Good for you. Too many people are afraid of confronting doctors.
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thanks everyone for the support. well just now i just had the HUGEST fight with my partner over this because he, like just about every other non-vaper, is convinced that vaping is bad for you. he had the nerve to tell me that i sound like an addict who refuses to even consider that i’m harming myself. what the actual FCK??!!! like, dude, i do have a PhD in science, i know how to read studies, i know how to research and critique the political, social and economic climate surrounding vaping. he has a PhD, also. but, ohhhhh, suddenly, i’m the addict and don’t know what i’m talking about??? oh man, i’m livid. he can forget about dinner tonight. he can order take out. (&%^$$^#(!!! 
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@willie6 you might have developed Asthma which can manifest in a variety of magnitudes from severe reactions to unnoticeably mild. I have the latter and it’s seasonal. I forget I have an inhaler that helps considerably. My Asthma onset is slow and mild so I usually don’t notice. My wife notices and reminds me.
With that said, I have no idea what my pulse Ox readings are. I’m getting old now and I do feel I am getting winded too easily. I have often wondered if Vaping can cause short term O2 problems. I’m a chain vaper and I vape devices that produce thick, dense vapor. I’ve been thinking it’s quite possible that heavy use will temporarily coat your lungs and cause a short term problem. The coating would break down and not cause long term blockage? All speculation on my part. When I think of the coating we can get on our tongue that’s how I image my lungs. Has any one else had this thought?
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Just the other day, as a matter of fact. I was thinking about the coating of VG on my car windows and wondered what it does to my lungs.
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@JiM210 @natbone i’ve thought the same thing. as well as with PG. i mean, we are introducing them into our lungs all the time and, like natbone mentioned, we do see the VG film in our car windows. on top of that, they are known humectants that strongly absorb moisture and leave our tongues dry and bodies dehydrated. so, i think it’s a natural concern. however, i also think that we are exposed to so many chemicals, especially if you live in a large city like i do. i can’t even imagine the onslaught of particulate matter and chemicals that we subject our lungs to all day every day. and what of decades long heavy smokers? they seem to get back to normal relatively quickly when they quit, assuming that they hadn’t developed emphysema or COPD of some sort. also, over a decade and millions of vapers and there doesnt seem to be any growing report of lung damage or breathing disorders from vaping. so, i don’t know, sometimes i think that VG/PG might easily get dissolved, absorbed, removed pretty readily by our lungs and circulatory system. i don’t know. but, yeah, i have always wondered about short term / long term oxygen problems. hence, my paranoia, despite my belief in the safety of vaping.
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I was a heavy smoker for 42 years, my doctor seems ok with me switching to vaping, and said it’s better than smoking. I do have to go for lung screening annually due to black spot in right lung that so far hasn’t worsened since I switched to vaping 5 yrs, I chain vape subohm, lots o juice, and my oxygen levels have been AOK since I quit cigs,
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Some people just prefer to drink the kool-aid and toe the system line.
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I’ve been vaping for 3 years at the same time I quit cigarettes. I’ve not looked back once. I’ve also never felt better!
I can now climb my apartment’s stairs without getting winded, walk 3 mph for 1 ½+ miles and only break a sweat instead of feeling like I’m dying.
I went to my VA doctor and she only asked me if I was interested in material to help me quit. I explained that I was gradually reducing my nicotine intake until I get to zero, then I would see about quitting…if I quit. (I may not quit vaping. I enjoy the flavor, IMMENSELY!)
My regular primary care physician, outside of the VA…? All she said was “thanks for not vaping in the exam room, while waiting for me to see you. I have some folks who think it’s okay and that I can’t smell their fruits or maple waffles or whatever…
”
She knows it’s better than smoking, which is what she KNOWS most vapers will revert to if she pressures them to quit using scare tactics which are faulty anyway and she’s aware of that! Love her to pieces!!
ALSO, I wear a fitness tracker with O2 sensor. My O2 sats are usually no lower than 92. Almost always above 94. Doc said that’s a normal range. To worry if it goes lower than mid to high 80’s and stays there. BUT that’s for ME not anyone else, so don’t follow that guide unless your doctor says so!
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when i was smoking i couldnt blow out a candle i was holding at arms length.
couldn’t walk up a flight of stairs without being out of breath
couldn’t work outdoors
been vaping 5 yrs
i now work everyday out doors building houses
shortly after switching to vaping full time . my lung capacity came back -
dang birthday cake candles dont stand a chance ,
i was able to walk up stairs without getting winded.
im no doctor but pretty sure if i hadn’t switched to vape i probably be on oxygen right now. vape saved my life in my eyes.
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I believe this for myself as well 
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Yes, a lot of people either aren’t aware of how long vaping has been around or the amount of people doing it. A common refrain is “We don’t have long-term data on vaping.” Well fuck me, but we have no data on the vaccines they’re shoving down our throats but that’s ok for most folks. The FDA has approved many drugs without testing them for 10 years or so and people don’t bitch about that either.
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Just yesterday a nearby chemical plant was unloading a liquid from a rail car. From what I gather they require a procedure using controlled heating during off-load to keep it in a liquid form. Something went wrong and the valorized this chemical smothering half or more of two very urban counties. A very unpleasant strong oder, burning and watering eyes, nausea and headache. It happened about 11PM and public notification was the worst. Zero words for about an hour, than some county organization on social media announced a chemical spill of H2S (Hydrogen Sulfide). Rumors, nothing official except a statement from the plant that basically said don’t worry about it but stay indoors and turn off your A/C. They didn’t say what it was until 12 hours later! First day of school for kids, nobody knows what is happening, what to tell their kids, what to do with them but schools say they are not canceling. Do they stand around gagging and wheezing at the bus stop? It was a bizarre cluster fuck of monumental proportions. Accidents here are fairly regular but this was the least reported one I can recall, and by far the stinkiest.
Finally identified the chemical as “Mercaptan”
From a news article,
The odor was been identified by Lubrizol Corp as a chemical called “mercaptan,” according to Deer Park Police Department on Monday morning.
What is mercaptan?
Mercaptan, also known as methanethiol, is an organic sulfur matter. The chemical is a pungent-smelling gas that has been described as having the stench of rotting cabbages or smelly socks, or what is commonly associated with the smell of natural gas since it is often added to natural gas to make it easier to detect.
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I won’t tell MY story but my wife’s blind test.
My wife had to be visited by a pulmonologist, not “any” doctor, he found that she had a terrible hiss, not breathing right and the lungs didn’t have a nice sound, made her have a Cat scan, luckily it was nothing serious.
Being a two packs a day smoker, it’s years I try to make her switch, she wouldn’t be able, nor wants to quit, so for one reason or the other, she always found something wrong,sore palate, tongue blisters, throat irritation, partially true though, and I had to go through extensive researches on PG, Nicotine, Flavour she might be allergic to.
She had leukaemia and a transplant 10 years ago so her immune system is overall weak, definitely not with a normal health.
After that big scare, I made another attempt with a vape pen and a 50/50 creamy mint cold recipe, so she became a dual for 10 days before the control visit by the pulmonologist.
On the second visit, she didn’t tell the doctor she started vaping (she is/was a non believer) but when he startedr looking at the scan and hearing the lungs, something strange happened, she saw he started checking the lungs again and again and again, the hiss was gone, no more odd sounds, the lungs started to get better, impossible in 10 days, he was happy but couldn’t believe it, he kept saying, the hiss is gone, good news good news.
This was just after 10 days of vaping!
Even my wife was amazed, she didn’t believe it neither, but it was clear, that was the only thing that she did different in 10 days, started vaping, I’m just glad she said it, not me!
What more do you want to hear from people, this was a blind test, done by a specialist, not any doctor, let’s not compare smoking with vaping please,
BTW Yes I’m an addict, yes I probably vape too much, but I used to love smoking, you name it, pipes, cigars, cigarettes,what not, I didn’t even want to quit, now I love vaping… which of the two is the healthiest? I really hope my wife switches to vaping, just have to find another good recipe!
BTW if you wonder which was the recipe that worked, here we go:
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Some people actually became allergic to pg, and would have respiratory problems because of it.
Just shooting blind here.
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Telling me, different PGs on test…
Left a UK produced, middle the Chemnovatic original, right the Farmalabor a made in Italy, and not in the picture the Avoria, made in Germany.
But I think one of the main culprits is nicotine, different types, how it’s stored, manufacturing country, purity, whether is on PG or VG, there’s a lot going on, we always blame PG, on my wife there were just slight differences, if one or the other, but a different nicotine solved most of the problems.
The other is flavours type, if they dry up, no go, still at today I haven’t found which is the compound or compounds of the flavour that dry up.
What baffles me is that my recipe, on paper, would scare my mind as far as allergic reactions, WS23, mints, eucaliptus, sugars,menthol, but it works… and doesn’t dry up, WHY?
Once I also made a mix freebase/salts it improved, but didn’t work as goss as it sounded.
Bear in mind we are naturally talking about PODs and vape pens, low power devices.
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see? this is exactly what is driviing me batty and why i had such a huge fight and why i’m so angry with my doc. all these amazing stories, there are countless numbers of them, and yet it’s like banging your head against a brick wall with these people. and the way they smugly shake their heads and just think you’re a deluded addict. i feel like Keanu Reeves in the Matrix. only i know the truth!! arrrgh!!
@delltrapp and @Iv3shf yeah, that was my niggling conceren, the pg. i was thinking that maybe i’ve developed a sensitivity. i use River Supply’s pg and their Nic Pur salts. i chain vape from a pod. and soon i will chain vape Milky and Minty! that sounds yummy.
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Three are a lot of things that can affect your SPO2. Poor circulation, skin temperature, skin thickness, and the time of day that you check your reading, as well as countless other factors. If i were you, i would buy a pulse ox machine ( $13.00/Amazon) and monitor your levels yourself. Most doctors are misinformed on the benefits and risks associated with vaping. I’ve been vaping since 2014/15. My O2 levels stay between 98-99%. I’ve also had COVID twice.
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Im sixty…
Like all the respondents above I share similar experiences.
If I wait 20 more years, I’ll be dead.
So… Waiting is hazardous to ones health.
My doctor is keeping me alive with blood pressure medication, in return I must go see him and have him listen to my lungs and take my blood pressure and lecture me about my weight and my diet, and sometimes stick his finger up my ass.
So when he asks how the drinking is doing, I say fine, and Im enjoying the weed too. (Mostly edibles or thc vape carts from the dispensary)
Do you smoke?
Nope.
Cuz I don’t.
I need BP pills, I ain’t trying to marry the guy…
So while Im waiting to inevitably die, I’m going to enjoy myself.
Chucking clouds.
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Thanks very much for really good details @robin. I (kinda) remember/ed you said you had the COV twice. Godspeed, and I hope that THAT is it for you for a while.
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@robin normally, my O2 levels are also 98-99%, which is why my doc was concerned. i also had the delta variant recently. in fact, this was 3 weeks before that big outbreak in Provincetown, MA. i was there. so, my other paranoia is that i’m patient zero and i’m responsible for that outbreak! we’ll just keep this between you and me. anyway, yeah, i was going to get a monitor yesterday and totally forgot. i’ll do that today. but, truth is, i did kinda notice months ago that my breathing seemed to have become ever so slightly more labored. so, i still wonder if maybe i developed a sensitivity to PG or something like that. or maybe i need to cut down from chain vaping or something. i don’t know. i’ll get my monitor and experiment by not vaping for a while and testing versus chain vaping and testing.
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