Friday, February 3, 2017

Anxiety Smasher and how well it actually works

Ok so after fixing the general percentage of the EOs in all my mixes to 15% it seems like my liquids are stable. I am still steeping my first venture into the Bring Me a Dream flavor. I generally don't want to vape it now if it tastes like it smells. We shall see in a couple more days. If it tastes just as bad as it smells in a few more days it may require some adjusting with the general ingredients.

But now to the actual point of this post. The last two days I have had to deal with some severe anxiety issues. It hasn't helped greatly that I haven't been waking up in time to take my morning meds. So certain things have been causing huge anxiety attacks when they shouldn't. Also I have been dealing with being rather low on xanax and not wanting to use it unless completely out of my mind or in the world outside where xanax would be easier to deal with than my other rescue medication, seroquel. This means I have been using my Anxiety Smasher flavor, which has done an amazing job at keeping the general bad anxiety under control before I have an episode... but what about when it actually happens?

Now I have used a similar flavor that was made by a company that make disposable EO vapes and generally had a good experience with over all anxiety control, but it didn't do much help when actual an attack happened. Well now that I have one more tailored to it, it actually is able to completely stop a horrible anxiety attack within 30 minutes when I am just vaping. When I add some of my other coping mechanisms such as music while vaping it knocks it out within 10 minutes at most. Add some yoga poses that cause me to focus on my breathing and relaxing certain muscle groups for 10 minutes and generally I am calmer than I have ever been when I take medications.

Now take into consideration that the disposable vape I used had 20% EOs, and also had a huge amount of EOs that had hardly any amount added of them. My vape specifically burns no higher than 200 degrees Fahrenheit. While the disposable if you take a big enough draw burns easily around 450 degrees. So yeah, so much better in so many ways.

For those of you who are interested my Anxiety Smasher flavor, is also the flavor that helps with cell health/nerve pain and regeneration/pain control.

So New Flavor Has Been Made

I made one of the new flavors I have been working on with just measurements. The flavor I ended up making today was Bring Me A Dream, which if you remember was my sleep inducing/insomnia flavor. Which meant (since some of the EOs used had not been used yet) I had to pop some of the dropper caps again. I generally hate doing this, mostly because it is harder then it looks and takes a lot of energy to hold the bottle as still as possible while removing the dropper cap with a butter knife edge. Sometimes I do have those horrible moments (though I wear disposable gloves) where there is just a bit too much force and I am not wearing the correct clothes at the times for this to happen, so it spills just enough to hit my forearm. This time it was with the Valerian oil. I immediately rinsed off the oil so I didn't have a rash reaction. I have horribly sensitive skin where I can easily break out into rashes for various reasons. This time I did ok.

The rest of the mix happened without any issue.

Lavender: This made up a huge part of my essential oil mixture. It will hopefully lend the most flavor, it also is great for general relaxation.

Valerian: I hate the smell of this essential oil, it smells strongly of dirt and grass, which makes sense since it is harvested from the root of the plant. But it is also some of the strongest sedative and insomnia relieving essential oil that is available. Really hoping this helps in the mix.

Tea Tree: This is my general brightening flavor, I have realized strongly floral mixes are helped with a minty smell, citrusy smell, or something that is general invigorating. I used very little of the tea tree, so it should just lend enough flavor to lighten things, but it is also some that helps great with breathing.

I have two other oils that I added, but I have already mentioned what they do. Today I was asked a question from one of the important people in my life so I shall respond to that.

Frankincense- what does it do? Generally what do I use it for?

Frankincense should provide these benefits: I used Frankincense for the anti-inflammatory and general pain relief it provides, it also provides general uterine health and can help with healing internal wounds. Mental benefits, it is a sedative, and is great for helping with anxiety and insomnia. It also is good for respiratory issues, is considered good for oral and general skin health. I am not really sure if I ended up buying a good quality frankincense or not, may need to switch mine out with something else.

I am changing my current plant species of Frankincense for one that I think will provide more benefit. There are generally four species of Frankincense that are used as Essential Oils. The one I currently have is Frankincense Serrata, the one I want is Frankincense Frereana, the place I plan to buy it from is actually not as expensive as some of the shopped at Essential Oil places. The Frereana costs around 16.00 for a 10ml bottle, I don't honestly know if it will provide me with what I am looking for, but I honestly would rather try the $16.00 one before I decide to spend 80 or so dollars on one 5 ml for a type of Frankincense that is actually a blend of three types.

If the new Frankincense goes over well I will recommend the place I got from. Before then I will not give any info about it, due to not having tried it yet and not wanting to give out false information about a possibly good Essential Oil and then it ending up not being so awesome.

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

New Names and Four Flavors

So all these flavors are still in the process of being tested, and so still in the experimental stage and generally stage where things may or may not change drastically.

I have different reasons for each flavor but am trying to achieve 4 things very obviously with each one. One is preferably for sleep, one for anxiety, one for energy and helping generally with depressive episodes, and then there is one that I hope will just help with general mood stabilization (though it won't help in extreme moments).

The names:

Bring Me a Dream
Anxiety Smasher
Light in the Shadows
Balance

General adjustments are needed to my overall mixture ratio, there will be an increase to 15% (normally I never go above 10% though 15% is perfectly safe) essential oils. It is needed, due to flavors generally not hitting it enough in my new vape.

But, though I cannot taste the essential oil flavors that well in some of my mixes, they are still apparently doing their jobs. The Anxiety Smasher flavor, after deciding to steep it longer, ended up tasting literally like nothing. But! But, it still worked with my nerve pain, and did a great job on anxiety. So I think the mix is right, just needs to be adjusted and tweaked a bit.

I have been messing around A LOT with my older flavors, Balance and Anxiety Smasher. So I have not actually had a chance to do anything more but theorize with my two new ones. I plan on hopefully putting the Bring Me A Dream together in the next day or two. I have had an amazing amount of people in my life not only support me on exploring this (including my mother who hates anything smoking in general, she bought me and went with me to buy my new vape), but also some interesting people who would like to try some of the oils I make and vaping them. My yoga teacher is thinking about it for her partner.

This brings me to my new, Con, discussion of vaping EOs. The only huge con I have seen could be possible with large groups of people is this, if not careful when making stuff, EOs can be exposed to your skin too much and cause sensitivity issues (right? we remember talking about this in other posts?). But there are also those people who just have allergies to flower/grasses/and general green stuff. For those people who have more seasonal allergy issues, I don't recommend EO vaping unless you only have a specific pollen/plant that bothers you. If you know what that plant is, you can cater to your needs. There are also people (this is mostly for the fruity flavors) who have general citrus allergies. Well a lot of the actual citrus oils aren't made from the plant, but by cold pressing the peel. Be careful, always read and understand where your EOs comes from. Before even considering vaping it, if you have serious plant allergies, you may want to smell the individual EOs while they are in thier undiluted forms, in the bottles they come in. I am pretty sure (though not 100% positive) that you would react the same if you had issues.


Saturday, January 28, 2017

New EO Vape Liquid

So my new liquid revolves around nerve and inflammation relief in the physical aspect, helping with pain in general. When for the mental aspects most of the flavors anxiety is the main focus, with a couple flavors also addressing depression and one having the possibility of helping with insomnia too. I actually chose 5 starting flavors with this one, for multiple reasons, but also going against my usual rule.

Clary Sage Essential Oil- This was used the most for both Anxiety and depression mental health, physically it was used for nervous system health, general pain relief, anti-inflammatory, menstrual, help sleeping. It is also good for addiction, which in my case would be good for my obsessive thoughts, and it is also good for seizures supposedly. It has an herbaceous flavor, kind of like the actual herb sage, but also a little peppery and floral.

Vetiver Essential Oil- This was the second largest dose of the various essential oils used. I specifically chose vetiver for it's anti-inflammatory benefits, also it is used in this mix for it's ability to help heal nerve damage. It is also a sedative, making it good for anxiety relief and general sleep. This can help with general pain relief, helping the growth of new tissue or muscle, and multiple other benefits. It has a wonderful flavor/scent that comes out strongly in this mix, it reminds me when I drew it directly from the bottle like it had a woodsy smell, and hickory smoke undertones. When actually vaped you get the taste of liquid smoke almost? Only I find liquid smoke in general to be disgusting so it is much much more tolerable and I find it quite nice in fact.

Frankincense Essential Oil- Third largest dose of essential oils used. I used Frankincense for the anti-inflammatory and general pain relief it provides, it also provides general uterine health and can help with healing internal wounds. Mental benefits, it is a sedative, and is great for helping with anxiety and insomnia. It also is good for respiratory issues, is considered good for oral and general skin health. I am not really sure if I ended up buying a good quality frankincense or not, may need to switch mine out with something else. When I drew it up into the syringe, which is generally when I start smelling the different notes in the Essential Oils, it smelled similar to burnt rubber, like tires? Generally not a good smell. Considering I bought the more expensive one, around 20-22 dollars for a 10ml bottle... maybe I need to look into a different source for this particular Essential Oil. I don't taste/smell it at all when I vape it, which is nice for sure.

Spearmint Essential Oil- One of the smallest doses I used, I generally chose spearmint for the physical benefit I would get personally which most mint flavors help me with nausea caused by anxiety or stress. But still spearmint is great in this blend (not only for the flavor it adds) but it also helps with general tissue regeneration, it's a stimulant, which I do want a small amount of since most of my oils (even if they are considered stimulants too) lay heavily in the sedative area, and is also called a carminative. Which means it physically relaxes stress/anxiety symptoms, so twitching/migraines/stomach upsets, etc. can be calmed by this oil. I added very little of the spearmint because if peppermint is strong, multiply that by about 5 for the strength of spearmint as far as taste. I easily taste spearmint though it only adds about a quarter at most compared to my other oils. It adds just enough brightness to take all the floral flavors I have and make them not too much.

Chamomile Essential Oil- At the same dose of spearmint is how I used this essential oil. And I want to specify what I kind I used, I specifically use Roman Chamomile because the German is tinted blue naturally, (which I don't think would be great for my lungs though idk) and generally because Roman gives more internal benefits, while you'd want to use the German Blue Chamomile for more like a topical kind of use. German Blue is definitely useful (great for antiseptic and wound healing) I just would never personally vape it. I don't generally use a lot of Chamomile in my personal vape liquids because of my dislike for most Chamomile flavors. Though if I had a friend I was making a liquid for and they liked chamomile teas or something I would be fine with adding more, it generally has some great benefits. Roman Chamomile is generally great for stimulating your brain and getting rid of the exhaustion that can come with depression or general tiredness (usually you use it in smaller quantities for this effect). While for the help with insomnia affect and general sedative help you use a larger amount. I have found using a smaller amount but generally vaping more than I would in one sitting gives me the same sedative affect. They are generally good for anti-inflammatory help too, pain relief, migraine help, stomach regularity, and can relax nerve pain.

This one I began originally trying after about two days of steeping (my usual minimum rule), however I have realized with this current flavor, that it wasn't enough time in my opinion. It's actual flavors/EOs in the last 12 hours have been separating from the VG and making the actual hit I take unless I shake the vape itself, pretty much flavorless and therefore useless. I have been steeping now for just a few hours above 4 days now, the scent has changed from strongly vetiver based, to more taking on the spearmint flavor. But this isn't in the actual vape. I plant to let it steep in the mixing bottle for another... 7 days before trying some fresh liquid and seeing the difference. Be prepared for updates in the form of other posts.

Friday, January 27, 2017

Safety with Essential Oils

So when mixing my liquids I never go above 15% Essential Oils, you can technically go to 20% and be fine but there is no need to. 10% is fine for the my 3 EO mixtures. You should never touch an undiluted essential oil directly if you can help it, and I never ever recommend vaping them undiluted even if it's just a couple drops on top of some sort of dry herb etc. Straight EOs can cause sensitivity reaction when touched even by just skin (which means horrible rashes whenever you come in contact with just the plant), I can only imagine what would happen if you vaped pure EOs without dilution. 

I only dilute my EOs with vegetable glycerin, mine is food grade and certified organic. When preparing EO mixes, I use disposable latex gloves very carefully, I clean my stuff very thoroughly. My preferred method of is using high quality vodka, rubbing alcohol is not safe due to the fumes it puts off and the fact you will be inhaling it/heating it up. I also regularly clean my atomizers, this is because with EOs your atomizers and coil can get gunked up quickly due to the high vegetable glycerin content, the oil from what I understand is relatively thicker than E Cig liquids in general. But it doesn't cause a health problem with inhaling it, since the actual Essential Oils are pretty much watery consistency when you add them, so technically this would just be like a high VG content E Cig Liquid. 

I can't say that for sure though... I have never tried E Cig Liquid, never needed to ever. I have never smoked so I can't weigh in tons there. But people on forums say high VG content can be thicker. I can imagine, sucking that stuff up into a syringe is a pain. 

I carefully store my mixes in amber glass bottles, colored glass (which the brown/amber ones are easier to find and usually less expensive) is the best way to store Essential Oils, so they don't go rancid.

I steep my new mixes for about 36-48 hours, when I first make them, they smell absolutely disgusting and horrid. I would never ever vape them. After shaking (to mix well of course) vigorously for 5 minutes, I let them sit over night. Then the next day I mix multiple times, once again by shaking for 5 minutes each time. By the end of that second night the scent has totally changed and usually they smell absolutely amazing. 

Steeping for regular E Cig Liquids means opening them up and letting them breathe from what I understand, for EO liquids, you don't open them up, just mix them regularly for some minutes and leave them to sit in their bottles while you wait for a couple days. Now in the very first post I made among a lot of other information, I mentioned the preferred temps for EO vaping. 200-220 degrees F is what you want them at. Do not burn more than 250. If you do burn them more for that for a prolonged period, it will burn the EOs and completely ruin the useful benefits they provide.

Thursday, January 26, 2017

The Difference Between Coils

So I ended up going with a coil that was a 1.0 ohm instead of a subohm coil. For those of you who don't vape these terms may be confusing, I know they were for me and generally still are. I will give you general synopsis that you need to know and what I generally gleaned from the terrible graphs and information that is out there in the vape world or at least the ones I was able to find: subohm coils are the heating units that are below 1.0 ohms, they tend to require less wattage and general anything to heat things.They can reach higher temps easier, and very quickly. They are used for most vapers who are considered "cloud chasers" which are the vapers who want the largest vape cloud possible.

For vaping essential oil mixture in general for medical reasons there is literally no point for subohm coils. I used the coils that came with my vape in the beginning while I was waiting for my 1.0 ohms to arrive. My coils that came with the vape were 0.6 subohms, and as I was learning to vape on it, within a few days my essential oils had the burnt taste. While trying to use those, I got absolutely nothing beneficial out of it. I changed to my 1.0 coil and even then the essential oils were burnt tasting. I tried using those during mood swings and nothing happened, I switched to a disposable vape and was instantly soothed within a few puffs. So I decided to switch out my old essential oils with the burnt flavor and switch in fresh of the same mixture I had made. I instantly felt a difference.

I have a new flavor in the making, not only will this one focus on major anxiety issues, but also nerve and pain relief. I hope to concentrate more on that mix during the next post.

Friday, January 20, 2017

First Essential Vape Liquid Created

So after all my money was spent for my vape stuff, everything has finally arrived. I have labeled everything in a two point system with various different types of labels. I have a color dot system and a lettering system on top of that. The color of each dot corresponds to physical benefits each oil offers. The lettering system is more geared toward general emotional/mental health.

Color System:
Red- Pain Relief
Blue- Nervous System Health
Fuschia/Pink- Cell Health
Yellow- Stimulant for various physical issues
Green- General Health
Purple- Nausea
Orange- Over All Mental Disorders


Lettering System:
D- Depression
I- Insomnia
A- Anxiety
SE- Strong Emotions of various types
E- Energy
H/GH- Health
B- Breathing


So my first mix was mix of Absolute Rose, Petitgrain, and Sweet Orange (for now I have decided to stick with three flavors for the beginning parts of mixes).

The Rose is the lowest amount and I realize even though I put very little in my 5ml bottle I could very easily have done much less, it was very strong. The Petitgrain was my second largest amount and the Sweet Orange is the one I hope to get the most flavoring from.

All of these flavors could technically work well together but may need tweaking, I didn't put more that .5 ml of essential oils out of 5 ml of solution, the rest was VG, also known as vegetable glycerin (stupidly high quality stuff too because of my amazing food allergies). The Petitgrain is a relatively light smell, I am hoping the general vape flavor I get from it is too, or is less... grassy tasting than what it smells like. Petitgrain is made from the same plant as Bitter Orange oil is which has a different name when referring to another essential oil which is extracted from the flowers with is called Neroli Oil. Petitgrain though it's made from the same plant, is not made from the peel but is instead made from the bark/leaves of the actual tree.

Rose is labeled as a Green+D
Sweet Orange is Red+D
Petitgrain is Red+SE

I hope for this combination to provide not only relief with my depression but also my mood swings in general. I hope for some relief with anxiety and sometimes anger that scares me when it hits. We shall see. I am not sure. I know I will likely make one more geared specifically towards to just anxiety control in severe situations. I also plan to work with some oils for physical pain and general nervous system health/nerve regeneration. I know it won't generally fix the actual problems, but it could cause the nerve pain in my right arm to lessen. Especially if I turn it into a topical.