New health problems since vaping - now terrified after googling

[Ripply]

I haven’t been vaping very long but already I’ve had a lot of sore throats and ear pain. Recently I was hospitalised with palpitations and an abnormal heart rhythm that led to me passing out (twice), I’ve developed pins and needles and numbness in both forearms, fierce headaches and vision changes. Now my lymph glands are so swollen I can barely move my neck, or eat. I’ve seen my doctor and they’ve referred me to a couple of specialists but the waiting lists are months for one, and years for the other so I ended up googling a lot, desperate to try and understand what is causing this.

I’ve found endless posts linking swollen lymph glands to both quitting smoking and vaping. One was by someone who had never smoked before. Other posts mentioned heart issues etc. Now I’m terrified and, being honest, I’m starting to wonder if quitting smoking was a bad idea. I have this fear that once your body is used to cigarettes, that it’ll never be quite right again without them. I know they cause cancer as well so I don’t want to smoke for the rest of my life but I keep thinking I might just be swapping one health problem for another. I feel stuck.

Could anyone reassure me that I’m doing the right thing by vaping? Or not? There’s no chance I can quit vaping without going back to cigarettes.

 

[Eskie]

Returning to smoking is obviously not going to be good for your health. As to vaping causing all your current problems that's something you need to discuss with your doctors. It's hard to get meaningful medical advice on a forum.

 

[bombastinator]

Returning to smoking is obviously not going to be good for your health. As to vaping causing all your current problems that's something you need to discuss with your doctors. It's hard to get meaningful medical advice on a forum.

Or from google for that matter.

 

[Beamslider]

Sorry to hear about you health problems. Good that you are working with doctors to find the cause of them.

We are all different and our bodies are all different. I can only tell you that I smoked for over 45 years. A pack to a pack and a half a day. I quit about 2 years ago and the difference it has made in my health is dramatic. I no longer get short of breath from activity, I breath better, I sleep better, I feel a lot better. It took a few weeks to start noticing the change after quitting.

Smoking is not good for you and going back to smoking is very, very unlikely to improve anything health related.

Stick with the doctors and don't smoke as the chances are good smoking would only make it worse.

 

[Letitia]

Did you tell the doctors you quit smoking?

 

[redeuce]

I haven’t been vaping very long but already I’ve had a lot of sore throats and ear pain. Recently I was hospitalised with palpitations and an abnormal heart rhythm that led to me passing out (twice), I’ve developed pins and needles and numbness in both forearms, fierce headaches and vision changes. Now my lymph glands are so swollen I can barely move my neck, or eat. I’ve seen my doctor and they’ve referred me to a couple of specialists but the waiting lists are months for one, and years for the other so I ended up googling a lot, desperate to try and understand what is causing this.

I’ve found endless posts linking swollen lymph glands to both quitting smoking and vaping. One was by someone who had never smoked before. Other posts mentioned heart issues etc. Now I’m terrified and, being honest, I’m starting to wonder if quitting smoking was a bad idea. I have this fear that once your body is used to cigarettes, that it’ll never be quite right again without them. I know they cause cancer as well so I don’t want to smoke for the rest of my life but I keep thinking I might just be swapping one health problem for another. I feel stuck.

Could anyone reassure me that I’m doing the right thing by vaping? Or not? There’s no chance I can quit vaping without going back to cigarettes.

In all due respect, if you have all those serious symptoms and a doctor refers you to specialists that can’t see you for months or years, I think you might want to research for another doctor.

 

[Baditude]

Could anyone reassure me that I’m doing the right thing by vaping? Or not? There’s no chance I can quit vaping without going back to cigarettes.

 

[Ripply]

In all due respect, if you have all those serious symptoms and a doctor refers you to specialists that can’t see you for months or years, I think you might want to research for another doctor.

It would be the same with another doctor. It’s the NHS waiting lists. My doctor seems genuinely worried and has put these referrals through as urgent but there’s nothing anyone can do about the wait.

 

[stols001]

Look I can't comment on whether vaping is causing your problems, but I would suggest getting on the phone with your PCP and finding different specialists who can treat you better.

I am not going to recommend ANYTHING other than SPEEDY medical care and if that's the ER, well it is. Specialists come down to the ER for consults all the time.

I would be concerned in your shoes too, but not about vaping vs. smoking, but GETTING it sorted OUT FAST!!!

We can't help, we're not doctors. But you should be able to manage to get to a hospital without either smoking OR vaping, and request some answers. Heart palpitations are nothing to play with. Please get some (competent) medical care, like, ,yesterday.

Anna

 

[Ripply]

Did you tell the doctors you quit smoking?

Yes. She just said ‘good’. Once I told her I was vaping, she started giving me a lecture about how dangerous it is and that it’s ‘unsafe/untested’ etc. That’s what I expected though. I know that an NHS doctor is never going to say vaping is ok. They aren’t allowed to.

 

[Ripply]

I was already in the emergency room and in hospital because they wanted to monitor my heart rate but I stayed for 2 days and they still couldn’t find a spare heart monitor so they discharged me and told me to ring an ambulance when it happens again.

There’s nothing I can do to sort this out quicker. It’s the same for everyone and I just have to wait and hope it doesn’t get worse.

 

[zoiDman]

...

Could anyone reassure me that I’m doing the right thing by vaping? Or not? There’s no chance I can quit vaping without going back to cigarettes.

If you know you would Go Back to Smoking then you are Doing the Right Thing by continuing to use an e-Cigarette.

And perhaps this Post I made today will help to Ease your mind...

Not sure why? But your link was Removed.

Here is a Similar Article...

Hospitals urged to sell e-cigarettes and let patients vape in bed

BTW - How Long and How Much did you Smoke before you Switched to e-Cigarettes?

 

[Letitia]

@Ripply Wishing you the best outcome. Perhaps this will be a short term withdrawal from combustible tobacco and will pass. Sorry we cannot be more helpful. We are here to listen and offer support.

 

[AzPlumber]

Using another NRT (gum, patches, lozenges, ect.) is also an option, would be better than picking up smoking again. If the symptoms continue on another NRT than chances are the vape is not the cause.

 

[Letitia]

@Ripply Pardon me if I missed it, but what level of nicotine mg are you using and on what setup?

 

[Ripply]

I’m using an arc mini and element Ns20 eliquid. I spent a fortune trying all sorts of different VG/PG combinations, different nicotine levels etc. My very first post here was about that. This eliquid seems to be the only one I’ve found so far that doesn’t give me a sore throat within a day or two. Only the grape flavour though, which is very mild. I haven’t tried the others yet.

 

[Letitia]

I’m using an arc mini and element Ns20 eliquid. I spent a fortune trying all sorts of different VG/PG combinations, different nicotine levels etc. My very first post here was about that. This eliquid seems to be the only one I’ve found so far that doesn’t give me a sore throat within a day or two. Only the grape flavour though, which is very mild. I haven’t tried the others yet.

nicotine level?

 

[Ripply]

nicotine level?

Its 20mg.

 

[stols001]

That's a fairly high nic level and depending on how much you are vaping, well, that could lead to nicotine overload symptoms.

I would think about lowering your nic level, especially if you are having heart palpitations. Unless you were vaping during your hospital stay, that could be the reason that your "palpitations" weren't able to be detected. It could also be the reason for your sore throat as well.

Given the severity of your symptoms, if you choose to continue to vape at all, (which I am officially, formally not recommending that you do) I would cut it in half, at least.

Anna

 

[Letitia]

Its 20mg.

Dilute it down to about half or restrict your vaping to a few hits every half hour. Might just be nic overload if you are chain vaping. Doesn't hurt to try since you don't have a health care option outside of ER.