Quitters Flu?

[Betty]

Hey again all,

I was going to post this in the Health section, but apparently i cant

My boyfriend has now been happily vaping for three weeks. He's now getting Quitters symptoms which i find strange, or should i? The Nictotine he is inhaling now goes into his mouth and is absorbed to the blood stream that way rather than into the lungs? But...these symptoms, like headaches and flu are symptoms of Nicotine withdrawel. Surely he should only get those if he wasn't using Nicotine?

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[Grenage]

Remember that there is a lot of other junk in normal cigarettes, and I'll wager that these are merely symptoms of the body adjusting. They will probably go away within a couple of weeks.

 

[Schroedinger's cat]

I used to smoke a little more than a pack a day of Marlboro Lights, and with e-cigarettes I went down to 4 a day, plus vaping medium/low nic any time I feel like it (I started e-smoking on Sep 26).

I still have a few symptoms of nicotine withdrawal, including several days of migraine last week (which, in my case, comes on with any excuse it can find, but this was particularly insistent). I assumed this means that I am getting less nicotine than before. Overall, I don't feel better compared to before I started e-smoking (if anything, a little worse). What keeps me going on with this is that I think it's the right thing to e doing, but the reward, so far, is mostly psychological....

 

[PuffnStuff]

well I'm still new to this e-cig thing so don't necessarily take my word for it but I smoked a pack and half per day for years and since I got my e-cig a couple days ago I dropped to 1-2 smokes per day. I'm definitely feeling some smoking withdraws from it even though I'm getting enough nicotine.

I'm betting I'm withdrawing from the other garbage in the cigarettes that I'm no longer getting in my system.

 

[PeteMcArthur]

I did feel a bit off about three weeks without real cigs, very slight flu symptoms. It may be coincidence, there was a cold going around the family, but I did get some headaches. It passed after a week or so.

As others said there are all sorts of stuff in tobacco, very likely it's the body recovering.

 

[fuzzypeg]

Hi Betty.
Possibly me. I'm visiting my GP tomorrow. I've had 3 colds since August, they lasted about 2 weeks each, but what I've got now is more than a cold and I've had it for just over 3 weeks so far. I feel dizzy, shivering, feverish, sore throat, sneezing and coughing, on and off headaches, tired and light headed. I've managed to go to work up until now, God knows how, (My employer goes ballistic if staff have time off) but I had to leave early yesterday as the symptoms got really bad.

 

[Kate]

Hi Peg, welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear that you've been ill, I hope you recover soon.

How long have you been an esmoker and have you cut down or stopped smoking?

 

[helpingmyself]

I've just had a series of really bad days, and today was the worst. I've had a high fever, was unable to have a conversation as I was not giving reasonable responses, shortness of breath, dizziness, achey joints, severe migraines, dry mouth, and loss of voice.

My son-in-law, went to the computer and found some articles on "Quitters Flu" and sure enough these symtoms were listed. He brought it to my attention. They were on the way to taking me to the hospital, I was that bad this morning.

I've been vaping for 23 days, and was so proud of myself getting rid of all the poisons I'd been putting into my body for 43 years. For the last 4 years, I smoked 3 packs a day! I was surely killing myself.

The first reaction I had happened on Mother's Day when we were at a restaurant. We had to leave because I actually fell asleep at the table no matter how I tried to stay awake. It was 6 pm. My husband had to support me all the way to the car because I was so dizzy. Then about 1 1/2 weeks ago, I came to stay with my daughter because she is ready to have her baby, and has a 2 year old. (This is the son-in-law that is helping me and discovered the Quitter's Flu. At that time, I also started playing with flavors, which cut my dose in half. And I also cut down vaping even more, not wanting the my grandbaby to see me using the e-cig.

I'm hoping this will pass. Has anyone had such severe symptoms as I?

 

[seminolewind]

I think I had some muscle aches like in my shoulders and chest muscles. I had dry mouth in the morning. But that was it for a week. I actually felt better, and laughed more and talked more. I hope your flu passes quick.
I've heard of allergies to PG or VG, maybe trying the one your not vaping?

 

[Wolf]

Remember that analog (regular) cigs have a lot of other toxins too. Your body will go through withdrawal from those too. If you vape a lot more than you smoke/d (like the rest of us), this can cause the dry mouth and throat. You need to drink LOTS of water. This may alleviate the dry mouth and sore throat. You may also have a touch of a regular flu. Don't allow yourself to become dehydrated and if you feel that bad, go to the doctor. There are anti-virals available if you do have a flu that is real bad.

 

[Annastasia]

I've only been vaping a short time, but I've cut cigarettes out almost completely. I keep waiting to feel better, too. For the past few days I've had kind of a low-grade stomach flu thing going on, but I don't feel sick otherwise. I'm wondering if it's cigarette withdrawls, or if perhaps I'm actually overdoing it on the nicotine from my e-cig. It pretty much never left my hand the first few days. I'm slowly cutting it back now, and spend more time chewing the tip than taking a drag.

I do notice that I'm not coughing as much at night, and I walked up a hill that always winded me before without even noticing it yesterday! I guess it's a trade-off. Hope the stomach thing goes away soon, though.

Anyone else experience this?

 

[tigerlily816]

I haven't vaped long enough for symptoms to appear yet, but I did stop smoking a year ago(and failed as I started back up about 6 months later), and I remember feeling awful for the first few weeks. I actually coughed worse, which a friend told me was just my lungs cleaning themselves out. I hope you'll feel better in a week or two, after your body gets used to not getting all those chemicals.

 

[emsmom]

Remember we are in flu season! This may have nothing to do with your esmoking. If you are feeling that poorly, it would be wise to see a doctor. From what you are describing, this is classic flu symptoms. Just because they have stepped back on the flu pandemic, does not mean there isn't still a nasty strain out there. Get checked out, it will at least put your mind at ease.

 

[Raven_Blackblade]

I went thought this a bit too as well apparently. I had already caught and beat this year's flu, and when I started to vape It was also the change of the seasons and I thought that it may have been allergies (it still may have been), but after taking allevert for only 3 days (a total of 5 days or so of being sick) the symptoms went away. This was sore throat, severe migraines, nausea, constant sleeping/fatiuge, even MORE sensitivity to light (its bad enough just being me), stuffed up sinuses, nasal drip, and irritability. The muscle fatiuge lasted a bit too... but I thought that was just the usual growing pains of my working out.

Quitters flu blows chunks the dog.

And on that note I WILL be going to bed. Oh... and for those of you who are worried, things are going well with my mum.

 

[roxinal]

hi im a newbie i have been e smoking for maybe two weeks i have the penstyle platium and the great white. neither gives me a good throat hit. still smoking in between analog cigs about the same amount as i did before ecigs. i notice when i vap i do get dizzy and light headed i dont know if it is a nicotine rush or what. remember fda still wants to check this out. we really dont know at least i think anyway how much nicotine were getting per hit. and since i feel no throat hit i probably am hitting more times. i dont like the idea of fda stopping e cigs at customs on the possibility not probability that they arae bad when analogs have over 4000 carcigoens including embalming fluid yuck but they will never stop selling them the taxes (as they calll sin taxes) are a tremendous revenue for the states. money money money. let alone the doctors. pharmacutical agencies, chemo radiation they will never outlaw analogs. it is a money maker probably half ot the taxes that are paid are from cigarettes 80% taxes on each pack of cigs. the fda and atf and who all know this along with the major tobacco industeries ie phillip morris. if anyone has advice about this two particular cigs i would appreciate it take care
roxinal

 

[WendyM]

Don't forget that tobacco leaf has sugar in it (both naturally as well as added to the leaf during curing and processing), and you are no longer freebasing sugar (yes, it hits the pleasure center of your brain just like ....... or chocolate.)

You can relieve some of the symptoms by eating something with sugar in it-- mints, candy, soft drink, fruit, sweetened yogurt, etc. It really doesn't seem to matter if its a small amount of sugar or what kind of sugar; glucose, fructose, sucrose-- as far as your brain and metabolism go, its all good.

 

[Annastasia]

You know what's weird about the sugar thing? I've been borderline hyperglycemic for years; this means that when my blood sugar drops I get shaky, cold sweats, terrible mood swings, and can even pass out if it goes on for a really long time.

I've noticed that since I started vaping, I'm not getting those symptoms. I feel hungry, but the shakes are gone! I'm wondering if I'm just sensing sooner that I need to eat and doing so, rather than waiting too long and getting screwed up. I'm the opposite of a foodie -- I'd forget to eat for days at a time if I didn't get these signals.

Strange, but a definite benefit for me! I'm also chowing down on chocolate covered altoids lately; that's weird for me because I've never had a sweet tooth at all, but lately I'm really wanting the chocolate...

 

[WendyM]

That is interesting.

When you change lifestyle (which switching from smoking to vaping I think counts as a significant lifestyle change) sometimes just making the change will have other effects.

Its possible that you have a delicate palate and without smoking interfering with how you taste, food is more appealing. Or that there was some compound in the tobacco that was suppressing your appetite. Or even that it was the CO from the combustion of tobacco was acting on your nervous system in some unknown way to interfere with your hunger signals. Of course, it could be that you are simply feeling better in general and willing to eat.

That is super cool though. People who experience chronic hypoglycemic states (I'm one too) run a much higher risk of developing diabetes later on, so the more stable your blood sugar levels are now, can mean you might well delay or avoid it.

 

[sMuCk_fOg]

Pig virus?
j/k

 

[WendyM]

Pig virus?
j/k

I believe this is how it starts