PSA -- Mysterious vaping-related lung illnesses are spreading across the US. Doctors say these are the symptoms to watch out for.

JEDIYoda

Lifer
Jul 13, 2005
33,981
3,318
126
I hope this helps some of you!! Good luck with that Vaping thingee!!!


As vaping-related lung illnesses continue to lead to hospitalizations, medically induced comas, and even deaths across the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning people about the risks of using e-cigarette devices, both with tobacco and cannabis products.


As of September 6, the CDC reported over 450 cases of vaping-related illnesses in 33 states and confirmed five deaths. The CDC, Food and Drug Administration, and doctors are telling anyone who uses e-cigarettes to vape to abstain while the two agencies work with local health departments to investigate the causes of the illnesses.


"It is at this point very clear that vaping is not only unhealthy, but it is very dangerous. This is not anymore a debate. I urge everyone to refrain from vaping anything," Dr. Melodi Pirzada, a pediatric pulmonologist at NYU Winthrop, told Insider.


Health experts have been unable to pinpoint a root cause since the vape device industry is expansive and unregulated. So far, experts believe chemicals like formaldehyde and acrolein could be to blame, as well as vitamin E acetate, a component of vegetable oil that is often used to turn nicotine or THC into the aerosol users then inhale.


It's possible that some of these ingredients don't completely vaporize so when users inhale them, fluid enters the lungs and builds up, causing rare forms of pneumonia reported in many of the recent vape-related hospitalizations.
Here are the signs and symptoms that could be indicative of a serious lung problem if you've used any vape products. If they sound like your experience, seek medical care promptly. You can also call your local poison control center at 1-800-222-1222 if you're concerned about your health after using an e-cigarette product.



You have a chronic cough.
The chemicals in vape juices, the liquid that's heated to a vapor for users to inhale, is laden with various chemicals, many which are known to cause throat irritation. As a result, a user might develop a chronic cough if they develop a vaping habit.
Namely, propylene glycol, which is used to turn liquid vape juice molecules into vapors, is a known throat irritant, Insider previously reported.

You have chest pain or shortness of breath.
Formaldehyde is another common vape juice chemical, pulmonologist Dr. Ravi Kalhan, a professor at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine, previously told Insider.


Formaldehyde can cause lung disease and The Environmental Protection Agency classifies it as a "probable human carcinogen," which means inhaling the substance could increase a person's cancer risk.


Read more: 8 foods to avoid if you want to reduce your chances of cancer, diabetes, and early death


Inhaling the substance has been linked to asmathic reactions as well.


Vaping has also been shown to cause irreparable lung damage, which could making breathing more difficult. In fact, many of the people who have been recently hospitalized after vaping were also put on life support because they couldn't breath on their own.


A 20-year-old from Utah, Alexander Mitchell, was diagnosed with lipoid pneumonia and later, acute respiratory distress syndrome, because his vape habit caused too much fluid to collect in his lungs.


Now, Mitchell's lung capacity is at 25% its full potential and his doctors said it could take one to four years for his lungs to return to their full capacity.

You vomit, feel nauseous, or have diarrhea.
Although the exact cause of these digestive system reactions is unknown, the sheer number of chemicals in vapes are likely linked to the nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea that some people experience after vaping too much.


Research has found that people who vape are exposed to toxic metals like lead because of the metal coils used in e-cigarette devices to heat the vape juice into a vapor.


One study found e-cigarette users were inhaling the metals lead, nickel, chromium, and manganese in concentrations that either approached, met, or exceeded the limits defined as safe by the Environmental Protection Agency.


Vomiting and nausea after vaping are also symptoms of nicotine poisoning, according to DrugWatch.

You're running a fever.
Many of the patients who were hospitalized after vaping THC or nicotine were reported to have run fevers.

You feel tired.
Although fatigue is a vague symptom, the CDC said people who were hospitalized after vaping often reported feeling fatigued either days or weeks after using an e-cigarette.
 

tweaker2

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
14,475
6,896
136
I used to be a two pack a day cig addict, started in my early teens and quit over twenty years ago and now that I'm in my senior years trying to hang onto whatever's left of my physicality, I sure am glad I gave up that stupid debilitating habit back then.

It seems my many years of free-dive spearfishing may have also helped my lungs recover what with how they've expanded in order to allow me to stay submerged for ~2.5 minutes on a good day. I recall how after quitting for a couple of years, while diving I'd on occasion mistakenly snorkle in some salt water down the 'ol windpipe and start gagging and coughing to try to hack up the errantly directed water and I'd taste that distinctive bitter flavor of cigarette tar coming out of my lungs. Took years to get rid of that disgusting taste out of me.
 
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dawp

Lifer
Jul 2, 2005
11,345
2,705
136
I've read that some think it's linked to cbd juices that are not made by the big vendors and mostly illegal ones. not sure of the regulations on these e-cig juices either.
 

nakedfrog

No Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
58,054
12,241
136
Just more proof that we need a free market and regulation is bad, right? The FDA is garbage and never stops things like this from happening.

/s in case it's necessary...
 
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Homerboy

Lifer
Mar 1, 2000
30,856
4,974
126
Just more proof that we need a free market and regulation is bad, right? The FDA is garbage and never stops things like this from happening.

/s in case it's necessary...
(yes I know you were being sarcastic)

While far from perfect, the FDA is at least something to help regulate what is put on the shelves. The FDA needs MORE funding and expansion and less contraction.
 

dank69

Lifer
Oct 6, 2009
35,203
28,218
136
(yes I know you were being sarcastic)

While far from perfect, the FDA is at least something to help regulate what is put on the shelves. The FDA needs MORE funding and expansion and less contraction.
I think it just needed someone like Trump in charge who would never compromise the FDA's integrity in exchange for money or adulation.
 

allisolm

Elite Member
Administrator
Jan 2, 2001
24,973
4,302
136
I don't know the exact cause but there was a 6th death as of this morning. :(


"A sixth person in the United States has died from lung disease related to vaping, Kansas health officials said Tuesday. The woman was older than 50 and had a history of health problems. She became seriously ill shortly after she started using e-cigarettes and her symptoms progressed rapidly. It's not clear what type of vaping products she used, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said."
 
Jan 25, 2011
16,586
8,661
146
What I had heard this morning as well was that a large percentage of the people hospitalized had gone directly to ICU and most were put on respirators. The effects from vaping seem to be very quick and very severe.
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
15,699
1,448
126
It helps to put this into a statistical perspective. There must be millions of people who use a vaping pen of one sort or another, but we're talking about hospitalizations for less than 1,000 people afflicted with the symptoms. Similar attention should be given to the number of deaths, or considering the anecdotal information from allisolm above, we should put that into perspective as well.

Just because I "researched" something on my own behalf, it's not the final word for either me alone or anyone else.

Different voltage levels produce different amounts of formaldehyde as a by-product in these vaping pens. The cancer associated with formaldehyde is an exotic variety, in another organ -- not the lungs. Morticians seemed to have a significantly higher instance of this effect, even though the instance might be low as a percentage of all morticians. The difference between the general population and industrial workers' exposure to formaldehyde is not statistically significant.

For $100, you can get one of the more powerful vaping tools, and I've seen people walking down the street expelling thick clouds of vapor -- more noticeable than cigarette smoke. The cheaper vaping pens are rated at lower voltages and don't generate nearly as much vapor. they're just sufficient to provide a puff that assuages a desire for ordinary cigarette smoke.

For the "Prop 64" cannabis vaping pens, they operate at a different spec. But either way, for the nicotine or cannabis pens, there is a tendency to inhale the vapor as one would inhale smoke for a "doobie" or a joint -- as opposed to a cigarette -- breathing it in, rather than sucking in a mouthful of smoke, then inhaling the mouthful.

The cannabis devotee is likely to be just too eager to get that "super-hit", so you will occasionally see these folks inhaling deeply, and then going through the usual pot-smoking coughing fit.

I guess some people think of the high-power nicotine vaping pens as something akin to cannabis vaping, but it just doesn't float my boat. Nicotine is actually a toxin. So you can declare yourself a moratorium and abjure using these things until FDA and CDC get it all sorted out, or just . . . . take . . . little tiny puffs off low-powered devices.

Frankly, for the cannabis, the vaping oil is stronger and more potent, but I just prefer the sensations, taste and smell of good ol' reefer bud. "Oh-oh, that smell! Cancha smell that smell!" as the Lynard Skynard song goes . . . .
 
Jan 25, 2011
16,586
8,661
146
It helps to put this into a statistical perspective. There must be millions of people who use a vaping pen of one sort or another, but we're talking about hospitalizations for less than 1,000 people afflicted with the symptoms. Similar attention should be given to the number of deaths, or considering the anecdotal information from allisolm above, we should put that into perspective as well.

Just because I "researched" something on my own behalf, it's not the final word for either me alone or anyone else.

Different voltage levels produce different amounts of formaldehyde as a by-product in these vaping pens. The cancer associated with formaldehyde is an exotic variety, in another organ -- not the lungs. Morticians seemed to have a significantly higher instance of this effect, even though the instance might be low as a percentage of all morticians. The difference between the general population and industrial workers' exposure to formaldehyde is not statistically significant.

For $100, you can get one of the more powerful vaping tools, and I've seen people walking down the street expelling thick clouds of vapor -- more noticeable than cigarette smoke. The cheaper vaping pens are rated at lower voltages and don't generate nearly as much vapor. they're just sufficient to provide a puff that assuages a desire for ordinary cigarette smoke.

For the "Prop 64" cannabis vaping pens, they operate at a different spec. But either way, for the nicotine or cannabis pens, there is a tendency to inhale the vapor as one would inhale smoke for a "doobie" or a joint -- as opposed to a cigarette -- breathing it in, rather than sucking in a mouthful of smoke, then inhaling the mouthful.

The cannabis devotee is likely to be just too eager to get that "super-hit", so you will occasionally see these folks inhaling deeply, and then going through the usual pot-smoking coughing fit.

I guess some people think of the high-power nicotine vaping pens as something akin to cannabis vaping, but it just doesn't float my boat. Nicotine is actually a toxin. So you can declare yourself a moratorium and abjure using these things until FDA and CDC get it all sorted out, or just . . . . take . . . little tiny puffs off low-powered devices.

Frankly, for the cannabis, the vaping oil is stronger and more potent, but I just prefer the sensations, taste and smell of good ol' reefer bud. "Oh-oh, that smell! Cancha smell that smell!" as the Lynard Skynard song goes . . . .
Part of the reason it's drawing so much attention is they seem to be targeting to kids with their flavoring. Kids will be far more susceptible to the ill effects and far more likely to be buying cheap products that are less "safe".
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,511
29,092
146
I wonder how long the people that were effected had been vaping--not just the most severe deaths. As "no common link has been found," this seems to be beyond simple cheap, imported devices with heavy metal problems or cheap imported oils and mixtures. These sort of things are usually teased out pretty quickly, but it sounds like the problems encompass all sorts of devices and oils.


Whenever I smoke the green stuff, which is rarer and rarer these days, it's pretty much only leaf and almost always vaped, (the rare wax that I have acquired), and I never experienced any issues. ...this would be over a year ago, anyway. Pretty sure the pen I use is cheap chinese crap, though. My main concern has been the battery exploding in my face (or pocket), but the thing is 4 years old now, so I'd think beyond any typical type of battery failure.
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
15,699
1,448
126
I wonder how long the people that were effected had been vaping--not just the most severe deaths. As "no common link has been found," this seems to be beyond simple cheap, imported devices with heavy metal problems or cheap imported oils and mixtures. These sort of things are usually teased out pretty quickly, but it sounds like the problems encompass all sorts of devices and oils.


Whenever I smoke the green stuff, which is rarer and rarer these days, it's pretty much only leaf and almost always vaped, (the rare wax that I have acquired), and I never experienced any issues. ...this would be over a year ago, anyway. Pretty sure the pen I use is cheap chinese crap, though. My main concern has been the battery exploding in my face (or pocket), but the thing is 4 years old now, so I'd think beyond any typical type of battery failure.
Before Prop 64, we were getting our vape-cartridges and bud with a legal prescription from sanctioned, legitimate dispensaries. I would have thought the vaping pens sold there were of a medically accepted quality, but who really knows?

We still order from the same sources, still use the same vaping pens. But again -- I'd rather do a Doobie. I use Elements rice paper, a decent rolling machine and an "FDR-style" cig-holder with its own filter.

And you're also right about something else. Too much Booh makes your highs piddly-pooh. Better to fire up once a week or once a month. It's much more rewarding.
 

SlowSpyder

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
17,305
1,001
126
I used to be a two pack a day cig addict, started in my early teens and quit over twenty years ago and now that I'm in my senior years trying to hang onto whatever's left of my physicality, I sure am glad I gave up that stupid debilitating habit back then.

It seems my many years of free-dive spearfishing may have also helped my lungs recover what with how they've expanded in order to allow me to stay submerged for ~2.5 minutes on a good day. I recall how after quitting for a couple of years, while diving I'd on occasion mistakenly snorkle in some salt water down the 'ol windpipe and start gagging and coughing to try to hack up the errantly directed water and I'd taste that distinctive bitter flavor of cigarette tar coming out of my lungs. Took years to get rid of that disgusting taste out of me.


I'm glad you quit. Terrible habit that robs you of health, money, and makes you stink. Tobacco is a huge killer and doesn't get as much attention as it probably should since politicians and the NPC's that follow get fixated on other things.
 
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SlowSpyder

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
17,305
1,001
126
Just more proof that we need a free market and regulation is bad, right? The FDA is garbage and never stops things like this from happening.

/s in case it's necessary...


Yea, thank goodness we have a FDA to tell us that when you put a foreign substance in your lungs, there is a chance there could be negative consequences... who could have known?

/s in case it's necessary...
 

nOOky

Platinum Member
Aug 17, 2004
2,826
1,846
136
So Trump wants to ban flavoring in e-cigs after just a few deaths and a few hundred sickened. He sure acted fast on that, what's the hold up with guns then? Does the e-cig industry have a weaker lobby? I bet if they start donating to his campaign instantly he'll forget all about banning them within days.
 
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nakedfrog

No Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
58,054
12,241
136
What I had heard this morning as well was that a large percentage of the people hospitalized had gone directly to ICU and most were put on respirators. The effects from vaping seem to be very quick and very severe.
Obviously results vary, I vaped (from a "mod" as they're known, not a pen) very regularly for a few years, generally using on average 60-100mL of juice per month... all indications so far are that I'm in reasonably good health... a number of people I know also vaped, none have been hospitalized. Most of us quit eventually, I still vape lightly. But I also always used name-brand components/juices from trusted sources, and even wound my own coils for a while. My friend made his own juice.
 

nakedfrog

No Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
58,054
12,241
136
Yea, thank goodness we have a FDA to tell us that when you put a foreign substance in your lungs, there is a chance there could be negative consequences... who could have known?

/s in case it's necessary...
Shut the fuck up. Always.
 

SlowSpyder

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
17,305
1,001
126
So Trump wants to ban flavoring in e-cigs after just a few deaths and a few hundred sickened. He sure acted fast on that, what's the hold up with guns then? Does the e-cig industry have a weaker lobby? I bet if they start donating to his campaign instantly he'll forget all about banning them within days.


E-cigs aren't a pillar the country is founded on.
 

SlowSpyder

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
17,305
1,001
126
Whoosh.

When flavored e cigs are outlawed, only outlaws will have flavored e cigs.


To be honest, I am of the opinion these shouldn't be banned. The Libertarian in me thinks that is overhanded government action. The risks should be made clear, but beyond that, personal responsibility. Your body, do what you want, your choice. It can't be as bad as cigarettes. Keep them 18+ and move on. But thankfully the expensive FDA let us know that some small percentage of users have gotten sick. Super!
 
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jmagg

Golden Member
Nov 21, 2001
1,998
348
126
My mom smoked like a chiminy for 50 + yrs, then went to vaping and died a year later, yup those damn Vapes. I've been vaping 7 yrs, nicotine, no flavor and mix my own after 35 yrs of cigs. My O2 is above 98%. Someone is seeing a great reduction in tobacco sales. Can't have that.
 
Jan 25, 2011
16,586
8,661
146
My mom smoked like a chiminy for 50 + yrs, then went to vaping and died a year later, yup those damn Vapes. I've been vaping 7 yrs, nicotine, no flavor and mix my own after 35 yrs of cigs. My O2 is above 98%. Someone is seeing a great reduction in tobacco sales. Can't have that.
Tobacco owns most of the vaping companies. Reynolds, Altria, Imperial. They are shifting their model and starting over where they did with cigarettes. Problem is they have been far more effective this go around. They have even had school outreach programs. Vaping reps going into schools.
 

jmagg

Golden Member
Nov 21, 2001
1,998
348
126
Tobacco owns most of the vaping companies. Reynolds, Altria, Imperial. They are shifting their model and starting over where they did with cigarettes. Problem is they have been far more effective this go around. They have even had school outreach programs. Vaping reps going into schools.
I find it curious that the hammer fell so quickly, with so few details of hardware and liquids. Something smells.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,511
29,092
146
I'm glad you quit. Terrible habit that robs you of health, money, and makes you stink. Tobacco is a huge killer and doesn't get as much attention as it probably should since politicians and the NPC's that follow get fixated on other things.

get the everloving fuck out of here with your roundly debunked asinine horseshit, you fucking idiot. Big Tobacco has been the target of endless regulation and litigation for decades. That you claim otherwise is just fucking trollish nonsense, you fucking willfully-stupid troglodyte.

please go cornhole your guns and mail your money to Wayne, somewhere else.