Trying a self-experiment with VG

[MartiP]

Several weeks ago I had tried vaping some 100% VG juices, and couldn't tolerate it at all. After vaping it for a few hours, it made my lungs feel heavy, my throat feel slimy, I wheezed and coughed up crap, etc etc - had to use my asthma inhaler. I chalked it up to "I guess I'm one of those people who can't tolerate high VG."

Today my husband got in a lot of VG juice from Velvet Clouds, and they smelled so good as he was sampling, I decided to give one a try. Wow. Tastes great, and on first vape doesn't seem to be coating my throat, making me cough like the other did.

So I'm going to vape away this evening on it, see how I do. If I start feeling horrible and wheezing, I'll know for certain. It may have just been that other particular brand I had a problem with. I hope so, because this stuff tastes great. If not, no more high VG for me.

 

[MartiP]

Well, darn. After about an hour of vaping it, I started with the wheezing and feeling like my chest was full of water. Had to go hit on my asthma inhaler. I hate that, because these flavors were soooooo good. But nope. It's confirmed that I cannot do VG. Maybe it's just too moist a vape for me, or could be a true allergy. Either way, can't do it. Vaping my 70/30 now, and am fine.

I'll tell hubby he gets the Velvet Cloud juice all to his greedy self.

 

[Unforeseen]

Moved to General E-Liquid Discussion

 

[SharonMM]

Oh wow, I've never heard of a sensitivity to VG.... I thought it was the only the PG that people were finding to be problematic.

I have several 100% VG in the mail....now I wonder if they will be ok for me!

I feel that PG is very drying and I've done much better with 50/50 blends. But I like a lot of flavor, and I read that PG gives more flavor, so I started ordering higher PG... but that was a big mistake. It's insanely drying to my tongue and even nostrils. Plus it seems like I get immune to the flavor faster than the ones I have with more VG content. And, I did not notice better flavor intensity with high PG blends, as compared to 50/50 blends.

So, for me I think I will try the 100% VG and see how it goes, but if I experience the slimy yuckiness that you describe, I have plenty of high PG stuff I can cut it with.

 

[zapped]

Nope it goes both ways. My wife is allergic to VG which is a shame because she loves the flavor of Alien Vision juices, particularly Dreamberries.

All I vape is high VG juices...10/90 is the highest percentage of PG I can tolerate.

 

[thejaker]

Maybe it's just too moist a vape for me, or could be a true allergy.

Let's never discount that there could be a VG allergy, but there should be an easy way to tell. If you have some raw VG, take a small dab of it and touch it to your skin on the back of your wrist (this is a common method used for allergy tests in a medical setting). You can also test a bit on your tongue or gum to see the effect as well if you feel the effects of the allergy are only in your mouth/bronchial region. Don't be alarmed by the sweet flavor VG is safe for human consumption, and is a basic nutrient used in a lot of cell-cultures.

But you are right. VG is much more hygroscopic (retains water) than VG. Well hell, it even has an additional hydroxyl molecule compared to PG to help with its hygroscopic character.

Report back to us and let us know how the test goes. I for one am very interested to hear this as I know of many PG-allergies but no reports of VG allergies thus far!

Best,
Jake

 

[rebgold]

I don't think I have any allergies but I have noticed vg makes my chest feel heavy and makes me cough. A few of my favorite juices so far don't allow customized ratios so I've been using them anyway. I find it embarrassing to sound like a smoker when I vape, it's supposed to be better for you, I didn't have a smoker's cough when I smoked. Think I'm going to have to give up a couple of old favorites when the bottles run out.

 

[Hotwire]

I like 50vg/50pg best.

Pg is better for atties and wicks better but is too hot for me.

Vg alone is slow to wick and fouls attys faster and unless it's a clear juice - coats my throat and tongue.

I prefer the coolness and sweet flavor of VG but 100% VG gives me atty hassle so I go with 50/50 and find that good, though only with clear juices, even at that ratio I find the darker juices coat my lungs / throat / tongue.

With pg you can use darker juices and get zero atty fouling and 'coating' but I find the vapor too hot.

In an ideal world I think I'd go with 40vg/60pg just as it would be a bit thinner for wicking.

But 50/50 is decent once you know how to look after your attys. I wish pg vapor was cooler and I'd use it exclusively due to it's lower viscosity - but it's too damn warm.

 

[Cyia]

I'm one of the PG sensitive people. The most I can vape without wreaking my throat and lymph nodes is 30%pg. I found that at this 70/30 I get just enough throat hit, strong flavor and vapor without feeling the bad side effects.

Currently vaping 80/20 atm and I noticed I can't chain vape as much the higher VG you go because of the side effects you stated. 100%vg is too much for even me. It'll make my nose run, and I'll also start coughing up or clearing my throat more often.