Woman told vaping was 'frying her lungs like chicken' discovers she has lungs of an 80-year-old
A woman has said that vaping almost killed her after she heard a 'popping' sound as she breathed, and learned that it was due to damage caused to her lungs.
Hannah Roth said she had got into vaping due to the stress of the pandemic lockdown and hadn't smoked cigarettes before taking up the vape.
She soon found herself vaping 'every hour of the day', until last month she started hearing a popping sound when she breathed and developed a fever.
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The 30-year-old was told by doctors that her vaping had caused her to have pneumonia, leaving her stunned as she had no idea it was a possible consequence.
Scans of Hannah's lungs found the respiratory system of someone in their 80s, or who had been smoking cigarettes for a decade, while x-rays showed the deterioration of her lungs.
Fortunately, ever since then she hasn't even touched a vape as her doctor threw hers in the bin and told her she'd die if she continued the harmful habit.
The Tennessee mum-of-two said: "The doctor came in and showed me my x-ray and said 'do you vape?' and he said 'that's why you have pneumonia'.
"He told me that if I kept on then I was going to die pretty much. He took my vape out of my purse and threw it in the trash can.
"He said 'if you keep smoking these then you're not going to be able to breathe'.
"It was quite scary as a mother. I knew I couldn't vape again as I've got two kids to take care of.
"I was really mad at myself because I had no idea that vaping could do that. The doctor told me 'every time that you're hitting that vape, that vapour is going into your lungs and it's like frying hot chicken in there'. The intensity of it was frying my lungs.
"That's why it was making a popping sound when I was breathing."
Hannah reckons she was vaping pretty much every waking hour of the day for four years.
When she first went to the doctor on 9 April, she was misdiagnosed with the flu, and a week later she ended up in the hospital's emergency department being told she had pneumonia.
"Last month, I got sick. I was at work and started getting cold chills and I really wasn't feeling good," she said of the symptoms she suffered.
"I came home and I was running a fever and my lungs were making this popping sound every time I would breathe.
"I thought I may have bronchitis because my chest hurt really bad. That went on for a few days and then I went to the doctors and they said I had the flu and gave me medicine.
"I was meant to get better but I got worse. I had a fever of 104°F (40°C) and my mom made me go to the hospital and she said 'there's something else wrong with you'.
"They came back and said I had an obstruction in my right lung. They said it was pneumonia. It looks like a tree with branches, it's called 'tree budding' and it's basically the deterioration of your lung.
"It's not supposed to happen unless you're a really heavy smoker."
For now, Hannah is trying to tackle her cravings for vaping with chewing gum, and is telling people 'just don't vape'.
Topics: Health, US News, Vaping, Mental Health
Joe Harker