Hello from AZ, New with an issue!

[X_tina]

Hi, all.
New here, and have been vaping for just six days.
I stopped smoking six days ago, after smoking for MANY years, as I am engaged, my fiancé doesn’t smoke, and it was just time to quit.
After vaping for only four days using the abuse Alto, I developed, a very heavy chest feeling with a lot of pressure and tightness. It was pretty scary. A search for what could have caused this lead me here.
Looks like I may be sensitive to VG.
I went to a local vape shop today and got a Smok vape pen 22, and a vial of 90/10 PG/VG juice.
Ironic that the natural, innocuous sounding VG seems to cause bad problems for some vapers.
I’ve been using my new pen and juice for just a few hours.
Will let you know how it goes.

 

[X_tina]

Lol @ autocorrect- meant to post Vuse Alto, not abuse, but with what happened, maybe abuse is a better name!

 

[Hawise]

Hi X_tina, welcome to ECF.

Quitting smoking itself can have a variety of symptoms for some people, so it's possible that it's a temporary reaction to ditching the cigarettes. Of course, it's also quite possible that it's the VG, so trying out a mostly PG juice is a good call. I hope it works out well for you!

 

[fiddleshe]

Hey from another Arizonan. Could also be PG. Some people are sensitive to that. Keep trying. Its worth getting off the stinkies.

 

[somdcomputerguy]

Welcome to ECF, X_tina.

 

[X_tina]

Hi, all!
And a shout out to my fellow Arizonan, fiddleshe.
My symptoms didn’t match up with PG sensitivity, but matched exactly with VG sensitivity.
Also, from what I’ve been reading, VG sensitivity happens more often in long-time smokers, and I fit into that category.

The reaction I had was so bad, I swear I felt like I was seriously in danger.
I measured my oxygen level at the height of the reaction, and it was normal. (I’m an RN and I have a little oxygen saturation device that I use at work). I took a dose of prednisone, and used my cat’s asthma inhaler.

It is so nice to be off of the cigs, though.
I have vaped moderately with my new low VG juice, and continue to feel better, so I’m pretty sure it was the VG.
I couldn’t find anything in any medical literature about a VG reaction. I could only go by anecdotal stories on boards such as this one.
Glad I’m getting over it, and glad to be here!

 

[Silver1]

Hi @X_tina

I have found in my vaping over the years that some juices can also give me a heavy chest feeling

Not saying this for sure but it could be something else in the juice, not necessarily the VG.

Try other juice brands and see

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

Could also be ingredients in the flavoring that caused this.
Could be something in the wicking material of the coil.
Could be something other than vaping, too.

 

[stylemessiah]

In 5 years the number of allergic reactions i have heard of in ratios:

PG: 97%
VG: 3%

* not exact, but you get the idea

Factor in that vaporising nicotine works differently than burning tobacco and its absorbed differently into the lungs too. Also new vapers, myself included, often tend to over vape when theyre new at it because the nicotine hit doesnt have the immediacy compared to smoking - oftentimes leading to nic headaches in the first few days because youre overvaping waiting for the nic hit, that suddenly arrives later than expected

There also been nonsense put about about being able to drown by vaping VG....ive bene using 95/96% (Summer/winter) VG for nearly 4 years with 4%/5% distilled water to thin it out a bit. When i started vaping i hear about allergies to PG, so being a freak and having weird aspie mutant DNA that means im sensitive to a lot of things i decided to find out if i had that, so mixed a 100% PG mix and all i got was epic throat hit and disappointly no cloudage

Other notes, its impossible to really now what is a closed pod system, i garauntee they in particular arent using the bets ingredients, because theyre all about high prices, low quality and maximum profits. Im not a fan of closed pod systems. Added to that the nic levels in those pods you were using were really low and may not, depending on your previous smoking pattern, have been enough to satisfy your cravings, and you may have been hitting them a lot to feel satisfaction....

The Smok is far better...

Be interested to see how you go.

Fingers crossed its sorted

* Part of me would love to turn you into a guinea pig and put you onto a testing regime to figure out exactly what it was, but apparently theres laws against such things...bureaucracy......right?

 

[DLKnives]

Welcome to ECF from nearby Las Vegas!

 

[Hawise]

It's true that we hear a lot more about PG sensitivity than VG sensitivity, but the OP's symptoms are more typical with VG sensitivity. It strikes me as the best place to start looking. PG and flavourings are worth looking at too, especially if cutting down the VG doesn't help.

For what it's worth, I get a heavy, congested feeling that progresses to chest tightness from >50% VG. I get similar symptoms from some flavours, particularly creams and custards.

 

[DeloresRose]

Hi, all!
And a shout out to my fellow Arizonan, fiddleshe.
My symptoms didn’t match up with PG sensitivity, but matched exactly with VG sensitivity.
Also, from what I’ve been reading, VG sensitivity happens more often in long-time smokers, and I fit into that category.

The reaction I had was so bad, I swear I felt like I was seriously in danger.
I measured my oxygen level at the height of the reaction, and it was normal. (I’m an RN and I have a little oxygen saturation device that I use at work). I took a dose of prednisone, and used my cat’s asthma inhaler.

It is so nice to be off of the cigs, though.
I have vaped moderately with my new low VG juice, and continue to feel better, so I’m pretty sure it was the VG.
I couldn’t find anything in any medical literature about a VG reaction. I could only go by anecdotal stories on boards such as this one.
Glad I’m getting over it, and glad to be here!

Hi and welcome!

While I’ve never had any problems that were that extreme or frightening, when I first switched, I did feel a heaviness in the chest - but I always had similar symptoms when I’d tried to quit before, so it was not alarming.

I diy, so I have over 130 flavors... some of them are really hard on me, especially if I vape them continuously. There are several additives in store bought juice and pre-filled pods, and that’s one of the reasons I prefer to mix my own, so I can avoid things that my body doesn’t handle well.

Hopefully, if it’s just a matter of being sensitive to vg, you’ll be able to find liquids to suit you. If it doesn’t ease up, please see a doctor.

Yes, I know, you’re a RN. So was my MIL, and she was the absolute worst about never getting a check up.

 

[Firehawk77TA]

One or more things to also look at that can cause those issues are: (1) Vaping to high of NIC content in your juice, (2) Vaping to often, (3) Using a DTL (direct-to lung) atty to start vaping with, (I started with an MTL (mouth-to lung) setup so it would emulate smoking, and 3 months later I went to a DTL setup), and (4) You could be allergenic to PG as some folks are. During the coming years of not smoking your lungs will do their best to clear themselves up from years of smoking. However, for the next 4 weeks or so you will most likely experience much hacking & coughing as the process begins. I wish you well, and congrats to being a No Smoker... Enjoy!

 

[BrotherBob]

Will let you know how it goes.

Welcome and glad you joined.

 

[X_tina]

It was not at all an allergic reaction, it was an adverse reaction.
The only flavors I’ve ever had are tobacco and menthol.
The juice I’m using now that I got locally is supposedly spearmint, but I can’t detect any mint flavor.
Maybe this is because flavors are normally carried in VG and my mix is 90/10 PG/VG?
My coughing decreased the first night I stopped smoking, and has continued to decrease. This surprises me, as most articles say coughing increases after quitting.
Even in the middle of my adverse reaction, I was not coughing. I just felt like there was a house sitting on my chest.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

flavors are normally carried in VG

The common belief in the DIY eliquid world is that flavor is carried by the PG, not VG.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

This surprises me, as most articles say coughing increases after quitting.

I know what you mean. When I first started vaping after being a heavy 2.5-3 pack a day smoker for over 20 years. people said I would get to a point where I would hack up "lung cookies" for a week or so as my lungs cleared out. That was almost 10 years ago. Never happened to me.

 

[DeloresRose]

The common belief in the DIY eliquid world is that flavor is carried by the PG, not VG.

I don’t find that to be true. Pg and vg taste different, and flavors will taste different in them, the same way a flavor would taste different in water than milk or coffee. Flavors are pg based, but I surmise that’s more to do with other factors such as cost and ease of use.

 

[MJCSD]

Hello and welcome to ecf

 

[CaveFurby]

To add my 2 cents...for me it's the nic salts. I've tried several different pod systems for work, to try to be a little stealthier...and it doesn't matter, my chest starts to really hurt, like someone is sitting on it. 50 mg, 35mg, even 15 or 12. And this is just tiny drags too. But I can vape 9 or 12mg regular nicotine with no bad feeling at all (higher nic at work keeps me from going out so often). So for me, I just don't react well to nic salts.