Could I have a sensitivity to PG? Odd situation

[cityofthecondemned]

Ok, this is a very loaded question, but I am in a pickle.
I started vaping a month ago and have switched completely to that from analog cigarettes (woohoo!) But over this month I have had a terrible sore throat three times which lasts a week, and currently have one along with chills and I just feel completely awful. It might just be a coincidence, but the last few days I have been vaping more than usual and then all of a sudden today I feel terrible. To make things that much more complicated I'm taking a migraine medication that has side effects which include sore throat and chills, however I have been taking it for 8 months and been fine and only have gotten this sore throat once I started vaping. But I don't want to disregard the medication since side effects can develop at any time and the vaping might be a coincidence. The symptoms might also be from quitting smoking. What should I do? Try a lower percent of PG? What percent? Try 100% VG? Ask my doctor about coming off my meds? I'm reluctant to tell my doctor I'm vaping since my insurance doesn't allow it.
What a mess, I'm just so tired of feeling sick thanks for the help.

 

[silvertorch]

Could be too much nicotine. What strength juice are you using?

 

[Red Horn]

I would not ever mention anything about smoking or vapeing to a doctor unless felt was cause of serious problems. Try higher VG % or go to 100% and see if that solves the symptoms. Also as already said lower nic could hep as well.

 

[mostlyclassics]

Since you live in Denver, and since it is the winter, you may very well be dehydrated, and this is the cause of your sore throat, etc. Propylene glycol, and I suspect to a lesser degree vegetable glycerine, are dehydrants.

Since I started vaping three years ago, my water consumption has more than doubled. In the winter, it's probably tripled.

To rehydrate, drink water. Tea and coffee are efficient dehydrants. So are all kinds of soda pop, whether made with sugar or one of the "diet" substitutes.

 

[cityofthecondemned]

Could be too much nicotine. What strength juice are you using?

That did cross my mind as well. I'm using 18mg, so I kind of doubt it's the nicotine, but I guess it could be, but I don't really think I've been vaping that much. But what do I know..

 

[SilentJay]

I started vaping two months ago (also in Colorado) and also had problems with a sore throat. After the first sore throat I developed full-on cold symptoms (severe runny nose for two days). Also a cough, raw nasal passages, and severe dry, cracking skin. I eventually concluded there were 2 things going on:
1) Since I was a noob I had a few experience with dry hits. These damage the throat, and leave it sore for up to a day afterward.
2) I'm sensitive to PG. It dries my tissues out. This accounts for the raw nose/throat and the dry skin (that's a slow reaction). Certainly exacerbated from the dry climate we live in. This also made my dehydrated throat tissues much more sensitive to the dry hits (which I think are damaging anyway, and I avoid at all costs now).

The solution for me was simply to switch to 100% VG juice. I've experimented dripping pure VG, and mixing it with water and/or ethanol. The ethanol drys me out a bit too, so I'm going either pure or with 10-20% water now. All symptoms have cleared up. Definately worth a try. I had to mail order my juices because I had trouble finding a local shop with 100% VG juice. Thicker VG is tricky with the equipment (it's hard to load into the fill in cartos, leading to more dry hits), but I've been working it out and am getting good results now.

Let me know if you want more details.

 

[cityofthecondemned]

I started vaping two months ago (also in Colorado) and also had problems with a sore throat. After the first sore throat I developed full-on cold symptoms (severe runny nose for two days). Also a cough, raw nasal passages, and severe dry, cracking skin. I eventually concluded there were 2 things going on:
1) Since I was a noob I had a few experience with dry hits. These damage the throat, and leave it sore for up to a day afterward.
2) I'm sensitive to PG. It dries my tissues out. This accounts for the raw nose/throat and the dry skin (that's a slow reaction). Certainly exacerbated from the dry climate we live in. This also made my dehydrated throat tissues much more sensitive to the dry hits (which I think are damaging anyway, and I avoid at all costs now).

The solution for me was simply to switch to 100% VG juice. I've experimented dripping pure VG, and mixing it with water and/or ethanol. The ethanol drys me out a bit too, so I'm going either pure or with 10-20% water now. All symptoms have cleared up. Definately worth a try. I had to mail order my juices because I had trouble finding a local shop with 100% VG juice. Thicker VG is tricky with the equipment (it's hard to load into the fill in cartos, leading to more dry hits), but I've been working it out and am getting good results now.

Let me know if you want more details.

I'm so glad someone else knows what I'm talking about. I have full on cold symptoms as well, and to be completely honest I have never been the best at remembering to drink water so that doesn't help. Maybe if we lived somewhere else it would be different, but you're right, between the elevation and the dryness here PG just doesn't seem to be an option. I will definitely try 100% VG, maybe I'll get lucky and find a bottle at a shop to hold me over until an order can come in the mail. I thought about doing like 10-20% PG, but at this point I feel so miserable it is just not worth it.

I haven't tried dripping yet, only clearomizers/protanks, but I would like to give dripping a try sometime. I'm not looking forward to the VG gunking up my tank, but it will be better than being sick, and I can always clean it out. I read that ordering pure VG seems to mute flavors, do you find that to be true? The site I ordered from last has an option to add extra flavoring, so that wouldn't be a big deal. I also don't know what I'm going to do with all the juice I have now haha, I'm so glad I didn't order any more, I was about to this week.

 

[jensy]

Water, water, water 6-8 bottles a day if you can do this long term you will notice a big difference. Good luck !

 

[GT3Dan]

Please don't take advise from non-medical professionals on this site! I understand that all of us on the forum may have a pretty good collective knowledge of what might be going on, but nothing beats seeing an actual medical professional. You stopped smoking analogs to improve your health. Lets continue that trend by seeing a medical professional to continue improving your health with whats going on.

 

[SilentJay]

I read that ordering pure VG seems to mute flavors, do you find that to be true? The site I ordered from last has an option to add extra flavoring, so that wouldn't be a big deal.

Yeah, I keep reading here that VG has less throat hit and less flavor. Didn't find either to be true. Throat hit is just fine, though as always it's a matter of finding the right nic level and the right atomizer for your device. I was only using my favorite highbrow vanilla, and the flavor seemed just as good to me. Eventually I found that I like unflavored VG, so I stopped getting flavors anyway. VG by itself is sweet and creamy tasting.

Most flavors are added with water, so they're thin enough to work. If not you can add more distilled water to thin it out. Adding 20% water to pure unflavored VG makes it as thin as PG. I've been using bottom fed clearomizers and they work great.

I also don't know what I'm going to do with all the juice I have now haha, I'm so glad I didn't order any more, I was about to this week.

Yep! I was just posting this question about how to get rid of all my old PG juices. You can trade them for some all VG juices at the Pay it Forward thread, and the PIF Treasure Chest thread. Check them out.

 

[cityofthecondemned]

Yeah, I keep reading here that VG has less throat hit and less flavor. Didn't find either to be true.

I've read that everywhere too, so I've been worried that the throat hit for 100% VG would be absolutely terrible, so that is awesome to hear. And I would have never thought of just trying unflavored VG, thanks for the tip. I might go for a lower nicotine dose as well just to test it out. If I find the juice to be thick adding a little DI water is a good tip as well.

Yep! I was just posting this question about how to get rid of all my old PG juices. You can trade them for some all VG juices at the Pay it Forward thread, and the PIF Treasure Chest thread. Check them out.

Sweet thanks. It would be such a waste to throw them away. Oh and for some reason that "pay it forward" link is broken.

 

[cityofthecondemned]

Please don't take advise from non-medical professionals on this site! I understand that all of us on the forum may have a pretty good collective knowledge of what might be going on, but nothing beats seeing an actual medical professional. You stopped smoking analogs to improve your health. Lets continue that trend by seeing a medical professional to continue improving your health with whats going on.

No worries, I'm more "collectively brainstorming" to try to narrow down some possibilities of what's going on so that I can know what to do from here. If switching to VG doesn't help or if this persists or worsens I will be sure to see a doctor.

 

[TomGreen]

I think I was having kind of reaction to PG but it all end up well in a week

 

[Bubbaman7]

I had the same problem when I first started vaping. Sore throat and felt like I was getting sick. I had started out with 24mg 50/50 blend. After doing some research I thought it was the high nicotine but after cutting the nicotine out for a few weeks, I realized it was the pg. I can slightly tolerate a 20/80 blend but now I do 100% vg and I feel so much better plus I got my nicotine to 12mg. Of course I smoked 4 packs a day but I've been slowly tapering my nic level down. Hope to get down to 6 mg in the next month or two

 

[SPACKlick]

I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on television, nor do I know a guy who plays one on television...but.

I get the same sore throat (no chills...) and it's down to not drinking after the last vape of the day in my case. If I drink a glass of coke after my last vape, I'm fine. If I vape in bed and don't drink anything I wake up feeling like my throat has holes in it and my mouth is drier than a dessert. When it happens I drink more and suck strepsils and it goes away.

 

[SilentJay]

If I find the juice to be thick adding a little DI water is a good tip as well.

Just be careful with any thick liquids to let them soak in a long time before hitting them. Stop immediately if something tastes burnt. If the liquid is viscous it will soak in slow and can get depleted on the wick during vaping before it soaks back in from the tank. If that happens you can get a dry hit, which will only make you feel worse.

I like to drip 100%, undilutetd VG directly onto an exposed atomizer, but even then it's just a few hits and the taste starts to change. One more hit after that will be dry and nasty.

Oh and for some reason that "pay it forward" link is broken.

Oops. It's fixed now on the original post.