Man shares his story of seizures after vaping; FDA investigates possible links between the two
SOUTH BEND, Ind. –
The FDA is alerting the public of a possible health issue after seeing more and more reports of seizures after vaping.
That news didn’t come as a surprise to South Bend resident Josh Horvath. He says he’s had multiple seizures after using e-cigarettes.
“I’ve had a pretty healthy life since I’ve been young,” said Horvath.
But that’s something he fears e-cigarettes almost took away from him.
“Hopefully it doesn’t cause problems down the road,” he said.
Horvath says in the last six months he sought out e-cigarettes to help him stop smoking. The first time he ever tried one he felt light headed. Then it got worse.
“I hit my e-cig at my friend’s house and he said I seized up on his couch. I remember him talking to him. I remember seeing him but my vision was a little blurry,” said Horvath.
Then it happened a few weeks later.
“I was with my friend in his car. I took one hit off his e-cig and within less than two minutes it happened. I seized up,” he said.
His experience prompted him to go online, and that’s when he said he realized what he thought was a healthier option to smoking actually comes with a lot of risks.
“E-cigarettes are very dangerous. They’re not telling you the whole truth,” he said.
But just how dangerous are they?
“E-cigarettes are still an unregulated product, meaning that there are no rules or regulations to say what kind of chemicals can and cannot be used, what voltage of batteries can and cannot be used. We don’t have that kind of information, so companies are doing what they want right now,” said Latorya Greene, the manager for community health and wellness and tobacco initiatives at Saint Joseph Health System.
Greene says that means consumers right now are essentially guinea pigs.
“A lot of times people don’t know necessarily what kind of chemicals they’re coming in contact with and also what they might not understand is there are also byproducts,” she said.
Greene fully supports the FDA doing more digging on the issue. She says requesting more information is a step in the right direction.
“Getting that input from the community from those who are actually using those products, to be able to get that information I think would be great for all of to be able to have,” said Greene.
“It definitely needs to be investigated a little more,” said Horvath. “I would tell anyone that is experiencing the things that I did, feeling light headed or any type of funny way, you should just through your stuff away.”
That’s exactly what Horvath says he did. He’s now stopped smoking entirely.
The FDA is currently seeking information from people who may have had a similar experience. Those reports can be submitted through the FDA’s Safety Reporting Portal found here.