A United Kingdom mom was left with painful burn-like rashes all over her body after a serious allergic reaction to vaping for the first time.
Lisa Santiago-Griggs, 42, is calling for a change in the law which would require anyone trying a vape for the first time to be tested for allergies.
She was admitted to the hospital on Sunday — 24 hours after trying a vape to medicate long-term pain from a broken back.
“I’d never vaped or even smoked before so it was new to me.
“They just sold it to me and sent me on my way without any advice of the possible side-effects.
“At 2am, I woke with an itch and all of a sudden by 4:30am I was completely covered in a painful rash. I’ve never had an allergic reaction to anything before — this was horrible.
“It was a covering my body, very painful, and it felt like my skin was burning from underneath, burning up from the inside.”
Santiago-Griggs, from South Gloucestershire in the UK, suffered from a broken back four years ago and had been taking cannabis CBD oil tablets to help cope with the pain of her long-term condition.
She moved onto the vape in the hope that it would also help ease the pain.
Lisa took several anti-histamine tablets to fight the rash but they had no effect — and she checked herself into Southmead Hospital in Bristol.
“It was starting to blister now, and getting serious. They took me straight in and I’ve been here ever since. They are treating me with steroids and I’m on a drip,” she said.
“I have to stay in until it’s calmed down and they can work out exactly what is going on. I am 100 percent convinced it was the vape.
“It’s not like I’ve been out doing anything else. It was the first time I’d ever had a vape and I didn’t realize it can cause this kind of reaction. Doing a bit of research, I’ve found that this has been known, but they don’t tell you. Most people aren’t aware.”
Santiago-Griggs said she would not normally share images of her own body on the internet but thought it was important for the public to know.
“These aren’t pretty pictures and I’m not body confident, but I feel these need to be seen, to understand how bad a reaction can be.
“I felt like I was on fire from the inside out. It was unbearable and it affected by internal organs, like my heart rate, blood pressure and lungs.”
Santiago-Griggs said she now wants vape shops to agree to only sell a full vape to someone after they have tested it and waited 24 hours.
“They do exactly this in the hairdressers to check you won’t have an allergic reaction to a new hair product, so why can’t they do this for vapes.
“I appreciate it works for some and not everyone will have an allergic reaction from vapes, but it is more common than you think — a quick Google search will tell you — but it appears serious allergic reactions like mine due to the product being ingested can’t be treated quickly.”
Santiago-Griggs hopes people share her story to make stockists advise customers to sample the product before purchasing it.
“You could be in the percentage allergic to an organic product, mixed with fruity liquid called propylene glycol,” she said.
“This seems to be the most common one to cause the reaction.”