Does vaping cause phlegm?

[MickiO]

The body continues to heal for months, on into years after quitting smoking, The stronger the lungs get, the more able they are to rid themself of *junk*.

What causes Emphysema BTW, is weakening of fibers in the lungs, They become so weak, that they eventually get destroyed, and unable to expel, and then all the *junk* gets trapped in the lungs because they are unable to cough it up, and release it, So it gets trapped in there, and continues to build, and build until the person has to have the hospital use tubes/pump to suck it all out for you, so you can breathe.

My Mom worked as an aide and has seen this done, the amounts of *junk* pulled out she said was shocking and very thick, blah!

In Emphysema, those little fibers eventually become so destroyed, all that 'junk' that normally would pass through, become so weakened, that *junk* just continues to form and collect within the lungs.

One of the first things that happens when a person stops smoking, provided these fibers have not been completely destroyed, is the those little fibers begin stand up again and start to heal, develop and grow stronger, It's been proven and documented to happen within 3 days of not smoking! so we cough/sneeze/and blow out all that junk.

So believe it or not guys, having phlegm/mucus and being able to release it and cough it up, shows just much your body is beginning to heal! And depending upon how much it's been damaged, will determine how strong the lungs are, and how good they are at expelling the *junk*, Without continually being exposed to Toxins and tars, carbon monoxide and all the other 4000+ chemicals in tobacco smoke, they are finally able to heal. The biers within the lungs, will either expel or trap the junk, depending upon how healthy and strong they are.

sooooo, the fact that the *junk is coming out, Is a GOOD thing!!

And the longer after quitting smoking that this happens, the worse condition the persons lung were when he/she quit, the longer it will take the lungs to heal and begin to repair themself, and get it all that stuff out.

The dr told my Mom when I was little that my lungs were weak, then I grew up to smoke for 31yrs, oh my, and here it is almost 7 months later after finally quitting and I'm STILL stuff is still coming out, is it any wonder? ha.

Having 'phlegm months after quitting, shows you just how strong your lungs are becoming since you've stopped inhaling smoke/chemicals, lol, It also tells you how strong or how weak your lungs truly were, and just how much of that *junk* could have been trapped in there, if you had not quit smoking when you did, and developed emphysema, yuck! Or 'caught pneumonia, which is all the fluid junk that forms when you get a cold, was not expelled, and becomes trapped.

Strong, healthy lungs, expel it. weak lungs, trap it and hold onto it.

And because we've quit smoking, and our lungs are healing, this is also why we sneeze or blow our nose more, or cough. In the lungs of a healthy person, who never smoked, this building up never happens, and phlegm and mucus don't build up, and if the person catches a cold or is exposed to something harmful, mucus develops as a defense, to collect harmful toxins within in, and immediately expel it, The body naturally begins to fight it

Smokers and people who have smoked, have more mucus/phlegm, because of the weakening of those fibers, it's the body's defense trying to protect itself.

And that is also why smokers can often get pneumonia easier and can have a harder time getting over it, or have a cold they just can't seem to get rid of, etc, or may even 'seem' to have a cold when no one else does, cough alot, etc Those little fibers are necessary to help rid the body of junk.

Is it any wonder that we see elderly people or someone who has smoked heavily for years, carrying around an oxygen tank?

So yeah, having that junk come out is a good thing, and it shows your body is healing!!!

And as far a VG causing it, I don't believe this is true, However, VG is known to hold onto moisture, so whatever phlegm/mucus is already there, in my opinion, heavy vaping when there's alot of build up, probably only prolongs the actual time it takes during the day to actually get it all out if there's build up, Which I don't believe occasionally vaping would hurt this, maybe even help expel it more thoroughly.

But ofcourse this has never been truly tested, and this is only my theory.

PG on the other hand, is just the opposite, in that it has a drying affect and can actually bring on dehydration, if a person doesn't increase fluid intake. (that's why the dry throat's, soreness, burning, etc,)

I've had pneumonia twice over the years, and one of the first things they do at the hospital to treat it, is place a vaporizer/humidifier next the bedside,

I've also had severe bronchitis to the point where I could not stop coughing and thought I was going to choke to death, it was so bad, I couldn't breath I was coughing so much. My mom immediately put me in the bathroom and turned the hot water on the shower, closed the door to steam up the room, and I quit coughing completely.

How this all plays in with vaping, whether it's pg or vg, no one really knows for certain. And propylene glycol, is a known to be a germ-aside. There is a story where pg was used years ago in a children's hospital, to treat young children, who were extremely sick from a virus. They fogged the whole children's ward with it and they eventually, one by one, all got well.

I'm not a medical professional, just some things I've learned in my own research that I thought I'd share.

And I've always believed, that too much of anything, can eventually be not such a good thing any more, no matter how good that thing may actually be, because doing anything in excess, is not how we were created to be and live naturally.

Whenever I catch myself vaping alot, and chain-vaping so-to-speak, I start thinking about, just how natural is vaping compared to breathing in oxygen? If I'm doing it constantly all day long, how is that gonna help my lungs continue to heal and grow stronger, just how oxygen am I'm taking in, in between all my vape sessions, etc,

This thought helps me lay my e-cig down more through out the day, because in light of everything I just said, no one really actually knows yet, what 'heavy-vaping' might do or might not do.

[callofthevapor]

Very interesting reading I can't wait for the study Tropical Bob mentioned to come out. Being new to vaping, noticing the improvements vaping as done for me I hoped this could be a safe life time habit. A bit of a disclaimer though I started vaping to avoid the high price of analogs that is only going to get higher and higher.

I can't compare how I feel vaping to a long time user. I've only been vaping since around Christmas. . For now I'm going to vape, I feel its less risky. I hope I don't get proven wrong.

[ACM]

Originally Posted by TropicalBob

YES. It does. And it worsens the longer a person e-smokes. New research, not yet released, is showing phlegm might be the most significant danger of e-smoking. And it results from both PG and VG. No difference.

A film is apparently building in veteran e-smokers' lungs, causing an increased phlegm secretion. I'm experiencing it, as are others in tests lasting longer than a year. It's a serious concern and a nicotine carrier other than PG or VG is being sought.

Any cursory reading of PG's effects will show that it is an irritant. That's proving to be the case when inhaled 300 or more times a day by e-smokers. We were guinea pigs, and now some results are becoming known.

This is a VERY SERIOUS assertion and one that merits a great deal of investigation. Any product that builds up a film in the lungs simply can't be good, and if this is indeed the case, we should really consider stopping this practice of vaping without hesitation.

I seem to recall an older study (maybe the one from Time magazine that claimed PG was an antibacterial agent) that found NO long term buildup in the lungs. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

In any event, when can we expect the results of this study? Soon, I hope. If it is as damaging to the practice of vaping as I suspect it will be, I'll be off to CVS this week for a box of Nicorette.

[TropicalBob]

ACM, I was the original poster about that 1940s study of propylene glycol's germicidal properties. It's a long thread in Health, tittled "Germ-killing vapor." I've placed a lot of confidence in PG, hoping it takes care of some bacteria in my lungs.

Course, we don't know if it's also killing "good bacteria" in the mouth, or, as one poster questioned, encouraging development of "super bugs" that can't be killed by antibiotics as most bacteria can be.

The study I mentioned is by a doctor doing trials in Asia -- and he cannot post results due to oppressive government opposition. His government does not want promotion of anything beyond approved NRT products. He emails me updates on what has been going on for two years now.

I do not know if his study will ever be published. But major findings should get out one way or another. His concerns on PG and VG and phlegm production (we're talking an abnormal production, not the simple daily waste disposal from the lungs) raise questions that deserve study for long-term effects on us all.

But I'm not optimistic anyone cares enough to test what we are now doing. Indeed, the major health organizations are lined up against e-smoking, so we can't expect help from them.

[netduane]

Hi all. I'm new to this (great) forum and was immediately attracted to this thread! For christmas I bought one of my mates an e-cigarette, anything has got to better than analogues, in the hope he quits for good one day. He has been using the e-cig for just over a month and is having a considerable problem with phlegm (which he did not have before). Not sure if it is to do with the analogue leaving his body or the introduction of vaping. I feel like its my poor research on brand/product knowledge or not knowing about the two options of VG or PG - which I'm just now learning about! I bought the premium cigarette brand because the liquid is already inside the filter.. or was that a wrong move? Should I have rather bought the liquid as a separate entity to be filled by the user. Is this causing the phlegm or is it something else like VG causing the reaction. I don't know. I'm interested to see what other users have experienced or believe.

[TropicalBob]

Welcome to the forum. Your friend, like many, is likely experiencing consequences from both quitting cigarettes and starting vaping. It will be difficult, or impossible, to figure out which caused what!

Everyone here, I'm sure, believes e-smoking is less hazardous to your health than inhaling tobacco smoke. By virtue of its simpler vapor composition, it has to be safer than smoke with its 4,000 identified chemicals, at least 60 of which are known carcinogens. So, yes, vaping is a good thing.

But the phlegm production, like coughing, is one way the body says "Houston, we've got a problem." Ask a never-smoker about phlegm production and you'll likely get a blank look in response. Ask a current smoker and be prepared for a vivid description of coughing up yellow junk with black flecks in it, etc.

But e-smokers thought our practice would return us to non- or never-smoker status. Apparently, it does not. And the current research is trying to determine just how much of a problem phlegm production might be. I did get this hint from the researcher: It is much more serious in elderly e-smokers.

He also flatly said, without any equivocation, that PG and VG both produced it. It is not a PG problem. It is a problem with both carriers presently used to contain the nicotine in solution. He said he would like to find another carrier agent.

So we wait for more research results, but continue vaping with every reasonable expectation that we are doing our bodies a long-term favor.

[Dogsbody]

Originally Posted by MickiO

The body continues to heal for months, on into years after quitting smoking, The stronger the lungs get, the more able they are to rid themself of *junk*.

I gave up cigs about 6 months before starting vaping, never coughed when I smoked but I coughed up some yuck stuff for about three days after quitting then nothing, with vaping I cough up stuff a few times a day, I sort of thought along the same lines as you, ie: at least it is coming up, not slowly drowning us in filth... but I still do wonder if it is slowly going to get the better of our lung cleaning ability.

Alot of people say, "it is just your body cleaning itself because you have quit" that is not right.

[JKBonin]

I've been hacking up 1/2 a lung for a very long time. It reached the point where I was waking up 3-6 times a night just to clear my lungs. I wasn't breathing and it was constantly waking me up. Funny how not breathing will do that.

I've been vaping for about 5 maybe 6wks. I still clear my lungs at times. Only now, as others have said, it is clear phlegm, not that dark yellow/brown crap.

My lungs don't feel full of hair anymore. That is completely cleared already. And it had become a 24/7 thing for me a few months back. (This is what pushed me to trying pvs.)

I no longer wake up at night not being able to breath, having to clear my lungs.

I am breathing MUCH better than anytime in recent memory, even tho' I certainly don't have the lungs of a long distance runner. (Yet! C'moooon lungs!)

I don't have 5 or 10 5minute coughing jags throughout the day.

I no longer cough so hard and from so deep that I get sick to my stomach.

Are pvs perfect? Of course not. But my side effects are maybe 15% of the phlegm production, and as I said, it's clear, not yellow/brown.

I am drinking more water than I used to. Which is actually a good thing. & FYI - I ONLY use pure VG juices.

Bottom line - My choice as a nic addict are analogs or pvs. It seems pretty clear which is the healthier option. Highlighted because it isn't healthy to inhale anything other than oxygen. But having my choice, it's a no-brainer for me.

[Lusak]

This interests me all too much. I have recently just passed my 9th day without analogs, and I have found my throat to continuously needing to be cleared.

I would pass this off as simply my lungs healing, or body recovering, but it very much seems to be based on what I have been vaping.

Til I hear more, it's vaping, and lots more water to keep it clear! Sure is a lot better than having my 5 minute coughing fits in the morning.

[ACM]

Well, I do notice more tightness in the throat and the need to clear my throat more when I vape, but as for coughing up anything, that's not happening with me. At times, especially when watching TV at night, I chain vape. When I do that, I tend to start to feel it in my lungs, much in the same way I did when I would binge smoke. The key difference is that in the morning, I feel fine, whereas when I smoked too much, I would feel lousy (I used to call it a "lung over".) So if vaping is producing more phlegm, it seems to be more in my throat than my lungs. Water helps, for sure.

There has got to be another way to suspend the nicotine in a liquid without using PG or VG. I wonder if just plain old water would work. It probably would not produce much in the way of actual vapor, but if I got both a nic hit and a throat hit, that would be OK with me. The vapor is a psychological need for me, anyway.

Nevertheless, I am also convinced that vaping is a better alternative than smoking, but I am increasingly starting to think the time has come for me to try quitting any kind of nicotine inhalation. Again. For the umpteeth time.