Does Propylene Glycol Dislodge Tar in Lungs?

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zips

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May 21, 2009
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I wonder if Propylene Glycol dissolves tar trapped in your lungs, which might help separate it from healthy tissue.

The reason I ask is because PG is an alcohol, and I know from experience that ethyl alcohol (drinking alcohol) and isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) can both be used quite effectively to clean tar off pipes (as well as a lot of other substances).

If PG has a similar solubility on the tar trapped in your lungs (from years of smoking), wouldn't it make sense that with each puff, you are slowly loosening up the build up of "crud" in your lungs?

Just a thought -- I've been coughing up a lot of really disgusting black stuff lately (which I'm told means my lungs are healing :thumb:)
 

Zofryer

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Jun 4, 2009
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Years ago I quit smoking and for 6 months I cough up this stuff. I had no E-cig.
It is the lungs cleaning themselves. I do not know if the PG helps me the cleaning.

I think it's different for everyone. My coughing stuff up thing usually lasts about two months. In the midst of that now.
 

vaporize me

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Apr 3, 2009
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I had quit for 5 years..22 years ago..and at that time, I was coughing up crap unbelievably so.

I've been off of analogs for 70+ days now and nada. I was expecting to clear my lungs from the caked up crap but to this day, I haven't coughed up anything at all.

It seems as though the steam from vaping keeps the crap in tact(?) I do breathe much better now though. Has anybody else been experiencing this that had quit before?
 
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happily

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May 25, 2009
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I'll tell you what. When I do my coughing this morning, I'll give a extra one
just for you!
Dave:cool:
I'd appreciate that
pretyy scary stuff coughing up tar. Do you really trust a product MADE IN CHINA. maybe its poison.
I always get a kick out of people who sucked on cigarettes, all the sudden worried about what's in pg
 

sMuCk_fOg

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Feb 19, 2009
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When do I get to cough up stuff............I have never in 20 years, 2+ packs a day gotten the opportunity to cough up stuff.( I feel cheated)
Mee too...40 years @ 2 packs plus a day and I've never had a cough or anything that I hear smokers tend to get.

I did quit cold turkey about 10 years ago , and stayed smoke free for 13 months.I felt absolutely no different .

I've now been smoke free for 4 months this time and the same thing ...Nothing different at all...nothing smells better or tastes better.just another day without a cigarette.
I WANT SOME PHLEGM DAMMIT! :D
 

rejoice

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Mee too...40 years @ 2 packs plus a day and I've never had a cough or anything that I hear smokers tend to get.

I did quit cold turkey about 10 years ago , and stayed smoke free for 13 months.I felt absolutely no different .

I've now been smoke free for 4 months this time and the same thing ...Nothing different at all...nothing smells better or tastes better.just another day without a cigarette.
I WANT SOME PHLEGM DAMMIT! :D

Phlegm can be embarrassing. I usually spit it up when I do not want to.
Like talking to someone important and all at once it comes up.
Laughing will do it for sure. I really do not understand why some spit up this stuff and others do not. Maybe it is how one smokes. Maybe your lungs cleared themselves without having to spit up.
 

TropicalBob

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No one has answered the OP's question, and it's a good one. Fact is, we don't have tests to give us the science to say positively that PG helps this way. I'd love to see that studied, to add one more virtue to this germ-killing vapor product.

We are guinea pigs for long-term inhalation of PG. I'm completing 17 months of daily use now. I get blood tests regularly. All is well. Lungs seem fine and were clear on an x-ray last year. I haven't seen black tar flecks in about 16 months. And I smoked 30 cigs a day for 50 years.

I hope you're onto something.
 

four2109

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I had quit for 5 years..22 years ago..and at that time, I was coughing up crap unbelievably so.

I've been off of analogs for 70+ days now and nada. I was expecting to clear my lungs from the caked up crap but to this day, I haven't coughed up anything at all.

It seems as though the steam from vaping keeps the crap in tact(?) I do breathe much better now though. Has anybody else been experiencing this that had quit before?

Ditto, but only quit for 2 years. Was younger, more active, maybe that had something to do with it. Or the PG just coats that crap, who knows. But threr is something really satisfying about coughing that crap up for 2 weeks and then it is over. I feel cheated.
I did have a physical 2 weeks ago and the chest X-ray came back "clear". But I guess that really just means there were no masses... I discussed the e-cig with my doc. He listened but was reluctant to comment other than to say "PG is used to suspend a lot of things". Md's all seem to have a lawyer up their ..... The heart Dr who did my stress test wanted to know everything there was to know about them. But still reluctant to express an opinion. Looking forward to my next dental appointment.
 

NightElf

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May 26, 2009
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I was smoking nearly 2 packs a day for seven years. I did have a cough. I did cough up *stuff* alot, especially in the morning. I've been using the ecig for about 2 months now AND roughly 10 analogs or less a day(just CAN'T get past the cig and morning coffee). I DO NOT have that constant cough anymore, and I don't cough stuff up anymore, except One afternoon I did and it was completely clear as water....

I'm delighted with the changes having gone mostly ecig -- BUT I can't help but wonder if that *stuff* is still there, without the benefit of at least coughing some to get rid of it.... just me wondering. I figured coughing would help clear my lungs like other quit-smokers have reported here.
 

maryjo

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Jul 1, 2009
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I had quit for 5 years..22 years ago..and at that time, I was coughing up crap unbelievably so.

I've been off of analogs for 70+ days now and nada. I was expecting to clear my lungs from the caked up crap but to this day, I haven't coughed up anything at all.

It seems as though the steam from vaping keeps the crap in tact(?) I do breathe much better now though. Has anybody else been experiencing this that had quit before?
Same for me - smoked > 25 years, quit 57 days ago.
 
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