A woman who regularly vaped, consuming the equivalent of 50 cigarettes daily, was hospitalized due to a severe lung ailment.

Amanda Stelzer, a 34-year-old, started vaping in 2015 and became so addicted that she was using eight cartridges of vape fluid weekly.

She was hospitalized due to severe breathing difficulties and required life support for eight days.

Initially, doctors were unable to diagnose her condition, but upon learning of her heavy vaping habits from her mother, they conducted a chest scan to assess the severity of her condition.

Eventually, she was diagnosed with acute respiratory distress syndrome, a potentially fatal condition in which the lungs fail to supply enough oxygen to sustain the body.

Her diagnosis was directly caused by her vaping, and it took six months for her lungs to fully recover.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome also referred to as "wet lung," can prove fatal by not supplying sufficient oxygen to the body, potentially resulting in organ failure and death.

The experience was frightening for Amanda, a native of Delaware, and during her recovery, she had to avoid exposure to cigarette or vape smoke for several months.

She said: "I was crying because I was in so much pain. I was so scared."

"The last thing I remember is someone handing me a form and basically saying I needed to sign this if I wanted to live - that was the consent form to be put on life support."

"I was lucky that owned my car at the time and my insurance covered my treatment, but I still got into a lot of debt. It was depressing. I was happy to be alive but I was sad that I couldn't work and I couldn't be around family and friends without a mask."

Amanda now aspires to prevent others from experiencing what she went through by sharing her story and warning that "it seems harmless until it isn't."

Although vaping may be less harmful than smoking cigarettes, it still has negative effects on health, and excessive usage like Amanda's can have serious consequences.

In the UK, the number of children hospitalized due to vaping has increased four-fold in one year, raising concerns that the devices, originally intended to aid smoking cessation, are becoming a new source of harm for younger generations.

Certain vape flavors carry a higher risk, with cinnamon, vanilla, and honey vapes more prone to causing lung inflammation due to their chemical composition.

Some studies have warned that a long-term vaping habit can be just as damaging to health as smoking traditional cigarettes.