Tinnitus from Vaping

Hi everyone, I have been experiencing tinnitus and plugged ear feeling for about a week and a half now. Extremely fucking upset and disturbed by all this.

I haven't been sleeping longer than an hour or two each night because of the noise. I have also become very sensitive to sounds around the house. I had been trying to quit a smokeless tobacco habit for a bit and tried vaping, noticed I was feeling a bit ill of it but assumed it was just chemical withdrawal from tobacco.

It wasn't until I got a plugged ear feeling that I really started to look into other stories and my anxiety skyrocketed after seeing the connections.

Is there any hope it will go away on its own? My family is trying to be supportive but I don't think they understand the severity of this condition... I just want to know if it gets better... I'm only 23 and I don't want this to change my entire life.

 

Hi, welcome to TT and sorry to hear this. Is there any actual evidence that vaporizing tobacco causes tinnitus, hyperacusis, sound sensitivities, or hearing problems? Don't believe things that you read on the internet, if they're not supported by facts. In the meantime, I would suggest making an appointment with an ENT, that's the first step. Good luck.

 

An ingredient used in e liquid, propylene glycol is supposedly ototoxic but I didn't know this until my symptoms began.

 

The good news is that, for most people, tinnitus will clear up on its own. From reading this forum, it may take up to two years, but the vast majority of people do find relief.

 

That's reassuring, most others are telling me the same. My head has been completely in the past wishing I had never bought that damn e-cig, but I was trying to make a positive change and had no idea it was even worse than smoking your entire life lol. ENT said I have some fluid behind the ear and prescribed antibiotics. idk anything about ototoxicity but I've guessed antibiotics aren't going to reverse that. Getting hearing checked soon though.

 

Also I am hopeful it's just irritation or something as the ENT noted my throat was pretty red and the nicotine strength could have been a factor. That has kept me sane for the most part but I don't want to be disappointed if it sticks around

 

I know, but you can't stay there. What is done is done. You cannot change the past. You have taken the important lesson from the incident, now you need to let it go. Focus on what lies ahead, focus on addressing the other problems and, hopefully, getting past the tinnitus.

That is always a good thing, and the fact that vaping is represented as a healthy alternative to smoking does not help, and you cannot fault yourself for listening to all the hype around these devices.

I am glad you went to seen an ENT, and hopefully addressing the fluid will help resolve the tinnitus.

 

Hey Pirouz, I'm almost the same age as you! Notice you have a Megumin profile as well. It sucks to get tinnitus at any age, and I know exactly how you feel right now. You will probably stress yourself staying up to find out a solution even if we tell you not to worry about it. I did the same thing when I first got tinnitus, but it's very likely your tinnitus will clear up within a week without any intervention. Even in the event that it doesn't, I've had it for two years so far and it honestly doesn't bother me in the slightest anymore. The vast majority of people do get better, stay strong!

 

Hi; I was aware by the possible worsening of tinnitus from eCigs but now after a week of daily use I'm scared about a massive worsening of tinnitus. I was vaping berries 70pg, 30vg, and 2mg nicotine and since the second day I noticed a worsening but I attributed it to the stress of quitting smoking.

Now is completely different.

Someone with similar experience?

If yes, is there a possibility of a setback?

I'm drinking water in order to "clean" the body, I don't what to do! I'm only scared!!!

Thanks!

 

Hey,

I do not share your experience, though I can give a little bit of feedback on it. I was a heavy smoker for a decade, smoking 2 packs a day. Then I quit smoking using E-cigs and I didn't see any change on my T during the next 4 years.

I had been vaping e-cigs since 4 years and got a really bad increase in Tinnitus due to noise exposure.

The spike never really settled down but I started smoking again (quitting e-cigs) and I smoked for a year again. My T went definitely worse.

I am now using E-CIG and it still doesn't have any impact on my T. I could even say it actually improved my T.

Btw, my T is actually really bad. I can't really mask it, unless I'm in the shower. Otherwise, there's not much I can do. My hearing aids do help a bit though, 'cause they fill the frequencies I've lost, on which some of my T frequencies settle.

There are actual studies regarding Propylen Glycol, and it is not as much alarming as some of the posts in this forum may want to make it sound.
It IS ototoxic when applied directly to the inner ear, via eardrops (when eardrum is perforated) but long exposure to propylen glycol in vapor state has shown nothing negative regarding animal testing.

Here are a couple of tips I could give you regarding your vaping experience:

- 1 ) What about your nicotine use ? You are using 2mg/ml, but how much are you vaping daily ? How does this correspond to your cigarettes consumption ? Couldn't you be under-using or over-using ? This could explain worsening in T. Too much nicotine = bad for T. Not enough nicotine = withdrawal issues.

- 2) What E-CIG are you using ? Are you making your own coils ? If not, are you sure you're not using too much power and burning the coil, which gives an awful taste in your mouth and could definitely make you inhale bad stuff for your T.

- 3) Have you tried 100 VG ? There are a few people that are allergic to PG. It could be your case. If that's the case, maybe using 100 VG juice would get you out of trouble regarding Tinnitus.

Also, for other people reading these posts, I would like to point out that people reacting badly to PG in e-cigs is an extreme minority compared to the amount of people who have been greatly helped by e-cigs. There are, I guess, millions of people around the earth vaping and thousands and thousands of posts on the web from people feeling better now vaping then they were when they would smoke. On the other hand, people getting Ts due to vaping, you can actually count them on the internet.

Of course, that doesn't mean one shouldn't find a solution to help these people who react badly get out of their T spike, but vaping is safer then smoking. That's a fact, and I wouldn't want smoker reading this post thinking : "Oh well, I'll stick to tobacco."

If you can quit cold turkey, perfect, that's even better, but e-cigs do help.

 

Hi mate and thank you for reply;

I was not excessive in vaping. 3 or 4 puff every hour. i am a heavy smoker, nearly 2 boxes of Marlboro per day. After 1 week of vaping with 70pg and 30vg I noticed an increase of tinnitus loud since the morning. The eCig is an Eleaf iStick pico 25 kit 85 watt maximum. Usually used at 60 watt. Very good aroma.

Now I'm back on classic cigarettes. Many friends are suggesting to try a full Vegetable Glycerine formula. I think I will go for it. I need a new atomizator because the current one is not sufficient to burn a full VG formula.

Fingers crossed for both tinnitus improving and to have the will of quitting smoking. eCig seemed a bless even for the relax. I will update you guys.

P.S. my GP this morning advised that PG could be ototoxic but also the stress of quitting smoking is not to be underestimated.

 

I think if anything My E-cig use has caused some sinus issues, maybe it didn't and was just how it was supposed to go. I'm trying to quit using my E-cig but its proven very difficult haha

 

Yeah, you should definitely try full VG, see how it goes. I wouldn't give up on vaping if I were you. Classic cigarettes ARE ototoxic, that's for sure, mostly because it's killing your hearing slowly and slowly. So as a T sufferer, cigarettes are not the way to go.

From what I understand though, you do not use your Ecig a lot compared to how many cigarettes you would smoke, don't you ? 3/4 puffs an hour at 2mg, compared to 40 cigarettes a day is a drastic cut in nicotine. I'm not saying : "Go ahead and vape like crazy", but maybe you are reducing your nicotine level a bit too drastically, aren't you ?

Obviously, if your T spike is directly related to ecig, I'd say go back to normal cigarettes for a few days until you get a full VG e-liquid. Then, see how it goes. I'm pretty sure it's going to be OK

PG is ototoxic, yes, in certain conditions of use = applied directly to inner ear. But if you go to concerts or parties, smoke machines are like your e-liquids : made of PG. I'm no doctor but unless you are allergic to PG (which happens), I don't see why vaping PG would spike your T.
I would go for the "stress of quitting cigarette" option.

 

Hope you feel better hon

 

Now I have a full VG with Lemon aroma and a bit of water because it's very dense.

Sore throat, chest pain, and rainy nose disappeared instantly. Maybe I'm a rare case of allergic person to propylene glycol.

Finger crossed. Thank You to everyone and stay strong ✌

 

Yes, that's what I thought. Great for you if it's going better with a full VG e-liquid

 

Hi; I still have bad tinnitus from vaping even using full VG liquid. Lowered nicotine to 0. Does anyone experience strong tinnitus even with full VG liquid. I use 10% distilled water to help the atomizer work. Thank you.

 

This is surprising. There's no reason for VG to cause it. Trying 0 mg AND a different aroma may solve this. If it doesn't, then you might wanna consider stopping both vaping and smoking

There are still options such as Nicotine Spray but yeah...not so satisfying to use.

 

Thank you. I'm actually smoking only pure VG by pharma with no nicotine and no aroma (previously I used the booms like the tobacco cigars).

I have a question; the liquid that contains the nicotine, is it made of PG?

 

There are full VG nicotine boosters. You can buy them on online shops.

 

Today peace with no flower and 2mg nicotine. I would add a bit of vanilla because full vg has no taste at all but l'm scared. BTW, today thank God is a very good day.

 

@ReyKalinic I do not know if this study has been independently verified. But let's say it has. And that 10% propylene glycol instilled directly into the middle ear is indeed ototoxic. Even so, it is highly unlikely that propylene glycol could reach your middle ear indirectly via the route you propose in sufficient concentration and quantity to cause the types of changes described in the article.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7192939

Personally I do not think that vaping on itself is causing a spike, I think it is more likely that your tinnitus spiked from the stress of less nicotine intake in combination with increased focus , that being said , I vaped quite alot some months ago and my t spiked alot , initially I tought it was the vaping that caused it but now I know it was something entirely else .

 

I must report my findings as I have invested in so many helpful treatments. But treatments aside, I was a smoker and drinker for since forever. Because of a job I took I started vaping... In the bathroom during work hours and just Vaped all the time that year. That's when I developed tinnitus after 9 months of that. So I stopped the drinking and vaping but my tinnitus was overwhelming loud to the point of insainity. That's when I started the vitamin testing, lol. At thatpoint it had been weeks since smoking and vaping, but that didn't help.
I should add I used chantax to get off for one week only and I swear that made my T even more persistent.

That's not the end, 2 months later, after finding effective therapies I and having the ring down to a '2' I invested in a stainless shteel, glass bowl And 90 vg. It was the lowest propylene glysol I could find. It was only 3 mg of nicotine. Within 3 days my ring was up to a 5 but I was hooked on the nicotine and, having 5 kids to take care of, used it as a crutch. My T finally reached a 7 and I took the pipe and stomped it out of existence at 4 am last night. Within 8 hours my T.was down to a 3. I picked up a 14 mg patch, cut it in half. Even though I'd rather vape...and drink lol it's not worth the torture I get.
Alcohol triggers me too. But I can drink strong coffee and get no effect. It's funny how T effects us differently. If you must try it I understand, but be prepared for a big increase. Thankfully it decreased, but I work hard with different therapy approaches that add up.

 

Let me add, I didn't have T with analogs. And my patch only equals 7 mg which equals 7 cigarettes. Which is all I ever smoked in a day... Those organic cigs that you can smoke 1 and save half for later because they last alot longer... So I smoked about 14 times throughout the day. Vaping is Highly addictive and you can get away with doing it anywhere. Blah!

 

I vaped Green Smoke "cig-alikes" for two years after I quit smoking, with great results in clearing up my lungs, and I experienced no ill effects. Then Green Smoke went out of business and I was sent on a search for a replacement. I quickly discovered the insane world that is the vaping community. I tried everything: direct-to-lung atomizers, mouth-to-lung atomizers, RDA, RTA, RDTA atomizers, pens, pods, squonks, low/no PG juice, low (3 mg) nicotine juice, on and on.

BUT...whenever I vape with any of these devices or juices, about 5 minutes later I develop very noticeable tinnitus, followed quickly by a headache in the forehead area. This lasts for about an hour, assuming I don't vape anymore during that hour. My fear is that these symptoms seem like they could lead to a stroke. I'm 66 but have never had any allergies, sensitivities or cardiovascular problems. The Green Smoke e-cigs (and the cigarettes before that) never did anything like this to me. I don't understand! But I guess it's telling me it's time to quit altogether. Gulp.

 

Yep! Good luck. I quit smoking many years ago, and never think about it today. It takes time to overcome nicotine addiction, but it can be done. After a few weeks, you won't think about it for hours at a time. After a few months, you won't think about it for days at a time. Just a methodical process, with very predictable outcomes. -- Lucky you!

 

I bought a Vape on Nov 18th. On Nov 20th I developed a new noise.

I had no noise exposure or anything that could trigger it. Now I read of this PG.

I'm going to quit it right now. Has anyone had this happen and had it subside?

 

I thought I would chime in on this as there doesn’t seem to be much content on TT about it.

I’ve been vaping for 2 months now and I am 99% certain it’s making my T worse. In fact I stopped vaping yesterday to see if it makes any difference to my T. I was smoking a 50:50 PG VG liquid.

I’m pretty annoyed because I really enjoy vaping and i no longer smoke proper cigarettes.

tinnitus is such a C***

 

I also experienced worsening of tinnitus from vaping. I think it's especially bad when combined with auditory damage. I think my most recent spike can be attributed to this. I have switched to patches and nicotine pouches. However, there are are pure VG mixes available. They require different coils to avoid gumming up the system. Vaping is not a good idea for tinnitus sufferers. I noticed it lessened when I went back to smoking cigarettes.