safety, etc

[angry-amy]

i didnt want to have to start a new thread for this...

but strange question of the day:

with all the discussions that i have been reading, it almost sounds like whenever there is a problem or side effect, people are quick to "blame" it on a problem with pg vs. vg.

how prevalent is this pg allergy or sensitivity? really, i mean, if a lot of people have this issue, then why would we still have juices being made with pg?

and i thought that because it is just vapor, it would be safe. BUT all the threads here on the forums seem to talk about the side effects that people are having. if people keep having an allergy with pg, if you get sore throats, diff breathing, etc... then maybe we are missing something?

granted, its got to be much better than analogs, but still...

(and i am not trying to stir up the kennel, but these questions had me up long before the alarm this am)

 

[Automaton]

PG allergy is not common at all. I believe it's about 2% of people who have PG allergies. It's just that they tend to post about it. People don't post "I'm not having any allergic reactions."

Allergies to flavorings are also uncommon, but do happen.

Some people being allergic doesn't mean vaping is unsafe. There are many more people who are allergic to peanuts. Peanuts aren't considered unsafe. People can be allergic to almost anything. And allergies to PG that people discover through vaping are typically very mild, and easily corrected by just switching to VG.

Since the overwhelming majority of people aren't allergic, allergic reactions tend to be mild, and PG is also better-studied than VG, it simply isn't necessary to regard it as a health risk due to a small number of people having allergies.

And, many of these symptoms can actually be caused by quitting smoking, and due to the fact that lungs damaged by smoking tend to freeze up when introduced to moisture - whether it's vapor, steam, or whatever else. I used to hack up a lung yawning in the shower when I smoked.

 

[angry-amy]

if it is not common, then why is it always the first thing we rush to?

 

[markfm]

Because it is a relatively easy to check thing, and as MistressNomad said the people who don't have allergies don't have to post. Drink a lot of water is easy, try a different liquid if you have some at hand is easy, and picking up some USP VG and distilled water from a local pharmacy and seeing if that has no issues is easy.

I'm a mutt, have no problem with anywhere from pure VG to pure PG. Turns out my sister is PG allergic (she mentioned that some common skin creams caused her problems -- they contained PG). Not a life threatening item, but she needed to switch to VG to become a vaper.

 

[Toritha]

it's kinda like if your water bill was extraordinarily high you would most likely be directed to check and see if your water meter was broken..... it's not common for a water meter to be broken but it's the easiest thing to check. Easier than say digging a hole to see if one of your pipes have a leak.

 

[trouble2k]

You're asking a very difficult question. A lot of the complaints that people are having are not necessarily due to a reaction to PG or vaping. It's like MistressNomad said, "many of these symptoms can actually be caused by quitting smoking, and due to the fact that lungs damaged by smoking tend to freeze up when introduced to moisture".

It's hard to know if some of the complaints that we hear are legitimately from a reaction to PG/VG or the flavorings. Some of the problems that people are having are simply because they are quitting smoking. A lot of us did a lot of damage to our bodies over the years, but we found it easy to ignore that because it may have interfered with our addiction. We could sit there every morning, noon, and night coughing up globs of phlegm. We knew precisely what the cause of our symptoms was. Now, if we don't feel quite right, the blame can be placed easily on vaping

For some people, there is an actual allergic reaction; a reaction they would be having whether they had ever smoked or not. Then, there will always be the few who claim to be having a reaction just because that's their very nature. Last, but not least, there will be others who are having symptoms of a reaction, but it's purely psychological. It's that little part of our brain that defends our addiction. It will find any reason, real or made up, to make sure we don't give up the smoking. The symptoms they are having are a real as those who have a natural allergy to it.

I don't think a reaction to PG is the problem for the majority of vapers. It is the answer that a lot of people are given if they make a complaint about having a sore throat, chest tightness, or whatever else may be the problem. Who knows if it's the right answer? Some will have a problem with it and they can use VG instead. If that doesn't work, then maybe vaping isn't for them. This is a wonderful invention and a great alternative to smoking. But, there's no way it will work for every smoker out there.

 

[WomanOfHeart]

if it is not common, then why is it always the first thing we rush to?

People make a lot of assumptions without really understanding what an allergic reaction is. How many people have ever told you they were allergic to cigarette smoke? I had plenty of people try to tell me that. You know how many were actually allergic? None. There is also a big difference between being sensitive to something and being flat-out allergic.

I have a sensitivity to shellfish, but it doesn't stop me from eating shrimp and lobster. I just have to be careful with the amount that I eat. If I sit around and eat a ton of shrimp, then I'm going to have a reaction. If I eat just a few, I'm fine. I also seem to have a sensitivity to PG. I use it as my DIY dilution and when I test flavors sometimes I'll sneeze because the tester is 100% PG. When I mix it down to 50/50 or even 60PG/40VG, I'm fine. But I do not call this an allergy, because it really isn't.

 

[deback]

My 64-day experience with vaping has taught me that there can be many factors that cause problems.

Here are a few that I've experienced and my thoughts on the causes, to give you an idea of why it took me almost two months to figure out what was causing what. None of the following symptoms were psychological in my case.

1. Coughing up more phlegm than usual a few times during the first 10 days. Lungs and cilia were healing after quitting smoking.

2. Sore left cheek and sore right cheek, back by where my wisdom teeth used to be, at different times for about a week each, similar to canker sore-type of pain. Healing of the inside of my mouth after quitting smoking (I think...I couldn't come up with any other reason for these pains).

3. Sore throat, sore roof in mouth, and sore chest. Using a 5 volt passthrough produces more power, which caused the vapor to be warmer and gradually burned into my sensitive mouth, throat, and lungs (the sensitivity could be due to smoking for 42 years, I don't know the reason for the sensitivity, could be my age of 58). Drinking more water got rid of the pain, and quit using the 5V passthroughs resulted in not getting that "burning" type of pain anymore.

4. Sore throat and sore chest. Nicotine levels of 24mg and 30mg were too high for me. Reducing the nicotine level to 18mg solved this problem.

5. Sore gums at various times in the last two months. There are two reasons for this:

a) The first time was from healing after quitting smoking.

b) The last few times were from a sensitivity to the Glycerin (VG) that I add to my liquid mixture. Glycerin is sweet, and my gums are sensitive to too much sugar. An example is when I ate way too many Sweet Tarts every day for way too long. My gums got really sore, and I had to quit eating them. I solved this recent problem with vaping by reducing the amount of Glycerin I add, and my gums are no longer sore.

I don't think I've had any problems with using PG, even at the 80% ratio.

 

[Erilaz]

Hmm, very curious and somethign I will definitely have to check, for myself, and keep aware of the mentioned side effects. Thank you for the post and question, you aren't the only one curious!

 

[JC Okie]

Since there are two distinct dynamics going on here, it's hard to tell what symptoms go with what. Quitting smoking will have it's own set of "symptoms"....changes in your body. Then you're adding a new thing altogether....vaping. We tend to blame every change on the vaping because that's the new thing we've added....but we forget that just the act of depriving your body of the 4,000 other chemicals in cigs. that you're taking away from it will also cause reactions in your body. It's hard to separate the two causes and come up with what is causing what. I just went with the flow for the first week and took whatever came along (always something mild) as part of the overall change I was forcing my body to go through. Your body may buck you at first, but it will be a happy body once the dust settles. I feel so much better than I did when I smoked. There were a few little adjustments....slightly sore throat at first....probably from chain vaping for 4 days straight....but I've settled into a wonderful vaping experience now. It's worth it.