Swollen tonsils, loss of flavor

[whiteweazel21]

I think this will go away by itself, and I think there may be a couple reasons.

I just started vaping, into my second week. For the second time, I've gotten swollen tonsils, sore throat, and loss of flavor. I am chain vaping to curb the cigarette addiction. First time in went away just by drinking ice water, sucking on ice cubes, mouth only no throat/lung inhale, and vaping less, taking vitamins took maybe 2-3 days. Also gargling with mouthwash, salt, and brushing teeth, etc.

Pretty disappointed I got it a second time. So flavor is gone, throat irritated -- I can't tell if my build is wrong or I've just overvaped but I'm thinking the latter. Vaping tastes like burnt smoke to me when I pull, like a build gone bad or something. Thing is, I compared the build to the Atlantis and it tastes the same. Why am I getting this horrible burnt taste? I understand no taste, but this is pretty bad.

Occasionally I will get some ok flavor for a second, but quickly burned thereafter with throat irritations. Maybe it's the pg, or vg, or too much vaping. I regularly wipe off leaks etc with my hands, so I may ingesting flavored nicotine juice accidentally as I do have a habit of licking my fingers when they are dry.

I'll try checking the build when I get home, and give the whole atomizer a rinse in hot water. When cleaning an atty, is it ok to throw all the pieces in hot/boiling water? Should I remove o-rings (I suppose so to avoid damage and better cleaning)?

Just a little dismayed, in some slight pain but don't want to stop vaping to avoid analogs. Maybe it's too much for my body to adjust to in only 2 weeks, or any of the above. I got some DIY supplies ordered, so I will try different mixes of 50/50, high vg, and high pg non-flavored and see if there's any differences. I know people blame pg, but I was vaping a 75% vg juice; never tried 90/100% vg.

Also note to self, clean hands after handling leaks and spills, use sanitizing wipes to clean atomizer regularly, drink more, etc, etc.

 

[Katmar]

You give yourself some good advice there!!!! The burnt taste would seem to be from the coils. Hopefully someone else can give you a better answer.

 

[whiteweazel21]

Well, I did try the Atlantis and the Lemo, both had a burnt taste. I asked my gf to try my build on the Lemo, she doesn't smoke at all and didn't mention and burnt flavor. Today is a lot better, but still a bit swollen. I can taste a little more...but a little on/off.

I got some nicotine/vg/pg in today. I will play with 50/50 first, and then try higher pg and higher vg mixes unflavored. Give myself a rest from flavoring extracts and find out if it's pg or vg that may be causing irritation, or maybe the juice mix itself.

Did give the Lemo a very thorough cleaning and a new build with new cotton as well.

Thanks

 

[Katmar]

Keep us posted, White!! Good luck

 

[sprki]

What is your equipment and wattage? Also those might just be side effects of the cessation of cigarettes. Keep at it and make sure you're using the correct settings for your equiment and juice and with some luck you'll jump over that slump into great-vape-land! Any info you need is one quick forum search away

 

[Cowboy192]

First off, the loss of flavour, most probably flavour fatigue and your sense of taste overloading now your not smoking, it could last a day a week or a month, I get it from time to time first time it lasted almost two weeks, but each time after that it cleared up quicker than the previous time,
The unflavoured may also help give your buds a chance to rest and revive, which leads me too......

Sore throat and swollen tonsils, I'm prone to this as I have oversized tonsils and get quinces ever year or two, pg may be a factor as it can irritate your throat, if you do mix some unflavoured try a higher vg mix, I put 80vg/20pg through my Atlantis and my lemo with no problems but also remember smoking actually numbs the throat so you may just be going through the withdrawal of the constant aesthetic smokes

And lastly the burnt taste, make sure you are running the sort of wattage your coil and wick can handle Atlantis coils are good for 20-30w I run mine at 22.5w and it handles chain vaping fine, can't reallŷ comment on the lemo without knowing your set up and build but I build mine with a 3mm internal diameter micro or spaced coil to about 1.4ohm and run it about 14w, it seems to suit a larger coil for some reason,

Oh and if the throat doesn't get better with higher vg mixes go see your Dr just in case

 

[whiteweazel21]

Well my throat has cleared up, taste as well and honestly it still could be any of the various reasons mentioned above.

I'm a little hesitant to say, but I think it may be from the use of the Atlantis. The coils gunked and liquid chared daily, requiring 1-2 change of coils per day. I think perhaps the harshness, or something to do with the ceramic filler MAY be one of the causes, or a partial cause.

My builds on the Lemo have improved significantly, no leaking, no dry hits, no burnt or overburnt hits. I've been vaping the Lemo exclusively for the past 4-5 days. The coils nor the wicking are burnt, nor do they produce gunking, caramelization etc on the coil. Overall the Lemo is producing a clean flavor without issue. Like I said, could be a variety of issues. But I think the Atlantis may be partially responsible, due to the cartridges needing to be replaced 1-2 times daily.

I will update this thread periodically, especially if I have the same issue with the Lemo. I don't think it's the PG persay, I've been diy mixing 50/50 and 40pg/60vg without issue. If anything it may be due to VG. I will experiment with higher VG mixed as I get more into DIY.

Thanks for the responses

 

[dannyv45]

You may be getting to much dryness from high PG mixes that may be irriatating your throat. Try a higher VG mix.

 

[whiteweazel21]

Well, I will have to say it was not the Atlantis's fault but I will still not be using it due to the cartridge issue and quick to burn taste. I was away in NY, made a couple DIY juices to take with me but unfortunately ended up with the same thing happening.

I vaped 2 70% VG mixes, 1 test sample the night before, and driving to NY from Boston another. The 2nd mix I made was a delicious peach, came out way beyond my expectations and was vaping a lot. I was vaping a decent amount, hell, maybe a lot while driving. We ended up in NY, and after setup I took another hit and it started tasting different. Kind of burnt, and the flavor profile changed completely. The more I vaped, the worse and more burnt it tasted.

I was under the impression the coil/wicking went bad, so I went to the hotel and checked. To my surprise both the wick and coil were pristine, my tonsils (I think, could be some other part) were swollen, and my taste died off again.

So I went back to analogs, my throat is better, but I still have the same bump in my throat. I think it's getting better however, but I might go to a Doctor this week and do a checkup.

Since it happened on 70% VG juice, and I think previously with 70%+VG juice, I wonder if it may be the VG. More rare, but I have read people having issues with VG before. Since I have so much DIY supplies, I will try a 100%PG mix, and a max VG mix, which I think I may only get to 80% with flavors. May try ordering store made 100%VG as well. I will try lowering the nicotine levels overall, down 2-3%. Lastly, I will try buying some other sweeteners and see if there is any problem with those as currently using mostly sucralose. Will substitute with EM, and purchase other sweetener bases.

Thanks

P.S. Last DIY mixes and daily amounts: 7mg nic, vaping about 15/ml per day. So roughly 105+mg nic per day. Is that high? I will try lowering to 4mg nic.

 

[Katmar]

Well, I will have to say it was not the Atlantis's fault but I will still not be using it due to the cartridge issue and quick to burn taste. I was away in NY, made a couple DIY juices to take with me but unfortunately ended up with the same thing happening.

I vaped 2 70% VG mixes, 1 test sample the night before, and driving to NY from Boston another. The 2nd mix I made was a delicious peach, came out way beyond my expectations and was vaping a lot. I was vaping a decent amount, hell, maybe a lot while driving. We ended up in NY, and after setup I took another hit and it started tasting different. Kind of burnt, and the flavor profile changed completely. The more I vaped, the worse and more burnt it tasted.

I was under the impression the coil/wicking went bad, so I went to the hotel and checked. To my surprise both the wick and coil were pristine, my tonsils (I think, could be some other part) were swollen, and my taste died off again.

So I went back to analogs, my throat is better, but I still have the same bump in my throat. I think it's getting better however, but I might go to a Doctor this week and do a checkup.

Since it happened on 70% VG juice, and I think previously with 70%+VG juice, I wonder if it may be the VG. More rare, but I have read people having issues with VG before. Since I have so much DIY supplies, I will try a 100%PG mix, and a max VG mix, which I think I may only get to 80% with flavors. May try ordering store made 100%VG as well. I will try lowering the nicotine levels overall, down 2-3%. Lastly, I will try buying some other sweeteners and see if there is any problem with those as currently using mostly sucralose. Will substitute with EM, and purchase other sweetener bases.

Thanks

P.S. Last DIY mixes and daily amounts: 7mg nic, vaping about 15/ml per day. So roughly 105+mg nic per day. Is that high? I will try lowering to 4mg nic.

15ml per day is some pretty heavy vaping. You really should get checked out, though. Be safe.

 

[whiteweazel21]

Yea I am really new to vaping, from what I read 15ml is a lot. What can I do to slow it down, add more resistance on the Lemo? The Lemo tanks are 5ml, and at 1.72 ohms just go through the tanks so fast, refill often...

I might get a dripper and try vaping straight vg and pg. I guess I could do try in the Lemo as well...

 

[Katmar]

Yea I am really new to vaping, from what I read 15ml is a lot. What can I do to slow it down, add more resistance on the Lemo? The Lemo tanks are 5ml, and at 1.72 ohms just go through the tanks so fast, refill often...

I might get a dripper and try vaping straight vg and pg. I guess I could do try in the Lemo as well...

Drink more water....cut back the best you can. That's really a LOT of liquid to go through daily.

 

[whiteweazel21]

Yea, I think I am going to cut nicotine from 6-7mg to 3mg. Also try my best to keep the wattage down, I think it's the wattage that really drains the liquid, usually vaping around 16W-19W -- will try to keep it between 12-14W or maybe less like 10W; It's hard to do since I got used to the big clouds and warm vape!

Tried mixing max VG liquid, which for my last flavor profile was about 77% VG, at 3.5mg nic. The harshness I taste, especially in the morning was still there, but a lot less. The harshness, to describe it better, is the first 10 or so hits when I start a vaping session after a long break, feeling a sort of dry stinging that subsides. It's definitely still there, but a lot less. I suppose it could be the PG/Nic. I will try continuing to vape high VG mixes with low nicotine and see if that helps.

My tonsils are still a bit swollen, but not extreme. I will try sucking on ice-cubes and gargling with salt water. At some point I will try vaping straight VG and straight PG to see if I can narrow anything down. Also as suggested, keep drying to down as much water as possible.

When I figure out if the PG/VG specifically causes any particular effect, I will go ahead and order some VT nic in the appropriate base. I hear it is one of the cleanest, and wondering if I am tasting too much "pepper" from my nicotine. At higher nic levels, it does seems to have some "pepper", which has also reduced significantly with the lower nic levels.

--Part of the reason I went DIY was because the cost of the liquid was so much for the amount I was going through. Now it's really cheap, and I am getting some really nice mixes. I guess I can conserve even more $ if I vape less, just need to find a happy medium. I only started vaping about 3 weeks ago, so I am still figuring out a lot of things (went from an Atlantis to a building exclusively on a Lemo and also started DIY liquid in that time). Will try to find someway to stay closer to 10ml/day vs 15+ml/day. I think it should be possible somehow..

 

[Katmar]

Good luck and keep us updated!!

 

[whiteweazel21]

Well not much to update, still struggling with a couple issues.

I'm not getting any harshness with the lower nicotine levels. I am suspect the sucralose causing the vaper's tongue/flavor loss. If I do use sucralose in my DIY mixes (which I haven't since the last posting), I would keep it at .50% or lower.

My tonsils are still swollen, and I believe I'm developing tonsil stones. Also, when I put my tongue on the roof of my mouth, I feel small bumps that get bigger when vaping (go away smoking analogs only). I've been vaping DIY juice with 70-80+% vg since my last post. Also have been adding small amounts of distilled water and saline to test hydration.

I am now beginning to suspect the VG. Perhaps not a allergic reaction -- I am thinking the swollen tonsils, tonsil stones, and bumps on the roof of my mouth may be due to excessive dense vapor and possibly coating effects of VG. I noticed my teeth develop a greyish stain that brushes off after vaping for the day -- this coating may be part of the issue along with too dense vapor.

I've changed, as of yesterday, to a 60% pg/40% vg mix. No throat "hit"/irritation or increase, same as with VG at the lower nic levels. Vapor is still plentiful, but slightly less dense. I will continue 60-80% pg mixes at my next level of experimentation and see how it affects me. Flavor seems to be better, less VG dullness. Too soon to make any other conclusions.

 

[alopezg1]

you are vaping a lot a lot a lot.... this is probably because you are at the begining . As the cigarette cravings get less intense etc . you will probably see the need to vape less , and i think a lot of these issues will subside. That is how it has been for me ; constant chain vaping will take it's toll on your mouth/throat probably partly due to the fact that is constantly being dried out . i remember getting sore mouth and throat at the begining but as my vaping decreased the soreness subsided . Why not try a higher nic juice then you wouldn't need to vape so much ?

 

[alopezg1]

I would be tempted to say it may not have to do with what is in your juice but the amount you are vaping , which as a herculean amount by the way!

 

[whiteweazel21]

I would be tempted to say it may not have to do with what is in your juice but the amount you are vaping , which as a herculean amount by the way!

I think the amount plus the density of the VG is causing an issue now. With the higher pg mixes, I will slowly try adding .5% increments of nicotine -- I got a sample of Nude Nicotine. With my current nicotine, I lowered down to 2.5/3mg due to throat hit, pepperyness, and irritation. Maybe the NN will help me with this as it is described as being one of the cleanest along with VT.

Thanks for the input!

 

[alopezg1]

I think the amount plus the density of the VG is causing an issue now. With the higher pg mixes, I will slowly try adding .5% increments of nicotine -- I got a sample of Nude Nicotine. With my current nicotine, I lowered down to 2.5/3mg due to throat hit, pepperyness, and irritation. Maybe the NN will help me with this as it is described as being one of the cleanest along with VT.

Thanks for the input!

at the begining of this thread you mention you have been vaping for 2 weeks ,and you at 3mg nic? that is really very low in my opinion (for what that's worth) I mean i vape 18-24mg that is a fairly standard dose for someone coming from smoking , some folks are on 36mg!

 

[whiteweazel21]

Well, I started vaping with an Atlantis on a Cloupor mod. Figure, spending the money might as well go for something strong to curb my smoking addiction.

When I started, I didn't know much so I bought 24mg for the Atlantis. And well...I got so lightheaded after a few harsh puffs I went to lie down (too much vapor, too much nicotine). I ended up going with 6mg nicotine. But with the Atlantis I was downing 15ml/day which was really expensive. Thus DIY juice. I started making 6mg, went up to 7mg, noticed too much harshness/stinging. Bringing down the nicotine stopped the harshness, so that's where I am at 3/mg.

Maybe not a lot of nicotine, but my Lemo still makes a lot of vapor. I will try upping it slightly, but even at 7mg I was still chain vaping. So...if I'm chain vaping I may as well avoid the additional harshness. Maybe go for 10mg and see if it makes me not want to vape anymore? I really don't know, maybe I just need to try down-grading equipment or something.

I bought a Nautilus a week or so after the Atlantis. I tried it once and never used it again, never want to. Don't use my (2x) Atlantis either. Never want anything from Aspire in my life!