vaping and anxiety issues

[louie325]

long story short
10 years of anxiety and depression on and off
every time i vape i usually encounter heavy chest feeling, sometimes gasp for air, and chest full of thick mucus, brain fog
used 80/20 vg pg i have also tried 50/50 and 80/20 pg vg
not allergic to vg nor pg
tried multiple juices from different vendors 15 diff sites to date
went from 6 mg nic down to 3mg then recently down to 1.5mg of nic
drink 4 to 6 standard water bottles a day....nothing seems to help
i started thinking about when my anxiety levels started and it was in fact right around the time i started vaping

now today 24hrs after i put down my vape...and bought a pack of cigs i know i know but.....
little anxiety, zero depression, no tightening in chest, coughing up a bunch of mucus but it feels good
only thing is a headache which may or not be from the booze from yesterday lol

hmm gonna vape later on and see what happens
sound familiar to anyone?

*forgot to add i do direct to lung hit and ive also tried mouth to lung makes no difference
usually vape at 45 to 50W, never chain vape, usually 2 or 3 draws for around 2 to 3 secs

 

[louie325]

anyone? or do i just fall under the 1% that vaping is a no go
i endured these anxiety spikes and depression for a while and never thought it was vaping related...sad to know vaping took me away from the C sticks but also making me feel worse
maybe its time for me to quit all together?

 

[sofarsogood]

long story short
10 years of anxiety and depression on and off
every time i vape i usually encounter heavy chest feeling, sometimes gasp for air, and chest full of thick mucus, brain fog
used 80/20 vg pg i have also tried 50/50 and 80/20 pg vg
not allergic to vg nor pg
tried multiple juices from different vendors 15 diff sites to date
went from 6 mg nic down to 3mg then recently down to 1.5mg of nic
drink 4 to 6 standard water bottles a day....nothing seems to help
i started thinking about when my anxiety levels started and it was in fact right around the time i started vaping

now today 24hrs after i put down my vape...and bought a pack of cigs i know i know but.....
little anxiety, zero depression, no tightening in chest, coughing up a bunch of mucus but it feels good
only thing is a headache which may or not be from the booze from yesterday lol

hmm gonna vape later on and see what happens
sound familiar to anyone?

*forgot to add i do direct to lung hit and ive also tried mouth to lung makes no difference
usually vape at 45 to 50W, never chain vape, usually 2 or 3 draws for around 2 to 3 secs

You might consider talking to a doc about it. May be there is something going on that's treatable so you can vape instead of smoke or do neither.

Simply being a smoker caused me some low level anxiety that I didn't appreciate until it went away when I stopped smoking. I still have the usual anxieties that go with being alive but being a smoker is no longer one of them.

 

[daleron]

Other than talking to your doctor, your best route, have you tried WTA?
Aroma Ejuice Manufacturer of WTA Whole Tobacco Alkaloid Eliquid

 

[Hitmetwice]

Can only speak to the heavy chest feeling and coughing up phlegm.

I needed to start DIY at 90% PG levels in my early days due to the heavy chest feeling. Use very minimal flavouring too because if anything else in the liquid might be a problem it is the food grade flavouring. I chose to make my liquids at 8% max flavouring. I'm now at 4% and 2% depending on the device.

The coughing up is normal when quitting smoking, the body purging the toxins is something to be celebrated not overly concerned about. imo.

Have tried getting the wife onto vaping for 4 years now. She is good at finding reasons NOT to switch, smokers/people can be like that, they just need more motivation to find solutions that work for them and persevere.YMMV.
Good Luck. Cheers.

 

[Robert Cromwell]

long story short
10 years of anxiety and depression on and off
every time i vape i usually encounter heavy chest feeling, sometimes gasp for air, and chest full of thick mucus, brain fog
used 80/20 vg pg i have also tried 50/50 and 80/20 pg vg
not allergic to vg nor pg
tried multiple juices from different vendors 15 diff sites to date
went from 6 mg nic down to 3mg then recently down to 1.5mg of nic
drink 4 to 6 standard water bottles a day....nothing seems to help
i started thinking about when my anxiety levels started and it was in fact right around the time i started vaping

now today 24hrs after i put down my vape...and bought a pack of cigs i know i know but.....
little anxiety, zero depression, no tightening in chest, coughing up a bunch of mucus but it feels good
only thing is a headache which may or not be from the booze from yesterday lol

hmm gonna vape later on and see what happens
sound familiar to anyone?

*forgot to add i do direct to lung hit and ive also tried mouth to lung makes no difference
usually vape at 45 to 50W, never chain vape, usually 2 or 3 draws for around 2 to 3 secs

Vape at 10-20 watts.

 

[BackDoc]

Louie, you've mentioned , alcohol , cigarettes , and a long term depression/anxiety condition.......im thinking its most likely not the vaping but possibly a combination of the above,not to mention medication ( all anxiety and antidepressant meds have the side effect of Anxiety) id put down the cigarettes and the alcohol, cut back on the vaping and touch base with your doctor.........its possible that introducing vaping/especially direct to lung is triggering your Anxiety from the standpoint of you thinking it is..the mind is powerful , good luck son.....

 

[Robert Cromwell]

Louie, you've mentioned , alcohol , cigarettes , and a long term depression/anxiety condition.......im thinking its most likely not the vaping but possibly a combination of the above,not to mention medication ( all anxiety and antidepressant meds have the side effect of Anxiety) id put down the cigarettes and the alcohol, cut back on the vaping and touch base with your doctor.........its possible that introducing vaping/especially direct to lung is triggering your Anxiety from the standpoint of you thinking it is..the mind is powerful , good luck son.....

This and if you are just starting vaping you started way too far up the vaping ladder.
Start small like a Subtank Mini at 15 watts.

 

[louie325]

Louie, you've mentioned , alcohol , cigarettes , and a long term depression/anxiety condition.......im thinking its most likely not the vaping but possibly a combination of the above,not to mention medication ( all anxiety and antidepressant meds have the side effect of Anxiety) id put down the cigarettes and the alcohol, cut back on the vaping and touch base with your doctor.........its possible that introducing vaping/especially direct to lung is triggering your Anxiety from the standpoint of you thinking it is..the mind is powerful , good luck son.....

guess i wasnt super clear
been vaping for well over a year and a half and within that time i never touched a cig since i began vaping(ive been exp these levels of anxiety etc that whole time so i started thinking what else it could be)....only reason i bought a pack of cigs is to keep my nic WD at bay
booze consumption is social
not on any meds i finally threw all that crap away...
48 hrs almost after not vaping and i feel great....chest has opened up, no gasping for air, no depression and i would rate my anxiety a 2 out of 10 while when i was vaping it was usually around a 7 or 8
not coughing up mucus anymore well here and there but not like yesterday
and to my surprise my appetite has increased ten fold

from what i gather from what ive read keep in mind im no expert...but when it comes to heavy chest, trouble breathing and thick mucus could be from max VG or high levels or something to do with the flavorings
since im not allergic to VG..i got tested for that and PG
i can only assume its an allergy to some flavorings

i dont like crazy concoctions my daily vape has been just plain old strawberry or sour apple

gonna talk to my doc about being tested for other allergies
that or im just gonna CT vaping and smoking cigs all together...not worth it
i do and still recommend vaping to anyone that can tolerate it

might even take a allergy med i got and try vaping again
might even ask to get tested for asthma

*can you get nic absorption without inhaling it ?
sorta like a mouth to lung but without actually inhaling it..cigar style

 

[Robert Cromwell]

guess i wasnt super clear
been vaping for well over a year and a half and within that time i never touched a cig since i began vaping(ive been exp these levels of anxiety etc that whole time so i started thinking what else it could be)....only reason i bought a pack of cigs is to keep my nic WD at bay
booze consumption is social
not on any meds i finally threw all that crap away...
48 hrs almost after not vaping and i feel great....chest has opened up, no gasping for air, no depression and i would rate my anxiety a 2 out of 10 while when i was vaping it was usually around a 7 or 8
not coughing up mucus anymore well here and there but not like yesterday
and to my surprise my appetite has increased ten fold

from what i gather from what ive read keep in mind im no expert...but when it comes to heavy chest, trouble breathing and thick mucus could be from max VG or high levels or something to do with the flavorings
since im not allergic to VG..i got tested for that and PG
i can only assume its an allergy to some flavorings

i dont like crazy concoctions my daily vape has been just plain old strawberry or sour apple

gonna talk to my doc about being tested for other allergies
that or im just gonna CT vaping and smoking cigs all together...not worth it
i do and still recommend vaping to anyone that can tolerate it

might even take a allergy med i got and try vaping again
might even ask to get tested for asthma

*can you get nic absorption without inhaling it ?
sorta like a mouth to lung but without actually inhaling it..cigar style

I have bad reactions to ingredients in most flavorings and commercial Ejuice.
You might try DIY using flavorings from flavorconcentrates.com.
Their blueberry is VERY nice. And no additives at all.

I DIY all of my juice. When I run accross a flavoring that gives me grief I have learned that the first sign is tingly lips. If I keep it up I have inflamed mouth and loss of taste in addition to coughing up mucus.

I suspect that many have a touch of this and it manifests itself as Vapers Tongue.

When I find a flavoring that works I can vape it forever with never a case of Vapers Tongue.

 

[LilWhiteClouder]

long story short
10 years of anxiety and depression on and off
every time i vape i usually encounter heavy chest feeling, sometimes gasp for air, and chest full of thick mucus, brain fog
used 80/20 vg pg i have also tried 50/50 and 80/20 pg vg
not allergic to vg nor pg
tried multiple juices from different vendors 15 diff sites to date
went from 6 mg nic down to 3mg then recently down to 1.5mg of nic
drink 4 to 6 standard water bottles a day....nothing seems to help
i started thinking about when my anxiety levels started and it was in fact right around the time i started vaping

now today 24hrs after i put down my vape...and bought a pack of cigs i know i know but.....
little anxiety, zero depression, no tightening in chest, coughing up a bunch of mucus but it feels good
only thing is a headache which may or not be from the booze from yesterday lol

hmm gonna vape later on and see what happens
sound familiar to anyone?

*forgot to add i do direct to lung hit and ive also tried mouth to lung makes no difference
usually vape at 45 to 50W, never chain vape, usually 2 or 3 draws for around 2 to 3 secs

I have recently experienced a couple of the things you mentioned: heavy chest feeling, sometimes gasp for air, but not the other two. I will also admit that I struggled with anxiety most of my late teens to late 20s (I am 34 now). Not just a fear of public places/crowds but panic inducing, concious losing anxiety attacks in certain social settings. This whole time I was a smoker.
As I was cutting back my smoking, just before I switched to vaping completely, I noticed my anxiety was less and less noticeable. God, I felt normal again. Vaping now for over a year and don't even think twice about it.
As for the heavy chest and the gasping for air, I chalked it up to constant sub-ohming (I like .2- .3 normally). I found that backing off some and tootle puffing for a day or two brings my breathing back to normal.
Kinda the opposite of your experience I guess. And I am not trying to disprove or argue anything. We are all different and vaping will affect us differently. I am sorry this is happening to you.
I do agree with Backdoc, cromwell and other's advice too. Talk to a doc and keep us posted. Wishing you the best.

 

[Zipslack]

The nic from vapor absorbs mainly through the mucous membranes, so YES, you will absorb nic by doing mouth-only pipe/cigar style puffs. Little of the nic actually absorbs through the lungs.

 

[louie325]

I have recently experienced a couple of the things you mentioned: heavy chest feeling, sometimes gasp for air, but not the other two. I will also admit that I struggled with anxiety most of my late teens to late 20s (I am 34 now). Not just a fear of public places/crowds but panic inducing, concious losing anxiety attacks in certain social settings. This whole time I was a smoker.
As I was cutting back my smoking, just before I switched to vaping completely, I noticed my anxiety was less and less noticeable. God, I felt normal again. Vaping now for over a year and don't even think twice about it.
As for the heavy chest and the gasping for air, I chalked it up to constant sub-ohming (I like .2- .3 normally). I found that backing off some and tootle puffing for a day or two brings my breathing back to normal.
Kinda the opposite of your experience I guess. And I am not trying to disprove or argue anything. We are all different and vaping will affect us differently. I am sorry this is happening to you.
I do agree with Backdoc, cromwell and other's advice too. Talk to a doc and keep us posted. Wishing you the best.

i was thinking about the sub ohm-ing part
maybe its time to go mouth to lung

i usually get severe post nasal drip which i heard can be caused by high vg but i have vaped 50/50 even 80/20 pg vg but it still happens
think that contributes to the heavy chest as ive heard that max vg is very thick

not sure what i got going on ive been smoking analogs since i posted this the first few days i felt awesome but as of yesterday ive been feeling horrible

im going back to vaping and laying off the analogs, and do MTL if it doesnt work im gonna CT smoking and vaping all together tired of feeling this way
even if it doesnt help its one less CULPRIT

 

[Jstcriusen]

Hmmm. If you can quit vaping after a year and a half and start smoking again without getting sick from the Cigs (Most I know tried a cig after that long got a killer head rush/dizzy)
Maybe you should give the nic gum a shot,or even the patch. You maybe be able to jump off the nic boat all together.........

Edit: i type to slow . LOL

 

[louie325]

Hmmm. If you can quit vaping after a year and a half and start smoking again without getting sick from the Cigs (Most I know tried a cig after that long got a killer head rush/dizzy)
Maybe you should give the nic gum a shot,or even the patch. You maybe be able to jump off the nic boat all together.........

Edit: i type to slow . LOL

lol no yeah i didnt feel any ill effects until now
i was having major head rushes but quite honestly thats awesome lol

getting a bunch of upper gi pains and bloating from the cigs now gonna lay off again like i did the first time...the head rush and dizzyness doesnt compare to the horrendous taste

currently waiting on a serpent mini rta for the single coil set up and some 26g kanthal and gonna try to vape at a higher ohm and lower W currently dont have any other kanthal other than clapton and a griffin rta

also found a local guy with a clean room who mixes for local shops gonna see if i try something diff as far as juice goes

and yes if nothing works ill CT ive done it before and i can do it again

 

[britrocker]

long story short
10 years of anxiety and depression on and off
every time i vape i usually encounter heavy chest feeling, sometimes gasp for air, and chest full of thick mucus, brain fog
used 80/20 vg pg i have also tried 50/50 and 80/20 pg vg
not allergic to vg nor pg
tried multiple juices from different vendors 15 diff sites to date
went from 6 mg nic down to 3mg then recently down to 1.5mg of nic
drink 4 to 6 standard water bottles a day....nothing seems to help
i started thinking about when my anxiety levels started and it was in fact right around the time i started vaping

now today 24hrs after i put down my vape...and bought a pack of cigs i know i know but.....
little anxiety, zero depression, no tightening in chest, coughing up a bunch of mucus but it feels good
only thing is a headache which may or not be from the booze from yesterday lol

hmm gonna vape later on and see what happens
sound familiar to anyone?

*forgot to add i do direct to lung hit and ive also tried mouth to lung makes no difference
usually vape at 45 to 50W, never chain vape, usually 2 or 3 draws for around 2 to 3 secs

YES!!!!

This is EXACTLY IT. You are not alone in this

When i smoke cigarettes. No problems at all ( other than the obvious it will kill me )

But when i vape. ( i have tried 3 diffferent brands, high, low, mid range and different flavors ) and i get the same thing where my chest tightens, i gasp for air.

And this is from only having 1 to 4 puffs for the ENTIRE day!

There is something i think that either affects folks like you and me or something in ejuice that is not good

 

[nilesong]

Have you tried unflavoured yet? Might be worth a try.

Sent from my NX-74205 using Tapatalk

 

[kiba]

I have had mild anxiety my entire life, and also experienced the same symptoms when I first started vaping, went back to smoking multiple times etc... But it wasn't until I started DIYing that I could vape without the heavy anxiety / chest tightening feeling... Now I just don't trust commercial juice bc none of my own juice has ever made me feel that way. YMMV.

 

[Frenchfry1942]

I think that when I switched overnight, I got juice/Nic that my throat /lungs did not like. I wonder it that caused my to vape and not consciously take the inhaled vapor into my lungs. For as long as I can remember, I just inhale to the mouth and then out the nose. The taste, smell and Nic absorption do occur fine.

I am happy with it. I just read earlier about someone else that does it.

Obviously, I don't get a great throat hit, but I get good taste and smell.

Good luck!

 

[Nebs]

Do you know if any of the ejuices you used had diacetyl? I've been having tightness of chest and slight pain on left side of chest. Never had anxiety before but since vaping i notice anxiety type symptoms. Bummed bcuz i like vaping. I've only been doing about a month. This past week ive been noticing it more. I put the vape down more today and the pain stopped, started up again and it came back. Ugh
How do you guys make diy juice?
Sorry you arent feeling great, its frustrating.