I suffer from Severe Allergies, 10 days smoke free & having problems

[Beachbabealways]

So I am a new vapor, 10 days smoke free today all thanks to Vaping. I was a 30 year smoker and 7 years ago my husband and I moved out of the polluted BIG city to the country near a lake. About a month into our new home I almost landed myself in the hospital. I had a sinus infection which turned into pneumonia. I was told at that time it was caused by an allergy to cedar. Yep we bought a home on three acres of cedars, oaks & cedar elms. So when the oaks start pollinating guess what? I get sick again. Finally I go to an Allergy Specialist and they test me. 100 ...... and over half swell and turn red. Cedar, Oak, Elm, Ragweed etc etc etc I'm allergic to almost everything on our property to include our dogs. I'm thinking "ok, is this some kind of joke?"
The Doctor says, you have severe allergies. You need to take allergy shots and carry an Epi Pen. Well that worked out for about 3 weeks and then I quit the shots. Who wants to feel like they have been beat up over and over in the middle of your back? Not me. My PCP called them up and scolded them over the serum being too strong but I had had enough. No more.

So as you can tell I have terrible allergies and the point to my post is I am afraid I may be allergic to something in the e-juice. It could be the PG, VG, flavoring or even the nicotine. I was told back in my early 20's that I was allergic to cigarette smoke but frankly I thought the guy (ENT Doctor) was blowing smoke up my ... because that was when smoking started to become taboo. Everyone tried to make you feel bad for smoking just so you would quit.
Heck maybe my Nicotine is too high in the e-liquid? I smoked full flavored 100's and about 30 cigs a day. Stressful days I probably smoked 30 but on a normal day maybe a pack. If that matters. My e-liquid is 24mg. Is that too high?

OR maybe something else is going on and happened around the time (or right before) I quit smoking and picked up Vaping. At this point I do not have a clue but I do have a Doctor appt Wednesday. Hoping to find out. I WANT to keep Vaping. It is totally keeping me away from cigs and I NEVER thought that would be possible.

I also would like to say for the record my left lung collapsed approx 9 years ago and my Mom passed away late Dec 2009 from Lung Cancer. She smoked 64 years. She lived 8 days shy of the 8 months they gave her at stage 4. You can't tell me some Doctor's (NOT ALL) DON"T KNOW what they are talking about because some do. My Mom's Doctor DID know. Being an eyewitness to her suffering I can tell each and everyone of you, you DO NOT want to go down that road. I don't either. It has taken me this long to get to this point. I do not want to turn back now.

I am wondering what allergy symptoms people may have had in Vaping and if you pinned down what the cause of the allergy was.

I want to hear your experiance if you suffered any setback and if you did how did you overcome it so that you did not pick up smoking again.?

Thank you so much for reading and I hope to hear from you.

 

[trav901]

I've heard of allergies to nicotine. Maybe the concentration is too high. I'm not sure what is considered average, but you could probably find out on Google and then see how much your juice has. It may also be additives. Natural or artificial flavors could be anything. I've heard VG is supposed to work better than PG for folks with sensitivities/allergies. If you're using cheap Made In China juice, that could have more impurities than USA made.

 

[moze229]

I'm so sorry that you are having so many allergic reactions!

I won't say I'm allergic, but I seem to have a sensitivity to a lot of the flavoring s that are used. In the battle that's now ensuing in the rather new market of ecigs, it seems that everyone is in a race to have the strongest flavorings. Many that I've tried are way way way too strong. Nicotine could be the culprit, but with you smoking so long I'm not so sure.

I would start with trying variations of non flavored liquids (different vg/pg mixes) just to take the flavorings out of the mix. If that doesn't seem to work, then lower the nic. I'm afraid if you lower the nic too much you could go back to smoking. Or, end up vaping more, causing more allergic reactions.

 

[Rickajho]

Unfortunately if you have a history of severe allergies anything in a vaping liquid could pose a problem. Or not. Allergy issues here generally break down into 3 primary categoriess: PG, VG or a flavoring ingredient. A fourth possibility might be an allergic reaction to a sweetener as well.

But if I understand correctly you aren't having any problems right now?

 

[The Ocelot]

Hi and welcome!

I'm really sorry to hear you're having problems. What a reward for getting out if the city and getting off of cigarettes.

I'm sure other members will chime in to share their experiences, plus if you scroll down the main page there is a sub-forum about health-related topics that may have some helpful info.

Off-topic: E-liquid is e-liquid; pg/vg and flavorings, it doesn't matter where it comes from. If you do a little research (which I did for one of my rawrs), you'll find some interesting facts. US e-liquid retailers buy their ingredients from suppliers, who buy them from wholesale companies, who buy them from brokers, who buy them from manufacturers, who get the raw materials from...uh, oh. Guess where we are? Did you really think LorAnn has a farm in New Guinea where they grow their own vanilla beans?

 

[omgwtfrina]

I think maybe Velvet Cloud Vapors might be a good choice... according to their About Us, "We DO NOT use: Propylene Glycol, Diacetyl, Artificial Ingredients or food coloring of any sort." Being that they're from San Francisco, the area I'm from, it's safe to believe that their claims of being organic is pretty legit - the "organic"/"green" movement is pretty big over here and most small business out here really do practice what they preach... goes for most other local/family owned vendors of other kinds as well. I've never tried their juices (yet) but maybe someone who has can tell you a little more?

 

[OzarkTroutBum]

I get annual hay fever and full time animal allergies. I was getting irritation in the lips and tongue using V2 cartridges that I read somewhere were 100% PG or very high.

I ordered some clearomizers and some 50/50 PG/VG liquid and that went away. I was also using 18 nicotine level and dropped to 11.

 

[Tatsel_Morte]

I'm sorry to hear of your plight.

I doubt that it's your nic level, unless you are allergic to nicotine itself, since from what I've seen 24mg is the average starting point. In fact, with the exeption of my grandmother and my friend (who didn't smoke but picked up vaping), everyone I've come across is on 18 mg or 24 mg. So, I'd say probably 14-24mg is the average.

It may be the PG, that allergy (or at least sensitivity) is a fairly common obstacle for vapers.

VG is possible if it is USP grade but not food grade. The same applies to flavors, but that's more synthetic vs. organic. If it's the organics of some juices, then look for synthetics. If synthetics are irritating you, use organics.

You can test for most of these yourself, but keep that epi pen handy just in case. Look for foods with nicotine in them and binge on them for a week. If you see no results, it's probably not the nic.

Try 100% food grade VG. If it persists, it isn't the VG or the PG.

For flavors, well that's tricky. You gotta ask the maker what's in their juice. That way, when you use them you know this one is synthetic vanilla, but this one is organic vanilla extract; and can test as such.

Since you have an appointment coming up, you won't have to do any of this. However, if it comes up inconclusive on whether vaping is causing some of your problem, you can give this a shot to see what you can do to keep vaping.

 

[aikanae1]

I have multiple serious allergies and you are not alone. The mystifying thing has been how I could smoke 4,000 + chemicals for 30+ years and then have a problem with vaping 3 or 4 or 5 ingredients? AARRGGHH! How frustrating. I'll tell you how. A number of those ingredients anesthetize and deaden your throat and the airways in your lung to allow you to smoke without feeling the harm it's doing. Once you quit, go nicotine only, you feel it and that's a good thing even if it's a PITA.

There's a number of approaches and realistically, you'll be a pioneer into what works best for you since each individual is so unique. My own experience with allergy shots was that I hated them and I was grateful I had them many, many years later. My quality of life would have been horrible without them. I still carry a epi-pen though and I'm still developing new reactions to who knows what. It's just the way it is.

This is one reason some people just "can't quit" like others have. Congrats for what you have been able to do. You should feel proud. There are pockets of info around ecig on this, but I haven't seen a specific forum. I've gotten a lot of info from a suppliers thread; http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...wta-discussion-thread-all-topics-welcome.html since pg is one of the first ingredients suspected. I know of a few others looking into specific alkaloids in nicotine too. I know of someone else looking into chemistry of specific flavorings. It's a process. I hope this helps.

 

[Beachbabealways]

I've heard of allergies to nicotine. Maybe the concentration is too high. I'm not sure what is considered average, but you could probably find out on Google and then see how much your juice has. It may also be additives. Natural or artificial flavors could be anything. I've heard VG is supposed to work better than PG for folks with sensitivities/allergies. If you're using cheap Made In China juice, that could have more impurities than USA made.

Well, my juices are by Upstomp, one LJE juice and the rest are Alice in Vapeland so I think ther are all USA made. Even though I should not be vaping this evening because of my issues I needed the nicotine so I have been vaping White Rabbit and so far have not had any issues with it like all the others today. Maybe I should ask them what the PG VG is on that one. I really like it too!

 

[Rickajho]

But I'm still feeling a big disconnect here. Are you saying you have a medical appointment because of a vaping related allergy concern? Are you having any issues or problems that you think might be vaping related? It's not really reasonable for us to start throwing stuff out all over the place if we don't have any idea of what your concerns are.

 

[Beachbabealways]

Yes I do have a Doctor appt. I am certain I have a sinus infection. No doubt about it. My reaction to allergies seem to be different than a lot of people. I don't really show signs of having them (sneezing, watery itchy eyes, nasal drip).

I don't know if I may have had a sinus infection already setting up when I started vaping but I do know that when I vape my sinuses give me fits. Nose stuffs up right away and I get a prickly feeling in the cheekbone area like tiny needles, same goes for my temples.

 

[aikanae1]

Yes I do have a Doctor appt. I am certain I have a sinus infection. No doubt about it. My reaction to allergies seem to be different than a lot of people. I don't really show signs of having them (sneezing, watery itchy eyes, nasal drip).

I don't know if I may have had a sinus infection already setting up when I started vaping but I do know that when I vape my sinuses give me fits. Nose stuffs up right away and I get a prickly feeling in the cheekbone area like tiny needles, same goes for my temples.

Just a thought. If your allergic to trees, grasses, etc. you may also be allergic to various fruits, nuts within similar plant families that are used in flavorings. Some people find relief by vaping unflavored eliquid. They give it a rest and then challenge allergies with flavor, one at a time in order to figure out what they react to or not.

 

[r77r7r]

I second the unflavored idea! Many of us use it solely. You can do the elimination process then, like you do with food allergies. At the least, it may allow you to control how much flavoring is added- some ejuices are very heavy on the flavoring.

 

[Rickajho]

Yes I do have a Doctor appt. I am certain I have a sinus infection. No doubt about it. My reaction to allergies seem to be different than a lot of people. I don't really show signs of having them (sneezing, watery itchy eyes, nasal drip).

I don't know if I may have had a sinus infection already setting up when I started vaping but I do know that when I vape my sinuses give me fits. Nose stuffs up right away and I get a prickly feeling in the cheekbone area like tiny needles, same goes for my temples.

Is the prickly sensation innies or outies? In other words, is it a topical skin sensation? That may be a cause for concern. It is a known indicator of a PG allergic reaction, but typically the sensation is found in the extremities - hands & forearms.

 

[bustabo]

i would try some 100% VG liquid and go from there. If that gives you issues try 100%VG unflavored.

 

[iowajosh]

In general, smoking does mask allergies. It did for me. There are days I feel great now but certain allergens are a big reaction for me and it is a lot more noticable now. I have a violent reaction to a couple of those tree pollens. I turn into a snot machine and the sinus swelling is impossible to ignore. I think maybe I took some antihistamines too long and they aren't all that effective anymore? I'm trying some different drugs and heading into hayfever season with high hopes. Good luck.