Link between VG intolerance and Artificial Sweeteners?

[lookin2quit]

I just tried VG for the first time not long ago, just because people rave about the vapor from it. I got a horrible headache and um "bathroom issues", which happens to be my usual reaction to just about every artificial sweetener. When I mentioned it on the poll about PG or VG in the General Liquids discussion someone mentioned that her husband had the same reaction.

Before you ask, at least in my case (don't know about her husband), I was vaping the same strength as my usual PG and at the same rate.

Does anyone know if there is somehow a link between the two, or does anyone else with a VG problem also have problems with artificial sweeteners?

 

[Nikhil]

Where did you get your VG? Sometimes store-bought Glycerin isn't really VG, just G, because it can be made from animals. Usually that's the cause of the problems, since glycerin is naturally metabolized by every human.

 

[aschmidy]

I have issues with artificial sweeteners and only use 100% VG. I agree with purevapor, maybe it's the type of vg you were using?

 

[lookin2quit]

I was using a pre-filled Cola carto. I did find a link, though, that talks about sugar alcohols and says that VG is in the same class as Mannitol, Xylitol, Maltitol, and Sorbitol, all of which have caused me problems. So at this point it's either the company I got the carto from or VG itself, and I'm leaning towards the VG based on what was said about it.

 

[Nikhil]

VG is glycerin aka glycerol and is in no way like any of those sugar alcohols. Glycerin is naturally found in all vegetables, most if not all animals, and even inorganically. When your body breaks fats down to convert into energy, part of it breaks down into glycerol. If you have a problem with inhaling it, I highly doubt it's related to artificial sweeteners. They are metabolized completely differently, and the reason most people have reactions to artificial sweeteners is because our bodies have trouble digesting sugar alcohols.

 

[Kirssstens]

You might be interested to know that artificial sweetners can probably be found in thousands of products and you are probably ingesting on a daily basis, often without knowing it. Nutrasweet, equal, stevia, etc. are in medicines, baking products, breath mints, gum, and on and on.

I know what you are saying tho, when nutrasweet was first introduced into diet colas, I consumed it heavily and even lost my monthlys, yikes! So like you, I definately try to avoid. I love Stevia however.

The use of these sweetners is surrounded by controversy. Sound familiar? Yet aspartame is readily embraced by the FDA.

 

[markarich159]

Glycerin(Glycerol-1,2,3 propanetriol) is the backbone of all Glyceride fats(Mono,Di and Tri-Glycerides). It is naturally processed hepatically, via a process called Beta-Oxidation, and enters the natural glucose metabolic pathway via the Krebs(or citric acid) cycle.

As long as you're utilizing USP grade Glycerin(whether animal or vegetable sourced) you should be OK. read more about this here:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/diy-e-liquid/52669-pg-vg-labeling-purity-please-read.html

This thread also has information about obtaining vegetable sourced glycerin, USP if you prefer for ethical, religious or porcine allergy matters.

Unfortunately, Glycerin can act as a laxative if taken orally(it is also available as a laxative commercially OTC in a suppository form). A certain amount of vaped glycerin is swallowed and this is, most likely, causing the "bathroom" problems to which you referred. Another issue may be the product you are buying. As a pharmacist, I always recommend USP grade Glycerin as this grade is the purest available commercially OTC. Anything not labeled correctly as glycerin, USP may contain impurities you are unaware of(again, refer to the thread above).

There is no known link between glycerin,USP and articial sweetners that I am aware of to date.

 

[Nikhil]

Unfortunately, Glycerin can act as a laxative if taken orally(it is also available as a laxative commercially OTC in a suppository form). A certain amount of vaped glycerin is swallowed and this is, most likely, causing the "bathroom" problems to which you referred.

I'm not a pharmacist, but I don't think that's true, since it's a laxative because it draws water out of your body to dilute the glycerin. As a suppository it works as a laxative, but orally it would just make you salivate. The amounts you actually ingest/inhale at once are very small compared to the 6ml dosage for suppositories. The oral dosage used to reduce eye pressure in glaucoma patients is 1/2 - 1ml per pound, which is around 75ml - 150ml taken all at once for a 150 lb person.

 

[markarich159]

I'm not a pharmacist, but I don't think that's true, since it's a laxative because it draws water out of your body to dilute the glycerin. As a suppository it works as a laxative, but orally it would just make you salivate. The amounts you actually ingest/inhale at once are very small compared to the 6ml dosage for suppositories. The oral dosage used to reduce eye pressure in glaucoma patients is 1/2 - 1ml per pound, which is around 75ml - 150ml taken all at once for a 150 lb person.

Anything other then Opthalmic administration of Glycerol for Acute angle glaucoma has not been generally used for some time now(since the 70's) other then acute situations prior to or status post ocular surgery. When it was used, IV administration was always preferred over oral to avoid GI and metabolic side effects(sometimes severe). There are now a several Opthalmic Glycerin preps for direct opthalmic administration that are primarily used in open angle glaucoma(although there are MUCH better agents to lower interocular pressure nowadays including anticholinergics and beta blockers).

The MOA(mechanism of Action) in oral and suppository glycerin preps(as a laxative) does involve hyperosmolality, but also by a local irritation effect on the Columnar epithelium in the lower colon. Glycerine has been traditionally and is still commonly used orally(and especially rectally) as a laxative/purgative. Although, you are correct that VG vaping has not been proven to directly cause laxative effects(really nothing involving vaping has been clinically proven as of yet), the sheer # of anecdotal reports of laxative effects upon glycerin vaping suggests a MOA consistent with ingestion of glycerin. Even if sialorrhea(excess salivation) was caused locally in the mouth, the glycerin would still be swallowed and would eventually make it's way to the lower colon over the course of repeated vaping time. Of course, proper clinical studies would have to be performed to confirm this hypothesis.

 

[lookin2quit]

You might be interested to know that artificial sweetners can probably be found in thousands of products and you are probably ingesting on a daily basis, often without knowing it. Nutrasweet, equal, stevia, etc. are in medicines, baking products, breath mints, gum, and on and on.

I know what you are saying tho, when nutrasweet was first introduced into diet colas, I consumed it heavily and even lost my monthlys, yikes! So like you, I definately try to avoid. I love Stevia however.

The use of these sweetners is surrounded by controversy. Sound familiar? Yet aspartame is readily embraced by the FDA.

Yes, I'm aware of the number of things that use artificial sweeteners. I guess for me it depends on how much is in there as to whether I get a reaction or not. I know that for me, if any artificial sweetener is listed among the first few ingredients I definitely can not use it. (I tend to only really look *after* I've used it and gotten a reaction, except for diet stuff which I *know* already causes a reaction for me). I haven't tried Stevia yet, will have to look into it.

 

[lookin2quit]

Thanks, all, for your input. Some of it has admittedly gone over my head (doesn't take much for me when it comes to scientific stuff ). Regardless, it's been an interesting conversation. I *may* try the VG again some time, but for now I'm avoiding it. The experience was not one I'd like to replicate soon, but I guess if sometime I'm left with only the VG cartos until my order arrives I'll give it a shot!

 

[May11]

Hi Looking to Quit,

I am new to vaping also, started out on a pg based liquid and had a bad reaction to it. I knew it was the pg because I had a like reaction when it was administered to me through an injection as a carrier during a dental procedure. So I switched to a VG based liquid and thought I was doing ok.

Well, it's day 3 and I am having symptoms like when I eat sugar free candy; sweetened specificially with one or more of the following: Mannitol, Xylitol, Maltitol, Sorbitol. The stomach cramps are just awful and well if you are like me you know the rest. I've never had a reaction from ingesting Vegetable Glycerine that I recall, so I suspect that one or more of those sugar alcohols/sweeteners (Mannitol, Xylitol, Maltitol, and Sorbitol) is an ingredient in one or more of the flavorings that was added to the vegetable glycerine/nicotine mix. I am going to contact the company I purchased the liquid from and see if I'm right, which ones contain them and if I can avoid the problem by staying away from certain flavors. I would put money on it being in the cheesecake flavored and black licorice flavored liquids. The other 3 I purchased were Tobacco, Tobacco -Virginia flue cured and Tobacco -Clove. I will be really bummed if this won't work for me because of glycol/glycerine bases so won't be leaving any stone unturned.

Maybe you could contact the company you purchased from and ask the same.

By the way Stevia is a actually a natural sweetner and for me a great choice if it is not mixed with something else or highly processed - no side effects at all. Tastes best to me when it's mixed with tart foods, like yogurt.

If any one else has had similar experience with this problem and found a solution would love to hear if it was the vegetable glycerine you reacted to or if it was instead a sugar alcohol in one of the flavorings.

 

[lookin2quit]

May11--
Thanks for sharing your experience. I probably will try to contact the people who made my carto and see if they can shed any light on this for me. Sorry to hear about your problems using PG and hope that you can tolerate some of the other VG flavors. I think I read somewhere about PEG, can't remember what that stands for, but it's an alternative to PG/VG, so maybe if it comes down to it you can try that.

I'll look forward to hearing what you find out, and of course if anyone else has experienced this and knows whether it's the VG itself or if the company adds some sweetener to the VG please let us know.

PS--I know my sig says one day vaping, but that's only because I had slipped so I restarted it from the day I finally gave up all analogs. Otherwise it would have been something like 4 weeks

 

[May11]

Lookin2quit - Thanks, I will post when I hear back. Congrats on the 4 weeks. I quit about 7 years ago for a year then started up again and have only been able to put together a few days here and there since. I would really like for this to work for me because I have such a hard time with the other nicotine replacement options. I was at a family function about a month ago and my aunt with emphysema was there, she smoked for years and is in rough shape. Later my mom asked my why seeing her didn't bother me enough to quit and I couldn't say why. But here I am a few weeks later giving it another shot. Today I can smell well enough to smell my car and my clothes - simply disgusting.

 

[lookin2quit]

Lookin2quit - Thanks, I will post when I hear back. Congrats on the 4 weeks. I quit about 7 years ago for a year then started up again and have only been able to put together a few days here and there since. I would really like for this to work for me because I have such a hard time with the other nicotine replacement options. I was at a family function about a month ago and my aunt with emphysema was there, she smoked for years and is in rough shape. Later my mom asked my why seeing her didn't bother me enough to quit and I couldn't say why. But here I am a few weeks later giving it another shot. Today I can smell well enough to smell my car and my clothes - simply disgusting.

Keep on trying, it *will* happen! I tried just about everything to quit. My dad got esophageal cancer and eventually died from it 2 years ago, but even seeing how bad he got wasn't enough. I *did* want to quit, just nothing was doing it for me. I still end up having one here and there (situational triggers, but now I'm going to up my nic level for those times). Whatever you do, don't give up!

 

[Nikhil]

You can also use Stevia to sweeten your e-liquid, just make sure you get it pure. Here's a couple places that carry it without any additives:

Nature's Flavors : Natures Flavors Stevia Drops
NuNaturals, Clear Stevia, 2 fl oz (59 ml) - iHerb.com

Congratulations and good luck!

 

[lookin2quit]

Okay, so I contacted my supplier and he said there are no artificial sweeteners in their cartos, only VG and flavorings. So at this point it appears that I either can't tolerate VG (at least inhaled or at the concentration used in cartos) or there's something about the flavoring. I'm leaning towards VG intolerance, though, since I had used a PG version of this flavor with no problem.