washed out then dried core if you don't know how much your cores hold - the mini's differ per style and brand between 0.1 ml and 0.5 ml; pens are always around 1 ml, cigars also; pipe is around 2.2 to 2.5 ml per cartridge); and what strength you are using. Remember, mg nicotine is always per one ml... so if you have say a strength of 12 mg, and use one cart of 0.5 ml, you will get 6 mg nicotine in. This way you can see how many mg's nicotine you are using per day through e-smoking. (Use a syringe with clear 0.1 ml markings to discover how much each core takes, if your core-content is not clear from the list above).


Now you have a clean figure to go from, a figure that you got to by using the same method for each user.
I think you will see different figures from what you are looking at now... not saying you won't be able to see anyone using more nicotine now then they did before through this method: but it is a lót more objective figure then, one you can make true comparisons with... and if your intake now is higher then it used to be... then it might be time to adjust your nicotine strength for instance (though you could also choose to just e-smoke less of course: different routes available).

You can fine-tune your intake much better (and especially: more accurately) this way, I find.

 

[kramerica2]

Katink, you are absolutely right, and I also didn't know that the nicotine amount was per 1 ml, I thought that it's per 1 cart.

 

[clavit]

And just to confuse the subject even further, the nic level printed on cigarette packs is only useful in comparing different brands. The actual nic intake can be a lot more!
I believe Dr. Laugesens report used an average of 2.0 mg per cigarette when comparing with e-cigs. So i'm guessing actual intake can be anything from 0.5 to 3.0 mg per cigarette!

 

[kramerica2]

And just to confuse the subject even further, the nic level printed on cigarette packs is only useful in comparing different brands. The actual nic intake can be a lot more!
I believe Dr. Laugesens report used an average of 2.0 mg per cigarette when comparing with e-cigs. So i'm guessing actual intake can be anything from 0.5 to 3.0 mg per cigarette!

I give up... Hopefully, if e-cigs would eventually be known as harmful, it won't be too late for us guinea pigs...

 

[TropicalBob]

Refer to Dr. Laugesen's two interim reports. The range per puff is one-half to one-fifth the nic of a cigarette, given equal size puffs. No way is anyone claiming the e-cig puff delivers as much nicotine as a regular cigarette. It just doesn't. In clinical testing.