Doc #1 Emergency room doc. Went there because for days I felt like I couldn't breathe. It was horrible and terrifying and I felt my lungs were heavy and I couldn't fill them. So scary. It kept getting worse.
Blood pressure, heart rate, everything normal (perfect actually), oxygen levels 100%, lungs sounded great according to doc. Had chest x-ray. Also perfect. Had several blood tests. No thyroid issue, no anemia, none of the main vitamin issues they tested for, no blood clotting factors, nothing.
Sent me home, told me it must be anxiety.
Doc #2 follow up with regular doctor for the ER visit. Blood pressure, heart rate, everything still perfect.
Did an EKG. Nothing wrong there. Sent me home with a rescue inhaler "just in case" and told me to follow up with an allergist for a lung function test but told me so far she suspects it's just anxiety or symptoms of quitting tobacco. The inhaler was basically to cover her ... and also because she said if it is just anxiety, an inhaler won't hurt me either way (might make me breathe better due to placebo alone). I don't think it did but I still have it just in case.
Doc #3 The allergist. I go in and do the lung function test. 3 times. Results are that of a non smoker or even a "never smoker" she tells me. She said my lung capacity is perfect. Never better. She tells me it must be either anxiety or symptoms of quitting tobacco which she says she sees a lot and is common.
So at that point I have no answers and I'm still unable to breathe well. It's horrible.
I start thinking it must be PG since that is the most common allergy/issue. I started at 70/30 pg/vg with no issue then went to 50/50 and the breathing stuff started shortly after that, so what in my stupid head made me think it was PG idk because lowering the PG is when this started but okay, I must have assumed it took place over time as allergies tend to do. So I thought I'd try 100% vg.
Bad idea (for me at least)
After 3 days of that I felt wayyyyyyy worse. WAY WORSE. I even woke up with a heavy chest like someone sitting on it. Interestingly, though, it TOOK the 3 days to make me feel worse. You'd think it would be instant. Well, it took 2 weeks of the 50/50 to get real bad, so 3 days maybe makes sense. Any way...
I finally switched back to my original 70/30 pg/vg.
It's been 2 days and I feel better. Not 100% better, but at least 50-60% better.
I have read, though, here actually, that feeling 100% better after switching can take up to 2 weeks for some, specifically I've read peoples accounts here of the same vg sensitivity and the heavy chest/slight shortness of breath feeling taking 2 weeks to fully subside after going back to high PG so I'm hoping that's true and my feeling better means it's working. Funny enough I've also read that people who are sensitive to VG can often tolerate it at levels of 30% or less so they can still do 70/30 which is what I did and am doing now so that's comforting. I've read a lot of "I can do 70/30 fine but more vg than that and I get heavy chested" here so hmm maybe that's a general magic ratio for the vg sensitive.
Cause docs found nothing wrong! (which is good)
Also, all the juice I've used is high quality diacetyl free in glass bottles, etc etc so I was using good stuff. Yes, rotating flavors after a week of mango wondering if mango was the culprit and that didn't help so I really do think it was the VG but it obv hasn't been long enough to tell for SURE. And I used a couple different vendors too.
All I know is for the past 7 years I've "dabbled" in vaping until this time it became my full time cig replacement, I've bought a disposable here and there, bought a pen a few times and used it now and then to cut down on cigs....I've vaped off and on a little bit for years and always with high PG and never with an issue until I vaped full time and went to higher VG. So logic says, that's probably it.
For the record, I DO have anxiety and panic attacks but I don't think that was the cause. I DO admit it was likely a factor, perhaps even a large one, but certainly not all of it (because it DID improve with anxiety meds, but only minimally).
In any case....omg will I miss the taste and smoothness of VG juice though. Like, wow. I loved it. I wish it agreed with me. I seriously loved it. :/ It was so tasty and magical I didn't even miss throat hit. In fact now I'm mad I have throat hit lol. I want some, but not as much as this pg gives at my usual 3-6 mg.
Well, that's my story! I am hoping within a week or two to breathe 100% better again but I'll take this large improvement for now.
One cat, and I could take an antihistamine and deal with it; a houseful of kittens with their fluff all over, in the air and on every surface... definitely not. The worst thing about it was that I was pregnant at the time -- so even when I went to the e-room, the wouldn't even give me oxygen -- could be very bad for the unborn, leaving them liable if my son had been born compromised in any way. So I had to just go home and deal with it as best I could -- there was no sleep that night, that's for sure. At the time, I didn't know the leaning-forward technique, but I did learn that lying down is a bad thing to do when there's an asthma attack going on, and it's useless anyway, since your CNS won't allow you to sleep.
