Been Away From Here For A While, And Not Doing Very Good :(

It's been a while!

I left for a while,,,,,,,I think it's been a year or more,,,,,,I took a break because,,,

1) I thought it was getting too political around here (my opinion) and I wanted a break from it.

2) I got a job (which I LOVE) and it takes a lot of my time,,,,,,,

3) I stopped vaping. Yep, me,,,,,,,,who vaped 20 ml a day at one point,,,,Nope, I didn't go back to smoking,,,,,I didn't plan it,,,,it just,,,,,happened. Mostly due to the job, I think,,,,,,I just vaped less and less and less until I wasn't vaping at all,,,,,,,,

then WHAMMO,,,,,,,,the urge for cigarettes hit,,,,,like 9 months after I stopped vaping and almost 3 years after quitting smoking, and it hit like a ton of bricks. It kind of surprised me to be honest. Well, there was no freaking WAY after THREE YEARS that I was going to start smoking (I did that THREE TIMES in the past and it was ALWAYS a disaster),,,,,,so I picked up my provari, charged those batteries, made myself some No Nic juicy peach, and started vaping again.

Thank GOD for my e-cig, because there is NO DOUBT in my mind I'd be smoking again if I hadn't kept it.

Some thoughts,,,,,,,,

1) whoaaaaaaaaaa what the heck happened to this forum???

2) Provari has a VERSION 3??????????

3) Where the heck do I reset my password????????? I forgot mine, I had to have it reset, and I'd like to change it to something I'll remember.

4) It's nice to see everyone  

I like the buzz feeling I used to get when I started vaping and want to feel that again so iv stopped vaping for the past 2 weeks but im afraid that wont be enough.
Any one else do the same thing and how long did you wait and did it work?
Ps I used to vape a good amount, id say i used to smoke about a juul pod a day.  

Hey guys,
Been vaping since August 2014 in an attempt to get off tobacco. For about 6 years, I've smoked Black n Milds (inhaled) about a pack a day. It got so bad to the point where I started hacking up large piles of flem. My fear was these flem balls I hacked up would start to turn red - indicating some type of lung disease. I then had to start on an inhaler due to shortness of breath which then lead me down the path of finding an alternative.

This post will be a journal of my progress to not only track personal progress, but to help others and find a solution to my current issue with vaping. If I help just 1 other person in my situation, I feel like this post did it's job. This post will be 100% true and no factors will be hidden.

Age: 28
Gender: Male
Medical background - High cholesterol, family history of heart disease, diagnosed with anxiety disorder (controlled through Xanax, ativan, nicotine, and on the weekends, alcohol), diagnosed with depression
Years smoking- 6 years - main reason for smoking is to calm anxiety
Vaping history - Started with a ego battery/T3S Kanger tank with 50/50 juice. Upgraded to Protank, then started rebuilding protank heads with cotton. Moved up to Aerotank then to Kayfun. At the kayfun stage, I found juices with PG to make me sneeze so I started using exclusive VG juices. Please note up until this time I never inhaled the vapor, just puffed it like a cigar. (Mouth hit, exhale thru mouth and nose. never hit the lungs)

Upgraded to IPV Mini and Atlantis tank. Started to lunghit using 3mg Nic and 100%/Max VG juices. This is when the red eye issues started.

PROBLEM: My eyes, especially my left, looks like someone punched me in the eye. My eye lids and surrounding areas of the eye are so red it looks like i have on red makeup. I also have a rash breaking out on my neck and left hand. This just started when I started inhaling my vape vs. smoking like a cigar. My eyes are extremely dry and itchy all the time.

Tried: I've tried using higher grade juices with NO PG at all like Velvet Cloud Vapor - still bad. I've tried Max VG juices from MBV, still bad. I've tried taking allergic medication (Allegra). Eye is still red. I've tried switching to an organic cotton coil (Melo Coils) in my Atlantis, still red. I've tried drinking more water - STILL RED.

Observations: In the morning after a long night of drinking water, I wake up and my eye looks completely normal. I start vaping for a few hours, it looks like someone punched me in the face again.

I will try: Mostly PG juices - Thinking of going to a 10%VG/90%PG juice and see what happens. For now, I quit vaping for as long as I can hold on. The last time I tried to quit smoking in the past cold turkey, I went 3 days before going into an almost "postal" state. I'll see how long it takes to get off vaping before I go insane.

I recently went to the VCCT Tampa 2015 event and I almost died. The vapor in there was so dense my eyes were on FIRE. FIREEEEE - I had to leave. It got bad.

I recently was at the store getting eye drops and read that natural tears eye drops have a main ingredient as PG. Interesting.

I've also read PG being the main ingredient to cause allergic reactions, but I may be an exception? Google searches yield others having VG reactions similar to mine.  

Hi all-
I haven't posted in a long while. I am in need of some suggestions as to what could be going in with me all of the sudden with my vaping.

Within the past two months I have a very hard time breathing when vaping. I was just thinking at first that I was getting sick or something. Then, I stopped for a few days completely and I felt better so I started again. The evening of the first day back to vaping, I laid in bed trying to go to sleep feeling like an elephant was sitting on my chest and that my throat was closing up. It was very scary. So scary that I have now been to the pulmonologist as well as the cardiologist (because the chest heaviness was bad). My lungs are clear and heart is in good condition. Soooooo....I went and purchased a ZERO nicotine juice thinking that maybe it was the nicotine. NOPE.....that didn't work either, I have used my e-cig only on the past two Saturdays and it has zero nicotine liquid in it and I still have the same problem after the day of vaping. I feel like I am struggling to breath. It is horrible. It takes a day or so to subside. I really enjoy my vape. I quit analogs on April 9, 2011 and have been vaping every since. Does anyone have any idea what the problem could possibly be? Maybe I should try just VG Juices....would that make a difference? Please help....any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!!  

I wasn't completely convinced about the safety of e-cigs in the first place, but now I'm pretty sure it's having negative effects on my health.

I'm not in the best physical shape, but health wise I've been pretty resistant to sickness for most of my life. Other than the common cold, or an occasional strep throat (from smoking) in recent years I never get sick. I've rarely seen the doctor, and have never had to take off work due to sickness.

I switched to vaping on June 7th of last year, so it's been about a year. I was able to stay off the stinkies, but to do it I would have to vape at a very high rate. I also found myself more addicted to vaping than I ever was with cigarettes. I mean before I was smoking one every couple of hours, but I didn't smoke at home, so I was only smoking about half a pack a day and closer to a full pack on the weekends. When I switched to e-cigs I was pretty much vaping all day, every day.

Anyways, when I first switched I had the common side effects. I felt like I was getting more acne, and got a canker sore on the inside of my mouth where the vapor used to enter. That went away after a week or two. I posted about it on here originally, and people would just say "oh, it's just your body ridding itself of toxins from smoking."

About 4 months into it, I got my first eye stye. I avoided going to the doctor, and it eventually caused my eye to almost swell shut. It went away after about a week after I was put on antibiotics and drops. A month later, through contamination, I got another stye. Same process and it was gone.

Around that time I also noticed that when I had weekends of heavy vaping out of boredom, I would develop bumps, almost like cold sores on and around my lip area.

So I posted again, and people said oh, you need to clean your drip tips better. So I started doing that pretty much every day. I will admit I think it's gotten a little better, but I do still get acne and occasional bumps around the mouth area.

I actually went to a consultation to get Laser eye surgery done so I wouldn't have to touch my eye as much with contact lenses, but the person refused to do it because of a pimple/cold sore I had from heavy vaping the weekend before. She said I'd have to go on meds for a month, so I said screw it.

About 3 months ago, my cheek started swelling up under my lip and close to my jaw. It started off feeling like a regular pimple, but eventually that side of my face started turning numb. I went to the doctor again, and told me my cheek was infected and put me on antibiotics yet again. After about another week it looked like a regular pimple on my face.

Fast forward to last week and I notice I've got what looks like a pimple on my gums, a little bit under my teeth. It was yellow just like a pimple on your face, but on my lower gum line. I've gargled with mouth wash and gave it time, but it hasn't gone away. At this point, I was pretty tired of going to the urgent care doctor, and just wanted to wait it out, but I can't because......

I developed another stye on my eye last night. That's the 3rd time since November. Going to be my 4th doctor visit since November after not going to one for almost 15 years. The stye isn't huge yet, but I know what one feels like by now and it's definitely swelling up again.

I googled "vaping weakens immune systems" and it looks like studies have actually shown that vaping does actually weaken it. I never had these types of issues when I was a smoker. Articles say that e-cig vapor weakens the body against bacteria, which I feel is causing all these infections all of a sudden.

So yes, I do like breathing better, smelling better, and the vaping is keeping my heart rate elevated, so people constantly have been telling me I'm losing weight even though I don't really exercise that much, but I've come to a vaping crossroads here.

Let this be yet another reason for those vapers that somehow feel entitled to vape inside public places that some of these chemicals are toxic and have side effects. If even 1 person in the world can be affected by second hand vapor, it should be banned from doing inside despite the inconvenience to people.

I'm headed to the doctor yet again today to get some more antibiotics. Don't try to tell me this is a PG/VG allergy again, because allergies don't cause repeated infections to different parts of the body.

Maybe I can keep vaping, but I'm going to have to turn into like a germaphobe or something. I already started trying to wash my hands even more regularly than before. I bought disinfectant wipes for my isticks, remote controls, and keyboard/mouse that I clean from time to time. Dunno if I can do much else.

Thanks for reading. Just wanted to share my experience, and maybe put a stop to these people that are absolutely convinced that vaping is completely safe somehow. I know most of the community isn't ignorant enough to make such statements without long term studies to back it, but I've read some of the threads about people openly vaping in supermarkets, disregarding the health of others, and feeling that they are somehow entitled to do it, that just annoy the crap outta me.

Maybe I'm an isolated case, but there are people like me out there.  

A quick back story to start. I was a 1-2 PAD smoker for about 5 years. I found vapes and quit smoking. I was able to stop vaping and smoking for 18 months until I picked up smoking again for a few years. I have once again been able to stop smoking and started vaping again. Simple transition, some willpower for sure, but I have kicked the habit completely. When I started vaping again I purchased an Istick 50w and a troll. Have been using 3mg liquid only. It's been about six weeks smoke free again and I want to, not only upgrade, but reward myself. I read and read and watch reviews non stop, my head hurts from all of the stuff out now. I use my mod consistently at 45 to 50 watts. I have a 0.4 dual coil build and a chuff top. The heat from the vape is less than perfect, but I like the vapor production. I am interested in temperature control as well. If I need to buy two mods to have everything I want, so be it. Not that money isn't an issue, but right now it isn't a factor. I have been looking at IPV3, Sigeli 150, IPV4, Mech Mods, you name it I have looked and can probably tell you the specs off the top of my head. I just can't decide! I need your help ECF! I know I want at least dual 18650, as my Istick lasts maybe half a day until I need to charge. Good flavor and large vapor production atty, temp control, and good ergonomics. Thanks in advance for all input and help.  

I've been vaping with v4l and v2 e-cigs for a couple years mostly the ego style ones. I love messing with all the technology I have and I'm very hands on so I figured I'd stop limiting myself. I bought a Sigelei 100w Plus, Kanger Sub Tank Mini, and a Mutation X V3 RDA.

WOW

I feel stupid for not doing this earlier. I've been vaping 12mg for a couple months now, but bought 6mg for the Sub Tank and RDA and that is even too strong! I diluted it with 100% PG to make it 3mg and it is much better. I couldn't be happier. No dry hits.. no leaking... all the problems I've dealt with over the past couple years are gone and I'm experiencing vaping like never before.

Success!!

Plus I finally convinced my GF to start vaping on New Years Eve and she hasn't looked back. She's using the V2 Pro Series 3 which she loves and we even found some really good house made flavors at a local vaping shop that we really liked. She got cotton candy and I got cigar. I didn't think a vape shop would have juice that good and they even made it fresh right in front of us. To my surprise no steeping required!

Alright I'm rambling. I will leave you with this pic.. and to all you musicians out there that is a ART Pro MPA II preamp with genuine Telefunken tubes from the 60's.

20150316_191947 by joshfiricano, on Flickr  

I just found out my 17 year old cousin started vaping a few months back and he was afraid to tell me, and his mother! To be honest, part of me is relieved!

a little background: I come from an entire family of smokers, aunts, uncles, cousins, all of us smoke with the exception of maybe 5 (out of 50+ people). Most of us starting at around the age of 13-15, it just seems like the thing to do in our clan I guess. Secretly I worry about my younger cousins picking up on our bad habits, just as I did. Seeing your entire family smoke and being around it all the time, its kind of hard to imagine NOT ending up a smoker yourself.


any who, when he told he was vaping, and that he things cigarette smoke is disgusting... I smiled inside soo much. there is hope for us yet!  

I began vaping in 2013. It was a basic setup: Ego Twist with a couple of Vivi Nova tanks.
It took some trial and error but found a couple of juices that I liked and stuck with them. Started
at 18 mg and settled on 12 mg nicotine level. The Ego was nothing special, but it seemed to work well at the time as I quit smoking for an entire year with it. As time wore on, I began getting to get more and more burnt / dry hits. Seemed to be happening all the time. Went through countless coils and it became such an issue that I finally got tired of messing with it and quit vaping. Went back to cigarettes. Looking back, I believe I was using a High VG or possibly Max VG liquid which may have been the cause. Desperate to get off cigarettes again I tried again last year. Bought several starter kits including Innokin IO and Innokin Endura T22. Did not like either of these. Just seemed to give me a headache even after just a couple of puffs. I tried both with 12mg and 6mg. Did not notice much of a difference. I just did not get the satisfaction I remember from years earlier. So gave up on vaping again and went back to analogs.

It is now 2019 and I am really sick and tired of smoking cigarettes. I hate them but can’t stop.
Along comes the JUUL, I decided to give it a shot and just figured it would not work.
At first I did not like it. Seemed WAY to strong at 5%. Stuck with it for a week and thought - hey this is not bad. Mainly was using Virginia and every once in a while a Mango pod was nice (Maybe ½ to 1 full pod a day). I was still smoking a couple of cigs in the morning but after that I would use the JUUL the rest of the day. It was by no means great but good enough. I would constantly struggle to get a decent hit off of it though. There always seemed to be air bubbles in the pods causing a problem or I had to pull the pod out and put it back in just to get it to hit decently. Like I said just good enough. After about 6 months or I started have stomach issues. Mainly really bad gas and thought it might be due to the higher nic level in the 5% pods. So I dropped down to 3% for a month or so and noticed no difference. Finally decided to quit the JUUL altogether to see if it made any difference. Within a week everything went away and was back to normal. No more JULL for me. I am guessing something in the Nicsalts didn’t agree with me. I never had this issue with freebase nicotine.

So, am now looking for a device to replace the JULL that does not use nicsalts and was hoping to get some recommendations. I do not need a big mod device to blow clouds or anything like that.
I want something very simple that hits well and does not burn. I am open to anything really as long as it works. I do prefer MTL style and have heard good things about the Joyetech AIO as well as the SMOK infinix devices. I am really open to anything that will work well. Prefer something small, easy to use and that fits in my pocket. Also, I prefer tobacco flavors and am planning to try out the Blacknote stuff which is a 50/50 PG/VG mix so looking for a device suited to that. Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks!  

Hey kids!

I have been so horribly absent from here over the last 5-6 years. Long story short, quit the stinkers on 8-22-10 and haven’t looked back. Vaping has grown and changed so much during the 11 years I have vaped, I won’t even bore you with the details of what gear was like when I started vaping. You fellow veterans know. It took a whole different level of commitment than it does today, because NOTHING had the power, endurance, or availability it does today.

I have been a 8mg/ml vaper for the last 10 years. I did kick it up to 12mg for a bit when I went through a divorce 5 years ago. There have been so many vape ban scare events that I am stocked up on supplies well. I have made my own juice for 10 years so my stash of nic is good to go. I can decrease the mg/ml if that situation ever arises, but at age 44, I think I have enough to last me at least a good 20-25 years at my current mg level. If I drop the level down, I think I am good to go until the nursing home days come calling.

The biggest part of why I wanted to post here again is:
1. After being a smoker for 16 years, I used smoking for every stressor life threw at me. Since I started vaping, I have survived undergrad, my masters, and my doctorate degree. ZERO temptation to go back to the stinkies. Went through a very unexpected divorce. Never tempted to return to Marlboro. If you commit to the process, it does work. I got remarried a year ago. My husband enjoys the occasional cigar and bourbon on the deck. I can hardly stand to smell him when he enjoys a stogie, which is thankfully only a few times a year. I realize how gross it must have been to be around me when I smoked 1-2 PPD. It does suck in the beginning but giving up the stinkies is worth it.

2. 11 years in, zero health issues. I am a physically fit and busy person anyways. But zero lung issues from my years of smoking or my years of vaping. My current PCP doesn’t even know I vape. I can hike with zero problems. I ride a Harley, and do cross country trips on it, and always stop to hike in places to find rando waterfalls and whatnot. I was in the mountains for a week this spring and zero breathing issues or short of air like I used to have when I smoked stinkies. I did find my vape hit a little harder though and I vaped less! Bonus to vaping is I can vape while I am riding my motorcycle, I don’t have to pull over to smoke lol. The Harley is a new hobby since I quit smoking, so I don’t know what that would have been like, but I see fellow riders pulled over to smoke all the time. Glad that isn’t me!

3. I am a mental health provider. I prescribe meds for depression and anxiety and all the other mental health disorders all day long. And I am a HUGE advocate of vaping to patients who want to discuss it. Many mental health patients have a nicotine dependence. I always tell them I will not be the one barking at them to quit, as it is their choice and whatever consequences result from smoking, they are already aware of those and it isn’t my place to preachy preach about it. But I do tell them I used to smoke, I quit 11 years ago, and I have vaped ever since. I have shown several my device and tank, I refer them to local vape shops that I know are good and helpful, and I refer them all to check out this site. I get pissed when I hear how many reply with their PCP telling them how vaping is so bad. The medical world has been brainwashed pretty good, lemme tell ya. I am an outside the box kind of provider, I don’t buy into all the malarkey the “experts” want to feed us. I won’t go into covid and the current state of affairs in our country, but if more healthcare professionals researched instead of following the masses and “expert rules”, our healthcare world would be a better place. Pharma and the FDA annoy the hell out of me. Anyways, there are more of us “good guys” in healthcare though that do advocate and support than some think, but we are still a minority, with the majority being asleep at the wheel about non FDA approved harm reduction and cessation devices. Every time I see a PCP start Chantix I want to scream. It has about a 2% success rate at best from my personal observations. Anyways, the TLDR here is I support the cause and fight for education about vaping every day in my office.

I wouldn’t be where I am today without the support and help from so many of you fellow veterans back in the day. I am still in shock at how much this industry has evolved in a relatively short period of time. Nic salts…..who knew that would ever be a thing! The one discouraging thing is seeing how many companies have closed up shop anticipating the regulations. I loved my freedom smokes for my nicotine. But, that is the nature of retail period, some survive and some don’t. With USPS delaying the mail ban, I think most could have hung on a little longer. But I don’t run their business or know their projections and models and revenue, so I have no place to judge. ❤️ Vape on friends! I will try to stop by and visit you all more often. This always has been and will always be a great community!