Severe throat irritation - liquid too harsh?

[FSimon]

Hey guys, I'm facing this problem. I've been vaping for almost a year now and back when I started I instantly jumped into DIY and rebuildables.. so making liquid / troubleshooting stuff is nothing new to me, but this one just doesn't seem to add up.

About 2 months ago my throat suddenly started swelling, not internally (like with allergies and stuff), but on the surface and it's really red and my uvula (the stuff hanging on the back of your throat) is a bit swollen and elongated to the point that it constantly feels like I need to 'swallow' it.
At first I didn't relate it to vaping since I've been doing that for a long time without any issues. But when it didn't heal in a couple of weeks I started paying more attention and determined that when I vape more it gets worse so it lead me to believe that in fact it is due to vaping
I haven't changed my PG/VG/Nic brand or anything.. and they don't seem to have any issues (they taste the same and have no funny smell).

I then started looking for the cause.. so I kept making new and new batches of liquid (wasting a bunch in the process), but nothing seems to solve it. Last night I noticed however that when I put a drop of liquid on my hand and lick it off it stings my tongue like pepper or chili so I concluded it might be due to the juice being too acidic and actually burning / irritating my throat like some mild acid would.
I then took all my flavors and tested them one by one using the same method... Results were.. 3 out of 4 flavors had the same sting on my tongue, on the rest it was still noticeable but more milder, even stuff like TPA Marshmelow (which people usually suggest adding to counter the exact issue). The only one I found in my collection that absolutely lacked this effect was the TPA blueberry, but I kinda dislike that alone.. so tried mixing it up with some custardy stuff but it still had the same result.. (even added a few drops of FA mts vape wizard). The strange part is that I used to vape all of these flavors without issues...

Additional info: My nic level is nothing crazy.. 6mg.. my coil vertical spacing (above the air holes in rebuildables) is optimized for low throat hit.. and I used to do 50/50 VG/PG but in attempts to reduce the irritation I switched to way more VG, but it still persists. Also my total flavor concentration used to be around 12% but I dropped it to around 7-8% so nothing crazy here either.

So.. question time.. Has anyone ever had a similar issue?
How come the same flavors I used to enjoy for more than 8 months are suddenly damaging my throat? Is it possible I developed some sort of issue with them? But then again I never had problems like this when I was smoking 2 packs of cigs a day and those were way more damaging... so I don't get it..
Is it possible I had some unrelated issue with my throat and vaping is simply preventing it from healing? (any docs here? )
And finally.. any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance!
Cheers!

P.S. Feel free to move if there's a better thread for this.. I assumed it to be related to liquids so I made it here... while typing I realized there might be some 'health effects' thread as well

 

[daleron]

You could certainly be developing some allergic reactions even at this point in time, or you could be showing symptoms of something smoking was covering up all this time.

Naturally your best bet would be to see your doctor to rule out any serious issues.

 

[FSimon]

Yea, the reason I'm trying to avoid non-vape-aware doctors (and that's the only kind around here) is cuz they'll simply tell me to quit vaping since it's 'worse than smoking (rofl)'... I'd trust an ecf member over a doctor when it comes to vape related stuff.. but when I exhaust all other options.. the doctor will get its turn

 

[BrotherBob]

Might get a solution here:
A list of symptoms when quitting tobacco and changing to an ecigarette

 

[JCinFLA]

Results were.. 3 out of 4 flavors had the same sting on my tongue, on the rest it was still noticeable but more milder, even stuff like TPA Marshmelow

You've probably already done this, but on the outside chance you haven't...have you compared the actual ingredients of the flavorings themselves? Do those 3 of 4 that sting all have some ingredient in common...that maybe the 4th doesn't (ie. ethyl alcohol, triacetin, acetoin, acetylpropionyl, or has artificial flavors but no natural flavors, or the other way around)? Or...how about maybe 3 of 4 aren't water soluable, but the 4th is?

 

[dannyv45]

Great advice above it could be a sensitivity to a certain flavoring. I would also try vaping just your base with no flavoring added and see if that causes it. But as mentioned earlier if it gets serious you may want to see a doctor in the event it is something other then vaping related. If your concerned about a non friendly vaping doctor then at least reduce or stop vaping a few days to see if the issue subsides.

Your statement as follows

but on the surface and it's really red and my uvula (the stuff hanging on the back of your throat) is a bit swollen and elongated to the point that it constantly feels like I need to 'swallow' it.

I often have that myself it kinda feels like flem caught in the back of your throat that you can't cough up or swallow. This is directly related to vaping and I've had that for the 3+ years I've been vaping. I notice that if I reduce or don't vape for several hours it subsides. Also it's at it's worst before bed but non existant waking in the morning. When I vape excessively I also get an itchyness in my throat and dry cough. I don't contribute this to any particular flavoring just vaping in general. It does not seem to get worst with a particular flavor.

I have diabeties so I visit my doctor every three months and he has looked in my throat regularly as part of my exam and never indicated an issue. My doctor knows I vape and was opposed to it at first. I've done my research and discussed the science of it in depth with him. He has since changed his opinion on vaping and he would much rather see me vaping then using cigarettes. He is very interested in my vaping and asks many questions and now does not oppose it. So I think the best thing is to be open with your doctor and know the science behind vaping and discuss it with your doctor. I'm not saying to change there mind just let them know you fully understand what you got yourself into.

I hope this helps and please keep us posted.

 

[FSimon]

Might get a solution here:
A list of symptoms when quitting tobacco and changing to an ecigarette

Thanks for your reply, I read through it quickly, but didn't find anything relevant in it unfortunately. I mean don't get me wrong, the article is useful, but none of the sections seem to cover what I'm experiencing. I'm way past the withdrawal period, it's almost been a year since I haven't smoked at all. I also do not have PG allergy or any of the sorts and frankly.. I don't think I'm old enough to be having some serious illness that has been masked by smoking for ages.. idk.. I mean I'm 28.. I'm fit.. I do sports and don't even get the flu.. maybe once in 4 years ) Also my throat is not sore.. it's swollen.. and red.. but no pain (uvula and the 2 walls of my throat at the same depth).
Overall.. I don't know, I might be wrong, you might be right.. but for now I'm thinking it's the liquid.

 

[FSimon]

You've probably already done this, but on the outside chance you haven't...have you compared the actual ingredients of the flavorings themselves? Do those 3 of 4 that sting all have some ingredient in common...that maybe the 4th doesn't (ie. ethyl alcohol, triacetin, acetoin, acetylpropionyl, or has artificial flavors but no natural flavors, or the other way around)? Or...how about maybe 3 of 4 aren't water soluable, but the 4th is?

Thanks! I actually haven't done that since all my TPA bottles are repacks from liberty flights / professional flavors or some other company.. so it doesn't actually say the ingredients, but I will try to research them online once I get home, the FA ones are originals but all they say is PG and 'flavoring substances' on the bottle.

 

[JCinFLA]

Double post without changes I made - sorry!

 

[JCinFLA]

Without having to go all over the net to find the ingredients of each of your flavorings...if they're TPA or TFA, their website shows the ingredients for each of their flavorings. Also shows if each is water soluable or not. Wizard Labs has all that as well for TPA/TFA flavorings, and other websites do, too.

I hope you can narrow it down and find that it's just a reaction to 1 of the above things. That way you'll know what to specifically avoid and can keep enjoying vaping.

 

[FSimon]

Mkay.. interesting findings..
Turns out that when diluted most of those flavors lost much of their spicy feature. So I ended up making a 10 ml batch of the very same blueberry custardy mix thingy I whipped up yesterday.. same recipe, same percentages but without nicotine.
I haven't vaped it yet, but I tasted a drop and it completely lost its spiciness (which is no surprise, since we know nicotine is the thing that turns things harsh and gives us throat hit, but it is surprising that the flavors with the pg/vg base alone didn't cause any irritation to my tongue). Also at a 6mg/ml concentration, nicotine shouldn't affect my liquid THIS much... so even though it has no funky smell.. isn't oxidized (kept in a brown tinted bottle) and I just opened up a new bottle when making my liquid yesterday (just to be sure) I'm leaning towards the idea that I might've gotten all my bottles lately from a bad lot maybe?... idk This is just too weird
I'm gonna vape this 0 nic now and see the effects.. will update tomorrow.. then maybe I'll experiment with lower concentrations, like 3mg or 2.5 and see what happens. If all else fails imma look for some different nic brand.... And maybe I can find a bottle I had from a previous lot just to compare..

Cheers!

 

[dannyv45]

Sounds like you may have found the issue.

 

[FSimon]

Sounds like you may have found the issue.

Unfortunately it doesn't seem like it.. I ordered some brand new nic.. different brand from a different company along with some new capella flavors (since those are fairly strong so I can minimize the percentage), used a different pg/vg base which I ordered as well.. (so basically I made a new liquid that has almost nothing to do with the old ones), but the results are still the same.
danny, you mentioned that you had the swollen uvula thing before and it's due to 'general' vaping. I will try to upload a picture I just made of my throat.. did yours look like this? cuz I don't know but it seems pretty severe to me, and despite the fact that it doesn't really hurt it's quite unconfortable trying to swallow all the time. I will try a few more potential solutions, if not.. I guess I'm just gonna have to try to vape less and live with it.. idk
Cheers!

 

[JCinFLA]

I ordered some brand new nic.. different brand from a different company along with some new capella flavors (since those are fairly strong so I can minimize the percentage), used a different pg/vg base which I ordered as well.. (so basically I made a new liquid that has almost nothing to do with the old ones), but the results are still the same.

If you're changing more than 1 thing at a time in your mix (ie. new nic, new nic brand, new flavors, different PG/Vg base above)...you're likely never going to be able to narrow down what might be causing it.

You've got to vary/change only 1 thing at a time from the original ingredients, try vaping that, and find out the results. If that 1 thing gave you the same results...then make a new small test batch with the original ingredient back in it and change only 1 other ingredient. Try vaping that, find out results, etc., etc. like that. You have to make a small new test batch with each single change you make to the original one. Each changed ingredient can't be left in a batch, and then other new ones added to it. Otherwise, you don't know which single changed ingredient, or combination of changed ingredients, caused the irritation to stop happening.