'Vaping addiction saw me rushed to A&E and docs warned I could die'
A mum feared her toddler would grow up without a mother after being rushed to hospital unable to breathe - all thanks to vaping.
Jodie Hudson found herself struggling to catch her breath while walking around her house and days later was rushed to hospital with vaping-related pneumonia. The 26-year-old, who lives in Worksop in Nottinghamshire, had swapped cigarettes for vapes two years ago - but never suspected what she assumed was a less harmful alternative would lead to a hospital admission.
The council worker, who is mum to two-year-old Dillon Hudson, said she was smoking her vape "anywhere and everywhere" - and had no immediate plans to quit before becoming unwell. After Jodie began experiencing intense feelings of breathlessness, she was rushed to A&E at Bassetlaw Hospital on Saturday, September 24, where doctors warned her of the harmful impact vaping was having on her lungs.
She was left hospitalised with vaping-related pneumonia after struggling to breathe (Kennedy News and Media)
Jodie swapped cigarettes for vapes two years ago (Kennedy News and Media)While there, she grew scared for her life and worried she might never see her son again - while her mum told her if she didn't quit vaping, she "might die". The health scare has led Jodie to swear off the e-cigs for good - and the mum is now warning others to steer clear of what she believes could be "'highly addictive" products.
She said: "I started smoking cigarettes when I was about 18 and when I got pregnant with my son I quit. Afterwards, when he was born, my partner was vaping and I just thought I'd have a go because it seemed healthier because it doesn't have all the tobacco in and I really liked it.
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"I actually found it to be a lot more addictive than smoking cigarettes. Vaping you can choose any flavour and you don't have that residual flavour on you like cigarettes. I just got hooked on them. When I was using disposable ones I went from buying them two to three times a week to every day. I was just smoking it anywhere and everywhere. It was like a shisha bag, it was a lot more leisurely than a nicotine addiction even though it was very much a nicotine addiction."
But Jodie's health took a turn for the worse as she soon developed tonsillitis and struggled doing daily tasks around the house without becoming out of breath. Jodie said: "The weekend before I'd smoked a whole vape a day and then on the Monday, I thought I had tonsillitis and really wasn't well. I couldn't eat, I struggled breathing, I kept waking myself up snoring because my breathing was that bad.
"On the Saturday I really wasn't feeling well and had a panic attack because I was so scared of how little oxygen I was getting, I just couldn't function. I was walking around the house and completely out of breath. My mum said do you want to go to A&E? She said you need to go, you need to help.
Relieved after treatment, but Jodie never suspected vaping would lead to a hospital admission (Kennedy News and Media)"I was struggling to walk - I couldn't catch my breath. Just walking from the car to A&E, I was shaking, sweaty, I had to sit down almost straight away, I felt so dizzy. I could hardly get my words out - I hardly had energy to talk. I just wanted to sleep. When you can't breathe, you can't do anything.
"I got there and pretty much straight away I got put into a room because of how low my oxygen was. I had low blood pressure and my heart rate was through the roof - it went up to 130bpm." Jodie underwent a number of tests including an ECG and chest x-ray which confirmed a diagnosis of vaping-related pneumonia.
Vaping-related lipoid pneumonia is when inhaling oily substances found in e-liquid sparks an inflammatory response in the lungs. Symptoms include a chronic cough, shortness of breath and coughing up blood or blood-tinged mucus, according to John Hopkins Medicine in Maryland, US.
Research published in the BMJ (British Medical Journal) suggested that e-cigarettes may cause a potentially life-threatening lung inflammation in susceptible people. The 2019 paper outlines a case of hypersensitivity pneumonitis – a condition in which the air sacs and airways in the lungs become severely inflamed – in a 16-year-old boy, who developed respiratory failure thought to be caused by the fluid in e-cigarettes.
Professor Andrew Bush, one of the research's co-authors and Royal Brompton’s consultant paediatric chest physician, said: "This case is very disturbing. We simply do not know the long-term consequences of vaping. We don't know what is in these devices and liquids, therefore, how can we possibly say they are safe to inhale into our lungs? They should be kept out of the hands of young people."
Meanwhile, Public Health Scotland (PHS) said that during July and August 2019, five patients were identified at two hospitals in North Carolina with acute lung injury potentially associated with electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use. The five patients were adults aged 18–35 years and all experienced several days of worsening dyspnea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal discomfort and fever. All of the patients survived but these cases highlight the importance of awareness of a potential association between use of marijuana oils or concentrates in e-cigarettes and lipoid pneumonia, according to PHS.
Jodie feared her toddler would grow up without a mother (Kennedy News and Media)Jodie said: "I wasn't surprised but I thought this could end up being something a lot more serious if I don't stop it now. My mum said to me you really do have to quit, you might die. The doctors said it's obvious vaping is having an effect on my lungs. They didn't say whether there's permanent damage or anything but I've got to go back for another x-ray to check that.
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"When they were considering admitting me, I thought I'm never going to get out of this hospital. I just wanted to see my son one more time. It was scary. I don't want my son growing up without any parents. They just said you've got to stop because it can get so much worse from here."
And the mum said she is "full of regrets" over the impact both on her health and finances that vaping has caused. Jodie said: "I'm now an asthmatic because of all this. I'm probably going to be on inhalers for the rest of my life. I have so many regrets - it's just been a waste of money and it's killing me. It's money I could've spent on life and now I have to spend more money on prescriptions. It's been such a wake-up call. Before I was staggering trying to quit vaping, now I've just done it cold turkey.
"I'm never smoking or vaping again. People always think it's not going to be them. It's never you until it's too late. This is definitely the wake-up call I needed, it's going to kill me sooner than anything else. Now I tell everyone to just quit - you don't need any other reason than your own health, save yourself. It's a waste, you're killing yourself."
The Mirror told in July how one man feared for his life when he suffered a collapsed lung after vaping. He had bought his vapes in a store selling counterfeit products. Alex Gittins, 31, thought he bagged himself a bargain when he bought a six-pack of fake Crystal Bar vapes for £20, but ended up in hospital just hours later.
The builder, who bought the product from Easi Vapes in County Durham, said: "I noticed an awful chemical taste in the back of my throat, then five to 10 minutes later I felt what was like a stitch. Next thing you know I'm laying in A&E thinking I was going to die." Alex suspected the vape was counterfeit after his experience, noting that the corner shop only took cash and gave him no receipt.
After being alerted by the Mirror, Crystal's genuine manufacturer, SKE, confirmed the store was not an authorised retailer and sent a letter informing the owner of legal action. We then put Alex in touch with the vape producer, to whom he provided a witness statement after being shown a picture of a fake Crystal vape, which he confirmed was the same as the one which he inhaled.
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