So upset! I think I have to stop vaping.

[Tracy68]

I'm miserable and I feel like I have failed!
Tomorrow would mark my fourth week of switching to vaping and being completely tobacco free for the first time in my life!
All was going fairly well until five days ago when suddenly I developed flushing/burning/redness in my face which has turned into a rash now.
Along with that I've had fluid build up under and around my eyes and a tight pressure like headache that will NOT go even with painkillers taken every 4 hours.

I'm sure it must be an allergic reaction.
I've been vaping beween 8 - 18 mg of nic. 1- 2 tanks a day.
I'm sure it's not a case of too much nicotine. I'm constipated as hell - a sure sign I'm not getting as much nicotine.
I use 100% VG - figured it's unlikely to be that (smeared some on my inner forearm last night to see if I might get a rash but nothing happened)
Two days ago I cut out all flavourings. No improvement whatsoever.
You would think after two days there would be something?
I woke up at 5 am this morning with this headache again and the flushing/burning started soon thereafter.
My face is killing me. I'm walking around with a bag of frozen peas on my face. My skin is itchy and painful to touch from this rash which has turned from tiny bumps into dry skin. I can't even put moisturizer on it as it stings like crazy - have resorted to plain olive oil! I look a mess!

I have no PG so I can't try that right now to see if maybe it IS a VG thing.
Surely it's unlikely though to be a VG allergy?
I've scoured this board and others and haven't seen anyone report of anything similar?

I've never had an allergy in my life!

So I'm sitting here feeling like an absolute wreck, not knowing what to do!
Should I just stop vaping altogether for now - this would mean going back to analogues
I'm actually AFRAID to smoke a real cigarette now. I know it would make me feel like crap and I hate that dizzy feeling that I'm sure will hit me like a tonne of bricks!
I have nicotine lozengers here.
Maybe I should try one of those and see what happens? Never had one before and to be honest now I'm paranoid that one of THOSE might further produce an allergic reaction.

I really wanted this to work but this is insane to go on like this.
Maybe I should just take a deep breath - NOT beat myself up over having to go back to the smokes again (I was SO enjoying racking up the days of being smoke free!) and see if these crazy symptoms go away and if and when they do I can start again using PG and see what happens?

Man this sucks!

 

[dormouse]

Were you vaping a flavor you might be allergic to? Or a new flavor? And are you allergic to any non-sugar sweeteners? Any idea why it took 4 weeks to happen?

Cigarettes have 4000 chemicals in them. Perhaps it's withdrawal from one of those? When did you totally stop smoking?

Here is the Health forum
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/health-safety-e-smoking/

Here is a thread there about Hives
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/health-safety-e-smoking/13148-hives.html

And in the main guide - Quit Zits
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...hen-quitting-tobacco-changing-ecigarette.html

And some other things to consider since it took so long to happen - have you used a new shampoo, soap or lotion? Any chance of poison ivy etc or measles, german measles, chickenpox? Have you eaten a new food lately?

 

[juicejunky]

Wow that does suck. I wish you weren't so far away so you could readily get new juices to try fast.

Seems strange you were fine for over 3 weeks. Has anything else changed? Medications? Soap? Your juice choice? Your PV?

I hope someone has some answers for you. Smoking again isn't the end of the world short term to see if it goes away. At least you know how easy it is to go back to vaping. I'd try lozenges or nicorette gum first to see if that satisfies you.


One last thought. Are you sure you don't have some kind of infection somewhere in your head? I'd get to a doctor and have it checked out fast, especially if your face is swollen. It may have nothing to do with vaping.


For constipation buy some prunes. Eat 3-4 every night until your body gets back on schedule. It worked for me and eventually my body caught on it wasn't going to get the cigarette in the morning to get things moving.

 

[Mudder]

OH you poor thing, I feel so badly for you. I only get a headache when the strength is too high, or if I chain vape. I chain vape when I'm upset. I also end up with a sore throat then too.

I don't really know what to say. If it were me, I think I'd stop for a day or two and see if things improve. Did you take something for allergies to see if that helps?

 

[subversive]

Do the lozenges ! Don't go back to the cigarettes. You'll get used to the smell and flavor and smoke all over again and it'll make it that much harder on you next time. I used lozenges before I got my PV. They can cause some mouth irritation, so make sure you don't park them in the same spot every time and make sure you use them regularly. If you wait until you're really craving nicotine, that 15 minutes or so it takes for them to kick in will be torture. I'm not a doctor and I don't know about allergies, but I have seen 1 or 2 people mention having reactions to VG.

 

[MustangSallie]

It's entirely possible this is due to vaping. I don't doubt that some people can't tolerate certain ingredients in the juice. I don't believe we know enough to make blanket statements that vaping is completely safe, and it aggravates me when I read replies where people are trying to come up with all kinds of reasons why it cant possibly be the vaping that is causing the symptoms that someone has posted about. (not talking about anyone in this thread!!!)

That said, five days ago puts us back to the weekend. Were you doing any yard work over the weekend? Is it possible that you came into contact with a plant that might have caused this reaction? I hope for your sake it's not the vaping, it would be truly sad if you have to give it up. I'm sorry you're going through this. It sounds awful.

 

[Tracy68]

Thanks guys.
I've seen two doctors in the last couple of days. One said she had no idea what these symptoms were and didn't "think" it was related to the e-cig but she has no experience of them - never really even heard of them before.
When I saw the other doctor I asked him if it "might" be roseacea (never had that before but I did some googling and it seemed similar to what I'm experiencing) He agreed it might be a mild case of that but as soon as I showed him my e-cig he changed his mind and prescribed a mild cortisone cream and said it "might" be an allergic rash. I used the cream very sparingly twice but it really made no difference so I've stopped now fearing it will dry my face out even more.
It's not hives, it's an overall very fine rash - barely visible but I can feel it with my fingers and if I were to apply foundation you would see the roughness of it. It's the overall burning feeling all over my entire face that is so painful. My scalp too feels sensitive and prickly.

I've never been allergic to anything before in my life. I was vaping mainly strawberry and occasionally menthol. I did switch to mango most recently for a day or so and that IS when these symptoms seemed to appear but it's been nearly three days since I stopped the mango so surely there would be improvement if it was that particular flavour?

 

[MustangSallie]

Keep us updated with your progress. Sounds like you're doing the right things and asking the right questions. I hope this goes away for you soon.

 

[SuziesMom]

It sounds like contact dermatitis, or eczema. Just be very nice to your skin, do as little as possible to it, and take an anti-histamine until it clears up.

How much water are you drinking? Glycerin really searches for water, and will get it anywhere it can- usually from the air, but it will take it from your body if it needs to. Make sure you're drinking enough.

 

[SMKNOMOR]

That is sad to hear. I hope you feel better soon. Try not to let your vaping be in vain, dont go back to butts! At least then It will have served a lasting purpose.

Good luck tracy.

 

[Tracy68]

Mustang Sally....I know what you're saying. None of us want to believe that vaping could give us problems but in my heart of hearts I feel it must be "something" to do with vaping. I did think it was odd that it took three and a half weeks for things to go awry but the second doc I saw said this "can" happen with allergies - they can build up to a point where you become intolerant?
I hope I'm completely wrong and that really it's nothing at all to do with vaping (Please don't anyone get discouraged - I'm TOTALLY for vaping!) but seeing that there could be no other obvious cause - no - no yard work, no change of washing powder.... nothing out of the ordinary, I have to be logical and assume that it must be due to vaping.

I've not read anywhere that giving up smoking itself causes allergic reactions?
This isn't acne....it's very definitely a rash and it looks very much like eczema to me. My son sometimes gets it on his face.

 

[Valsacar]

Could be from vaping, or not. I had a really bad itching (and then painful) rash and honestly vaping came to mind. But it started over 6 months after I started vaping, so I thought maybe it wasn't. Went to the doc a few times, ended up at dermatology, apparently I have eczema. For me, it wasn't caused by vaping, it's something else in my house (didn't realize it, but later put 2 and 2 together to find that it started shortly after I moved to this house).

Moral of my story... go to the doctor.

 

[Tracy68]

If I go back to the doctors again today I know what they will say. "Stop vaping and see what happens".
It's a logical step. I can see why they would say that. THEY ( nor we here) don't know enough about the effects of inhaling VG and flavourings on individuals.
As much as I really don't want to stop I think I HAVE to to get to the bottom of this.
I hate smoking cigarettes. Really I do. Nothing about it appeals to me and I was making myself sick with the guilt of being a smoker. I would vape any day over smoking - as long as it isn't allergy inducing!
I'm going to have to start again and slowly rule the variants out one by one.

 

[MustangSallie]

I think that's the key Tracy, using logic and probability to make a conclusion. Much as we don't want it to be vaping, sometimes it IS the most logical explanation. Trust your gut, whatever that is saying. if it ever turns out you are wrong and you discover a different explanation, you can always start vaping again.

 

[StormFinch]

Not sure about the flavor, but I know that anyone who is allergic to poison ivy is also allergic to mangoes. What you're describing does actually sound like a poison ivy rash, but then I could be completely wrong.

Very rarely, a person can be allergic to VG because they are allergic to coconuts or palm kernels, which is what the brunt of VG is made of.

Some allergies can take a a long period of repeated contact to rear their ugly heads. I'm personally allergic to Amway clothes detergent. (We had a friend hawking it.) It took a about a month before it appeared, and unfortunately by that time I had washed EVERYTHING I owned in it. Ugh! I promptly took everything to the laundry mat and re-washed them in something else, waited for the rash to disappear and then tried again, immediate reaction.

Personally I would suggest going to an allergist after you're rash has cleared if you can. Have him/her do a patch test for the different fruits you've been vaping, as well as coconut and palm.

Since you've gone a month without cigarettes, you might be comfortable on just the nic lozenges. If you insist on going back to vaping, order some plain PG based nic until you can pin down what it is that's bothering you, and that can't happen until you're completely symptom free.

 

[AlmightyGod]

The most obvious thing here: dehydration!!!!

You need to drink lots of water for the next few days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you hear me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've read these symptoms a 1000 times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vaping will dehydrate you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[wrigleyvillain]

Yeah you don't exactly live in the Arctic Circle either; very well could be dehydration or at least partly.

Good luck hope it works out for you!

 

[MustangSallie]

Its just the skin and the mango plant itself that causes the reaction. The mango flesh itself is safe. Course, the doesn't mean you're not onto something here. I wonder how they make the flavor? I would hope the skin of the fruit would be removed first?

 

[Olef]

Tracy, I am so sorry... I just reached three weeks so I can imagine how gutted you must feel. I guess you have to eliminate vaping as the cause so good luck on the nic lozenges, hope they keep you off the demon weed. All the best and hope this clears up real soon, please keep us informed how it goes.

Olef

 

[TomCatt]

Thanks guys.

...
I did switch to mango most recently for a day or so and that IS when these symptoms seemed to appear but it's been nearly three days since I stopped the mango so surely there would be improvement if it was that particular flavour?

Tracy,
Are you still using the same atomizer/cartomizer that you used with the mango? If so, I'd try another if you have one on the chance that there is still some in the atty/carto. And like others have said, drink plenty of liquids; I usually have a drink nearby and take a sip at least every 4-5 puffs.

Hang in there!