Vaping is often touted as one of the most risk-free alternatives to smoking. It’s becoming gradually more accepted that vaping is considerably less harmful to your body than smoking, but the reality is that you may still experience one of a number of common side effects.
Side effects aren’t always a cause for concern. Introducing any substance to your body that is not naturally occurring within it can lead to some side effects. If you are thinking of starting to vape, it’s important to be aware that you might be liable to experience them.
It’s also important to note, however, that not everyone experiences these symptoms and side effects. There are countless who get nothing but pleasure from vaping. With that in mind, what are the more common possible side effects?
1. Mouth Dryness
Propylene glycol and vegetable glycerine are the two main base ingredients of most e-liquids that you will find on the market, and these can have a dehydrating effect on the mouth. The vapour you inhale from vaping is hygroscopic, which means it absorbs surrounding moisture, and that’s why you can have a dry mouth. This is not a dangerous side effect, and you can simply increase the amount you drink to account for the water being absorbed in your mouth. It really is that easy!
2. Feeling Dizzy
Too much nicotine can leave you feeling dizzy, particularly if you are not used to inhaling it. The effect of being dizzy is your body telling you that you have inhaled more than you’re used to. This is particularly true if you have gone from smoking heavily filtered cigarettes to vaping with a high strength nicotine e-liquid. Or if you’re just taking up vaping having never smoked.
The cure is a simple one, and that’s to alter the strength of the nicotine in the fluid you use. There are many strengths available, depending on your preferences, allowing you to experiment to find the right concentration to suit your body’s established nicotine tolerance.
3. Sore Throats
There are several potential reasons for this. The first is one of the main ingredients of e-liquid, propylene glycol, which has been known to irritate sensitive airways. It might also be the chemicals used in the flavouring of your particular e-liquid. Another potential reason is that the metal coil in the vape you’re using is made from nickel, which many people are allergic to.
If the potential issue is the amount of propylene glycol, you can switch to a liquid that has a lower concentration, or you can try a different flavour. If the issue is the nickel in the metal coil, you will need to find a new stainless steel hypoallergenic coil.
4. Coughing
Coughing is often experienced when vaping, and almost every time it’s as a result of user error somewhere along the line. It’s generally either down to using vape liquid with too much nicotine, which can irritate the lungs, or trying to “smoke” the vape like you would a cigarette.
Vapes come in two main types – mouth to lung, and direct to lung. Mouth to lung devices are designed to be sucked on like you would with a normal cigarette, so are perfect for those trying to give up smoking as they don’t require you to alter the technique you’ve become used to. Direct lung devices are designed to inhale the vapour direct to your lungs. It’s important you use e-liquids with 6 mg/ml strength or below with these devices, otherwise, you’ll potentially cause irritation to your lungs resulting in coughing.
5. Insomnia
Many vapers report suffering from insomnia when they have not long quit cigarettes. The odds are this is because the e-liquid being used has a higher nicotine content than the body has been used to receiving through the cigarettes. Nicotine is ultimately a stimulant and will have basically the same effect on your body as caffeine, namely to suppress your tiredness and boost your alertness.
Something you can do to help this is to have two different e-liquids that you use. A stronger nicotine content can be used in the morning and through the day, then switch to much lower nicotine content, or even a nicotine-free liquid, in the evening to allow your body to prepare for sleep.
Is vaping still right for you?
It’s easy to be put off vaping when reading about side effects – but these are the most common side effects reported by vapers, and each one of them is relatively minor. Not only that, but they are easily remedied by adjusting the liquid you vape and the way that you use it.
It’s important to remember that everything we take has potential side effects. Every medicine you’ve ever taken has side effects, most of which you probably don’t even know about. Just because you ‘might’ experience something, is absolutely no guarantee that you will – so don’t be put off.
Vaping is a very helpful way of stopping yourself smoking, and the side effects of vaping are nothing compared to the side effects of continuing to smoke cigarettes on a regular basis. Vaping is more affordable, more socially responsible, and will allow you to get more of a handle on your nicotine intake.
If you’re still unsure, the best thing for you to do is simply give it a try with an open mind. You will have lost nothing for trying, and potentially have everything to gain. If you’re a smoker who is looking to give up cigarettes, make sure you try Smoko. Smoko has developed one of the safest and realistic tobacco flavoured e-liquids flavoured e-liquids to help minimise the shock to your system of giving up smoking. Try it for yourself and give up tobacco today!
