Brain fog and other wierdness, anyone know the cause?

[mountainbikermark]

Anyone know the cause of brain fog and other wierdness? Any amount making you sick and other kinds of wierdness like that? And I'm not talking about with people who are just starting or switching from cigarettes.
I'm suspecting probably:
1. contaminants, hexane, cyclohexane, kerosine, petroleum ether, chloroform, ether, and ethanol (alcohol), are all sometimes used in the extraction process.
Or possibly
2. Higher or lower heat, could change how it's absorbed or something.
3. PG/VG ratio, can change how it's absorbed. This will probably be different for different people. Some people like high PG, some people like high VG, some people like a mixture. How nicotine's absorbed depends hugely on what it's suspended in

If there's anyone who has a variable temperature device, they could test the heat one. They could change the heat up and down and see if it creates any wierdness

Prelude NET , 3mg nic, at any heat makes me nauseous. Other than that I've never had that happen before.
Cleaning out my Sourin Air of its nicsalt juice with no gloves on made me feel extra happy but my blood pressure didn't feel the joy.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

[-357]

I am having the same symptoms and have hypothesized that the brain fog is coming from the artificial flavourings used in most popular eliquids.

I have been of cigarettes for 8 years but relapsed last year. I since managed to quit again but was really looking into Nic usage as a form of nootropic cognitive enhancement.

Much to my frustration there is not much information on artificially flavoured e juices causing issues as most assume its the PG content.

I can attest that when I started vaping it was with a tobacco flavour with mild caramel and vanilla flavours that were awesome. I thoroughly enjoyed the 30ml that I had and experienced no brain fog, with the mental effects of nic... great.

I then decided to try a blueberry flavour, Big mistake.. It gave me headaches, brain fog and borderline depression. I thought it may have been the particularly strong flavour, so I tried a cherry cola flavour with minimal sweetness. this caused similar symptoms, not as severe but enough to make me stop vaping.

After stopping my mental issues returned to normal and I tried a couple of traditional cigarettes to make sure there were no other medical issues present, they were fine, normal feeling and a great cognitive enhancement as usual.

I am now about to order some all naturally flavoured e juice and also some whole tobacco alkaloid, naturally flavoured juice.

Its worth mentioning that all of the e juice I consumed was 70/30 Vg/PG ratio and of 6mg nic strength which I found satisfying for me. I also drink 2-3 litres of water per day.

Hopefully this can shed light on the possible PG allergy that is all over the internet for myself and possibly the OP if the naturally flavoured e juices cause no issues. Presumable food based artificial flavours would cause less issue than vaping because they go through the liver first where as vaping is straight to blood and brain.

 

[stols001]

Do you mean unflavored? Because naturally flavored JUST means that the initial base flavoring is made from "found in nature" not even necessarily "banana" but say, "Chicken dung chemically addressed and modified until it tastes like banana, even." OK maybe a touch of hyperbole but seriously, natural flavors are NO less chemically modified, changed, and converted than artificial flavors. Flavor labs are flavor labs and they all do exactly the same thing whether it is to a strawberry or "Chemical 599&XY." Natural flavors exist SIMPLY because they sound better, so capture a higher market price. They are no "healthier, " and I'd wager a guess sometimes LESS heathy than artificial flavors. Flavor labs are not in the business of looking out for your health.

You could try "organic" flavors although again, there is a certain amount of hucksterism and since eliquid is really low on the regulatory spectrum (for now) I am not sure you'd have any sort of 100% certainty regarding how it is made, and what chemical processes it undergoes, but I can pretty much guarantee you'd get like, a price hike for going to that "market area."

If you try unflavored, that might be the smartest way to go. For one, it's not terrible, especially if you add in some of the "nuttiness" that unflavored WTA has to it. It's not terrible tasting.

Secondly it is entirely possible that flavoring is not your issue at all. I became "sensitive" to PG after a fair amount of exposure, so your first "heavenly" batch of flavored juice may have been because you were not sensitized to other things in eliquid and your best bet for discovery of that is to go to as few ingredients as you can (and I might include different nic levels etc..)

Also, brain fog can be part of detox, you may have just hit the part of detox where brain fog became prominent for you. If that is the case, I would expect WTA to be helpful in that aspect, as it retains some of the alkaloids in tobacco.

If you start with unflavored 0 nic VG, you will have a baseline, then start adding in Nic, PG, finally WTA, whatever.

The good news is, once you have found your unflavored "stew" that works, you can start adding in flavorings as you go, to see what you are sensitive to or NOT, just like an allergy elimination diet.

Finally. Did you repurchase your first successful juice to see what happened? That would have been like, the FIRST thing I had done, because if that juice remained "okay" I would have given myself a TON more information about whether it was actually the flavorings or NOT.

Good luck though. Honestly, before you do all the rest of it, you might want to just repurchase that initial flavor nothing to lose there really.

Anna

 

[-357]

I meant organic, basically the most expensive hipster style juice that will taste almost unflavored

Really dont think it is detox as I was completely off the cigs for 7 months before I started vaping.

I was hedging between getting the first juice to try again but thought going organic might rule out a flavor allergy.

Interesting that you developed a sensitivity to PG. what kind of symptoms were you experiencing?

I will try the original juice again, if no joy I will go to the extreme of straight VG and add in to see what causes effect. A lot of trouble but vaping is so satisfying... I just want get back to flavor country.

Thanks for the informative response.

 

[stols001]

I developed sort of a "tingling" (unpleasant) sensation when I vaped it, and also, I got like a runny nose a bit. Everyone develops different sensitivity symptoms, though, so what might be one thing for one person might be different for others.

I don't know too much about "hipster organic" flavorers, but if you want one step up from "no flavor" and if you are going to start with VG base first, it might be worth your time to consider DIY maybe, I guess you could look for organic flavor concentrates, when I did a search a few things popped up, but I really don't know much about then so don't want to link them. However, with DIY (if you are PG sensitive which is kind of far from clear) well, you can control your nic level, your VG level, as well as your flavoring percentage. Finding a few simple flavors you like, such as peppermint, a fruit, menthol even if that's appealing, that can all be controlled by you.

Let us know how returning to the original juice goes, etc.

Good luck,

Anna

 

[Dougiestyle]

I have dain bramage, so I live in a terminal fog. It's my own precious free buzz. The nic and meds only make it tolerable most days. Then there's beer, whiskey and other stuff...

 

[CosmicTruth]

I'm sorry to hear that Bro, I have PD which really affects my cognition and mobility.I tried the PD meds and unfortunately could not think clearly enough to administer them properly, and my neurologist was not clear when explaining dosing, so I had several hallucination events and in the end I took myself off them. Nicotine is pretty therapeutic and I have an occasional beer just to keep my liver flushed. If you have a chance check out the CBD tinctures, as that and similar medicines work wonders for every ailment.

 

[CosmicTruth]

I have (as I mentioned) had 1 event where I mixed a bottle of e-liquid that gave me unexpected high level juice. My theory was I did not shake the liquid nicotine prior to mixing. I have also heard stories of folks buying nicotine, but receiving much higher level nicotine than they ordered. "Brain fog" is maybe not listed as a symptom of nicotine poisoning, but I would bet it could easily happen if you mix 3mg liquid and it actually comes out at 60mg. Here are some links to be more informed and possibly rule out my theory as to what may be causing the "brain fog".

Nicotine poisoning - Wikipedia



Nicotine Titration Kit

NOTE: A titration kit only works with freebase nicotine and not the nicotine salts.

 

[charlie1465]

Not necessarily foggy thinking, but if I go any lower then 15mg/ml I find all I want to do is chain vape. And all my time is spent worrying about the next time I can vape. So, 20mg/ml at about 18w is it for me. At that rate I can then go a few hours without vaping or thinking of vaping. So, that is my weirdness.

I'm exactly the same as this...it's 18mg in a 0.4 mesh coil vape and I have really reduced my vape intake. I went down to 6mg a while ago and jeez was I chain vaping...not good.

 

[charlie1465]

I then decided to try a blueberry flavour, Big mistake.. It gave me headaches, brain fog and borderline depression. I thought it may have been the particularly strong flavour, so I tried a cherry cola flavour with minimal sweetness. this caused similar symptoms, not as severe but enough to make me stop vaping.

I will definitely attest to certain slightly strange reactions to some flavours. Its not so much brain fog but I definitely get nausea from certain flavours. For example when I first started vaping I hated vanilla and every time I tried it it would make me feel sick.
Having said that though this time around and with diy juice i've been vaping vanilla type flavours with no ill effects so whether the flavour molecules were different, now as compared to then I don't no.

 

[schismz]

FWIW I've been vaping since forever, I started in 2009 and switched fully from cigs to e-cigs in 2010 using Super T and GG mechs. I've been almost exclusively DIY for the past 2 years, and my experiences are:

Nicotine isn't the "problem" -- if you're doing too much nic, well, I think all of us already know how that feels. How much is too much is extremely individualized and everybody is a bit different. What's way too much for one person, may be way too little for another. Another variable would be what device you're using and how much of that nic is actually getting absorbed and how fast.

That weird, my lungs are congested and I feel awful, what's up with this? Feeling tends to occur for me after sampling some random e-liquid like chocolate glazed donuts with rainbow frosting on top.

In my experience, which is purely subjective and anecdotal: it's not the nic. If you have no allergies to PG, it's not the PG/VG ratio: it's the amount and type of flavorings mixed into your e-liquid. I've had: brain fog, weird ringing in my ears, general feelings of lethargy, etc... In my case, 100% of the time, the answer has always been: switch whatever you're vaping and stop using that recipe/those flavors.

Obviously if you vape high-nic e-liquid and your total daily intake is 3-5mL, that's a big difference from going through 30mL bottles each day at 3mg/mL (which is pretty common with blowing cloudz bro). The thing is, the blowing clouds bro, I got my 4 battery mod and .01Ω alien-helix-tesserect-tardis-unicorn-horn-twisted-coil in my atty, are a very small niche which peaked in popularity/public perception about 2 years ago. What the FDA is currently hysterical about is JUUL which is eating the cigarette companies money and sells a very low power, high resistance, ultra-high nic device, which is the exact opposite of cloudz br0 cloudz.

tl;dr: If you experience problems vaping, then try switching your e-liquid to something else. If they persist, try again. If they're still present, then probably you should see an MD and make sure that you're physically okay because nobody on a forum is qualified to give you medical advice without knowing your specific health situation in the first place.

 

[Ryedan]

I've been vaping for 6 1/2 years now, tried all kinds of premixed juices, and different VG, PG, flavorings and nic. Nothing ever bothered me though I do find nic dries out my mouth and throat a bit. I don't vape much nic anymore but I like TH so I buy the 'nastiest' nic I can find and then also 'degrade' it a bit using heat. Works for me . I've been lucky so far, my worst experiences with juices have been ones I didn't like the flavor of.

OTOH, I've seen people react badly to PG, VG and various flavorings and nic. And of course, too much nic is not fun either. Some of those folks were able to figure out what didn't agree with them, learned and moved on. Some quit vaping. No-one has ever done themselves lasting harm from vaping that I know of.

I use artificial flavorings only whenever possible because after doing a bunch of research I feel they are safest for vaping. If done correctly they contain just the flavor molecules in a carrier solution like PG without any chance of any nasty to inhale substances being in them that was not removed by the manufacturing process. Again, this works for me, but as always YMMV.

Ultimately, if anyone is having a health issue with vaping I think the best course of action for them is either to carefully and safely make a plan to try to figure out what the problem is if they feel like doing that, or stop vaping and get a doctor involved. No-one has ever become sick from vaping and I would like that history to continue.

 

[Hoggy]

Via hearsay, I've once heard it mentioned that PG can cause sedative type effects. However, I have no idea how true that really is - I don't think I fully researched that (or if I did, then I forgot it). .... I can't really tell personally though, as I have a disability that causes cognition, memory, and fatigue problems that are far beyond that. So even though I vape mostly PG at around 70/30 or 80/20 PG/VG - it would just sort of 'blend in', if it did.

Actually though, the nicotine helps with my cognitive issues. But different things affect different people in different ways.

 

[Shadav]

well from my own personal experience....
brain fog and feeling weird/off is because of my thyroid
have you had your thyroid tested?
I am extremely hypothyroid and if I don't take my meds I can not function
typical signs of an under active thyroid
loss of appetite but still weight gain, brain fog, tiredness and lack of energy
i mean these symptoms can be underlying for many of things but they thyroid is usually the normal culprit and yet goes undiagnosed.

 

[Hoggy]

well from my own personal experience....
brain fog and feeling weird/off is because of my thyroid
have you had your thyroid tested?
I am extremely hypothyroid and if I don't take my meds I can not function
typical signs of an under active thyroid
loss of appetite but still weight gain, brain fog, tiredness and lack of energy
i mean these symptoms can be underlying for many of things but they thyroid is usually the normal culprit and yet goes undiagnosed.

Thyroid tested fine. It's a disabling case of Fibromyalgia. Not everyone gets to the point of disability... And some are even misdiagnosed - especially if it's from a primary/family care doctor. But as far as as I'm concerned, it's a bonafide Autoimmune disease (I've also seen it referenced as a Neuro-immune disorder).

But if that's directed at the OP, these could be two things the OP might want to get checked out for.

 

[Shadav]

Thyroid tested fine. It's a disabling case of Fibromyalgia. Not everyone gets to the point of disability... And some are even misdiagnosed - especially if it's from a primary/family care doctor. But as far as as I'm concerned, it's a bonafide Autoimmune disease (I've also seen it referenced as a Neuro-immune disorder).

But if that's directed at the OP, these could be two things the OP might want to get checked out for.

yes it was for the OP but I completely understand
I have graves' disease which is an autoimmune disorder even though no doctor ever told me that, I only resonantly found out, makes a lot of since...it's what caused my thyroid problems to begin with (I was extremely hyper but had to have it radiated and am now extremely hypo to the point it doesn't even really work)
but a lot of my friends have suggested that I get tested for fibromyalgia because a lot of my symptoms that are thyroid related/arthritis related/eczema and kp related/vitiligo could also be underlying undiagnosed fibromyalgia because nothing that I do actually helps any of it get any better, maybe take the edge off but not stop any of the pain

 

[Plumes.91]

everything causes brain fog. did you live between the ages of 13 and 24? you probably have brain fog. my only advice is to keep aging until it goes away.

 

[Bunnykiller]

Joe has brain fog and he was going to jump into a volcano... but one needs to consider how old one is and determine if its brain fog or old age setting in... from my personal experience, vaping cleared up my "brain fog" experience and things got better.... but then again... tumors can cause the same effect... schedule an MRI and see if you have a brain tumor....

 

[Hoggy]

but a lot of my friends have suggested that I get tested for fibromyalgia because a lot of my symptoms that are thyroid related/arthritis related/eczema and kp related/vitiligo could also be underlying undiagnosed fibromyalgia because nothing that I do actually helps any of it get any better, maybe take the edge off but not stop any of the pain

Yep, that's me - nothing makes it much better.. Just take the edge off - or like with nic, helps in the cognitive department a bit.. Nowhere near a fully functional person, but still helps a bit.
Another thing to note about Fibro, is that it will increase any other pains you will have. So for instance, the arthritis you may get double the amount of pain or so. Fun stuff.

Of course there's other things too, that a specialist would rule out. Things like Lupus and whatnot. EDIT: And yep - an MRI is, in fact, one of the many tests that the specialist will do.