Confusing Allergy Problem - desperate not to have to give up vaping
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The only issue with that theory is that supposedly the primary addictive substance in cigarette smoke is nicotine, so that addiction should be satisfied by something else containing nicotine.
If you have been using unflavored 100% VG with no nicotine and are not having any problems with it, then at least you have a starting point. PG allergies seem to be pretty common - I think VG allergies are probably pretty uncommon. If you're sure you're not allergic to the VG, then you should just start adding one thing at a time to it and trying it, so if you have a reaction you'll know what's causing it. If the nicotine you have is causing a reaction, you might try getting some from a different source - maybe see if you can find some extracted from organic tobacco in an organic VG base. I believe that's what they have at Wizard Labs, but I don't know if they ship to Europe. You might also look into whether an allergist could test you for an allergy to nicotine. Of course, it wouldn't hurt to get the full battery of allergy tests. Different allergies do tend to build on each other, what they call an overall "allergic load." In other words, if you're taking in one thing you're allergic to, such as pollen or dust, that would cause you to have more of a reaction any other allergen that you take in. Once again, when you test flavorings, just try one flavoring at a time so you'll know which one you're reacting to. Good luck.
I should probably make a new thread, but I have had the same problems bouncing between juices and trying to isolate what was causing me trouble. I am not experiencing hives/rashes/itching, but shortness of breath and a pounding heartbeat.
I have been vaping for 6+ months, and it only started 3 or 4 weeks ago. My ADV was Boba's Bounty (which is 100% VG), at 6mg. I am presuming that I developed some sort of an allergy to it, because after 6 or 7 hits, my heart starts pounding. It is not a quickened or irregular heartbeat, it is just much harder; I can feel it through my chest. The shortness of breath is due to a semi-clogged/congested nose or sinuses which might be a result of a certain juice. Too hard to tell. I switched to some 50/50 of a few different flavors and am still experiencing the same thing. I normally vape 1 flavor a week, which I believe would be plenty of time to see reactions/results come and go and ultimately conclude what I shouldn't vape...
It might be coincidence that I am also terribly congested in my sinuses (behind my upper cheeks, nose, eyes). Not sure if that is from the springtime, or if a juice caused it initially and now my other flavors are just adding onto it. A week ago it was heavy sneezing, runny/stuffy nose, cough, etc (like I said, I think I caught a cold or even a virus, but it's hard to tell with the vaping symptoms too). Been drinking 7-8 glasses of water a day - not to try and feel better, but because drinking that much is essential for your body to perform how it should - so I'm definitely not dehydrated either.
I have bottles of 6mg 100%VG and 100%PG unflavored in the mail to test out what is really causing the problem.
I also know it's not my health, as I am 23 and in (decently) good shape; never had any cardiac problems. It's really making me sad because I love vaping, and I can't seem to get my head high with these other issues arising and being problematic.
P.S. Not trying to derail your thread - was hoping my dilemma could potentially offer some extra advice and insight from ECFers.
I have been vaping for 6+ months, and it only started 3 or 4 weeks ago. My ADV was Boba's Bounty (which is 100% VG), at 6mg. I am presuming that I developed some sort of an allergy to it, because after 6 or 7 hits, my heart starts pounding. It is not a quickened or irregular heartbeat, it is just much harder; I can feel it through my chest. The shortness of breath is due to a semi-clogged/congested nose or sinuses which might be a result of a certain juice. Too hard to tell. I switched to some 50/50 of a few different flavors and am still experiencing the same thing. I normally vape 1 flavor a week, which I believe would be plenty of time to see reactions/results come and go and ultimately conclude what I shouldn't vape...
It might be coincidence that I am also terribly congested in my sinuses (behind my upper cheeks, nose, eyes). Not sure if that is from the springtime, or if a juice caused it initially and now my other flavors are just adding onto it. A week ago it was heavy sneezing, runny/stuffy nose, cough, etc (like I said, I think I caught a cold or even a virus, but it's hard to tell with the vaping symptoms too). Been drinking 7-8 glasses of water a day - not to try and feel better, but because drinking that much is essential for your body to perform how it should - so I'm definitely not dehydrated either.
I have bottles of 6mg 100%VG and 100%PG unflavored in the mail to test out what is really causing the problem.
I also know it's not my health, as I am 23 and in (decently) good shape; never had any cardiac problems. It's really making me sad because I love vaping, and I can't seem to get my head high with these other issues arising and being problematic.
P.S. Not trying to derail your thread - was hoping my dilemma could potentially offer some extra advice and insight from ECFers.
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Hello
What type of setup are you using? The racing heart sounds like to much nicotine. 6mgs is low, but on a more powerful device with a topper that delivers more vapor, it is possible. I was using my MVP at 3.8 volts with 6 mg, and when I got my ProVari at 5Volts using a a 3.0 ohm Boge it was a shock to the system 
Not sure what type of flavoring Boba's bounty uses, but I've know a couple people that had problems with ry4 and tobacco flavors.
Hello
I use a DNA30 device called the XPV. My toppers that I rotate through and their respective wattage are the Aerotank @ 9w, the Nautilus @10w, and a Kayfun 3.1 clone @ 11.5-12w. Nothing earthshattering there, and it's never happened before...such a PITA.
Same here, started recently!
I assume it's PG because i can't vape my 70PG anymore. 50/50 still seems okay.
But i'm still experiencing shortness of breath. I'm going to check it up just incase.
However it started when i started to rebuild my pt2 coils. Perhaps 18mg is to high which is quite odd as i recently stepped down from 24.
It just occurred to me that I once knew a guy who had the most violent allergy to tobacco; he couldn't be anywhere there was smoking (it was before all the smoking bans), and even handling tobacco could bring on symptoms. I suppose it's equally possible to be allergic to the nicotine itself; it seems there's just no end to the weird things a body can be allergic to -- I discovered I was allergic to gypsum by developing hives on my arms when I played with plaster-of-paris as a child!
I don't know if they still do the old-style allergy testing, challenge testing (they scratch you with a bit of a substance to see if there is a reaction to it), but it might be worth looking in to.
Andria
I don't know if they still do the old-style allergy testing, challenge testing (they scratch you with a bit of a substance to see if there is a reaction to it), but it might be worth looking in to.
Andria
The pounding heart, to me, sounds a lot like too much nicotine. Even the shortness of breath could be from that, because with the heart pounding so hard, it needs more oxygen. If the dripping is fairly recent, you may need to step down on the nicotine a little; it seems that the "excellent hits" you get from dripping also give you a lot more nicotine. I have to step down from 8 or 9 to about 6 at night, or when I lie down and try to go to sleep, my heart just gallops madly. It's infuriating.
Andria
Just a clarification...Zantac is *not* a beta blocker. It is an H2 blocker. Completely different thing. Put simply, H2 blockers are typically used to decrease the acidity in the stomach.
"Trust me, I'm a nurse"
Have you considered approaching the doctors with this issue? They could probably perform allergies tests for you specific to e-liquid substances (as opposed to the usual cat/dog stuff).
This would save time and ensure that you get a much more accurate report.
This would save time and ensure that you get a much more accurate report.
As stated, isolate by vaping unflavor vg.
As stated, isolate by vaping unflavored vp -- and knocking your nic down to 2-3mg.
Yes, if you're in a closed room, fumes can be sufficient to cause these very symptoms -- even if you're uncapping only briefly. Ask me how I know... Use a kitchen vent hood (if vented to the outdoors), or open window with window fan. I suggest you carefully downmix your base to well under 50mg e.g. 18 or 36. People need to be careful; no joke.
As stated, isolate by vaping unflavored vp -- and knocking your nic down to 2-3mg.
Yes, if you're in a closed room, fumes can be sufficient to cause these very symptoms -- even if you're uncapping only briefly. Ask me how I know... Use a kitchen vent hood (if vented to the outdoors), or open window with window fan. I suggest you carefully downmix your base to well under 50mg e.g. 18 or 36. People need to be careful; no joke.
Yea i feel it the most when i'm going to bed.
Shame that i've 800ml of these 18mg ^^ But yeah i guess i've to try lower the nic to test it. Still weird since i recently came down from 24mg chainvaping. I doubt my coils are "that" good....
Yea i feel it the most when i'm going to bed.
Shame that i've 800ml of these 18mg ^^ But yeah i guess i've to try lower the nic to test it. Still weird since i recently came down from 24mg chainvaping. I doubt my coils are "that" good....
That's what I mean too, I have started with 18mg on the cigalikes (which was over a year ago), but have been vaping 6mg for the past 5 months with no problems. Even compared to smoking a standard cigarette, 10 hits on 6mg is nothing...
You get the e liquid from the same vendor every time? Or do you DIY?
That is an expensive test o_0 if a person feels that bad, then they should probably get checked out by a doc.
Once again I am going to bring up the e liquid you use. Have you switched vendors? There could've been a mistake on your order. If it came out of the blue, and you've been using the same e liquid for months...maybe someone goofed.
No, I have multiple vendors I use to get liquid from. I do not DIY.
There weren't any mistakes on my order. I normally switch flavors every week(I have about 500mL of 6mg stocked from multiple vendors), but my by-far biggest ADV is 100% VG and has never caused me problems...even from the same bottle (100mL down to about 60mL now). I even transferred the juice over to amber glass bottles due to some saying that the chemical reactions between the juice and the bottle itself was a potential danger.
You know, you hear so much about how so much more nicotine seems to be available, when you drip, and it seems that most who drip are building their own coils, with very low Ω, so there's more heat... I wonder if maybe the nicotine molecules are smaller, from being so hot? Which would tend to counteract the usual delay and poor absorption of standard-style vaping, making the absorption perhaps closer to that of smoking.
EDIT: or maybe it's the heat itself, just generally speeding up and thus making more efficient, the nicotine delivery?
Anyone? Any thoughts?
Andria
EDIT: or maybe it's the heat itself, just generally speeding up and thus making more efficient, the nicotine delivery?
Anyone? Any thoughts?
Andria
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Just a clarification...Zantac is *not* a beta blocker. It is an H2 blocker. Completely different thing. Put simply, H2 blockers are typically used to decrease the acidity in the stomach.
"Trust me, I'm a nurse"
They probably meant to say "Zyrtec" - that's a 2nd-gen antihistamine (I don't know what a beta-blocker is, but Zyrtec is like Allegra and Claritin).
They do still do the "scratch tests" for allergies. They also have a blood test for allergies called ELISA testing (mostly used for food allergies, but probably works with anything that gets into the bloodstream). Yes, tests are expensive if you have to pay for it yourself, but not if you have good insurance. If the OP lives in England, it's probably free for him, so he might as well get them done.
With regard to the OP's reaction to nicotine, it occurred to me that extracts are done using solvents, and those solvents are often harsh chemicals such as petroleates like hexane. I don't know if there are ever remnants of those solvents that remain in the extract, but if there are, that could certainly cause an allergic reaction. For anyone who is an ex-smoker and never had an allergic reaction to tobacco smoke, it seems unlikely that they would be allergic to nicotine itself. If you're sure that you're reacting to your nicotine solution, you might try looking into whether different labs are using different solvents to extract the nicotine, and see if you can find one using something fairly innocuous - ideally, water, and if not that, maybe alcohol.
Yeah, except Zyrtec works. Don't know about Claritin, never tried it, but Allegra might as well be a sugar pill. It does nothing at all that I could tell, at least for cat allergy. We have a cat that lives in the garage/outdoors, and I have to take a Zyrtec everyday; as long as I exercise reasonable precautions, like washing my hands after touching her, the Zyrtec is the perfect cure for that stupid allergy. Allegra was like I hadn't taken anything at all.
Good point about a previous smoker probably not being allergic to nicotine! It very well might be the extract-medium.
Andria
Oh I certainly believe/assume/presume the nicotine droplets were finer and much more easily absorbed on a high powered system.
That's why people have to drop the nicotine concentration when they move to a higher powered system.
Huh... I guess that explains why, when I'm tasting juices using a LR dripper (just a cheapie 510, nothing fancy), I get the head-spins, even when I'm tasting 6mg stuff. When I'm tasting 12mg stuff with it, I feel downright drunk or something.
Good to know!!!
Andria
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