An Arkansas teenager was left seriously ill after his vaping addiction caused him to become so severely dehydrated that his urine turned black.
Jake Melton, 15, was rushed to the emergency room earlier this month after developing extreme dizziness, nausea and bloodshot eyes that made him look like he was “high.”
He arrived at school that same day feeling “like everything in my body hurt” and visited the school nurse, who suggested his mother, Melony Sample, take him directly to the emergency room.
At the hospital he lost consciousness, which triggered alarm among doctors who performed a series of urgent tests.
The results showed that Jake was suffering from extreme dehydration and was at risk of kidney damage, which doctors said was a direct result of the vaporizer he used constantly throughout the day.
Despite being unconscious for more than 30 hours and his mother pleading with the teen to stop smoking, Jake said he is “addicted” and has no plans to kick his deadly habit.
Jake passed out in the hospital and remained unconscious for over 30 hours due to his excessive vaping.
The teen’s mother warns parents to be careful if their children wear hoodies, believing it is a sign that “they are most likely vaping,” and uses the garment to hide the e-cigarette.
Nicotine, present in some vaporizers, has long been known to dehydrate the body, primarily due to its impact on the body’s intricate fluid and salt balance.
E-cigarettes also contain liquid with propylene glycol, a substance that attracts and retains water molecules in the body, that is, when you vape, the substance consumes the body’s water and prevents it from being absorbed, which causes dehydration.
Melony believes her son’s dehydration was exacerbated by his job.
The teen works part-time laying rocks and Melony said he overexerted himself while smoking excessively while he was working because he was “turning on the vape” instead of eating and drinking.
The mother of three was unaware that her son smoked the equivalent of five cigarettes a day and had also started using menthol nicotine capsules, which have been linked to an increased amount of toxic microparticles.
Melony said: ‘(Vaping) literally dehydrated him so much he ended up in hospital. His urine was blackened.
“I think he was vaping a lot, but he wasn’t supposed to. I found out because he took out the vaporizer while we were out. Now I know he was vaping at school and he wasn’t supposed to. I thought it was under control.
‘Especially if you’re working, vaping will amplify you and make you feel like you can do more than you can and you’ll overexert yourself and get dehydrated faster.
‘So instead of having a drink, they’ll get high from the nicotine. Instead of eating, they will smoke vapes. Then they lose control. They don’t know what they are doing.
Jake arrived at school earlier that day feeling “like everything in my body hurt” and visited the school nurse, who suggested his mother, Melony Sample, take him directly to the emergency room.
Melony Sample feared her son would die and vowed that “every vaporizer I have ever seen or will see in the future will be broken and destroyed.”
Jake says he started vaping two or three years ago after seeing students at his school smoking in the bathroom and wanted to “fit in.”
However, it quickly became an “addiction” and shifted from flavored nicotine to menthol.
‘I was using all kinds of vapes, Juuls, Elf Bars, Juice Heads, Vuses and more. “I finally switched from flavored nicotine to menthol,” she said.
Jake used one five percent menthol nicotine pod, which is equivalent to about 20 cigarettes, and smoked about one pod every four days.
“Every morning I felt like I had to hit it to be fully awake,” he said.
Melony revealed that her son had complained of feeling sick one morning and after visiting the school nurse, two vaporizers were found in his backpack, which Jake said he was keeping safe for a friend.
She was concerned that her son’s vapes had been spiked with an illicit substance, as he “looked like he was high.”
Police were called to check the vapes for drugs, as they were “dead” because they were tied up, but tests showed no evidence of drugs and revealed that Jake’s symptoms were extreme effects of excessive vaping.
Melony said: ‘Jake went to school and they immediately called me and said he looked like he was on drugs. They asked him what he had taken and of course he had taken nothing.
‘They had a police officer and a superintendent in the office and they were searching Jake’s bag and they found two vapes. They were sent for drug testing because they were convinced they had slipped something through a vape pen.
Jake was rushed to the hospital and after tests discovered that his son was suffering from extreme dehydration caused by excessive smoking.
On Facebook, stay-at-home mom Melony shared her son’s terrifying experience and issued a warning to other parents about the dangers of their children vaping.
After sleeping for around 30 hours and receiving fluids via an intravenous drip, Jake was discharged, but his mother admitted she is “scared” he will continue vaping because “he doesn’t remember any of it.”
Melony said: ‘It was a terrible experience. We arrived at the emergency room and they tested everything, but the only thing he had was the vaporizer.
“I was awake for over 30 hours and he was asleep for that same amount of time. He didn’t want to talk. When he woke up, he would curl up in a ball and shake and shake.
‘He is still very confused. We are home but he still comes and goes. He doesn’t remember any of that. It was like he was practically asleep. I think now he thinks I’m being mean.
On Facebook, stay-at-home mom Melony shared her son’s terrifying experience and warned other parents about the dangers of their children vaping.
In the post, Melony said she feared for her son’s life and vowed that “every vaporizer I have ever seen or will see in the future will be broken and vandalized.”
Melony told other parents to be careful about their children wearing hoodies in hot weather, as she believes it is a sign that “they are most likely vaping”, using the garment to hide the e-cigarette in their hands.
The mother, who does not vape, admitted that she did not know how often her teenager used vape pens.
He also revealed that he wants “all e-cigarettes to be banned” and hopes to raise awareness about his son’s terrifying experience to encourage parents to stop their children from using the products.
Despite the dangerous experience, Jake admits he plans to continue vaping as the potential risks don’t “bother” him.
He said: “Being in hospital might have been terrifying for some, but I would continue to do it knowing the risks and side effects.” It doesn’t bother me.’