Scratchy Throat & Congested Nostrils

[Cerp]

Hello everyone, first post here love the forum! There is a wealth of information here...

I just switched to vapes a few weeks and am loving it so far; have not had or wanted a cigarette since the switch! But now I have a question: as the topic implies, I have a chronic scratchy (itchy) throat and congested nostrils (no phlegm, just closed shut). At first I thought I just had a minor cold, but I still have these symptoms weeks later and it coincided with me switching to e-cigs. Is this a common occurrence?

FWIW, I have tried 100% VG and a VG/PG (idk the ratio) blend and haven't noticed a difference between the two. I have also tried varying nic levels: 18mg, 15mg and now currently at 12mg. No difference there either. Any suggestions?

 

[mkbilbo]

I have heard of allergic reactions to VG so you could try 100% PG for a while, see how that goes. However...

A few things make this a pain to pin down. For one, just because vaping is the last change you remember doesn't mean it has anything to do with what's happening. If I had a flat tire after starting vaping, those would be obviously not connected. But with health... erm... dunno?

Remember, cigarettes (and other tobacco products) have a lot--as in 4,000 and counting--chemicals other than nicotine. You may have kept the nicotine but you quit thousands of chemicals. That's bound to cause a reaction. Look up common symptoms experienced by people who quit smoking. Many apply to switching from smoking to vaping. Fortunately, keeping the nicotine seems to reduce the side effects to "nuisance" level. I had all kinds of nutty things happen my first weeks. But nothing so horrific as all my other quit attempts. Just... irritating stuff. Which settled down in time and is months in the past now.

And if you have allergies like I do, this is one rough year. Congestion and all are my "normal" right now. Pollen counts are insanely high. And it's just been unrelenting.

(Just went Googling and "cold symptoms" and other respiratory crud is listed as common when quitting smoking. Sore throat even. So instead of the vaping being responsible, it could be the not smoking. That is, your body trying to recover from the damaging effects of smoking. If it gets worse or keeps dragging on and on, you may want to see a doctor. But your lungs staring to try to clear can cause some respiratory crud. So... it could actually be a positive thing... though annoying.)

 

[NORCALEX]

Are you drinking fluids when vaping? It tends to dry out my throat so I drink a lot of water and it helps with throat irritation. Also, like mentioned above, try using a 100% PG, could be some kind of allergy to the VG. Or as is the case here allergies are just very bad in general and would cause the same symptoms.

 

[classwife]

Welcome to ECF !
For starters, be sure to increase your water intake.
This might help you :
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...hen-quitting-tobacco-changing-ecigarette.html

 

[Cerp]

Wow great information you guys! I didn't even consider that this was a symptom of smoking cessation! You know honestly, a lot of people I talked to said when they switched over to e-cigs they could breathe better, they regained their sense of smell, they had more energy, etc. Since I quit, I feel about the same as I did before, so I guess that's why I didn't even consider it as tobacco withdrawal.

classwife, thanks for that reference. I'm going to comb through to see what kind of info I can find. Well, the fact that this could be tobacco withdrawal makes me feel a lot better. I love everything about e-cigs, but the allergy-like symptoms were starting to bother me.

Edit: oh and I forgot to mention, I do drink a lot of water. I drink about 2 liters of water everyday. I haven't increased my intake since switching to e-cigs, though. I knew e-cigs de-hydrate you, but I figured I drink plenty of water as it is, I won't really need to drink anymore. I usually take a few gulps of water after each e-cig session too.

 

[TimboZero]

Dry mouth was something I suffered with a lot to start with , its just beginning to settle down now. Scratchy throat could be nicotine being too high though.

 

[mkbilbo]

Wow great information you guys! I didn't even consider that this was a symptom of smoking cessation! You know honestly, a lot of people I talked to said when they switched over to e-cigs they could breathe better, they regained their sense of smell, they had more energy, etc. Since I quit, I feel about the same as I did before, so I guess that's why I didn't even consider it as tobacco withdrawal.

classwife, thanks for that reference. I'm going to comb through to see what kind of info I can find. Well, the fact that this could be tobacco withdrawal makes me feel a lot better. I love everything about e-cigs, but the allergy-like symptoms were starting to bother me.

Edit: oh and I forgot to mention, I do drink a lot of water. I drink about 2 liters of water everyday. I haven't increased my intake since switching to e-cigs, though. I knew e-cigs de-hydrate you, but I figured I drink plenty of water as it is, I won't really need to drink anymore. I usually take a few gulps of water after each e-cig session too.

The improvements can be quick or slow or gradually sneak up on you. Depends on how much you smoked, how long, and who knows how many biological whatever factors. And, sometimes, it can be quite bumpy early on. My sleep "schedule" went completely bonkers for a while. The quality of sleep I was getting was improving dramatically. But for a while, the whole "cycle" was like a fish outta water, flopping around like crazy. The nuttiest was this just short of a week I felt like I could have slept 24 hors a day and just could not wake up.

But compared to every other quit attempt? No, those were nightmares. This was... pain in neck.

And, in time, it settled down. Settled into I sleep far better than before. In fact, it's noticeably "restorative". More than it was before. So some bumps along the way were worth it in my book...

 

[Jwrench]

I had the sore though issue as well when i first started vapeing and i used a cough drop and drank for water to help with that issue but i Didn have an issue with a Clogged nose I had the opposite of it runs all the time fixed that with allergy meds as it seems that smoking was hiding that issue. Since starting to vape a can now breath threw both nostrals.