13 months & the hubby says he feels no different, anyone else?

[MrsAngelD]

Both myself and the hubby and have been smoke free for 13 months. While I have noticed differences in the way I feel. He says he's noticed no difference.

I smoked for 25 years When I quit I was smoking 2 packs a day, sometimes 3 on a bad day. He smoked for 31 years When he quit he smoked 1-2 packs a day.

When I first quit I coughed quite a lot and the usual quite smoking things happened (taste returned, breathing better..etc..etc..etc). For him though he never had the extra coughing, and he claims he doesn't notice any difference in being out of breath. Well lately he's been saying he hears wheezing in his chest. We're pretty heavy vapers, we have been working on lowering our nicotine.

I'm just wondering can it take over a year before your lungs start to clear? Has anyone else had this happen?

Thanks in advance,
Angel

 

[DetraMental]

WoW, I noticed vast improvement in my well-being. I have heard of certain people who aren't as affected by smoking in the same ways as others. The wheezing could be an underlying condition from smoking that is rearing it's ugly head. It could be too much vg or pg. It's hard to say without knowing. I'm surprised he's not at least breathing better, tasting better, smelling better, something!?

Congrats to you both for making the switch! Thirteen months is a great accomplishment!!

 

[Andigaut]

Is the wheezing new? No cough? Does his chest hurt at all? If you listen to his chest can you hear any wheezes?

 

[MrsAngelD]

WoW, I noticed vast improvement in my well-being. I have heard of certain people who aren't as affected by smoking in the same ways as others. The wheezing could be an underlying condition from smoking that is rearing it's ugly head. It could be too much vg or pg. It's hard to say without knowing. I'm surprised he's not at least breathing better, tasting better, smelling better, something!?

Congrats to you both for making the switch! Thirteen months is a great accomplishment!!

Well he did noticed flavors changing. But it's the other things we're concerned about. Thank you

Is the wheezing new? No cough? Does his chest hurt at all? If you listen to his chest can you hear any wheezes?

Yeah just in the past few weeks. I haven't listened to his chest, I did tell him to maybe get an expectorant and see if that helps with anything. He's at work right now. I'll try to listen to it when get's home. He said he's going to try the expectorant and wait a bit & see what happens. But I am kinda concerned.

When we first starting vaping we used a Mostly PG based liquid. But I personally found it hurt my throat so I switched not long after to one that was mostly VG based. He just went with it too because it was easier when we were ordering supplies. Up until last may we only ordered liquid from one supplier. Then we started trying new flavors from a different supplier. I don't know if that would have any difference as we've been doing the new flavors since May.

 

[samwest]

I've been at it for awhile and vape heavily with heavy VG. Thing is the improvement is so subtle you may not notice it. I did just realize last week that I haven't had any of the bad allergy problems of the past for three years now. As far as heavy breathing mine seems the same but i'm a slug and don't exercise (another heart killer). That is soon to change and my lung capacity will improve I'm sure.

 

[nyiddle]

He smoked for 31 years
wheezing in his chest.

He should probably visit a doctor, make sure it's not a respiratory/lung infection of some kind.

 

[Andigaut]

I'd skip the expectorant and go see your physician. Just to be on the safe side. Good luck and let us know how he's doing!

 

[Towmotor]

I am 9 months smoke free and while I certainly noticed improvements to my health, no cough or congestion, better sleep etc there has been no improvement for me in terms of how quickly I become short of breath. I put this down to permanent damage caused by 34 years of smoking. The effects of COPD are not reversible and while I have not been diagnosed with this ailment I think it is reasonable to assume that I have some symptoms of it.
Not all doom and gloom in this regard tho, I do get winded just as easily as when I smoked but I feel that I recover faster than I used to....and of course I am no longer continuing to make things worse.

 

[zapped]

Vaping alone isnt enough to clear your lungs. You have to exercise as well.

If he's leading a sedentary lifestyle that could have a LOT to do with it.

 

[RosaJ]

I smoked for more than 40 years, the last few decades 1 1/2 packs of cigarettes a day. I noticed improvements after 6 months of vaping and from the beginning (2 1/2 years ago) I haven't had a cold or the flu.

I echo the suggestion to see his doctor if he's wheezing it could very well be something caused by the years of smoking and not the vaping. If anything, vaping has probably slowed down deterioration of his lungs. There are numerous posts from people with COPD who have seen improvement in their lung function after picking up vaping. Not just anecdotal, but have been verified by their doctors.

Good luck to him.

 

[Rickajho]

Hi Angel

He should get checked out.

There is the possibility that there is something about his current liquids that isn't agreeing with him. Different people have different issues with either high VG or high PG causing congestion problems. So that's something to look at too.

Allergies anyone? Has he ever been checked out for that? The last couple years have been brutal for us pollen allergy people. Both me and my SO have been through a couple few very rough days. For me that presents itself as upper respiratory inflammation - dry, non productive cough that kinda hurts in the upper chest region when you try to cough and clear it. Been down this road many times so at least in my case I know when it's an allergy related thing and what meds I have to take to help it.

In general, when was the last time he had a checkup in context of his stopped smoking/started vaping? There is this general misconception that you "fix" your lungs by quitting smoking - and that just isn't true. Sure, you do breath easier when you stop smoking and get the muck cleared out but too many people throw that around as "increased lung capacity" and it isn't. What it is is your lungs being able to do the best job possible with the state they are left in after years or decades of smoking. But if damage has been done it's not like you have the ability to grown a new lung or two after you quit. For all the people who are rightfully excited about their new found ability to breath we also have the peeps checking in who are frustrated when they find out that they are just as tired from exertion as they were before they stopped smoking - that's the damage speaking. As both my MD and Allergist said, if damage from smoking was reversible then the cure for emphysema would be as simple as quitting smoking. It doesn't work that way.

The bottom line is if this is a new symptom for Hubs and he hasn't changed anything recently about his liquids of choice then it's time for a checkup.

 

[Katmar]

I agree with everyone else. Get checked out. Don't wait on an expectorant. You want to get a jump on whatever is causing this. Keep in mind, he could have developed an allerge to VG. I can't handle the stuff. Makes my lungs feel heavy.

Please keep us posted.

 

[MrsAngelD]

Hi guys,

Sorry it's taken a bit to reply I've been busy. I will definitely tell him to get the doctors for a physical. It's been quite a while since he's been and in any case I'm sure it wouldn't hurt for him to be checked out. Thank you for all the responses and feedback. I'll post back more after he's seen by the doc.

 

[Nermal]

Thing is the improvement is so subtle you may not notice it..

Couldn't be more true, per my own observation. Do I feel better than I did a year ago? Maybe. Probably. It's really hard to compare how I feel now, compared to then. Objectively, my blood O2 level moved from a consistent 92 up to 95, but I can't convince even myself that a random spot check is in any way valid.

 

[spartanstew]

I smoked about a pack a day for 30 years.

I've been of cigarettes for about 14 months now and don't really feel any different. Although, I didn't really feel bad when I was smoking. I didn't have a smokers cough, wasn't really short of breath, or anything like that.