Huge worries after "smoking" shisha

[ncfcfan85]

Another health worry to drive me nuts :(

On Sunday I was at a pub Summer garden festival where they had things like live music, BBQs, bouncy castles for the kids etc. I went along with my housemate who noticed one stand was selling (or rather lending) "shisha"s. I don't know if that is the correct name but more is online and they look like this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hookah#mediaviewer/File:Hookah_2.jpg

Now I've never smoked in my life and have no intention to, but my housemate just kept going on about them being perfectly safe as it is "just water vapour". The compère on the mic at the stage was also sort of advertising them to the large crowd (I could see many people using them at their tables) and he was also emphasizing the fact that they are "safe and legal" - finally my housemate, in an effort to convince me to have a go, got the guys from the shisha stall to come over and explain that they are safe. So I had a couple of "puffs" on this thing. Now because I'd never smoked, I didn't have a clue what the hell I was supposed to be doing, and I could gather it wasn't working very well (I was doing it through a small, plastic extension pipe so that I wasn't puffing on the same pipe as my friend, OCD and all that) so I gave up.

Next day, my throat felt horrific. 5 days later, my throat still feels horrific and now I have pain behind my ears, in my ears and all around my neck. I'm also having rather unpleasant results when I go to the toilet, if you know what I mean :( I don't know what's going on but I can only contribute it to this damn Shisha thing that I didn't even want to have a go on, but now I can't stop thinking about what an idiot I am for doing it. I only did it because I thought it was safe and "just water vapour" but upon Googling it, it seems there is tobacco involved, so I was lied to, and that makes me even more angry. My friend knows I didn't want to have a go and knows I have massive hypochondria, but I still did it.

He thinks what I am feeling now is just my hypochondria but the fact is my neck, ears and throat all hurt a lot. I've been trying strepsils for my throat but seeing no improvement. What do you think I should do? Does anyone think it is likely to be the Shisha thing or just a co-incidence??

Thanks

[Lucinda07]

Cannot advise about the Shisha. Dequadin is supposed to be good for throat infections why not try that and some painkillers & see if there is any improvement. Its probably a bug.

[crazybrain]

Yes, you smoked tobacco. I’ve been a heavy smoker so I see it as no big deal. Were you mislead? – yes. The throat thing will pass but can happen as you’ve never really smoked before. The vapor thing was a lie. I wouldn’t beat yourself up over it or anything. Your throat issue could just be the smoke.

If you’re worried about it go see your GP about it. You will worry less :)

[Katie_cupcakes]

Most people who use shisha do genuinely believe it's just water vapor, so I wouldn't think you were lied to on purpose. My friend had one back in our teens and I used it even though I don't smoke, with no problems. She argued persistently that it was perfectly safe and just water vapour, but I think that info came from word of mouth that she just took to be true, rather than any form of actual research. You'll be okay :) probably just irritation in your throat.

---------- Post added at 16:01 ---------- Previous post was at 15:55 ----------

Also... There is a lot of conflicting info on the Web about how safe shisha is, many believe it's perfectly safe where others think it's the same as regular smoking. I showed my friend Web pages of info on how shisha isn't as safe as she said but she just said it was rubbish and continues to believe it water vapour.

[yenool]

My understanding is that proper big shisha pipes do contain tobacco and it is just like smoking through a giant bong. IMO anything that involves burning something and inhaling the fumes can't be good.

However you can also get shisha pens and e-cigs that are nicotine free and just contain flavoured water vapour. The jury is out on how safe or dangerous these are.... although it would seem logical to assume they are less dangerous than traditional cigarettes.

[NotCool]

It's entirely possible you just caught some kind of a cold/throat infection, not related to smoking - you were outside, amongst a lot of people, probably drinking a (cold) beer or two (or 10 ;)), maybe you were sweaty, and some wind blew on your throat/ears...see where I'm going with this? As one person said, smoking from that thing is basically smoking from a huge bong, and it's unlikely it caused you the problems you're having. Get some rest, drink tea, eat honey and get a lot of vitamins, especially Vitamin C.