I smoked Kools, pack and a half to 2 packs a day for 30 years, every mourning for the past 15 years I hacked up dark brown phlegm, I forced it up every day. I went on ecigs Dec1, 2010 and haven't had a cig since then. That's about 2 and 1/2 months. I still hack occassionally and the phlegm is not as dark, but it is light brown, Is this still from my old cig habit.
This past week when I blow my nose the color of the mucous is green, never had this with real cigs, I do not have a cold or sinus problems this just started. I vape 18 mg and between 3 and 5 ml's a day. Since this did not happen with real cigs I am concerned.
Anybody experience anything similar?? Any comments because I do not want to go back to real cigs.
While I am not a medical professional and do not claim to be. I have had some experience with mucous color due to an ailment a family member had. This information is simply my observations and limited second hand knowledge...
1. Brown mucous is a sign of pollutants such as smoke. Your mucous turns brown because mucous is a transport method for pollutants to leave the body as a natural defense. The brown color is literally the tint from the gunk the cigarettes were leaving in your respiratory system. No more brown is good!
2. Green mucous CAN BE a sign of a bacterial infection. This is often misdiagnosed and antibiotics are prescribed for the bacterial infection (usually something like rhinovirus or influenza). This can also be a sign of acute bronchitis, which is very very common with smoking analogs, especially with heavy, long term usage. Only a doctor can accurately diagnose these symptoms but these are common causes.
That being said.. I would venture to guess that it is likely that as your body has expelled a large degree of the brown gunk you may be seeing a more naturally occurring color in your mucous. Unfortunately, that naturally occurring color may be the green you are seeing caused by the acute bronchitis you've developed from years of smoking.
Most doctors will tell you that the quickest way to heal your respiratory "tree" is smoking cessation. That being said...if you are still healthy and seeing positive results with e-cigs it is likely that your body still needs time to heal from the analogs. If the green mucous continues...see a doctor. But, I think it is likely the "dye" of the brown gunk you were coughing up is present in much lower quantities and now you are seeing the changes your body is going through as it transitions and moves from expulsion of foreign residues from analogs to healing the long term negative effects of smoking on the respiratory tree.
Hope that helps...but remember...I'm not a doctor, I just play one in the bedroom. When in doubt..go see a real one!
