Vaping used to be the first thing a young beauty influencer did in the morning and the last thing she did before bed until her addiction left her with a lung infection.
Jill Clark, 25, spoke about how her vaping addiction left her with fluid in her lungs, a nasty cough and difficulty climbing stairs.
Clark vaped for about three years before quitting cold turkey in January.
When he resumed the habit in May, he became ill and coughed constantly.
He stopped vaping again last week after going to the doctor who told him it had damaged his lungs.
Jill Clark, 25, spoke about how her vaping addiction left her with fluid in her lungs, a nasty cough and difficulty climbing stairs.
Ms Clark, who also works in corporate sales in Sydney, was given a two-week course of antibiotics and given Rikodeine cough syrup.
He now also needs to carry an inhaler wherever he goes, even though he has never had asthma before.
“I was an absolute hardcore vaper, it was the first thing I did in the morning, the last thing at night and constantly throughout the day,” she told Daily Mail Australia.
Clark said that after taking a five-month break from e-cigarettes, he returned to smoking after a stressful week.
“Unfortunately, instead of dealing with stress in a productive and healthy way, I went back to what I thought was a quick fix,” she said.
Ms Clark said she had a cough for about four weeks and it was only getting worse before she went to the doctor.
He said he was still vaping when he developed the cough, but hasn’t touched it since.
“To be honest, it definitely scares me to death,” she said.
Ms Clark vaped for about three years before quitting cold turkey in January.
‘Maybe it’s one of those things that you don’t realize is so bad until your health is affected, like not being able to breathe. “I won’t do it again 100 percent.”
While Mrs Clark is responding well to antibiotics, she said if there were no signs of improvement she would have to go to hospital and undergo x-rays and ultrasounds.
Her doctor is confident that her lungs have not suffered permanent damage, but daily tasks are now much more difficult for the 25-year-old.
“It will be about six months before my breathing returns to normal,” he said.
‘Maintaining conversations is becoming a struggle and climbing stairs is difficult.
“I can even feel that this conversation now makes me feel tight in my chest.”
Clark said any movement that required an increase in heart rate was difficult and exercise was out of the question.
The TikTokker has encouraged her followers who vape to quit the habit
The 25-year-old said she acknowledged her health problems were “her fault” but is committed to quit vaping for good.
In addition to being sick, she is also suffering from nicotine withdrawal.
“Addiction is complicated because the intention to quit can be present, but even last time, if you had told me I would have gone back to vaping, I wouldn’t have believed you,” he said.
“But I don’t think it will come back and if other people really want to leave it, they have to want it for themselves.”
“Take it one day at a time and eliminate the shame.”
Ms Clark has also been sharing her journey with her vaping addiction. Tik Tok.
“(Rikodeine) gives me about 15 minutes of respite when I’m trying to sleep, which gives me enough time to fall asleep before I start coughing myself to death,” Ms Clark said.
“But then of course I wake up during the night because it feels like something is literally pressing on my chest and I can’t actually breathe.
“I’ve never needed (an inhaler) before, I’ve never had any problems, I’ve never had asthma or anything like that. I have one, it goes with me everywhere because I can’t breathe.’
The influencer told her social media followers that she hoped her experience would scare them and urged those who vape to use her video as a sign to quit smoking.
She added that people who vape have the mentality that “that won’t happen to me,” admitting that she had once thought the same thing.
“If you’re looking for a sign to quit or you’re looking for a reason to quit while you’re ahead, for God’s sake, so be it,” Ms. Clark said.
‘I never thought it was going to be me. I never thought I was going to be the person who got sick from (vaping). Not once.’