Cystic acne + scalp folliculitis?

[pewpew]

Hi everyone. A google search led me here. I was a pack/day user for about 3 years, and started vaping about 4 months ago. Now, everything was going pretty well until about 3 months prior, I started breaking out on my face, TERRIBLY. I had problems with acne growing up, but they disappeared entirely until 3 months ago. I was getting 10 - 12 pimples on my face randomly, on one side, then the other. I stocked up on benzoyl peroxide creams and toners...and they've been relatively controlled (2 - 3 pimples now).

Now, I notice that I'm getting cystic acne on my chest and back and shoulders. These aren't normal pimples that you can pop. They're big (think head of a screw), REALLY red/dark, and leave a nasty scar. But again, I started using creams and whatnot, and they've calmed down.

Now, it's my scalp. Specifically, back of my neck, right around where my hair ends. I'm not 100% sure, but at last count, I'm at 20 some odd pimples? They look more like folliculitis (attached pic: warning (gross) )

What's going on? There's nothing that's changed in my life except...well, really, nothing. The ONLY thing that's changed in my life the past 6 months has been that I quit analogs and started vaping.

I'm currently using a 80PG/20VG blend. Does anyone have any experience with this?

 

[ChurchMouse]

Acne is a pretty common side effect of quitting smoking. Your body is still shedding toxins from the cigarettes for up to a year, and some of that is through the skin. Also if you're not drinking enough water your skin may be trying to compensate for any dryness by producing more oil. Even with a high vg blend be sure to stay well hydrated.

I went through it too, thankfully in cooler weather and on my upper back and chest where it was easy to cover. I use a pg/vg blend ranging between 65/35 and 40/60 depending on the flavor and vendor and for me changing to all vg or all pg didn't affect the breakouts, but everyone is different.

Hope it clears up for you soon!

 

[pewpew]

I think I'll try out a 100% VG blend. I actually initially started with a higher PG blend because I heard so many people had bad reactions with a higher VG.

 

[ChurchMouse]

That is a really high pg juice (I think I misread it as 20/80 before. Need more coffee!), which is fine if you like it to hit hard and can tolerate it but not everyone can. Personally I don't care for any of the 100% vg juices I've tried and like a blend somewhere around the "middle" so I can avoid some of the issues with vg (muted flavor, wicking problems, shorter coil life, etc.) without the harshness of a high pg blend. But it's all about what works for you!

 

[Rickajho]

Hi

Couple few thoughts on this:

As CM stated, "quit zits" is a known problem related to stopping smoking. Smoking does screw with your hormonal system, suppressing it, so it may be related to that. Most people don't have a problem but a few have an acne breakout that can last a few weeks, or in severe cases it can go on for months and may need prescription assistance to get it under control.

The more common event is allergic reaction to high PG liquids, with much smaller percentage of people having a problem with high VG.

I know two people who developed acne when they switched to vaping - and it didn't go away. It took them over a year to connect the dots between an allergic or adverse reaction to PG in their liquids and their acne problem. Once they switched to high VG liquids the acne disappeared within a week. However, in both those cases their acne was only located in "the vaping triangle" so to speak - the bridge of the nose, spreading down the cheeks to below the chin. They weren't having the scalp and back involvement that you and others report some times.

You can try a 100 VG liquid to see if makes any difference to at least rule an allergic reaction to PG in or out. You may want to take a read through this as well. => http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...hen-quitting-tobacco-changing-ecigarette.html

 

[realsis]

When I first quit smoking my scalp broke out in itchy sores. I don't think it's common, but it does happen . I'm not sure if it's because of the quitting tobacco or my body getting used to the pg? I continued to vape And the rash went away as quickly as it came. It took some times for the scabs to heal but now you would never know that I had it. What helped was putting calamine lotion on the sores. I Thought It Was MOST Odd It Broke Out In My scalp. I still can't say what it was exactly but I find it strange that your having a similar scalp issue. If it's anything like mine was it will go away on its own. Could be your body adjusting. But we are the few unlucky ones who expirence this. Once it left it never returned. Best wishes. Hope this helps.

 

[pewpew]

I placed an order for 20PG/80VG. We'll see what happens from here on out. These sores are so painful on my scalp that laying on the pillow at night is difficult. I'll report back once I find the culprit. I really hope it's the PG.

 

[Cookster]

You could also have PG overload. I started getting itchy, checked all my personal products (shampoo, deodorant, shower gel, etc), and they all had PG in them. Switched them out, and have had no more problems. I still use 80/20 PG/VG.

 

[Lambada Dave]

Pewpew, please update us when you know more. Realsis, thanks for that info, it sounds very much like what I'm going though. I have one patch of scalp tenderness, and hives. I have a few spots on my neck and face like PewPew. I'm currently using baby cream (zinc oxide) and it seems to be helping lessen their severity. I may try the calamine lotion as an alternative.

 

[JustB'nMe]

Pewpew, please update us when you know more. Realsis, thanks for that info, it sounds very much like what I'm going though. I have one patch of scalp tenderness, and hives. I have a few spots on my neck and face like PewPew. I'm currently using baby cream (zinc oxide) and it seems to be helping lessen their severity. I may try the calamine lotion as an alternative.

Be careful of the calamine lotion. If your issue is due to pg, it may be in the calamine lotion as well. Check the label before buying. I found out the hard way.....

Live well, Love hard, Laugh often & Vape on!

 

[V4peEscape]

Some people have allergies to the PG... You may want to reverse that mixture for a LOT of reasons.

 

[Bunnykiller]

the acne is one of the unpleasant side effects of smoking cessation. Smokers who have quit smoking and not started vaping also endure the same symptoms... so dont be too quick to blame the vaping...

 

[pewpew]

the acne is one of the unpleasant side effects of smoking cessation. Smokers who have quit smoking and not started vaping also endure the same symptoms... so dont be too quick to blame the vaping...

Yeah, I initially thought it was quitzits, but I had NO problems until about 3 months into vaping, which I thought was weird. At this point, it's not even an acne issue, it's a "there are bumps all over my scalp and it's red and painful and oozing" issue.

I'll report back in a couple weeks after trying out the new juice.

 

[Quanius]

This is interesting stuff. Gotta wonder too if the flavors have anything to do with it?

 

[pewpew]

This is interesting stuff. Gotta wonder too if the flavors have anything to do with it?

I've only religiously smoked menthol. I just got some new juice (and changed the clearatomizer and coil) that's 70VG/30VG, so we'll see how that goes. I'll report back in a few days to see if it's made any changes.

 

[Dragnok]

I feel for ya, and hope i don't get any thing like this, my pale white redheaded .... will hate any sorta skin problems. Never had acne, but small rashes and heat rash are common for me as i work outdoors all the time.

 

[pewpew]

I feel for ya, and hope i don't get any thing like this, my pale white redheaded .... will hate any sorta skin problems. Never had acne, but small rashes and heat rash are common for me as i work outdoors all the time.

Yeah, it sucks. I had problems with acne for 2 - 3 years when I was a teenager, and when that went away, I was unbelievably happy. Now, all of a sudden, I'm getting pimples all over my face, my neck, my chest/back/shoulders, and now, my scalp?

I currently have a dime sized painful bump at the top of my head. I've scheduled an appt with my GP next week, so we'll see what happens.

 

[ItchyTeat]

Damn bro I hope you get that worked out. Now that you mention it I have a very mild bit of folliculitis since quitting smoking and starting vaping as well.

 

[pewpew]

So I've been vaping 30VG/70PG and even dropped it down to 20VG/80PG over the past two days.

My breakouts have calmed down, they're just scabs at this point. Either this is a freak incident where I just broke out for a while and it just happened to calm down at this point, or I have a weird sensitivity to PG that I built up over the past four months.

I'll keep on doing the 20VG/80PG and see how it works out. I'll update if anything changes.

 

[Lambada Dave]

PewPew, thanks and keep us updated. I don't want to quit vaping either, it is way too enjoyable.

What you had was way beyond quitzits. I got a bit of oily skin, and regular zits shortly after quitting, it was almost a month later that I started to get my boils or whatever they are, and they are radically different. Mine are also going away, but I really cut back on the vaping.