Smoking, Vaping, And The Flu

[keenan]

Wanted to know if anyone else has experienced this. I have the flu, the " Please but a bullet in my head and get it over with" flu. This is the first time since I started vaping. Now, in 30 years of smoking, I dont ever remember a cold or flu that prevented me from smoking. Seriously. It NEVER slowed me down. Since I contracted this on Sat., I CANNOT take a hit off of my 510. INSTANTLY hack and cough the SECOND it hits the back of my throat. Out of frustration, I took one of my wifes analogs, lit it up, and while it tasted like burning fecal matter, it didnt make me cough one bit. Its weird. Anyone else ever experience this, or know why that would happen ? Dont worry, Im NOT goin back to analogs, but Im gonna RUSH this flu out so I can get back to vaping !

[GDub]

I haven't been really sick since I started vaping yet (thank god) so I can't really comment too much, but I have noticed that I have some days where the vapor can be very irritating to my throat and lungs, and other days where it's super smooth and enjoyable. Not really sure what triggers this reaction for me, but most days are a very pleasant experience.

[Vacker1229]

Wanted to know if anyone else has experienced this. I have the flu, the " Please but a bullet in my head and get it over with" flu. This is the first time since I started vaping. Now, in 30 years of smoking, I dont ever remember a cold or flu that prevented me from smoking. Seriously. It NEVER slowed me down. Since I contracted this on Sat., I CANNOT take a hit off of my 510. INSTANTLY hack and cough the SECOND it hits the back of my throat. Out of frustration, I took one of my wifes analogs, lit it up, and while it tasted like burning fecal matter, it didnt make me cough one bit. Its weird. Anyone else ever experience this, or know why that would happen ? Dont worry, Im NOT goin back to analogs, but Im gonna RUSH this flu out so I can get back to vaping !

So sorry to hear you are not well. I did have the flu but my reactions to vaping was much easier than when i smoked. No coughing at all with PV, and no residual bronchitis like i have had for 40 years.

Hate to be an alarmist but perhaps you have the H1N1 and may have to check in with your doc.

take care, feel well soon.

[Travis798]

I honestly have no idea of why it would happen unless the PG is more of an irritant to our throats than cig smoke is, which I believe it is as evidenced by our need to drink a lot more water with vaping vs smoking. I've read about people saying this same thing happened to them on ECF, so it's not just you.

Although I have absolutely nothing to back this up, and it's just a guess on my part, but since I believe the reaction is due to irritation of an already sore throat, I'm wondering if using something like chloraseptic will help to numb your throat to where you can vape. Of course if so, you then run into the problem of possibly making your throat irritated more than it already is. You might try some VG if you have some handy, although I still have to drink water with it, it seems to be much less irritating to me than PG was, of course I found out the hard way that I'm allergic to PG, so that could also be why it irritated me as bad.

At any rate, sucks that you can't vape man. Get some tamiflu and plenty of rest and fluids!

[NeRo9k]

I always found that smoking analogs when I was sick made my throat worse. My parents always contributed to smoking but I always had to refute the idea. Now that I'm vaping, when I get a swore throat it's gone within a couple of days compared to weeks. It may just be a coincidence, but I attribute that to no longer smoking analogs. Draw your own conclusion, but I know where I stand.

[fran1959]

I honestly have no idea of why it would happen unless the PG is more of an irritant to our throats than cig smoke is, which I believe it is as evidenced by our need to drink a lot more water with vaping vs smoking. I've read about people saying this same thing happened to them on ECF, so it's not just you.

Although I have absolutely nothing to back this up, and it's just a guess on my part, but since I believe the reaction is due to irritation of an already sore throat, I'm wondering if using something like chloraseptic will help to numb your throat to where you can vape. Of course if so, you then run into the problem of possibly making your throat irritated more than it already is. You might try some VG if you have some handy, although I still have to drink water with it, it seems to be much less irritating to me than PG was, of course I found out the hard way that I'm allergic to PG, so that could also be why it irritated me as bad.

At any rate, sucks that you can't vape man. Get some tamiflu and plenty of rest and fluids!

[fran1959]

Out of curiosity how did you figure out you were allergic to PG? I have been adding a little VG to my juice, but I think the PG is upsetting my stomach.

[Brian]

Sorry you're still down man. We miss you around here!

There was only one time that I can remember not being able to smoke an analog. Like you're saying now, I just couldn't inhale it.

[Travis798]

Out of curiosity how did you figure out you were allergic to PG? I have been adding a little VG to my juice, but I think the PG is upsetting my stomach.

I guess I can't honestly say with 100% certainty that I am allergic to it. When using PG my throat would get super sore, almost to the point I couldn't swallow, my mouth would get sore, mainly the roof of my mouth and and my gums just behind my lower teeth. When I say the roof of my mouth was sore, I mean I could look in a mirror and it was really red. If I laid off the PG, it would start to get better. Start the PG again and it would get worse. I was also really run down and super tired, not sure if that was the PG or not, but I'm not as bad now after switching to VG and nothing sore about me!

If you think the PG is upsetting your stomach, it would be pretty easy to check. Go to wordup or somewhere that sells VG juice and get a small bottle to vape for a few days.

[StevenP]

Was wondering why there was a lack of Keneen posts, hope to see you back soon.

Edited December 15, 2009 by StevenP

[Schizophretard]

Chances are you have H1N1. I did about a month ago and the doctor wouldn't even test me because he said 99% of people coming in have it. One way I could tell I had it before going was that it felt new. It reminded me of the first time I had the flu as a kid. I felt like I was going to die. Something else I noticed was I had cold symptoms too.

For the last week or so I've had the cold. I've been having the same problem as you. When I sleep all the mucus in my lungs hardens up and vaping causes me to cough. What it feels like to me is the pull from vaping. When you smoke you can do a little pull and get a little puff. Vaping you don't do that. A small hit is a big hit.

What has helped me is menthol. Vaping that is kind of like vapor rub. At the beginning of the day I've been coughing every hit but as I keep trying to vape the menthol it gets less and less. Every day I felt like you at first but later on in the day I can vape like I'm not even sick.

My humidifier and Mucinex has helped too.

Get well soon.