Throat irritation?

My mixes are usually 70/30 VG/PG

Maybe you are getting sensitive to PG. You could try max VG and see how that goes.
Another thing, with all this flue going around I’ve noticed I’m more prone to throat irritation myself ATM so it could be temporary. :crossed_fingers:

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That’s my first thought. From what I’ve heard, a lot of times a pg allergy presents as a scratchy throat.

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Is this with all the juice you are making or just specific ingredients? I know there are a few items (ingredients) that if I use too much of them I’ll either get a scratching feeling in the back of my throat or cough from vaping it.
As an aside you might want to make a 0 nic 0 flavor vg/pg mix up and see it your still experiencing this issue.

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He already did and it didn’t help.

edit Sorry about that, he did the 0 nic, not the 0 flavour :woman_facepalming:

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I’m betting on the PG factor. Not only does it cause allergic reactions in some peeps but PG molecules are hygroscopic, which bond with water molecules. When you are vaping water is being drawn out of your saliva due to the PG in your E-Liquid. Not only is water being drawn out of your saliva, but also the surrounding tissue in your throat and mouth. Hence the dreaded Dry Mouth.

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It’s already be said. Yup. Pg sensitivity. It’s a pain. I can vape 70/30pg all day. Anything higher in pg kills me. God do I wish I could do 60/40 or 50/50. But nope and 70/30 is fine for me.

Beyond that…are you doing mtl? Sometimes for me after a full day of mtl with a tight draw it bugs my throat. It’s odd but for me it happens.

Which brings us to coils and devices. Yes I may need to change…type of wire, wattage, draw, and so on.

And you may need to account for your current state of medical affairs. Health issues can make vaping hard. Maybe you need to get checked out by a doc.

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What I find is strange is that a few years back everything use to be 80/20 pg/vg it wasn’t until ohms dropped that it seems people needed to start switching things around to vg being the main bulk of a mix.
@Jooshwa is their anything else you’ve done differently that you could consider causing the irritation? Different wicking material or starting using higher (hotter) power?

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If I had to wager a guess, I’d say that it’s because we moved to devices that produce more vapor. More vapor = more drying. :woman_shrugging:

Could be wrong though. This is why I’m not an engineer or a doctor.

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I have a sensitive throat as well. Initially everything pointed towards a PG sensitivity but I’m starting to feel like it’s largely due to specific flavors (and a lot of them). I’ve tried maxVG in the past, as well as distilled water & vodka but I’m back on 70/30 mixes and it really depends on which recipe I’m vaping that’s giving me harsh or smooth vapes.

One of the recipes I make is really smooth on the throat though and tastes quite good too if you like fruity juices, maybe give it a try: http://e-liquid-recipes.com/recipe/1342633/Summer%20Juice
I always come back to this when I’m getting even a tickle in my throat.

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you could try saline in all your mixes perhaps .25%, I have been doing some reading but thats info u would have to decide for yourself whether it be +/- for ya.

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I started with 70/30 mixes and had some slight throat irritation. I switch it to 75/25 and it solved my problem. On the other hand some flavors give me a sour stomach.

I went through a similar situation. For a different problem, my doctor recommended taking Loratadine (generic Claritin) 10 mg tables. After several days the problem with the throat went away. So, now I take one table daily (recommended dosage)… and, everything seems to be fine.

If you’re going to try Loratadine, check around for pricing. It can sell for as much as $13 for 10 tablets, and others sell 100 tablets for $9.75 (online). Even Walmart has fairly good discounts on this drug. I’d recommend starting with something like 30 tablets to see if this works. (Loratadine is non-prescription.)

Keep in mind I have no medical training, just recent experience to draw on.

For the record, allergy medicine does help the symptom clear up. I tested yesterday vaping a tank of pure VG. I should have re-wicked beforehand though because I did get some throat irritation, but not nearly as bad. More testing to do today.

I’m using the same wire and cotton that I always have had. And I’m actually vaping at lower wattage than I used to.

The timing of this just sucks because I’m leaving on a 5 day cruise Monday and would really like to be able to vape on the deck of a ship in the middle of the ocean without my throat itching!

Thank you all for the suggestions and I do intend to try them all until I figure this out.

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Not to derail too much, but many things including vaping on an empty stomach give me a sour gut these days. BUT, Ive found a miracle cure in kefir. Its similar to a drinkable yogurt, but far better on the stomach than even pepto. It coats your stomach heavily AND is a great antacid AND tastes great. I really cant recommend it highly enough. It has worked 100% of the time over 2 years.

When I’m in the middle east and cant get kefir, I drink ayran. . .its basically yogurt with water. It doesnt have nearly the antacid properties of kefir though and none of it helps a raw throat, apologies again if considered a derail.

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Lots of people jump to the assumption of PG sensitivity, but there are lots of other things that can cause throat irritations, wheezing, chest tightness, coughing, and even nasal swelling. Sucralose sweeteners are often a culprit of causing this issue, more so than people realize. Fructose, sugar syrup, caramel coloring in flavorings can also cause irritation. Diketones can cause irritation (Diacetyl, acetyl propionyl, acetoin.) There are other flavoring molecules that I’ve found that irritate me, a few used frequently in banana, peanut butter, and some other fruits seem to irritate me. So I have to experiment with lots of different flavoring to find stuff I can actually vape comfortably. So while sure, PG’s throat hit can cause some irritation without even being allergic to it, or even sensitive to it in way, and there are some people who are allergic to it, there are lots of other possibilities that could be causing you irritation. I would suggest looking at the ingredients you are in your recipes and see if it is one of them.

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Hi @Jooshwa, I too suffer from the same irritation. I vape 70/30 vg/pg at 3mgs. I have started using a mouth wash/mouth gargle called Biotene (mouth moisturiser). I gargle & rinse with this at least 3 times a day as well as try to drink more water. This has significantly reduced my throat irritation. Hopefully you can improve this and stay of the smokes.

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Feel free to split this thread up, but same thing here. Is this because you trick your stomach with the flavors into thinking it can expect some food and starts producing acid?

Exactly! I drink a lot of fluids and try to get humidity from a steamer to get my throat back to normal.

I certainly agree with this. When I have vaped certain PBs, any diketone juices all of them will get me slightly tight in the chest at times but particularly Acetoin, as for the sweeteners I don’t use those anymore but heck yeah I can see all those nasty molecules clumping up on the wicks- attys and worse whatever carcinogenic mess is being inhaled.

@Jooshwa I hope you find a solution. I am very pg sensitive and while it is a huge contributing factor to get a dry irritating throat from it, it could very well be one of the flavors irritating too. When I started to notice my situation it went from very subtle couldn’t clear my throat well , it felt sticky and then my chest started to ache like I was getting bronchitis but I wasn’t , it was all from the pg as soon as I cut back my throat and chest irritation subsided. I still have to watch out for certain flavors like Jennifer noted. Good luck and I hope u enjoy your cruise.

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