Before her diagnosis, Ms. Turchin worked as a personal trainer. However, due to her illness, it is now difficult to walk long distances or get out of bed alone
A TikToker and personal trainer from California has been diagnosed with a chronic lung condition after just one year of vaping.
Lucy Turchin, 35, using the username ilovelucypt and has 25,000 followers, developed pneumonia after vaping nicotine and cannabis e-cigarettes.
The condition – which causes severe inflammation in lung tissue – left her “suffocated for nine months” and she is now required to wear an N95 mask in public at all times to avoid inhaling irritants and chemicals.
Ms. Turchin estimates she has spent more than $30,000 on health care costs since her diagnosis. “It’s been an absolute nightmare,” she told DailyMail.com. “This is an earth-shattering diagnosis.”
After overcoming a 12-year heroin addiction, Ms. Turchin began vaping most nicotine-modified e-cigarettes, which are larger and bulkier than typical vape pens.
‘I thought it was safer [than smoking cigarettes]. I thought I was doing something healthier,” Ms. Turchin said.
Ms Turchin was diagnosed with pneumonia after a year of vaping both THC and nicotine e-cigarettes. “I had this beautiful life before me. And now I’m bedridden and suffocated all the time,” she said on TikTok
Within four months, she began to experience “air hunger,” a strong urge to breathe or a feeling of shortness of breath.
This was followed by intense pain and discomfort in her throat. “My lungs felt like they had chemical burns,” she said.
Ms. Turchin stopped vaping and within six months her symptoms subsided.
However, she picked up the habit again seven months after quitting and the symptoms were worse than ever.
“I suffocated for the next nine months,” she said.
While many Americans consider vaping safe, more and more research suggests that e-cigarettes are just as dangerous like traditional tobacco.
Recent studies have suggested that they put users at the same risk of heart problems and do not help people quit smoking.
Vaping has become extremely popular in the US in recent years. An estimated 8.1 million Americans now blow on the devices every week, including more than three million middle and high school kids.
Ms. Turchin was eventually diagnosed with pneumonia via high-resolution CT scan.
Ms. Turchin is now committed to spreading awareness about the dangers of vaping. “I’m going to survive this because I have important work to do,” she said.
Ms Turchin told DailyMail.com that since her diagnosis she has been experiencing pain that feels like “chemical burns” in her lungs, and while some weeks are relatively normal, other weeks she can do nothing but stay in bed.
Over the next year, doctors will monitor Lucy’s progress to see if her pneumonia has progressed to hypersensitivity pneumonitis, a chronic form of the condition that is progressive and can cause permanent lung damage.
Pneumonitis is a type of inflammation of the lung tissue. It can be caused by certain irritants, including chemicals, allergens, bacteria, drugs, fungi, and cancer treatments such as radiation.
The bacteria that cause pneumonia often show up in humidified hot tubs, heaters and air conditioners, according to the Cleveland clinic.
While acute attacks last only four to six hours after a short period of intense exposure, chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis develops after continued exposure to small amounts of a particular irritant, according to the American Lung Association.
This can happen from prolonged vaping due to the wide variety of harmful irritants and flavors in e-cigarettes.
In severe cases of pneumonitis, treatments include the use of corticosteroids to suppress the immune system and reduce inflammation, as well as oxygen therapy.
Pneumonia, one of the most common manifestations of pneumonia, kills about 50,000 Americans each year, the American Thoracic Association estimates.
Pneumonia is associated with numerous debilitating symptoms, including shortness of breath, chest pain, cough, shallow breathing, and fatigue.
Ms. Turchin uses a wheelchair in public to travel long distances, as well as a mask to avoid ingesting irritants.
Vaping is now more common than smoking among US adults under 30, according to the most recent data. About 27 percent of American youth under 30 vape, while only 12 percent smoke
The FDA estimates that vaping is still on the rise among middle and high school students. Four in ten young people admit to using vapes 20 out of 30 days a month
“I have to be very careful about exposure to chemicals. I can’t use bleach in my house. I have to be careful about exposure to fumes from cigarette smoke,’ said Ms. Turchin.
The danger of vaping is rooted in the chemicals.
It is important to recognize that vaping is often not much safer than smoking cigarettes. It can be potentially dangerous to the lungs because you breathe in toxic chemicals that can be destructive to the lungs,” said Dr. Ever Alias, MD, in lurch to one of Lucy’s videos.
Vaping coats the lungs with a variety of potentially harmful additives. Many e-liquid mixes contain a mix of flavourings, aromatic additives, nicotine or THC. Those ingredients are then dissolved in oil.
In 2019, the CDC launched an investigation into the surge in hospitalizations that year from vaping products. As of February 2020, the CDC recorded more than 2,800 hospitalizations and 68 deaths.
The agency identified vitamin E acetate as one of the leading causes of illness in the patients who vaped.
Vitamin E is an oily chemical that is added to vapor liquids to thin or thicken them. It is mostly used in THC vapes.
E-cigarettes also produce formaldehyde, which is widely used in building and construction materials.
a study from the University of North Carolina found that two of the main ingredients in e-cigarettes, propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin, are toxic to cells.
Although her condition is incurable, Ms Turchin said she is now dedicating herself to spreading awareness about the dangers of vaping.
“I’m going to survive this because I have important work to do,” she said.