Prolonged Inhalation of Propylene Glycol My Story/Belief

[KevNewEngland]

Hi all,
I have been vaping for 2 years and 4 months. Sometime in the early spring of this year, I started itching, in one spot, right below the belly button. Over time, the itching began in other areas as well and slowly got to the point where it was making me miserable (after about 3-4 months). I had trouble sleeping with all the itching. I won't bore you will all the details but I will say, it was not a good thing to have to go through.
I dismissed the vaping as the cause because I had been doing it for almost 2 years. I saw 2 doctors who couldn't help me. I Iooked elsewhere for clues as to why this happened; soap, detergents, yada yada. Nothing proved to be the cause.
So, almost 2 weeks ago, I decided to cut back my vaping by about 80%. At that point, I figured it would be stupid not to try it. Turns out, it was stupid not to try it earlier! Within 2 days, I saw improvement. After a week, I knew I was on to something. Today, the itching and rashes are 95% gone. I vaped almost constantly and I believe that, over time, the PG built up in my body and that's what caused it. Based on what I've found researching this, it is not uncommon for this to happen.
I don't wish this on anybody. I just thought I would throw it out there as a sort of "warning" about the possibility that excessive PG may cause some people to experience the same thing I did. You don't want to!!!

 

[tj99959]

Sorry to hear that you are having a problem.
Yes it's possible to be allergic to PG, also possible to be allergic to VG, also possible to be allergic to any one of the hundreds of flavorings used. Hell it's even possible to become allergic to tap water.

It would be interesting to know what flavors you were using.

 

[Robino1]

I'm sorry this happened to you
Allergies can develop at anytime in a persons life. Sucks though.

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

Let's be careful not to confuse correlation with causation. Just because event B occurred in the same time period that event A occurred (or ceased), it does not necessarily mean that A caused B.

As tj pointed out, you could have developed an allergy to a number of things. Allergies and their symptoms also change as we grow older. For example, I was never allergic to mold spores. Now, during some times of the year I can barely breathe without eating Benadryls like Tic Tacs.

Skin rashes are pretty common and yes, they can make you miserable. But your body's immune system eventually wins the battle and the rash clears up by itself. You might have just had a rash caused by exposure to almost anything and the fact that it went away after you cut back on vaping might well have just been a coincidence.

Or, as you believe, it might well have been because of the reduced PG intake. Either is just as likely, given the limited data available.

 

[Dark passenger]

Good post IBCR media...

 

[Bob Chill]

This is interesting. I suppose it's possible that you had pg sensitivity pre-wired but it took time and/or other environmental factors to set it off.

I used to be insanely allergic to poison ivy and for whatever reason I'm not at all anymore. I also never used to get seasonable allergies but now each and every spring / fall they hit me and get worse each year. I'm in my mid 40's and never took allergy medicine my entire life but now I have to take it in the spring or I go nuts. I can still suck it up in the fall but probably not much longer.

Bodies are super complex and full of surprises over time.

I really hope it's something else and not the pg in your case.

ETA: IBCR, we posted at the same time and appear to be on the exact same page. It's hard to say with any certainty what is going on

 

[dylan199]

Very interesting. Glad you were able to find the cause.

 

[Ryedan]

Thanks for the warning KevNewEngland and sorry you are having this problem. Yup, it wouldn't surprise me if this was the result of a PG allergy. I Googled it and found this. They're not talking about vaping, but I suspect it may still apply. Then again, it may be the result of different juice ingredients, or it could be something else entirely. Allergy testing will tell the tale. If this is it, I really hope it is not bad because PG is in a lot of things.

Best of luck with it all

 

[Caridwen]

Let's be careful not to confuse correlation with causation. Just because event B occurred in the same time period that event A occurred (or ceased), it does not necessarily mean that A caused B.

As tj pointed out, you could have developed an allergy to a number of things. Allergies and their symptoms also change as we grow older. For example, I was never allergic to mold spores. Now, during some times of the year I can barely breathe without eating Benadryls like Tic Tacs.

Skin rashes are pretty common and yes, they can make you miserable. But your body's immune system eventually wins the battle and the rash clears up by itself. You might have just had a rash caused by exposure to almost anything and the fact that it went away after you cut back on vaping might well have just been a coincidence.

Or, as you believe, it might well have been because of the reduced PG intake. Either is just as likely, given the limited data available.

That's what we do on this forum, share experiences.

Thanks for you post KevNewEngland- I'll move this to the Health Section.

 

[WinstonSmith]

I started itching, in one spot, right below the belly button.

If you wear a belt buckle that makes contact with your skin this may be due to a nickel allergy. I am not sure where else your rash was spreading but if it is primarily right below the belly button it might be a skin reaction to your belt buckle. Nickel allergies are a common skin allergy and most belt buckles and a lot of cheap metal jewelry have nickel in them.

 

[Sane Asylum]

If you wear a belt buckle that makes contact with your skin this may be due to a nickel allergy. I am not sure where else your rash was spreading but if it is primarily right below the belly button it might be a skin reaction to your belt buckle. Nickel allergies are a common skin allergy and most belt buckles and a lot of cheap metal jewelry have nickel in them.

That's an excellent observation. I've gotten rashes in that area at times because of certain jeans I wear when a top is not tucked in. I do kind of find it unusual that a rash from PG would just be in one spot. With that said, I appreciate the OP sharing his story. There's a lot we don't know about vaping PG and it's important that everyone share their experiences.

 

[KevNewEngland]

It would be interesting to know what flavors you were using.

I DIY and made several flavors.

You might have just had a rash caused by exposure to almost anything and the fact that it went away after you cut back on vaping might well have just been a coincidence.

I thought it might be too. This past weekend, which was a 3 day weekend for me because of Columbus Day, I noticed I was vaping more than I had been, especially Sunday and Monday. Not surprisingly, on Tuesday, I could see and feel my skin promptly punishing me for that. So, that night, I had my last few puffs. Yesterday, I was much better. Today, I didn't even need Lubriderm, which had helped me through all of this.

This is interesting. I suppose it's possible that you had pg sensitivity pre-wired but it took time and/or other environmental factors to set it off.

I really hope it's something else and not the pg in your case.

I cannot say for sure if it was the PG, the VG, or the nicotine. I suspect it was the PG. When I made this thread, I wasn't sure if vaping had anything to do with it. After this weekend, I now know that indeed, vaping was the cause.

Yes, I'll miss it. I just gave a friend about $350 worth of "stuff" I had stocked up. I'm no longer suffering so it is worth it and I'm much happier now than I have been in many many months. Besides, I was getting a little tired of lugging the Lavatube around. And for what it's worth, it is MUCH MUCH easier to give up vaping than it is to quit the analogs.

 

[Miggs Beaumont]

i am 36 years old, i have been messing with cars since i was 15, taking them apart working on engines and so on, about 3 years ago i started getting cracked skin on my hands, i'm not talking just a bit of dry flaky skin i mean 3-5mm deep cracks, they can be extremely sore and sometimes i can't use my hands they get that bad, i've tried numerous creams from the doctor and even had uv treatment at the hospital but nothing worked, eventually the doctor sent me for a patch test with various chemicals to see what was causing this problem, it turned out there was an ingredient (i forget the name now but it was something related to the silicone family) that was in various things i use that was giving me a reaction, i have been using these ingredients for years but never suffered with this problem until recently, the main things i use that has this chemical in is synthetic or semi synthetic car engine oil and car polishes and waxes but the most common was chewing gum, as an analogue smoker i was always chewing a piece of gum after a smoke so as to not have nasty smokers breath or the taste in my mouth, i cut out the chewing gum and went onto mints but as my 2 main sources of income, car mechanics and car detailing have me using these chemicals all the time i was still having some problems, my doctor then gave me some immune suppressant tablets and since i've been on them i am now 98% sore free, i get the odd bit of flaking skin but no massive deep wounds anymore, i do however need to go for regular blood tests to make sure it's all ok in my system but i'm kind of cured, the moral of that massive story is, i'm a creature of habit with no allergies through my life, i hit 32/33 and suddenly develop an allergy to a product(s) i've used half of my life, you may not be allergic to something straight away but you can always develop an allergy later in life

 

[Criticalmass]

There's been no studies on toxicity buildup within our systems and pg. I have been thinking about this and wondering if pg is stored in the body or if it was flushed out on a regular basis.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

 

[Train2]

I was going to ask, but your most recent post specified it - the nicotine could just as well be involved.
You may try vaping 0 nic, as well as trying to vape all VG, to see if you can vape without a reaction...

 

[KevNewEngland]

There's been no studies on toxicity buildup within our systems and pg. I have been thinking about this and wondering if pg is stored in the body or if it was flushed out on a regular basis.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

I have read that PG does not build up in the body. I have also read that it does! I think in my case, it did. I don't think this was an allergic reaction, either.

I was going to ask, but your most recent post specified it - the nicotine could just as well be involved.
You may try vaping 0 nic, as well as trying to vape all VG, to see if you can vape without a reaction...

Nah. I'm done with it. Thanks, though.

 

[MiamiMom63]

Yes, we can become allergic to things we never were allergic to before. I used to be able to wear any underarm deodorants with no problem. About 8 years ago or so I started getting these really sore knots under my armpits that were like sore bumps under the skin. I tried alot of different deodorants and finally found one hypoallergenic one called Almay and have never had a problem since. I've met a couple other people also that are allergic to anti-persperants. Maybe that's what it is that bothered me, I'm not sure. But it was a huge problem for awhile. I once even used a different deodorant just once because I was out of town and forgot mine, and I started hurting before the end of the day.