Here we go - VAPING ZITS - arggg!
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I found I am extremely sensitive to PG, so now I can only buy lotion that has glycerine in it. I am allergic to sulfur, so I have to look our for that in soap. My best suggestion is Dr. Bronner's soap (Target or GNC) it is highly concentrated, has to be diluted, and the peppermint is da bomb after a good sweat!
Its so easy to blame the newest thing you do for things like rashes, itching and zits and so vaping gets the blame. Thats not to say its not from vaping but logically if you take some time to think about it and read what others say you begin to see the co-incidence that are causing vaping to get blamed.
Now, more and more the medical profession is steeping forward and telling people that their rashes, sores, itching and zits, especially on the face, neck, upper chest and arms are the results of detox from analogs and not directly caused by anything your vaping.
Let's look at a couple of things when it comes to the body and how it handles all the stuff it smacks into you body when it comes to analog. That has been studied for years - even effect of the smoke on skin - although many smokers don't want to hear it and so many pre-vapers never got the info to use now that they are vaping.
It should also be noted that people that never vape but quit analogs get the same srun of itching, rashes, sores, oil, zits and so on with part of the quitting process. Since these things are pretty innocuous they are not things big on the list of what you get told is a side effect to deal with - I mean who wants to hear that they are going to gain 10 pounds AND break out in zits like they just hit puberty.
When you smoke analogs and there is all tat crap, chemicals, tar glunk going into your body it goes many 2 places. It settles out into your lungs and the rest gets into and disperse into your body. Anything you do not inhale before it find second hand smokers it find any place it can land on you and settle out - not just clothing and hair but skin and mucous membranes, into pores and openings in the skin.
Pores are a big problems that many people just don't realize and the problem is how they work. Gunk gets pushed into - it does not take much and the enlarge to hold it the gunk and excrete oils to try and clean themselves. Problem is that when it comes to analog smoke they are not dealing with environmental (organic) dirt the body is normally exposed to and can self clean. That analog gunk does not act like dirt and is stubborn about leaving and mix with oils to become even more 'concrete' and stick in pores. Small openings can get this gunk in them and becomes sores as the bodies defenses treat this chemical gunk as an invader and snes antibodies and while cell to 'fight' off the chemicals. Plus a sore getting irritated by the chemicals will get to be a bigger sore and can easily become something you don't even see or feel to a real problem in a short time.
What's happening to your skin is why women that smoke often have a hard time getting makeup that looks the same color on the shelf as on their skin. Its also why many smokers end out with skin cancer on their face and other parts of the upper body - they often assume it came from inside when in fact it landed on you.
Keep in mind as we go on here that your skin - exposed to analog gunk actually does get 'tougher' and is more resistant to being irritated - not a good thing actually as its forced to by the exposure to analog smoke to protect you.
Look at the list of chemicals, particulate matter, vegetable and animal hormones, carcinogens in analogs that can be a problem and the list of things that you are exposed to from e-cigs. I know people have this need to make PG the big bad 'sensitivity' compound but in truth we are exposed to PG everyday of our lives and if we were sensitive to it we would have had issues with rashes, itching, etc every time we turned around. In actually the VG is the new guy on the block, in creation of it, timeline and not quite as many studies have been done and I don't think we can claim its really a whole lot more less of an irritant then PG is - when PG is not considered and irritant at all. I am not saying PG can't cause a rash - I am just saying its not the first thing to point the first thing to point the finger at. There are other things like the stuff in artificial flavoring used in even 'organic' e-juice, the food coloring used in it or in the flavoring and all of these can be things that can make you itch.
So you start vaping - which assumes you stop or greatly cut down on the analogs. Pores all of a sudden don't have more stuff piling in every day and can work on getting rid of what's been packed in there for a lifetime. You get zits out of that because part of cleaning the pores involves white cells that as they work get caught in the with analog gunk and extra oils trapped in the pores.
Skin may get oilier and even develop a 'sheen' that is a mixture of oils and the crap they carry out of pores and if not washed away immediate flow across the skin and dry a bit leaving the sheen. Most notice a good wash removes the sheen for a while until the skin is cleared out and then it stops. The skin is the largest organ in the body and its main job is defense of everything inside you and while you were smoking it was working over time and was overwhelmed. Now its no longer overwhelmed and is working fast to rid itself of all this stuff its been fighting forever.
So, someone asked why, if when they stopped vaping and went back to analogs they stopped itching and then when they stopped analogs and started vaping again they started itching again. Likely its because there body resumed its usual well known response to analog smoke - which did not involve itching and just packed the gunk away and when they stopped again it went back to cleaning.
Why do people seem to have less trouble with high VG or all VG mixes. Some of this maybe just coincidence, that by the time the itching, zits etc worried or bothered them enough to make changes in what they used in the e-cigs enough time had passed that the skin had gotten rid of pretty much all its problems and/or used to dealing with the stuff it was ex......g out of full pores to the skin surface. Some people may actually have a PG sensitivity but the symptoms would be not just skin irritation alone. It could also be that VG holds onto nicotine (which is for sure a irritant ) and it settles less out on the skin that way. Anecdotally, people who switch to high VG say on difference some notice is they don't quit seem to get as much nicotine or a smuch taste. So less nicotine gets dropped on the skin.
Often hand irritation is from nicotine in leaky devices but its not touching the PG in the mix but the nicotine. One of the big warnings we get is washing hands.
Nicotine is a much more likely irritant then either PG or VG as well as the fact that PG and VG will evaporate from the skin leaving just nicotine behind.
Now what's going on inside can effect the outside and cause all that irritation too... The body has 4 main ways it gets rid of stuff it does not need or want - processes then down to the smallest they can and excites them. Liver is one and Kidneys are the second and they both process the vast majority of things we need to survive while removing those that we don't or are harmful from the blood and send them to be dumped back into the environment. Anything the body does not need/want or hurts it is taken, after processing, through the blood, or lymph system to be given off to ways it can be excreted. In addition the kidneys clean the blood and direct excrete what is not wanted (why we pee). Our intestines with the help of fluids from the liver, pancreas, gall bladder etc process what we take in, sends out the nourishing stuff out to cells and excretes the rest (why we poop). Both the lungs and the skin are also used by the blood stream too pass of stuff that is not needed and have it excreted and/or exhaled.
That is if 1) you body works right and 2) the only things you are putting into it are what its built to handle. If we had been created to handle analog smoking then all out bodies processing system would be able to identify everything in our bodies from smoking analogs, would have the right hormones, chemicals etc to break it down and excrete it without it doing harm. However we were not born with a ciggy in our mouth nor a body that needs nicotine and 4000 other chemicals to survive.
You inhale the smoke from an analog, lots of the chemicals in that smoke and the tar and a few other things we don't like hearing about are too large to pass into the blood stream through the lung membranes so they just settle out in the lungs or if you are lucky are exhaled to affect the guy next to you (lucky cause you get rid of it - wasn't taking about the other guy's luck). The chemicals and other stuff that can make it through the membranes into the blood stream then swirl around a bit til the blood cells they hitch a ride with hit the kidneys and liver (primarily - there are others but if I keep doing we will have medical school here). The kidneys and liver start cleaning the blood as it rolls through and it comes up to these chemicals from your analog and its like 'huh?" The body is smart enough to know that if it can't be on the blueprint for 'good or usable' it does not need it and sends it along to find a way to excrete it.
We can however pretty much over whelm the process and we did that when smoking analogs. Body has not even finished trying to break down this unknown chemicals - many of which cannot be with what the body has to work with and you are on the next analog giving it more to deal with.
So the body does what it always does when it needs to wait to break something down that will take longer or it can't find a way to excrete it. Its like how we handle that holiday sweater from aunt dora... that you don't know how to use and don't know of a way to dispose it - it goes on a box in the closet. In the body - for that purpose we have fat cells (and all sorts of different fat and storage cells but I promised no medical school - this is complicated enough). So all this crap sits around some of it causing problems in storage and how it end up we get things like cancer.
Stop the analogs and now your body (finally) can take some time to deal with all that stuff on hold in storage and decide how to get rid of it. If its not something that the kidneys can excrete or can't be dumped back in the waste system to go out that way or it can't be driven back into the lungs to be coughed and exhaled out like carbon dioxide is the skin (and sometime skin is choosen first) can excrete it through sweat, oils etc. Then it can be washed aways.
ANY kind of detox is going to involve the skin. Go look at the list of know chemicals in an analog, the list of stuff that's there but not really known about and the list of stuff that even researchers have not put a label on and realize that the majority on that list in some way are gonna come out through your skin when you stop smoking analongs and the body starts detoxing.
People have speculated that it could be something in the vapor reacting to something you are detoxing causing the itchies especially if it goes away and so on. The problem is we don't really know and telling someone that no PG or lower PG cause it caused by PG may not help and even hurt their experience especially if they suddenly decide they are allergic to something in e-cigs when they had no allergy to something in analogs.
If you do believe that something in vaping is causing you issues, don't just point at one thing because someone else says 'that's it' and run with it. If you are sensitive (which means allergic) you need to know cause the longer you expose yourself to something you are allergic too the worse the allergic reaction will get, Basically if you're sensitive you have to stop it so you don't get ore sensitive. And you really need to know what it is so you don't come in contact with it in other things.
Quick and pretty accurate way to know if vaping is doing it - or a certain juice is doing it - skin test that juice. Skin test all your juices. If all give a reaction then that rules out flavorings and makes nicotine and PG, VG, any preservatives or anything else in there besides favoring a possible cause. I should not here that there is not good regulation on labeling e-juice like there is food. I think MBV for labeling is s start - tere labeling is right up there with General Mills. They don't give mixed or expiration dates like Vapehut does but thats still much better than a label that gives you a flavor name and stated the nic level. There is not really any regulation about truth in labeling either. RedOak does list their preservative as well as the main ingredients, many companies will list the use natural and artificial flavor not just 'flavoring'. There is a lot of preservative usage out there you will get told about if asked from large manufacturers but they usually try not to list it.
So if you skin test (which involves washing an area around the crease in your elbow with soap and warm water and rise well with warm water. While washing don't scrub and irritate the skin. Pat dry and then let air drive for a few minutes. Place a drop or two of your e-juice on the skin you prepared, let it air dry without rubbing it in or messing with it or bending your elbow. Once its dry you can resume normal elbow movement. Check in now and then for min of 24 hours to about 48 hours or when you shower and wash it off. Any one who has colored their hair knows this procedure well). Kin test is pretty accurate for testing for sensitivity -and ot just on your skin. Its one of the basic ways allergy doctors determine what people are sensitive and allergic to.
If you get nothing that says 'irritation', no redness other than is normal for you, no break outs or itching or breakdown of the skin and so forth you can pretty much say 'its not e-juice I am having an issue with".
If you think its some and not others or depends on the percentage of a mix then you just have to go through and skin test with the ones you suspect or better off all of them.
If you DO show a sensitivity the smart move then is take that bottle of e-liquid to your doctor, tell him what you're vaping symptoms were and what happened with the skin test. If you can tell him that it was only that one bottle he will probably tell you to not use that one and just remember that flavor while eating to avoid what might be in there and come back if it gets worse. If it was more then one e-juice that did it or all of them you will get the news to stop vaping at least until you cn have allergy tests to determine what component is doing it.
You can take skin testing a bit further and get a small DYI starter kit and be very care to use it correctly and with caution but skin test the PG and VG separately and see. If sensitive and safe to use either one mix some nic base (never put the nicotine on directly as a skin test - you WILL get a reaction and not one you want if you just let it dry there and stay with you). If then the mix bothers you - its probably the nicotine.
You can also skin test flavors the same way as the PG and VG.
Also consider what you may already know what you are sensitive or allergic to. There Is the case of the person having a reaction to all their e-juice and swearing it was the PG - But, while her skin reacted to most of her e-juices it did not react to either PG or VG. Turns out she knew she was allergic to orange juice - never been able to drink it without getting a rash ever in her life. Checking a bit close all the e-juices she had and liked were fruity ones all of which the sweet/sour lemony-lime ones.. and behold - every flavoring put into them (had to got to the maker to find out) had citric acid in them. The one tobacco flavor she had happened to be a bulk manufacturer that used citric acid as a preservative.... yeah it was the e-juice but nothing to do with PG. Given what she had read of other reactions she was positive it was the PG simply because the all VG she got bothered her less. Of course VG carries flavoring less well so I could see that.
Its very easy to trigger and jump on one thing and once someone says it and a couple agree with their opinion it can be cast in stone and people don't look for real causes for their own safety and they must. Could a sensitivity lead to not vaping anymore? Yup - if you have an allergy to something and keep being exposed to it you will get worse. Intentionally, exposing yourself over an over knowing you're allergic is pretty dumb. I sincerely doubt you are going to find a doctor who will prescribe around the clock antihistamines so you can vape.
Having said that I know people are going to yell that a rash is better than cancer and I should not say th. Problem is that an allergic rash now if you keep doing what you're allergic to will have stronger and stronger reactions. Might be okay to live with a rash for a while but get sensitive enough and you might not make it through an anaphylactic episode.
That said, an allergy doctor can treat you for what you are allergic to and desensitize you - if you're allergic to your vaping stuff get involved with your doctor. I know people hate to get their doctor's involved with their 'smoking' habit and some to the point where they have never admitted smoking. And its hard to go to the doctor either because you have to admit smoking as your reason for now vaping or having to deal with education a medical profession that has not yet learned about vaping and whose first instinct is to say 'stop' without all the fact and what stop could mean to your long run health.
There is a lot to consider and its easy to jump on the first train that gets started for the 'reason why' or 'happened to me' but if PG was going this much of a problem with people it would not have an USP cert and not be used to the extent it is and probably recalled. Most cosmetics, soaps, medications, foods have PG in them, others have glycerin and few use VG. Take a minute to go read the labels on you soaps, lotions, makeups and such and see how many other places you contact PG a day. Its takes a lot of work to figure out a cause
So how about something where I can be really helpful? If you're not really have an allergic reaction there is lots of things to do to not make things worse (which often happens) and help resolve the issue:
WATER WATER WATER
I know you read that inn this forum all the time but no one can stress it enough. Everything you are doing right now is dehydrating you. First you are detoxing. Everything about detoxing iis dehydrating. The body needs water to get rid of the tar and matter in your lungs, to break does fat and remove impurities in cells and to carry the stuff out of your boy - every one of those mechanism need water too.
PG is dehydrating you. Biggest example of that is over the counter acne medications. The dry up zits) VG is dehydrating. Nicotine is dehydrating. Some of the juices and extracts dehydrate. You are exhaling vapor which is partly the vapor you inhaled and partly moisture form in your lungs the water vapor picked up.
Okay, now you are getting itchy just thinking about how dry your body is, or because I have said itchy a few too many times?
If you drink the normal amount (daily required) of water for your height, weight and activity level and not chalking 'water intake' up to 'fluid intake' and counting coffee, teas, any drink with sugar (including sports drinks unless you just exercised and burned off sugar), soda, beer, liquor as you water requirement then you are still about 50% short. If you're not getting your daily requirement your really on the short side and have to step in you.
All the things listed above dehydrate you so any water in them has no effect on you. Some of them are diuretic or have diuretic actions and get rid of not just the water they gave you but some more besides. You have to drink water or you mucous membranes and skin are going to suffer. Even slight dehydration can cause headache, nausea, dry throat, dry mouth, sore throat, sore mouth, dry and hot skin patches, rashes, and all those get worse with more dehydration to the point where you can be vomiting, dizziness, exhaustion, loss of consciousness. ANd this does not always happen in the desert either or with a lot of exercise. You would not believe how many people come to the hospital, daily, with severe symptoms that are well in an hour with some IV fluids and were doing no more than watching TV at home, in 60 degree weather and not sweating. But were severely dehydrate nonetheless. You have to drink water whether you like drinking water or not; if it means you sit there with a water bottle in one hand and your PV in the other to get enough water you have to do it.
This WILL, like all things get better. Detox does end and you will need less water. You will still need more then before you started vaping but not 50% more than required.
If you have itchy skin, rashes etc stay away from really hot baths or showers. They remove too many good oils and dry out your skin more. They don't open pores wider than a normal warm bath no matter what those wive's tales say and actually if exposed to really hot water and then cooler air they can clamp down tighter and trap stuff harder, plus you washed out the oils they need to clean themselves. Very hot water is going to make you itch more, cause rashes, dry out your skin - all things you want to avoid.
Don't wash to hard, don't scrub. You don't want to remove so many skin layers and then expose skin not yet ready to be a top layer to the stuff thats detoxing or irritants just around in the environment. It will make you itchier, may give you rashes and can actually lead to sore places on your skin - and not in relation to vaping near them.
Colloidal Oatmeal added to bathwater or in a shower gel/soap can go a really long way to sooth the skin, replace natural oils, relieve rashes.
If the itching is just driving you up a wall or keeping you awake, try a over the counter topical antihistamine (anti itch cream) or take an over the counter antihistamine tablet. Just till it improves. Antihistamines are not another thing on you must take daily list.
If you do develop a rash and its progressively getting over more and more of you body as the day goes on. Go to the doctor or ER. Something's wrong. Don't worry about what is causing it just go get it to stop.
And the bane of everyone existence...Zits. First of all step away from the over the counter acne medications. First they are made for the skin of a adolescent. Second they almost all contain PG and glycerin (vegetable or otherwise) which is a further dehydrant to your skin and you will see that on the label and be convinced that it really is PG! The usually also contain things like succinic acid, benzyl oxide, benzophenone and other lovely chemicals all meant to 'dry' up zits and unfortunately they also dry up anything they touch, IE the skin near where you had the zit you treated.
No you don't have to just put up with it. Go see your doctor and get a nice antibiotic gel/solution/lotion for treating acne. It will clear up those up literally overnight, and while you may see more come back later the bottle/tube is big enough to use for a while.
Dry mouth? There is a down side to dry mouth besides how it feels, it can lead to tooth enamel issue so you don't want to put up with it too long, Good hydration is normally the key but there are also 'dry mouth' toothpastes and mouthwashes that are set up to kinda kick saliva production in gear for a few hours to a day. Using these can make a big difference. I see a lot of 'such a cough drop or throat lozenge' suggestions and while that works short term they are made to coat things not make them wetter - easiest way I can explain that. The best way to keep the mouth producing saliva is mastication (chewing something) sugarless gum can work (the sugar in gum can dry out the mouth) so can eating a bit of fruit. Lots of people have commented that things like dehydrated fruits really help - banana chips for example. And WATER!
Believe it or not ALL of this will pass Vaper, and soon too you will not be bothered by this stuff or worried you are doing it wrong or there's some scary thing about to pop out and damage you. First and foremost its the nature of the beast.
And remember sometimes the hooves you hear in the horse paddock does not mean there is a zebra stampede. Few quotes about the whole 'nicotine' makes me itchy subject:
Then there is the poster who said that it had to be vaping that was making her itch not detox cause when she went back to smoking the itching went away, but when she tried vaping it came back. Just in case anyone wondered... going back to analogs WILL stop the detox process - the itching will stop. But its not because you stopped vaping. It was what you started that got rid of the symptoms. And yes, as with any drug, when you stop again you start the detox all over. So while returning to smoking got rid of the symptoms it wasn't likely that they were not coming back when she started to detox again.
Hopefully this helped a bit and given people some lines to pursue or things to check out or something they could do, or else given them something to laugh at.
Now, more and more the medical profession is steeping forward and telling people that their rashes, sores, itching and zits, especially on the face, neck, upper chest and arms are the results of detox from analogs and not directly caused by anything your vaping.
Let's look at a couple of things when it comes to the body and how it handles all the stuff it smacks into you body when it comes to analog. That has been studied for years - even effect of the smoke on skin - although many smokers don't want to hear it and so many pre-vapers never got the info to use now that they are vaping.
It should also be noted that people that never vape but quit analogs get the same srun of itching, rashes, sores, oil, zits and so on with part of the quitting process. Since these things are pretty innocuous they are not things big on the list of what you get told is a side effect to deal with - I mean who wants to hear that they are going to gain 10 pounds AND break out in zits like they just hit puberty.
When you smoke analogs and there is all tat crap, chemicals, tar glunk going into your body it goes many 2 places. It settles out into your lungs and the rest gets into and disperse into your body. Anything you do not inhale before it find second hand smokers it find any place it can land on you and settle out - not just clothing and hair but skin and mucous membranes, into pores and openings in the skin.
Pores are a big problems that many people just don't realize and the problem is how they work. Gunk gets pushed into - it does not take much and the enlarge to hold it the gunk and excrete oils to try and clean themselves. Problem is that when it comes to analog smoke they are not dealing with environmental (organic) dirt the body is normally exposed to and can self clean. That analog gunk does not act like dirt and is stubborn about leaving and mix with oils to become even more 'concrete' and stick in pores. Small openings can get this gunk in them and becomes sores as the bodies defenses treat this chemical gunk as an invader and snes antibodies and while cell to 'fight' off the chemicals. Plus a sore getting irritated by the chemicals will get to be a bigger sore and can easily become something you don't even see or feel to a real problem in a short time.
What's happening to your skin is why women that smoke often have a hard time getting makeup that looks the same color on the shelf as on their skin. Its also why many smokers end out with skin cancer on their face and other parts of the upper body - they often assume it came from inside when in fact it landed on you.
Keep in mind as we go on here that your skin - exposed to analog gunk actually does get 'tougher' and is more resistant to being irritated - not a good thing actually as its forced to by the exposure to analog smoke to protect you.
Look at the list of chemicals, particulate matter, vegetable and animal hormones, carcinogens in analogs that can be a problem and the list of things that you are exposed to from e-cigs. I know people have this need to make PG the big bad 'sensitivity' compound but in truth we are exposed to PG everyday of our lives and if we were sensitive to it we would have had issues with rashes, itching, etc every time we turned around. In actually the VG is the new guy on the block, in creation of it, timeline and not quite as many studies have been done and I don't think we can claim its really a whole lot more less of an irritant then PG is - when PG is not considered and irritant at all. I am not saying PG can't cause a rash - I am just saying its not the first thing to point the first thing to point the finger at. There are other things like the stuff in artificial flavoring used in even 'organic' e-juice, the food coloring used in it or in the flavoring and all of these can be things that can make you itch.
So you start vaping - which assumes you stop or greatly cut down on the analogs. Pores all of a sudden don't have more stuff piling in every day and can work on getting rid of what's been packed in there for a lifetime. You get zits out of that because part of cleaning the pores involves white cells that as they work get caught in the with analog gunk and extra oils trapped in the pores.
Skin may get oilier and even develop a 'sheen' that is a mixture of oils and the crap they carry out of pores and if not washed away immediate flow across the skin and dry a bit leaving the sheen. Most notice a good wash removes the sheen for a while until the skin is cleared out and then it stops. The skin is the largest organ in the body and its main job is defense of everything inside you and while you were smoking it was working over time and was overwhelmed. Now its no longer overwhelmed and is working fast to rid itself of all this stuff its been fighting forever.
So, someone asked why, if when they stopped vaping and went back to analogs they stopped itching and then when they stopped analogs and started vaping again they started itching again. Likely its because there body resumed its usual well known response to analog smoke - which did not involve itching and just packed the gunk away and when they stopped again it went back to cleaning.
Why do people seem to have less trouble with high VG or all VG mixes. Some of this maybe just coincidence, that by the time the itching, zits etc worried or bothered them enough to make changes in what they used in the e-cigs enough time had passed that the skin had gotten rid of pretty much all its problems and/or used to dealing with the stuff it was ex......g out of full pores to the skin surface. Some people may actually have a PG sensitivity but the symptoms would be not just skin irritation alone. It could also be that VG holds onto nicotine (which is for sure a irritant ) and it settles less out on the skin that way. Anecdotally, people who switch to high VG say on difference some notice is they don't quit seem to get as much nicotine or a smuch taste. So less nicotine gets dropped on the skin.
Often hand irritation is from nicotine in leaky devices but its not touching the PG in the mix but the nicotine. One of the big warnings we get is washing hands.
Nicotine is a much more likely irritant then either PG or VG as well as the fact that PG and VG will evaporate from the skin leaving just nicotine behind.
Now what's going on inside can effect the outside and cause all that irritation too... The body has 4 main ways it gets rid of stuff it does not need or want - processes then down to the smallest they can and excites them. Liver is one and Kidneys are the second and they both process the vast majority of things we need to survive while removing those that we don't or are harmful from the blood and send them to be dumped back into the environment. Anything the body does not need/want or hurts it is taken, after processing, through the blood, or lymph system to be given off to ways it can be excreted. In addition the kidneys clean the blood and direct excrete what is not wanted (why we pee). Our intestines with the help of fluids from the liver, pancreas, gall bladder etc process what we take in, sends out the nourishing stuff out to cells and excretes the rest (why we poop). Both the lungs and the skin are also used by the blood stream too pass of stuff that is not needed and have it excreted and/or exhaled.
That is if 1) you body works right and 2) the only things you are putting into it are what its built to handle. If we had been created to handle analog smoking then all out bodies processing system would be able to identify everything in our bodies from smoking analogs, would have the right hormones, chemicals etc to break it down and excrete it without it doing harm. However we were not born with a ciggy in our mouth nor a body that needs nicotine and 4000 other chemicals to survive.
You inhale the smoke from an analog, lots of the chemicals in that smoke and the tar and a few other things we don't like hearing about are too large to pass into the blood stream through the lung membranes so they just settle out in the lungs or if you are lucky are exhaled to affect the guy next to you (lucky cause you get rid of it - wasn't taking about the other guy's luck). The chemicals and other stuff that can make it through the membranes into the blood stream then swirl around a bit til the blood cells they hitch a ride with hit the kidneys and liver (primarily - there are others but if I keep doing we will have medical school here). The kidneys and liver start cleaning the blood as it rolls through and it comes up to these chemicals from your analog and its like 'huh?" The body is smart enough to know that if it can't be on the blueprint for 'good or usable' it does not need it and sends it along to find a way to excrete it.
We can however pretty much over whelm the process and we did that when smoking analogs. Body has not even finished trying to break down this unknown chemicals - many of which cannot be with what the body has to work with and you are on the next analog giving it more to deal with.
So the body does what it always does when it needs to wait to break something down that will take longer or it can't find a way to excrete it. Its like how we handle that holiday sweater from aunt dora... that you don't know how to use and don't know of a way to dispose it - it goes on a box in the closet. In the body - for that purpose we have fat cells (and all sorts of different fat and storage cells but I promised no medical school - this is complicated enough). So all this crap sits around some of it causing problems in storage and how it end up we get things like cancer.
Stop the analogs and now your body (finally) can take some time to deal with all that stuff on hold in storage and decide how to get rid of it. If its not something that the kidneys can excrete or can't be dumped back in the waste system to go out that way or it can't be driven back into the lungs to be coughed and exhaled out like carbon dioxide is the skin (and sometime skin is choosen first) can excrete it through sweat, oils etc. Then it can be washed aways.
ANY kind of detox is going to involve the skin. Go look at the list of know chemicals in an analog, the list of stuff that's there but not really known about and the list of stuff that even researchers have not put a label on and realize that the majority on that list in some way are gonna come out through your skin when you stop smoking analongs and the body starts detoxing.
People have speculated that it could be something in the vapor reacting to something you are detoxing causing the itchies especially if it goes away and so on. The problem is we don't really know and telling someone that no PG or lower PG cause it caused by PG may not help and even hurt their experience especially if they suddenly decide they are allergic to something in e-cigs when they had no allergy to something in analogs.
If you do believe that something in vaping is causing you issues, don't just point at one thing because someone else says 'that's it' and run with it. If you are sensitive (which means allergic) you need to know cause the longer you expose yourself to something you are allergic too the worse the allergic reaction will get, Basically if you're sensitive you have to stop it so you don't get ore sensitive. And you really need to know what it is so you don't come in contact with it in other things.
Quick and pretty accurate way to know if vaping is doing it - or a certain juice is doing it - skin test that juice. Skin test all your juices. If all give a reaction then that rules out flavorings and makes nicotine and PG, VG, any preservatives or anything else in there besides favoring a possible cause. I should not here that there is not good regulation on labeling e-juice like there is food. I think MBV for labeling is s start - tere labeling is right up there with General Mills. They don't give mixed or expiration dates like Vapehut does but thats still much better than a label that gives you a flavor name and stated the nic level. There is not really any regulation about truth in labeling either. RedOak does list their preservative as well as the main ingredients, many companies will list the use natural and artificial flavor not just 'flavoring'. There is a lot of preservative usage out there you will get told about if asked from large manufacturers but they usually try not to list it.
So if you skin test (which involves washing an area around the crease in your elbow with soap and warm water and rise well with warm water. While washing don't scrub and irritate the skin. Pat dry and then let air drive for a few minutes. Place a drop or two of your e-juice on the skin you prepared, let it air dry without rubbing it in or messing with it or bending your elbow. Once its dry you can resume normal elbow movement. Check in now and then for min of 24 hours to about 48 hours or when you shower and wash it off. Any one who has colored their hair knows this procedure well). Kin test is pretty accurate for testing for sensitivity -and ot just on your skin. Its one of the basic ways allergy doctors determine what people are sensitive and allergic to.
If you get nothing that says 'irritation', no redness other than is normal for you, no break outs or itching or breakdown of the skin and so forth you can pretty much say 'its not e-juice I am having an issue with".
If you think its some and not others or depends on the percentage of a mix then you just have to go through and skin test with the ones you suspect or better off all of them.
If you DO show a sensitivity the smart move then is take that bottle of e-liquid to your doctor, tell him what you're vaping symptoms were and what happened with the skin test. If you can tell him that it was only that one bottle he will probably tell you to not use that one and just remember that flavor while eating to avoid what might be in there and come back if it gets worse. If it was more then one e-juice that did it or all of them you will get the news to stop vaping at least until you cn have allergy tests to determine what component is doing it.
You can take skin testing a bit further and get a small DYI starter kit and be very care to use it correctly and with caution but skin test the PG and VG separately and see. If sensitive and safe to use either one mix some nic base (never put the nicotine on directly as a skin test - you WILL get a reaction and not one you want if you just let it dry there and stay with you). If then the mix bothers you - its probably the nicotine.
You can also skin test flavors the same way as the PG and VG.
Also consider what you may already know what you are sensitive or allergic to. There Is the case of the person having a reaction to all their e-juice and swearing it was the PG - But, while her skin reacted to most of her e-juices it did not react to either PG or VG. Turns out she knew she was allergic to orange juice - never been able to drink it without getting a rash ever in her life. Checking a bit close all the e-juices she had and liked were fruity ones all of which the sweet/sour lemony-lime ones.. and behold - every flavoring put into them (had to got to the maker to find out) had citric acid in them. The one tobacco flavor she had happened to be a bulk manufacturer that used citric acid as a preservative.... yeah it was the e-juice but nothing to do with PG. Given what she had read of other reactions she was positive it was the PG simply because the all VG she got bothered her less. Of course VG carries flavoring less well so I could see that.
Its very easy to trigger and jump on one thing and once someone says it and a couple agree with their opinion it can be cast in stone and people don't look for real causes for their own safety and they must. Could a sensitivity lead to not vaping anymore? Yup - if you have an allergy to something and keep being exposed to it you will get worse. Intentionally, exposing yourself over an over knowing you're allergic is pretty dumb. I sincerely doubt you are going to find a doctor who will prescribe around the clock antihistamines so you can vape.
Having said that I know people are going to yell that a rash is better than cancer and I should not say th. Problem is that an allergic rash now if you keep doing what you're allergic to will have stronger and stronger reactions. Might be okay to live with a rash for a while but get sensitive enough and you might not make it through an anaphylactic episode.
That said, an allergy doctor can treat you for what you are allergic to and desensitize you - if you're allergic to your vaping stuff get involved with your doctor. I know people hate to get their doctor's involved with their 'smoking' habit and some to the point where they have never admitted smoking. And its hard to go to the doctor either because you have to admit smoking as your reason for now vaping or having to deal with education a medical profession that has not yet learned about vaping and whose first instinct is to say 'stop' without all the fact and what stop could mean to your long run health.
There is a lot to consider and its easy to jump on the first train that gets started for the 'reason why' or 'happened to me' but if PG was going this much of a problem with people it would not have an USP cert and not be used to the extent it is and probably recalled. Most cosmetics, soaps, medications, foods have PG in them, others have glycerin and few use VG. Take a minute to go read the labels on you soaps, lotions, makeups and such and see how many other places you contact PG a day. Its takes a lot of work to figure out a cause
So how about something where I can be really helpful? If you're not really have an allergic reaction there is lots of things to do to not make things worse (which often happens) and help resolve the issue:
WATER WATER WATER
I know you read that inn this forum all the time but no one can stress it enough. Everything you are doing right now is dehydrating you. First you are detoxing. Everything about detoxing iis dehydrating. The body needs water to get rid of the tar and matter in your lungs, to break does fat and remove impurities in cells and to carry the stuff out of your boy - every one of those mechanism need water too.
PG is dehydrating you. Biggest example of that is over the counter acne medications. The dry up zits) VG is dehydrating. Nicotine is dehydrating. Some of the juices and extracts dehydrate. You are exhaling vapor which is partly the vapor you inhaled and partly moisture form in your lungs the water vapor picked up.
Okay, now you are getting itchy just thinking about how dry your body is, or because I have said itchy a few too many times?
If you drink the normal amount (daily required) of water for your height, weight and activity level and not chalking 'water intake' up to 'fluid intake' and counting coffee, teas, any drink with sugar (including sports drinks unless you just exercised and burned off sugar), soda, beer, liquor as you water requirement then you are still about 50% short. If you're not getting your daily requirement your really on the short side and have to step in you.
All the things listed above dehydrate you so any water in them has no effect on you. Some of them are diuretic or have diuretic actions and get rid of not just the water they gave you but some more besides. You have to drink water or you mucous membranes and skin are going to suffer. Even slight dehydration can cause headache, nausea, dry throat, dry mouth, sore throat, sore mouth, dry and hot skin patches, rashes, and all those get worse with more dehydration to the point where you can be vomiting, dizziness, exhaustion, loss of consciousness. ANd this does not always happen in the desert either or with a lot of exercise. You would not believe how many people come to the hospital, daily, with severe symptoms that are well in an hour with some IV fluids and were doing no more than watching TV at home, in 60 degree weather and not sweating. But were severely dehydrate nonetheless. You have to drink water whether you like drinking water or not; if it means you sit there with a water bottle in one hand and your PV in the other to get enough water you have to do it.
This WILL, like all things get better. Detox does end and you will need less water. You will still need more then before you started vaping but not 50% more than required.
If you have itchy skin, rashes etc stay away from really hot baths or showers. They remove too many good oils and dry out your skin more. They don't open pores wider than a normal warm bath no matter what those wive's tales say and actually if exposed to really hot water and then cooler air they can clamp down tighter and trap stuff harder, plus you washed out the oils they need to clean themselves. Very hot water is going to make you itch more, cause rashes, dry out your skin - all things you want to avoid.
Don't wash to hard, don't scrub. You don't want to remove so many skin layers and then expose skin not yet ready to be a top layer to the stuff thats detoxing or irritants just around in the environment. It will make you itchier, may give you rashes and can actually lead to sore places on your skin - and not in relation to vaping near them.
Colloidal Oatmeal added to bathwater or in a shower gel/soap can go a really long way to sooth the skin, replace natural oils, relieve rashes.
If the itching is just driving you up a wall or keeping you awake, try a over the counter topical antihistamine (anti itch cream) or take an over the counter antihistamine tablet. Just till it improves. Antihistamines are not another thing on you must take daily list.
If you do develop a rash and its progressively getting over more and more of you body as the day goes on. Go to the doctor or ER. Something's wrong. Don't worry about what is causing it just go get it to stop.
And the bane of everyone existence...Zits. First of all step away from the over the counter acne medications. First they are made for the skin of a adolescent. Second they almost all contain PG and glycerin (vegetable or otherwise) which is a further dehydrant to your skin and you will see that on the label and be convinced that it really is PG! The usually also contain things like succinic acid, benzyl oxide, benzophenone and other lovely chemicals all meant to 'dry' up zits and unfortunately they also dry up anything they touch, IE the skin near where you had the zit you treated.
No you don't have to just put up with it. Go see your doctor and get a nice antibiotic gel/solution/lotion for treating acne. It will clear up those up literally overnight, and while you may see more come back later the bottle/tube is big enough to use for a while.
Dry mouth? There is a down side to dry mouth besides how it feels, it can lead to tooth enamel issue so you don't want to put up with it too long, Good hydration is normally the key but there are also 'dry mouth' toothpastes and mouthwashes that are set up to kinda kick saliva production in gear for a few hours to a day. Using these can make a big difference. I see a lot of 'such a cough drop or throat lozenge' suggestions and while that works short term they are made to coat things not make them wetter - easiest way I can explain that. The best way to keep the mouth producing saliva is mastication (chewing something) sugarless gum can work (the sugar in gum can dry out the mouth) so can eating a bit of fruit. Lots of people have commented that things like dehydrated fruits really help - banana chips for example. And WATER!
Believe it or not ALL of this will pass Vaper, and soon too you will not be bothered by this stuff or worried you are doing it wrong or there's some scary thing about to pop out and damage you. First and foremost its the nature of the beast.
And remember sometimes the hooves you hear in the horse paddock does not mean there is a zebra stampede. Few quotes about the whole 'nicotine' makes me itchy subject:
Then there is the poster who said that it had to be vaping that was making her itch not detox cause when she went back to smoking the itching went away, but when she tried vaping it came back. Just in case anyone wondered... going back to analogs WILL stop the detox process - the itching will stop. But its not because you stopped vaping. It was what you started that got rid of the symptoms. And yes, as with any drug, when you stop again you start the detox all over. So while returning to smoking got rid of the symptoms it wasn't likely that they were not coming back when she started to detox again.
Hopefully this helped a bit and given people some lines to pursue or things to check out or something they could do, or else given them something to laugh at.
There only one issue I've had which I've been able to distinguish from quitting smoking. That is dry mouth.
Other symptoms,
Light headed
Acne/infection of skin
Chest pain
Paranoia
Cramps
Farts
Craps
Swollen lip
Cracked lip
Argumentative
Shortness of breadth
Swollen gums
Heart burn
I'm pretty happy with being argumentative and having the farts. Paranoia is mild and comes and goes, Probably normal for logic followers.[/QUOTE
I've always. Had the tarts. Something new to blame it on. My wife says air give me gas.
ROFL BostLabs, don't tell your wife or my hubby this, but I think I love you. Between the way you tickle my funny bone and the fact that you're "liking" my makeup tips...
Hey, I try to take it all in. And ya never know, I might need to be a pretty boy at one time.
Yes I found plenty of those images that were a decent size. Later on I had a WildCat and I've noticed, I think you may have told me that, that they have been making lowriders out of those too.
And this is one more reason I dont use any PG in my juice. Its having negative effects left and right, which is why I dont understand why everyone doesnt go all VG? Pg causes mucus, zits (which can also be from cig toxin withdrawl, not vaping), and it tastes bad to me.
stormwench said:
That was me, and my problem wasn't itching. When you have skin conditions, itching is part of normal life. I don't feel it necessary to explain my symptoms on an online forum, but I can assure you that I know what an allergic reaction is, and I was having one. And I am, as per what any doctor would recommend, going through an elimination process to avoid what's causing it in the future.
Because not everyone has a problem with PG. What you're seeing is the small percentage that do; you could consider them the vocal minority. I vape 70% PG 30% VG, started with straight PG when there weren't so many VG options but eventually moved to partial VG because I like the extra clouds. VG is actually the ingredient that,for me anyway, causes extra mucus and a heavy chest feeling. I actually can't go over 30% or I get to feeling like I can't breathe. I had my case of quit zits, same as a large percentage of ex smokers, but have no side effects from PG.
this is why i believe that 50/50 is the best blend!
you get the best of both and this mix usually doesn't cause any issues with sensativity.
you get the best of both and this mix usually doesn't cause any issues with sensativity.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who reacts poorly to VG. I've read so much about PG causing issues for people and of course I HAD to be different and get ill with the VG. BTW, this stuff rocks!!! ------>>>Neutrogena Acne Wash Foaming Scrub - Free Shipping
Last summer i was on vacation in Mission Beach San Diego and there was a group of guys in their 40's with custom made adult sized big wheels. They were tearing it up with the plastic wheels and all. It was pure awesomeness. Every middle aged man around was jealous as hell with me included
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