I hate to point a finger at vaping

[ckquatt]

I diy 50/50 and the only store bought eliquid I vape is 50/50 (Nicoticket CLS, Frenilla, Virus, and Strawnilla) I also get heavy lung on 50% VG. Not all the time, maybe like once a week for an hour or so. Most of the time it doesn't happen. Usually what I'll do is stop vaping for a little while and it will pass.


Doc said my lungs were fine. Ever since he found out I quit smoking and started vaping he's been really interested in my health and lung function. I guess he's just curious about how well it works. Hes been very positive about vaping in general.

 

[RiderVapor]

Well, 36 years of smoking, 2 mild heart attacks which second was from stent failure after 10 years. I am four month in with out one single cig with not a single chance of going back after so many other failed attempts, vaping is saving my life. This being said I would try a e juice with out the menthol which to me makes the most sense in what could be causing your problem more than PG/VG mixes. Have not had one single issue with my breathing since starting, matter of fact it has only been getting better. Remember when I use to smoke menthols back in the day and how hard it would hit then, vaping it just might be hitting a little harder than you think.

 

[Tyberias]

I had shortness of breath off and on around the 6-9 month mark after I quit smoking. This was accompanied by a slight tightness in the chest. I attributed it to my lungs tightening as they healed some of the damage from smoking, similar to how the skin will tighten as a cut heals. My response was to perform breathing exercises, like divers use, to stretch my lungs and increase their capacity. Cleared it right up.

 

[BlueSnake]

It is the chain vaping. Vaping will temporarily restrict breathing. Stop for 15 to 30 minutes and your breathing returns to normal.

When I smoked, if I smoked too much I felt it. The same goes for vaping.

As has been mentioned by those currently involved in vaping studies, vaping in excess is probably not good for us. Most anything in moderation is not bad for us but when taken to extremes even harmless things become harmful. It's just common sense.

 

[choochoogranny]

Buy one bottle of your 70 pg, 30 vg at 6 nic and an other bottle of 70 pr, 30 vg with NO nic. Mix for a total of 3 nic at 70/30 and see if that works. Mixing with just unflavored PG will dilute the flavor.

I started with the 70/30 pg/vg blend and unbeknownst to me the the recipe of my favorite flavors was changed to 50/50. Tight chest resulted. This was after 18 mos. of no problems with 70/30. Found out about the change and proceeded to buy from a different place a 60/40 pg/vg blend of some other juice I liked as well. Seems juice makers are upping their vg so more and denser clouds can be made. Also, more and denser clouds use up juice quicker. Hm-m-m-m-m......... Hope you can find your "happy place" again!

 

[Bunnykiller]

hmmm I do 36 nic 100VG but vape about 3-4 ml a day... no issues as far as breathing/shortness of breath... altho PG does a serious number on me... sinuses close up, throat gets all scratchy, and my eyes water profusely...

 

[Puff2K]

After almost 3 months, I think I notice mixed results with vaping and my lungs. I have copd so I don't fully inhale my vape, I just inhale into my throat and maybe the top part of my lungs. But I got the copd from 41 years of chain smoking and I no longer have tobacco chemicals "opening" my lungs.

 

[Bookworm]

I need to stay at 40vg or below in order to avoid that heavy chest feeling. Mostly I like 70pg/30vg, although it varies with the juice. Menthol might be a little irritating long term as well. Just a thought. Good luck!

 

[Thrasher]

If I recall correctly @AndriaD can't use above 25/75 vg/pg or she gets the heavy chest feeling, so it's definitely worth a shot to cut the vg down, especially if it somewhat coincides with the change in your ratio.

+1, soon as I cross 30-35% I start getting congested but can chain vape high pg non stop

 

[roxynoodle]

I don't tolerate vg as well. It seemed ok during the winter, but I have allergy induced asthma. Its grass season, and I'm dealing with asthma. I find higher vg either incites it as well, or makes it worse.

 

[DavidOck]

I'm another who gets a "heavy" chest with too high a VG level. That and the menthol crystals... never smoked menthol, since the idea of it recrystallizing in my lungs didn't seem like a good idea. (On top of the rest of the crap from combusted tobacco, paper and chemicals... )

If your preferred supplier only has your flavor in a higher mg nic, see if they can provide an extra flavor shot, and cut it with your PG to get back to your nic level.

 

[Wow1420]

Another +1 on VG problems. I wasn't too picky on PG/VG ratios at first, using 60/40 or 50/50 or 40/60 and I noticed some occasional "Heavy chest" feeling, which I dealt with mostly by upping nic level and vaping less. Then I got a bottle of "premium" liquid that didn't disclose the VG/PG ratio and had major congestion issues when using it. Eventually I proved to myself that it was a VG issue by dripping straight VG, no nic, no flavor, in an RDA and reacting immediately with congestion.

I'm now pretty happy with 6mg, 75 PG / 25 VG and about 4% menthol flavor DIY.

 

[Wow1420]

80 ml on one coil sounds like a lot to me.

I easily get that much or more on a coil when using unflavored or menthol only liquids.

I don't know if menthol creates a lung issue or not. I don't notice any issue, but I'm a shallow inhaler.

 

[DeAnna2112]

I think those of us who have asthma or other smoke induced respiratory problems are going to be far more sensitive to anything we put in our lungs. Vaping pg/vg, nicotine and flavoring all have some form of irritation to the lungs...and anything that irritates the lungs leads to inflammation and inflammation leads to shortness of breath. I think for many these irritants are minimal, but for others they create havoc on their lungs...probably due to already having existing respiratory problems or asthmatic allergies.

Pg can make the lungs feel dry and raw given it has a drying effect. Vg is like a sticky heavy coating that makes the lungs feel heavy with discomfort. Then there is also the added irritation of nicotine and flavoring. All 4 of these are irritants working at once and when one or more of these ingredients poses a heightened irritation to your lungs, it causes any minor irritation by the other ingredients to be amplified..which spins into an inflammatory cycle that is now compounded by 4 different ingredients agitating the lungs in different ways for different reasons.

Now all of these things are pretty harmless given what we know up to this point with the exception of flavors, but you must also remember that it is not uncommon to see people who either can not tolerate one or more of these ingredients, or can't tolerate certain levels of it without negative side effects/lung irritation. So while these ingredients are thought to be pretty much harmless again keep in mind, anytime you put something into your lungs, it's not a question of IF it irritates the lungs, it's how badly will it irritate YOUR lungs that determines the final verdict on whether it's harmless or not for YOU.

If you find that no matter what combination you use or ingredient you take out you still have this problem...vape less, or try to get into the habit of inhaling less often when you chain vape. Mix up mouth to lung with mouth to nose so you are not constantly inhaling it into your lungs. It's very possible your lungs may start becoming overly sensitive to the ingredients only when you vape too much to frequently. I am sure once you start taking apart your liquid and experimenting with the ingredients one by one you will easily target the ones that trigger shortness of breath. That's the beauty of vaping..we can add or remove things that help or hurt us on a individual basis..unlike cigs.

 

[Thrasher]

 

[Nermal]

hmmm I do 36 nic 100VG but vape about 3-4 ml a day... no issues as far as breathing/shortness of breath... altho PG does a serious number on me... sinuses close up, throat gets all scratchy, and my eyes water profusely...

Wouldn't it be simply loverly if every one of us reacted the same way? If nothing else, we would quickly know what advice to give.

From the responses, I'm beginning to believe that problems with vg are actually more common than those with pg, though in some cases, there is nothing the least subtle about pg allergies.

 

[AndriaD]

I quit smoking after 42 years of them a little over 6 months ago. Landmark event for me. My ability to quit I owe to vaping...thank God for that crutch. Maybe I have other issues going on, but I could swear that more I vape the shorter my wind becomes. I figure no sense going to the doctors because most of them are thumbs down on vaping, but would like to know if others have experienced this. I'm on 3mg nicotine 50/50 juice @ 10.5 - 11.5 watts. I am a chain vaper, if you see me, you see me with my mod and atty. Any feed back?

Too much VG -- if I vape more than 16% VG, I can't breathe. Try 70/30... if you still have the problem, try 80/20 -- 80/20 is still too much VG for me, but I seem to be particularly sensitive to this effect of VG.

Andria

 

[AndriaD]

Chain vaping might also be an issue... I had to go from 6mg to 10mg, so I could cut down on vaping but remain satisfied. Nicotine isn't the bad guy, but too much vaping isn't good for my asthma, so I went with more nicotine, less vaping. And still have to stay at 16% VG or less -- though if I go to 90% PG, after a few days it burns the insides of my nose and sinuses and my throat -- doesn't bother my lungs at all, in fact my lungs would probably do fine with 100% PG, but it *can* be irritating to the mucous membranes.

Andria

 

[nvadasz]

Chain vaping might also be an issue... I had to go from 6mg to 10mg, so I could cut down on vaping but remain satisfied. Nicotine isn't the bad guy, but too much vaping isn't good for my asthma, so I went with more nicotine, less vaping. And still have to stay at 16% VG or less -- though if I go to 90% PG, after a few days it burns the insides of my nose and sinuses and my throat -- doesn't bother my lungs at all, in fact my lungs would probably do fine with 100% PG, but it *can* be irritating to the mucous membranes.

Andria

Well, in response to all, I just ordered a couple of bottles of 70/30 (pg/vg) just to see what happens. That was my old mix and I didn't seem to have an issue at that time, but as I said, I can't really say when I started having a breathing issue. Per suggestions also, one bottle is 6mg and the other is 0mg and I'll mix the two and see what happens. Thank you for your feed back and help...I'll keep you posted on this in a couple of weeks.