Body can't take vape

[godspeed1208]

Hi guys, a little about myself... I started vaping in 2012 and had to give up vaping after a few months. Due to symptoms such as tight chest, feeling a sensation in left hand, neck etc... I had been to 4-5 different doctors, cardiologist etc but none was able to find the reason or cause. So i gave up in 2013..

Now after all this years, i got myself a voopoo drag and thought of giving vaping a try again but even now, i'm having the similar symptoms... The mods are so fantastic, the flavors are amazing but it breaks my heart when my body is rejecting vaping.

I have tried different pg/vg ratios, 6mg/3mg/0mg nic, drinking plenty of water but i cannot figure out why the moment i take a puff or two... the sensation starts at the left side of my chest, arm and neck. It is a very uncomfortable feeling.. It feels like the left side becomes heavier than the right side.It's like a pressure starts to build up...I hope you get what i mean...

This only happens when i vape.. i'm not sure if i have GERD. But even if i did, i don't see how it's related. I do not have anxiety ... Like i said, this only happens when i vape. I can't even vape just a few puffs as those uncomfortable feelings come and normally stays for at least 1-2 hours.

Does this mean, i am just one of those unlucky ones who can't vape? i have gone cold turkey for the past one day and am considering to just go and get a analog and smoke.. Guess i am s****ed...

 

[Rossum]

I have no idea why vaping affects you that way, but if it does, and you don't wanna smoke, try one of the Other Alternatives to Smoking.

 

[godspeed1208]

I have no idea why vaping affects you that way, but if it does, and you don't wanna smoke, try one of the Other Alternatives to Smoking.

Tried patch and gum but they don't help much. in the past when i first started out , i was able to vape for few months before i started having symptoms but this time round, just 1 day and it started.. If only i could figure out what could be the cause. I am guessing it's the vapor itself. Maybe my body just can't handle vapor...

 

[Myk]

How is your neck? Any injuries in your lifetime?
It may not be directly related but I can stretch to related it so vaping makes an existing problem worse.
Your discs rely on hydration. If they're a little bad, dehydrating could make them worse. Hydrated no nerves pinched, dehydrated nerves pinched.

My neck/nerve issues did not change with vaping but it was very advanced by the time I was vaping. When I had C5/C6/C7 fused no more tingling in my arms and hands, even more amazing is no more chest pain (that I pretty much always wrote off as panic attacks). I had a lot of head and fall injuries as a kid and a bad neck since college.
If you feel like dealing with Dr's again you may ask if it could be spine/nerves (assuming they haven't checked that).

Nicotine relaxes soft muscle and is very likely to increase GERD symptoms. Mine got better when I quit smoking, then advanced again. Maybe a little better the times I quit nicotine but I take meds nightly so I go ahead and enjoy nicotine.

 

[Marc411]

Have you tried adjusting your PG or VG ratios. Some folks are allergic to one or the other....mostly PG from what I've see on the forums.

 

[bwh79]

General wisdom around here is to seek medical advice from a professional and not ask for it on a forum, but I see you've already tried that and it didn't get you very far. You say you've tried different PG/VG ratios...have you tried eliminating one of them entirely? If you search around you can find juices with NO pg or NO vg; maybe one of those will suit you?

 

[HeidiB]

Not a doctor so cannot comment on a lot, but I couldn't vape freebase at all. Vaped it for 8 months and then suddenly couldn't. Gave up after every suggestion ever given just didn't work, until about 5 or so years later my son suggested salts. I have no idea why but I can vape salts no problems whatsoever, aside from the typical tobacco withdrawal yucky symptoms, which are pretty much gone now.

 

[bitey]

I am not a doc & this is not medical advice, merely my own experience. I am hideously allergic to PG, even trace amounts in only the flavoring. I had multiple symptoms with VG juice if any amount of the flavoring was PG. I have no tie to Alien Vision juice except that their juice is what I can vape with no symptoms. The VG juice is 100% VG with no PG in the flavoring. If you want to try one more thing, try the all VG juice they sell. You only need a 6 mg bottle as a sample. Be careful because some of their juice has PG, but the name of it is titled with PG in it. If this works, great. If not, I'm glad I'm not you and I'm supportive of whatever you decide to do. Good luck.

 

[godspeed1208]

How is your neck? Any injuries in your lifetime?
It may not be directly related but I can stretch to related it so vaping makes an existing problem worse.
Your discs rely on hydration. If they're a little bad, dehydrating could make them worse. Hydrated no nerves pinched, dehydrated nerves pinched.

My neck/nerve issues did not change with vaping but it was very advanced by the time I was vaping. When I had C5/C6/C7 fused no more tingling in my arms and hands, even more amazing is no more chest pain (that I pretty much always wrote off as panic attacks). I had a lot of head and fall injuries as a kid and a bad neck since college.
If you feel like dealing with Dr's again you may ask if it could be spine/nerves (assuming they haven't checked that).

Nicotine relaxes soft muscle and is very likely to increase GERD symptoms. Mine got better when I quit smoking, then advanced again. Maybe a little better the times I quit nicotine but I take meds nightly so I go ahead and enjoy nicotine.

No i don't have any neck issues or injuries. I'm also hydrated... So it can't be this causing this issues for me.

 

[godspeed1208]

Have you tried adjusting your PG or VG ratios. Some folks are allergic to one or the other....mostly PG from what I've see on the forums.

Yes have tried adjusting but not helping. I don't think it's the PG or VG that is causing me this problem. I think it has something to do with the vapor itself.

General wisdom around here is to seek medical advice from a professional and not ask for it on a forum, but I see you've already tried that and it didn't get you very far. You say you've tried different PG/VG ratios...have you tried eliminating one of them entirely? If you search around you can find juices with NO pg or NO vg; maybe one of those will suit you?

I have tried it and didn't help much. Wished someone could figure out the issue.

Not a doctor so cannot comment on a lot, but I couldn't vape freebase at all. Vaped it for 8 months and then suddenly couldn't. Gave up after every suggestion ever given just didn't work, until about 5 or so years later my son suggested salts. I have no idea why but I can vape salts no problems whatsoever, aside from the typical tobacco withdrawal yucky symptoms, which are pretty much gone now.

Maybe an option i could try, thanks

I am not a doc & this is not medical advice, merely my own experience. I am hideously allergic to PG, even trace amounts in only the flavoring. I had multiple symptoms with VG juice if any amount of the flavoring was PG. I have no tie to Alien Vision juice except that their juice is what I can vape with no symptoms. The VG juice is 100% VG with no PG in the flavoring. If you want to try one more thing, try the all VG juice they sell. You only need a 6 mg bottle as a sample. Be careful because some of their juice has PG, but the name of it is titled with PG in it. If this works, great. If not, I'm glad I'm not you and I'm supportive of whatever you decide to do. Good luck.

I don't think it's the pg/vg that is affecting me, i think it's the vapor itself. And i have tried many combinations and no difference so far.

 

[godspeed1208]

Firstly thank you everyone for helping me figure out the cause of my problem but I don't think it has anything to do with the nic level, PG/VG. i highly suspect that it has to do with the Ecig vapor itself because.. When i'm smoking, i do not have such issues as it's smoke but for vapor.. It's definitely doing something when i inhaling it.

The moment i take 1-2 puffs, an uncomfortable pressure starts to form in my left side of my chest, neck and arm(bicep area). I am guessing maybe fluid or vapor accumulates in my lungs when i vape? Because in 2012 the mods were weak and not able to produce much vapor and maybe it took me around 4 months to get side effects(after switching to mech mod) but after all this years, now technology has improved so much that i feel like a fog machine and maybe too much vapor does something to my body or lungs.. I'm just guessing.

Maybe someone should use me for experiments to find out what causes this as i'm totally unable to vape. Just 1-2 puffs and the tightness feeling starts to occur and last a few hours. Even after all this years, i've yet to find out the cause..

 

[Jebbn]

Vaping anything with PG quickly gives me a feeling like Bells Palsy on my face, Ive had Bells Palsy and its the closest description I can come up with.
I tried VG and distilled water, had no reaction, then added nic in VG base and had no problem, then tried many and various flavour concentrates and reacted to most of them.
MTL, Lower watts, higher ohms and about 6-12mg unflavoured nic seems to work for me.

 

[stols001]

I will merely comment that I am PG sensitive, and my symptoms (some of them) may have been a bit similar, but not all.

You said you've tried various combinations, does that include vaping straight VG and no nic? You'd really have to remove it entirely to know for sure. If you are sensitive to freebase nic, well vaping just VG may tell you that or not. I'd second the idea of trying nic salts if you haven't, it's what I use (I had trouble with dealing with a throat hit, when I transitioned, and nic salts were so much easier on my system. I vaped them at the exact same level as freebase, 18% and my overall experience was much better.

Did your doctor rule out any heart issues and etc. when you went in? Because, that would be my main worry.

Also perhaps the patch, the gum etc., do not agree with you but have you tried Swedish snus? It's really considered as much harm reduction as vaping, and it may be easier for you to manage, if vaping is giving you issues. I'd hate to see you return to smoking, but it does sound like you are between a rock and a hard place. They also make nicotine salt pouches, that might be an option. I think @Burnie is an expert on those, IIRC correctly, and there's a thread on them here at ECF as well.

Best of luck, I hope you find a solution that doesn't cause you to return to smoking.

Anna

 

[Myk]

No i don't have any neck issues or injuries. I'm also hydrated... So it can't be this causing this issues for me.

Good. Spine surgery has come a long way since my mother had discs fused in the 60's, I walked from my surgery bed to my room bed and was released in <24hrs last year, but it's by no means perfect.

I have tried it and didn't help much. Wished someone could figure out the issue.

I've seen it many times where Dr's fail, someone else's shot in the dark is it. Dr's are good with "by the book", not always good when the book doesn't have the answer. Dr's failed me for 49 years, although I stopped giving them many chances after 20. Keep trying to find the answer.
My problem with Dr's and ecigs is ecigs aren't in the book so many's answer is either to treat them like cigarettes or go along with the propaganda.

The slow build up to a fast intolerance you describe goes along with people who've had PG/VG issues. I wonder if you could be having issues with both.

I'd try Swedish Snus. You should be able to find General locally in the US, their website has a dealer locator.

 

[Alphazero]

Yoy have breathing difficulty because you are not inhaling air. Try to exhale vg vapor and observe how thick it is. Now imagine the thickness vapor fill up your lungs.
Pg vapor is less thick and condensed but unfortunately you cannot vape 100pg because it is irritant.
Furthermore, some flavor allergies exits. When i smoked menthol cigarettes i immediately noticed difficulty breathing but my friend didn't.
You should play with the pg vg ratio with no flavors. Then eliminate flavors after using them. Especially watch out for cinnamon, creamy flavors

No one can guarantee you that it will work.
Your lungs may still feel tight but dont get too sad over this, some vapes got this exact symptoms after 3 months.. and then they need to quit