Ordered to stop using my PV by my Doctor

[mini_art]

I am asthmatic, I have used inhalers with pg in them for many yrs
.
First I have to ask, when you say that your lung shut , as in you were literally ghasping for air. That is a true asthma attack.

If you were just short of breath, that may be a lot of things happening, just the act of stopping smoking can cause that for a while.

Many people experience that when they stop smoking even if they never vaped.

Asthma is a spasm of the lung. it can be triggered by many things, allergies can aggavate it , stress, anxiety, physical activity, are just a few triggers for an asthma attack.

Anxiety is a self feeding reaction too, you think something is happening so it immediately gets worse. Anxiety attacks can immatate a heart attack, or asthma attack with the physical response your body makes to the anxiety.

If you are using your pv today with no ill effects and using vg, you might want to switch to all pg. Vg is a culprit for some for a short of breath feeling,

pg is used in the asthma inhaler the doc gave you more then likely. it is rarely listed as an ingredient on it because it is just the carrier medium for the med.

You could have had an allergic asthma attack, however if you are still vaping and having no reaction today, then it doesnt seem likely.

I would find another doc, the one in the emergency reacted with limited knowlege .

However , dont expect docs in general to know alot about this.

Above all , do what makes you comfortable.

 

[mini_art]

Sorry, we must have posted at the same time.
If you are having a reaction to pg then approach the inhaler with caution , it may contain pg too.

 

[orville99]

I'd definitely get a second opinion. I used to coach HS Cross Country, and a med kit full of atomizers for athletes that got ashma attacks from breathing in too much oxygen too quickly (hyperventilation-induced anaphalaxis), or from an excess of endorphins that are released under the stress of competition (stress-induced ashma). Damn good thing they didn't go to your ER, the doctor would have banned breathing or movement.

 

[Chelseafn]

Im glad to hear you are ok. but my first question would be...Why are you giving me an inhaler which has the same thing in the ecig? But telling me not to use the ecig? Seems to me the Doc needs to do some research and pass it on to co-workers.

 

[Ironlion]

[/quote]According to her, there is research to suggest that inhaling water vapour can cause such reactions.[/quote]

Your doctor is suffering from a case of "Post hoc, ergo propter hoc". After it, therefore because of it.

The symptoms you're describing are nothing I've heard before. You used to be a smoker? If this is the case, this activity would have irritated your bronchii far more than any PV would have, and if that wasn't a problem then the PV is unlikely to be the culprit.

It could be the liquid that you have been using, if there was an allergen in them that very likely could have done it.

Also you said you held it in your lungs? This is actually not the best thing to do. Nicotine is absorbed into the lungs right away upon inhaling the vapor, much as it is right away upon inhaling cigarette smoke. Holding the vapor in for too long could lead to discomfort.

 

[champagnekaty]

Hiya, thanks for your comment mini art.
When the attack started, it happened the instant id taken a really long puff down into my lungs. The only way to describe it is that everything closed tight.
I found myself literally gasping for air and i could only take really tiny breaths, otherwise it was incrediably tight and painful and i would cough.
The doctor said id had a sever bronchial attack. Even this morning, i wasnt much better so i saw the doctor again, this time at my local surgery.
I should probably point out that id never actually quit the analogues, not yet anyway. Whilst im writing this, im still vaping with no adverse reaction. My chest is still somewhat sore however but the doc said that it would take a few days for everything to return to normal.
Unfortunately, as regards to switching to pg, i suffer from horrendous headaches which is the reason i changed to vg.
Thanks for the advise on the inhaler, ive only taken one dose but it didnt help any x

 

[CaptJay]

If the inhaler has PG (or VG) in it (as a carrier to the astham meds) I would ring this doctor and tell her she has basically prescribed a 'cold PV' to you after telling you not to use one. She can't have it both ways. I would also seek a second opinion and excercise caution in using your current set up though - none of us are doctors and even the ones that are can't diagnose you online. I wish you all the best and hope youre feeling heaps better soon

 

[wv2win]

My doctor was very pleased with my not smoking anymore and wanted more information to offer to his other patients who still use tobacco.

Taking a long drag on a 901 (auto I presume) could also be part of the problem. If you tried a good 5 volt mod, you won't need to take any long, hard draws. Short, small ones tend to do the trick with the 5 volt PV's.

 

[Kate51]

The ingredients in ejuice will not cause asthma, but certain chemical irritation is certainly possible. Check the ingredient list on your juice, if possible.
I would stop explaining an ecig to the Doc at once and start asking many questions about asthma!!
Dr is out of bounds to ban anything until you fully understand the concept of your condition, if indeed you have prior unknown asthma, which would indeed really be rare!!
I would also find a different doctor.
Direct inhaling of anything but clean air not adviseable, did you direct inhale cigarettes with no problem??? The comparison should be glaringly simple to understand! If you SMOKED CIGARETTES you have no problem with an e-cig, it is definitely something else. Maybe you just choked: maybe you should just drink more water to keep your tissues hydrated to avoid them sticking together.
Only way to open your airway without outside help is to SWALLOW. CALMLY. Hard to do, I know, but it may save your life. I also have exertion induced asthma, and have saved my life by Electronic Cigarette Replacement Therapy. And I also had to change from PG to VG-based juice. PG just too drying. And I do now drink LOTS of water. But the 3 packs of cigarettes a day would have made me dead by now.
EVERY chemical present in your ejuice is definitely in cigarettes as well. But the opposite is definitely NOT the case.

 

[orville99]

According to her, there is research to suggest that inhaling water vapour can cause such reactions.

If that were the case, then Vick's would be getting sued by every mother in the world who's ever used one of their vaporizers over the last 100 years or so (usually on doctors advice BTW) whenever their kids were congested.

That's about the most absurd generalization I've ever heard.

 

[Knifemaker]

Scary for sure! I've had it happen here in the Knife Shop after getting a big dose from phenol gas from a piece of micarta that I was shaping into a handle.

I showed my pv to my doctors and they were both fascinated and very supportive. They thought it was great that after 40 years, I was trying to quit smoking.

(I'm not! I love smoking. I just enjoy the e's a LOT more, and no longer have the desire to smoke tobacco. WooHoo!!!)

I hope you figure this one out soon. I do notice my chest feels slightly tighter at night after vaping juice with more vg in it.

Mike

 

[champagnekaty]

Thanks for your comment orville99, it is a good job that they didnt attend my a +e, otherwise they may have been told just that!
Im not sure if this has anything to do with the doctors reaction but ive noticed that many of the people who've commented are actually from america.
Over here in england, i find the doctors arent as open to the idea of e-cigarettes and want to discourage its use. My doctor wanted to know where and how i was buying mine from. And couldnt quite believe i was able to.
Chelseafn, i should have pointed out that many of the ingredients found in e-cigs are present in inhalers. In truth, i wasnt very well prepared with answers. I think what i need to do is find some sort of leafltet i could print off and give to my doctor with the information needed. Does anyone know of anywhere i could obtain a copy of something like this? Ive managed to arrange an appointment with my regular doctor for next tuesday. It would be nice to 'educate' some english doctors on e-cigarettes.
I wish id never mentioned my e-cig, in heinsight i wouldnt have. Id just scared myself a little bit. Now i have to try and find some excuse to justify my still using it to the doctor x

 

[Ironlion]

According to her, there is research to suggest that inhaling water vapour can cause such reactions.

Your doctor is suffering from a case of "Post hoc, ergo propter hoc". After it, therefore because of it.

The symptoms you're describing are nothing I've heard before. You used to be a smoker? If this is the case, this activity would have irritated your bronchii far more than any PV would have, and if that wasn't a problem then the PV is unlikely to be the culprit.

It could be the liquid that you have been using, if there was an allergen in them that very likely could have done it.

Either way, I would suggest seeking the opinion of another medical doctor. I Can understand where your doctor is coming from. The long-term effects of PVs cannot be known yet, most of our expectations are based upon what is known about VG, PG, or PeG (that it is safe). On the flip side, for short-term use, we can be assured that the only dangerous chemical in the PV liquid (aside from, say, contaminants or bad chemical flavourings) is nicotine.

When quitting smoking there are "approved" medical devices, drugs, and treatments. However, the vast majority of people who quit smoking (up to 75% of ex-smokers) do so by quitting 'cold turkey', without the use of drugs, patches, inhalers, gum, or other quitting aids. Furthermore, scientific studies on people who "quit" smoking only measure "quitting" as someone who ceases smoking for longer than a specific period of time: 6 to 12 months. Of people who "Quit", fewer than 10% will be able to keep it up for more than a year, meaning that 90% of people who quit "the right way" end up smoking again. the right way meaning, in your doctor's case, buying expensive quitting medications or other quitting aids and continuing to use them (you know, some doctors get paid kickbacks for prescribing this stuff).

Because of this, I would seek the opinion of another doctor. Every good doctor will tell you that in almost all cases, quitting smoking will improve your health. Most will be happy to prescribe quitting aids and treatment programs for you if you need help. But unsolicited attempts at forcing these programs and methods down your throat are the sign of a doctor who is not entirely looking out for your best interest to begin with.

 

[nowhereman]

Hiya, thanks for your comment mini art.
When the attack started, it happened the instant id taken a really long puff down into my lungs. The only way to describe it is that everything closed tight.
I found myself literally gasping for air and i could only take really tiny breaths, otherwise it was incrediably tight and painful and i would cough.
The doctor said id had a sever bronchial attack. Even this morning, i wasnt much better so i saw the doctor again, this time at my local surgery.
I should probably point out that id never actually quit the analogues, not yet anyway. Whilst I'm writing this, I'm still vaping with no adverse reaction. My chest is still somewhat sore however but the doc said that it would take a few days for everything to return to normal.
Unfortunately, as regards to switching to pg, i suffer from horrendous headaches which is the reason i changed to vg.
Thanks for the advise on the inhaler, ive only taken one dose but it didnt help any x

By chance had you smoked a few cigs before and then resumed vaping or vice versa?

If this forum wants to resource it a "National Vaping doctors referral link" might be in order.....Just a thought !

 

[Saintscruiser]

I was getting headaches from pg. It didn't dawn on me until just this moment. As a 2 pad person, until 2 weeks ago, I have experienced asthma symptoms, but nothing like what you're talking about. Since it was as bad as you say, I would proceed with caution. Since the ER doctor was not familiar with an e-cig, and since that's the only thing you had done differently, it makes sense to me that she would say what she did, because you have to remember, doctors are extremely cautious of mal-practice suits these days. She was CYA-ing. I think, if it were me, I would find and print out as much info on e-cigs and present the documentation to your regular family physician for a diagnosis. In the interim, just proceed, like I said, cautiously and no more deep inhaling like you were doing. All I know is that nothing has budged me from 2 pad in 200 years, and look at me now. I'm closing in on 3 cartons not smoked since I began e-toking.

 

[Poeia]

I do find it astounding how many doctors haven't heard of them. I went for a checkup at a sleep clinic and the doctor there hadn't -- and smoking is a major contributor to sleep apnea.

But my GP had and is delighted. I went for a pulmonary evaluation and the doctor there was delighted as well (as she's the head of pulmonary medicine at Beth Israel Hospital in NYC.) The technician who did the test said I was the first person he'd had who had used a PV to quit smoking -- he thinks most people are afraid it won't work.

I'm not trying to make this about me. I just wanted to point out that lots of doctors are pro-PVs.

What you are vaping consists of basically three things - glycerin/glycerol/VG, nicotine and flavoring. The 4th possibility is propylene glycol which you eliminated because you had a reaction to it. (As people pointed out, it's in asthma inhalers. It's also in gel caps, anesthesia, coated pills, salad dressing, beer, frosting and some coffee.)

All of these ingredients are in cigarettes. (Different flavorings, but they do add that as well.) So having you return to smoking while you try (in vain) to quit again will continue to expose you to those chemicals.

Not only that, she made that decision based solely on the what you said electronic cigarettes are. An emergency room patient in the middle of an asthma attack is hardly the best source for a clear list of all pertinent facts.

You definitely need a second opinion -- either from your primary care physician or from a pulmonologist. The possibilities of what went wrong are numerous. Get it properly checked out so you can make an educated decision.

 

[jj2]

I think what i need to do is find some sort of leafltet i could print off and give to my doctor with the information needed.

Visit CASAA: Link below. They have stuff to print out.

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[VRubin]

My husband had the exact same thing happen to him when he started. By the end of the first day of using nothing but an e-cig, he had severe chest pain and could barely breathe. Switched him to 100% and he was fine.

 

[Wafflestomper]

It can be hard to nail down one thing that caused the event.

I know that some juices irritate my lungs a bit more than others. So to say it was specifically PG is a bit presumptive, and your doctor may need more information about e-cigs/juice in general.

If I overvape Clove juice too long, I get a bit stuffy and tight.
Some flavors may be causing irritation to your lungs. I would take a look at what you are vaping, there maybe a flavoring that doesn't agree with you.

 

[Ragamuffin]

Well, IMO, the doctor at the ER did exactly the right thing. Not knowing anything about the ecig, they recommended you stop doing it, at least until you and your regular doc figure out if you have asthma, some other chronic condition, a one-time incident, or whatever it may be. If they hadn't suggested you not use it anymore, I'd wonder about that. Better to have a doc that errs on the side of too cautious, than one that just assumes something isn't harmful, just because a patient tells them so. Keep in mind people that doc doesn't know if she'll ever see her again, and doesn't want her to go home and have a deadly reaction to something she's not familiar with. The doc has no choice but to tell you not to use it anymore. Now you and your regular doc can talk about it together, and figure it out. Definitely do the follow-up and not assume you'll be fine, since it could be something serious just showing up now, totally unrelated to ecigs. Don't take a chance and blow it off.

It does make me very curious because I am now having a hard time catching my breath very often, several times a day, and I use strictly PG. I also have the dreaded acne, and it isn't improving. So today I started with only VG, and will see how that does. I know the inhalers have some PG in them, but come on, people. You don't use the inhaler all day every day, and there is medicine in them, that likely overides any ill effects of any amount of PG in them. So comparing the pg in the inhaler to the amount in ejuice is senseless.

Do give us an update on how you are feeling, and what the doc says. And if you aren't comfortable after talking to your regular doc, seek another opinion until you are reassured that there isn't something more serious at work there. I wouldn't like it if your regular doc just blew it off to a one time use of PG that day, after using only VG for a long time. Good luck.