Utah teenager says she was put in a coma after vaping for three years gave her rare lung disease
NEPHI, UTAH: Smoking e-cigarettes, or vaping, is believed to cause lesser harm than smoking cigarettes. However, that may not be true in all cases. A Nephi teenager who admitted to vaping every day for three years said she was left in a coma and diagnosed with a rare lung disease.
Maddie Nelson, 18, started feeling nauseous earlier this year and began experienced intense back pain in the last few months. "I thought vaping was fine. I did all the tricks, all the time," the teenager told FOX 13.
While she started out with zero-nicotine vape juice, she eventually turned to 3 mg of nicotine. "I used all sorts of different products, from all sorts of vape shops across Utah County," she added. "I used Naked Juice, all sorts of name brand juices."
Maddie then started experiencing discomfort, fell ill and ended up in the hospital. She was placed on a ventilator as she was unable to breathe on her own. The doctors then decided to put her into a medically induced coma for three days. She was given steroids to help combat the inflammation and still needs oxygen at night for tightness in her chest.
Doctors said she was suffering from acute eosinophilic pneumonia—a rare disease caused by a buildup of white blood cells in the lungs in response to inflammation.
Maddie revealed her harrowing experience in a Facebook post and urged people to quit vaping.
"I am sharing my story so you all are aware that there is something crazy in these pens that is not safe and almost cost me my life. I used to just tell myself it won’t happen to me, but it can and will happen to you too…take my advice, don’t smoke, don’t vape," she warned others.
"When you inhale the moisture [from e-liquids], it’s just creating the perfect environment for bacteria to grow inside your lungs and for infection to start. And that is basically what happened," she also said, adding, "After going through that, I would never touch a vape again."
Not only did vaping destroy her health, but put her in medical debt too. The news comes as the Utah Department of Health is trying to control the usage of vape products, amid a rash of severe vaping-related illnesses reported to the department. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says nearly 200 people have contracted severe respiratory illnesses after vaping.