Assuming you've had no previous experiences that say you shouldn't trust your doctor, I'd trust your doctor.
Can we talk shortness of breath?
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Assuming you've had no previous experiences that say you shouldn't trust your doctor, I'd trust your doctor.
You have only a couple of real options here:
Get it checked out more thoroughly and stop freakin' out..immediately
or don't get it checked out, and stop freakin' out immediately.
A little story my Dad told me many years ago when he was alive;
In the middle ages a man is walking down the road and runs into the Grim Reaper.
Man say's to Grim Reaper "What's happening?"
Grim Reaper says to man " Just got back from that town over there, Black Plague is everywhere. 10,000 dead just in that town"
Man says" WoW, the plague caused TEN THOUSAND DEATHS over there?"
Grim Reaper says " Nope. Plague only killed about a fifth of that. The other 8,000 died from fear of me!"
Get a hold of yourself, man.
Or find a Xanax.
Life is fleeting.
Don't waste it on winding yourself into a knot of unfounded anxiety.
Pet you cat. If you don't have one adopt one. They are great stress neutralizers. When they are not purring in your lap, they're doing something so ridiculously funny you just laugh your ... off.
Like the others, I'm not a doctor. I'm just aware that we humans can often get so focused in on something and if we have a decent imagination, we can blow it up into 4 weeks to live scenarios. 
So maybe for right now, use that imagination to imagine the best scenario.
That everything is okay and maybe you need to lighten up on the VG and see if it goes away. And start going for walks... and do stop and smell some roses. Well.. once winter is over and there are roses to smell.
On another note... I really enjoyed your video. You have a nice sound going with your band! Thanks for sharing it!
So maybe for right now, use that imagination to imagine the best scenario. That everything is okay and maybe you need to lighten up on the VG and see if it goes away. And start going for walks... and do stop and smell some roses. Well.. once winter is over and there are roses to smell.
On another note... I really enjoyed your video. You have a nice sound going with your band! Thanks for sharing it!
Hi I know that I had a hard time the first couple of days vaping. It seemed like i had an elephant on my chest. But it did pass. However, I don't really think anything that any of us can say will really be of much help. Get a second opinion. If you had a pain in your chest and you have a cough, it is probably worth getting an xray taken if only to ease your mind. Good luck and let us all know how everything turns out.
i definitely don't have a pain in my chest or a cough. it's really just the shortness thing, and i think it's mainly an anxiety response. honestly i thought the anxiety would dissapate after nearly a decade of dealing with it, but i guess it's never going to go away.
I'm not a doctor either but I have a few thoughts.
1. Cancer is not the main thing that gets smokers, though it gets a lot of us/them. The main thing is COPD and emphysema. Unlike cancer, this is SLOW damage, so any day you do something to improve your lungs is a day you are fighting to prevent COPD.
2. Exercise, besides helping your lungs, releases dopamine or endorphins or something, I don't remember which. I know I get nervous about exercising every since I've had 2-3 shortness-of-breath attacks from exercising on warm days when I was out of shape and had smoked 1 PAD for a number of years. But I know that my fear of exercising is doing me 1000 times more harm than good, so now that I'm vaping and my breathing is getting better (my night wheezing went away and I could climb ONE flight of stairs without getting horribly winded) I'm trying to work on two flights of stairs. With HOURS in between. (It helps that I work on the third floor of a building, so I take the stairs 2-3 times a day with hours in between.)
So I'm building up my lungs without scaring myself. Next will come long walks around my not-flat-ground block.
3. Tobacco has some very powerful anti-anxiety agents in it that are not nicotine. If your anxiety is worse when vaping, you might want to also try Swedish snus or WTAs. Look for the WTA sticky on ECF. Also, since snus is not inhaled, maybe you should consider using it with vaping to cut down on vaping but still get your tobacco fix.
4. Vaping has possibly been shown to have a slight constricting effect on the lungs for about 1/2 hour, IF you inhale, so you might want to vape up ahead of time and avoid vaping right before singing. [Edit: this is still nowhere near as bad as smoke inhalation.] Also, the good parts of vapor are absorbed through the mucous membranes of the mouth and nose, more like nicotine gum, so you could cut down on your inhaling and pretend you're puffing on a pipe or cigar and still get the benefits of vaping.
5. Recently I read an interesting article that we should spend a few minutes a day visualizing ourselves as we'd like to become, so I've been trying to visualize myself more physically fit and calmer. This does not calm me down, but it does motivate me to exercise just a teeny bit more. It moves my "comfort zone" slightly towards health. Not a lot, but I'll take whatever I can get. And when I exercise, I'm calmer -- I feel more like I "own" myself.
1. Cancer is not the main thing that gets smokers, though it gets a lot of us/them. The main thing is COPD and emphysema. Unlike cancer, this is SLOW damage, so any day you do something to improve your lungs is a day you are fighting to prevent COPD.
2. Exercise, besides helping your lungs, releases dopamine or endorphins or something, I don't remember which. I know I get nervous about exercising every since I've had 2-3 shortness-of-breath attacks from exercising on warm days when I was out of shape and had smoked 1 PAD for a number of years. But I know that my fear of exercising is doing me 1000 times more harm than good, so now that I'm vaping and my breathing is getting better (my night wheezing went away and I could climb ONE flight of stairs without getting horribly winded) I'm trying to work on two flights of stairs. With HOURS in between. (It helps that I work on the third floor of a building, so I take the stairs 2-3 times a day with hours in between.)
So I'm building up my lungs without scaring myself. Next will come long walks around my not-flat-ground block.
3. Tobacco has some very powerful anti-anxiety agents in it that are not nicotine. If your anxiety is worse when vaping, you might want to also try Swedish snus or WTAs. Look for the WTA sticky on ECF. Also, since snus is not inhaled, maybe you should consider using it with vaping to cut down on vaping but still get your tobacco fix.
4. Vaping has possibly been shown to have a slight constricting effect on the lungs for about 1/2 hour, IF you inhale, so you might want to vape up ahead of time and avoid vaping right before singing. [Edit: this is still nowhere near as bad as smoke inhalation.] Also, the good parts of vapor are absorbed through the mucous membranes of the mouth and nose, more like nicotine gum, so you could cut down on your inhaling and pretend you're puffing on a pipe or cigar and still get the benefits of vaping.
5. Recently I read an interesting article that we should spend a few minutes a day visualizing ourselves as we'd like to become, so I've been trying to visualize myself more physically fit and calmer. This does not calm me down, but it does motivate me to exercise just a teeny bit more. It moves my "comfort zone" slightly towards health. Not a lot, but I'll take whatever I can get. And when I exercise, I'm calmer -- I feel more like I "own" myself.
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Skate - At 27 the odds are in your favor that you will be very much alive for many, many years to come. I understand that life is a very stressful event but try to relax a bit. Take it from someone who has had a very stressful life.
In the meantime, maybe try some 50/50 pg/vg and see if that seems a bit better for you And visualize yourself as confident and happy. Give yourself a hug.
In the meantime, maybe try some 50/50 pg/vg and see if that seems a bit better for you
And visualize yourself as confident and happy. Give yourself a hug.
I had the same thing happen when I decided to use 100% VG for an extended period of time, actually had a hard time getting enough air, especially at night. Stopped the high VG and went back to the usual 70PG/30VG. Took about a week or so to get back to normal.
Hi! I'm another one whose chest feels "heavy" if the vg ratio is too high. Keep in mind that quitting tobacco is a major change in your life. Stress levels increase even if the changes are good things.
I definitely concur on the exercising. You said you don't have a lot of time but see if you can take 45mins 3-4 times a week to do some interval running. Sprint then jog, rinse repeat. You'll blow off stress and increase your lung capacity. You'll also strengthen your heart bring the BPM down also decreasing stress.
I found high VG ratio caused me to be short of breath. So I upped the level to 80PG/20VG and much better Which is aok if your not allergic to PG. So go to 70PG/30VG and see if that helps....if it does and your fine with PG then go to 80PG/20VG
Which is aok if your not allergic to PG. So go to 70PG/30VG and see if that helps....if it does and your fine with PG then go to 80PG/20VG Hey guys,
Thanks for all the good words; very helpful and surely keep them coming! I switched over a more PG-based liquid and while I still feel a little weird (I really do think it's mainly anxiety and not a "lung issue"), I feel like I can tell that things are a bit less "heavy."
Nerves still abound, but I'm more at east thanks to all of your great comments. It can be scary to be young and feel old.
Thanks for all the good words; very helpful and surely keep them coming! I switched over a more PG-based liquid and while I still feel a little weird (I really do think it's mainly anxiety and not a "lung issue"), I feel like I can tell that things are a bit less "heavy."
Nerves still abound, but I'm more at east thanks to all of your great comments. It can be scary to be young and feel old.
I diy my own juice and can not do 100%vg. I feel like I've been greased up and not in a good way. My lungs are heavy and there's just a feeling of needing to clear my throat all the time. I have switched to a 70/30 blends of pg/vg and it's like day and night. Now have no problems. I just wonder what all the fascination is with 100% vg now.
I have anxiety. Bad case of it, too. I see a bunch of doctors, including a psychiatrist, heart doctor, electrophysiologist, and a therapist. The meds they give me do help, but the real help comes from my therapist. Take these good people's advice and relax. No I'm not a dr, but the odds of you having anything to worry about are comically low. That being said, if you obsess over the possibility, you will only make yourself sick and ingrain a stronger fear response to every little thing that you don't think is "normal". Again, relax, throw some good music on, lye down, vape something delicious and use the oh-so-powerful mind to take you somewhere positive instead of letting it drag you through a hell of your own creation. Good luck, you are fine, anxiety is a ....., but not once you realize its just YOU causing it all.
Add me to the list, a 50/50 mix is about all the VG I can take.
Me too, I've never understood it.
I'm a lot older than the OP, but I've been a musician and sing a little harmony for over 40 years. I had smoked for 45 years and quit four years ago, partly because I was getting out of breath very easily.
Since then I gained a bunch of weight, was very anxious and nervous, and I was still as out of breath as when I quit. I was worried that if I tried vaping I would go back to cigarettes, but since I tried it a couple weeks ago, I'm hooked already and have no desire for analogs at all.
I doubt that it will help my breathing, but I don't see how it could make it any worse.
Since then I gained a bunch of weight, was very anxious and nervous, and I was still as out of breath as when I quit. I was worried that if I tried vaping I would go back to cigarettes, but since I tried it a couple weeks ago, I'm hooked already and have no desire for analogs at all.
I doubt that it will help my breathing, but I don't see how it could make it any worse.
Add me to the list too. At first I thought it was flavoring but realized that VG left me short of breath. I keep my juices at 80/20 PG/VG now, and have not had any issues.
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