New and sick and not sure what to vape or what

[jicky]

Hello, I'm still new here. Let me back up and explain how I got into vaping:

On July 26th I woke up coughing my brains out and practically unable to catch my breath. Same thing the next morning (embarrassing because my husband-who does not smoke-was home to witness this). I felt like I was getting bronchitis, a flu, a cold or allergies cause my sinuses felt full when I'd wake up, and I knew I was due for something like this since I had been smoking a lot for most of the summer. Plus there is something going around in my area, I know of several people who are sick. But it was enough to scare the heck outta me and think about quitting smoking. On August 1st I got a vaping kit and cut my smoking in 1/2. I wrote a previous post about taking baby steps into quitting. Some days I felt ok, others not so good so I went to the doctor he said I had a bronchial infection & put me on 5 days of antibiotics. Was feeling better until the antibiotics stopped and I'm back to coughing, waking up all stuffed up, wheezing and breathless at times. Went back to the doc today and I have pneumonia. Ugh.

So I'm wondering if I should be vaping at all right now? Is there moisture in the vapor that might make this worse? Sorry I'm still new at this. I have a mix of liquids, some 100%vg, some a mix of pg and vg, would one be better than the other?

BTW this is an odd sickness, I've had bronchitis before and I'd cough up, uh, chunks of phlegm-sorry to be gross-but with this I don't cough up much, unless I'm hovering over boiling water by the stove. Sometimes the boiling water and an analog would be enough for me to cough up whatever needed to come up and I'd be good for the day.

Anyway, thanks in advance for any advice....

 

[bfrie]

Well, when I'm sick I vape menthol. Really helps with the sore throats. I'm not a doctor but I need it's a lot better for you than smoking while your sick

 

[Rickajho]

Shout out from Mission Hill!!!

Oh gee - pneumonia is a scary thing. I don't think there is anything going with vaping that can make it worse per se. But same overall rules would apply here - you don't want to do anything to aggravate your condition. Smoking - yeah, that wouldn't be good.

For some people PG in liquids is irritating and can make you cough. So avoiding high PG liquids would also be a good idea.

The other thing to avoid, and typically throws new vapers into coughing fits anyway, is lung inhaling when you vape - the same way you did as a smoker. With vaping you get your nic absorption through the mucous linings in the oral cavity anyway - not by lung inhalation. Do the "cigar thing" - take big, sort of open mouth pulls off the e-cigs, draw it in to your mouth and back of the throat and no further. This is a good time for you to practice the technique if you are still vaping like you used to smoke.

Ultimately? For me if I got that sick with a respiratory "anything" - cold from hell with congestion, allergies from hell turning into bronchitis - you cross a line where smoking was just not gonna happen. There is nothing but aggravation and zero reward from even trying. The same thing is true of vaping. If I get that sick I just stop or severely cut it back. If your body is telling you "Don't do that" listen when that happens.

Feel better!

 

[Sed Contra]

I've actually been wondering lately what it'll be like to be sick and be a vaper. As a smoker, when I was all snotty and whatnot, I'd generally switch from Marlboro Lights to Marlboro Menthol - Lights just tasted seriously gross when I was all mucousy. Maybe it'll be the same with vaping? Maybe no flavor will taste good and only a strong menthol will do the trick. Strangely, I'm actually looking forward to finding out.

 

[Shadus]

IANAD- That said, if you're concerned stop both for a few days till you recover. Nicotine is a vaso-constrictor and makes respiratory illnesses like bronchitis and pneumonia often significantly worse (although the warmth sometimes makes it feel better temporarily.) Worst case, ask your doctor.

 

[fabricator4]

You should probably have asked your doctor about vaping - most of them know about it now and there's a good chance they would have been supportive, since anything is better for you than smoking.

PG can be an irritant, so if there's something that will cause you problems, that would be it. VG is thick and is what gives the vapour body, so you might feel some discomfort inhaling this with pneumonia - it will probably make you cough.

You should probably minimise whatever you are putting in your lungs right now. It's possible to vape without inhaling at all - draw the vapour into your mouth and pump it out your nose while exhaling though your nose as well. The nicotine is absorbed mostly in the tissues of the throat and nasal cavity in any case, so it's only the inhalation sensation that you will be missing out on. If you are having problems with sinus then a menthol vape or menthol lozenges may clear the nose and make vaping easier.

You should also be able to do a partial inhale as well - draw the vapour to the back of your thoat slowly, then when you feel it hit the throat exhale through the nose. This is the best way to absorb nicotine quickly - not a full chest inhale. This is the technique I use in the morning when I just have to get some nicotine into my system quickly. (Yes I was always one of those that had to have a ciggy withing 30 seconds of my feet hitting the floor - even before the coffee was on).

Something that produces a good quantity of vapour is more satisfying with these techniques. I use a Vamo V2 and a Protank, but it takes the Protank a minute or two to warm up in the morning. I find it usefull to hold the button in for a second or two before I start to vape as this pre-heats the coil a little when necessary.

 

[nicetucu]

I'm not a doctor either, nor do I play one on TV (sorry a little humor). But what I've found as a vapor is I don't get sick as often as I used to. Well actually not at all that I can remember. I would get colds easily from grand children, but not at all these days. I think it has something to do with PG but please don't quote me on this. I've heard different positive things about PG use, but some do have an allergy towards it.

I was one of those people who would smoke while sick almost as much as well feeling reasonably well (cause as a smoker you truly never feel great). Talk to your doctor or hopefully someone with a medical background can steer you in the right direction. Good luck on feeling better.

 

[jicky]

Shout out from Mission Hill!!!

The other thing to avoid, and typically throws new vapers into coughing fits anyway, is lung inhaling when you vape - the same way you did as a smoker. With vaping you get your nic absorption through the mucous linings in the oral cavity anyway - not by lung inhalation. Do the "cigar thing" - take big, sort of open mouth pulls off the e-cigs, draw it in to your mouth and back of the throat and no further. This is a good time for you to practice the technique if you are still vaping like you used to smoke.

Hi Neighbor! Actually, I'm north of Boston, but I'm no stranger to the Hill.

Yeah, I don't think I wasn't fully inhaling the the vapor anyway. I don't think I deeply inhale smoke, either, not every drag at least.

As a smoker, when I was all snotty and whatnot, I'd generally switch from Marlboro Lights to Marlboro Menthol - Lights just tasted seriously gross when I was all mucousy. Maybe it'll be the same with vaping? Maybe no flavor will taste good and only a strong menthol will do the trick. Strangely, I'm actually looking forward to finding out.

The Marlboro lights were kinda tasting like cigars compared to the vapes. I was thinking of trying menthol, don't have any menthol liquid in the house....altho my next door neighbor vapes and she's strictly menthol, an ex-Kool smoker. I can picture it now:* Knocks on door* "Can I borrow a bit of your menthol e juice?" Lol.

IMO, about getting sick while vaping, you may not get sick like you used to, I'm guessing. I know that when I went from regular cigs to roll your own in 2009 the bronchitis every winter stopped. Actually, I haven't had bronchitis since I stopped the factory made smokes.

 

[jicky]

IANAD- That said, if you're concerned stop both for a few days till you recover. Nicotine is a vaso-constrictor and makes respiratory illnesses like bronchitis and pneumonia often significantly worse (although the warmth sometimes makes it feel better temporarily.) Worst case, ask your doctor.

II was one of those people who would smoke while sick almost as much as well feeling reasonably well (cause as a smoker you truly never feel great). Talk to your doctor or hopefully someone with a medical background can steer you in the right direction. Good luck on feeling better.

Yup, I'm like that, too, smoke right through whatever ails me. Of course I cut back a little. Right now I've been sleeping a lot so I don't do much of anything.

My doctor asked if I smoke. I don't know if he asked me before, I'm of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" school of thought when it comes to telling doctors that I smoke. I told him I cut waaay down on my smoking and have been using an e-cigarette, that uses vapor instead of smoke and tobacco. He looked at me like I had 2 heads or something.

 

[ravenlily]

I used to get bronchitis (would last for months) and pneumonia all the time when i was a smoker. Switched to vaping 1.5 years ago. Ive gotten bronchitis once and it lasted a week. Really glad youre switching over.

 

[Rickajho]

Uh-oh - you got one of those "two headed" Doctors. Honestly - if you can be honest with that MD that's a problem right there. Even if your MD has an opinion about vaping it's better to know what it is than get creepy weird stares. At least my MD and Allergist are both pro vaping - and definitely anti smoking. Did an e-cig 101 with both of them (how it works, what's in the liquids) and neither of them sees a problem with vaping.

 

[jicky]

Yes, my bronchitis would last months also, the cough & the carrpy feeling from it. Haven't had pneumonia before, but I just knew something was wrong because I felt wiped out all the time and couldn't breath normally. Ugh.

Thanks for the advice & well wishes everyone! I just made a pot of soup and I'm going to have me some!!

 

[Kellycat]

Vaping with pneumonia, joy of joys..I can say from personal experience you may want to cut down on the VG intake, I find as Fabricator said it's a heavier component to the vapor and can give you a bit of tightness in the lungs if you're vaping ultra-high VG liquids for a long period. VG also, in my experience, seems to draw in more moisture from the air, the one or two days I vaped high-VG regularly I was coughing up water for a bit.. Definitely not something you want to be doing while you've got a disease that's already flooding your lungs in fluid.

If you're not allergic to PG, and can handle the throat hit like Rick mentioned above, try 100% PG liquids for a little while. Seems to be a thinner vapor and less likely to trigger fluid build-up if you have to do a lung inhale. Personally that's the only way I vape, I've tried the mouth/nose method and it's not all that satisfying from a 'habit' standpoint. It does get you nicotine, but I was so used to a lungful of smoke that it's really hard to force my body to do something differently, even after three months of trying to coax it into the cigar-style puffing.

Also may be worthwhile trying to cut your nicotine level just a bit, if you regularly vape 24mg for example, try an 18mg liquid, the decrease in nicotine might ease the 'twitch' reaction in your throat that makes you cough. Of course you may end up vaping more to get your fix so it may be a wash..

 

[jicky]

Uh-oh - you got one of those "two headed" Doctors. Honestly - if you can be honest with that MD that's a problem right there. Even if your MD has an opinion about vaping it's better to know what it is than get creepy weird stares. At least my MD and Allergist are both pro vaping - and definitely anti smoking. Did an e-cig 101 with both of them (how it works, what's in the liquids) and neither of them sees a problem with vaping.

I really don't think he's heard of it before. When I see him again I'll educate him. Surely I'm not the only vaper patient he has....

 

[AprilRain]

I used to get bronchitis & pneumonia often when I was smoking too. I've got asthma on top of it, so yeah... it's like I was kind of suicidal or something. It always seemed like when I'd try to quit, that's when I'd get sick. I played around with vaping & smoking... back & forth for a couple of years before I finally quit smoking completely. What pushed me over the edge was yet another bout of nasty bronchitis. I threw out the cigarettes and just vaped. That was about a year ago and I don't have any desire whatsoever to pick up a cigarette. I can't even stand someone smoking around me. AND, I haven't been sick since! I guess the point of my little story is, if the choice is to smoke, or to vape, then VAPE for crying out loud!

 

[SouthernBliss]

I am going to agree with Kellycat about the VG cut down rather than a PG cut down. I'd also suggest avoiding anything that has a creamy feel to it as well. PG is actually antiviral and antibacterial and is commonly used in things like nasal sprays and some asthma inhalers.

 

[Rickajho]

I really don't think he's heard of it before. When I see him again I'll educate him. Surely I'm not the only vaper patient he has....

Go to the CASAA.org site. There is fact sheet stuff there you can either order for really cheap or available to print yourself. Depends on the Doctor. Some work well with a chat, others do better with printed material.

 

[RedhatPat]

All doctors are different. My doctor rolls his eyes at vaping. So bringing up questions about inhaling VG, PG? Yeah right. My dentist on the other hand loves it. I guess he see's the benefits more rapidly from his patients than a physician might.

I would recommend you try the Patch first and if that fails, try vaping. I've been vaping for 11 months and recently had oral surgery so I put my gear away, slapped on a patch, and lived in patch-jail for a few weeks until I was fully recovered, then went back to vaping when I wasout of the woods.

Overreacted? Maybe. But had I vaped during those horrible two weeks of mouth treatments, I'm pretty sure it would have prolonged my recovery time. So please, try what is available out there to quit smoking and IF that fails, I mean really fails, then conceed to vaping.

RHP