Eh gad! The coughing.

[MD_Boater]

But not from the vaping...

I have been vaping for 141 days. For the past 3 weeks, I have had a serious case of the purging cough. Big wads of phlegm that look like they have ground pepper in them (sorry for the visual). I knew that this would happen, but wow! I didn't expect to see it so soon, or so heavy. There is lots of crud coming out. I am so glad to see it.

Does this happen if you just quit smoking without switching to vaping? I've known lots of folks that quit smoking, and never heard of this from them. Several vapers I know have asked me if "the coughing" started yet.

Shame on you ANTZ. You should wish that this would happen to people, not fight it.

 

[Frenchfry1942]

141 days is pretty long. I was done the coughing in about a week.

 

[MD_Boater]

Mine didn't start until the 4 month mark. But it seems like I just started vaping. I don't even remember smoking at this point.

 

[mostlyclassics]

Everyone's different when it comes to the "lung oysters." Mine set in after the second week and didn't let up until a month later.

 

[a wandering soul]

Heh so its not just me.. ive heard stories that taking a few big chokers of some herbal medicine can help break up the gunk in your lungs.. im too broke to test the theory but did cough up some ugly phlegm today while taking a hot shower.. it was really ooogily.

I can has tapatalked this.

 

[Craybee]

this is something i’ve been curious about for awhile now because i smoked for about 20 years before i started vaping last year and for some reason i haven’t purged anything and it’s been about 9 months since i last had a tobacco cigarette.

granted in the past few years i’d cut down from a pack a day to about 5-6 a day but still you’d think da phlegms woulda fallen in line and marched out by now.

 

[Purplepeeps]

Could you have bronchitis? I would try some Musinex and if it doesn't get better soon, call your dr.

Hope you feel better!

 

[omyeyes]

This is a nasty subject but I've heard of people that quit smoking and started coughing up blood. I guess our lungs have their own way of repairing themselves. I lost my cough after about 2 weeks then it came back in full force about 7 months in. I'm just drinking cough medicine (OTC) daily and hoping that it goes away again.

 

[Taowulf]

I coughed up some gunk for the first week...and then I started again when I picked up a menthol flavored juice. It isn't too bad though.

 

[AndriaD]

It just so happened that just when I started vaping regularly, and oh BTW, quit smoking too, I was getting over an AWFUL!!! cold, so I was already coughing up chunks, and I guess it all came out then, or most of it at least. When my favorite e-juice was out of stock in the 85% PG blend that I always get, I had to use the 85% VG to keep the same flavor, and I went from zero cough to a dry cough that wouldn't bring up anything; the first few days I was back on the PG blend, in the mornings I was back to coughing up a lung, but I managed to get rid of all that crap the VG left in my lungs, plus some of whatever was left from the cold and the years of accumulated tar.

I second the suggestion for Mucinex, but DON'T get the DM kind, that will suppress the cough, which is the LAST thing you want; get the kind without DM, and drinks LOTS!!!!!!! of water, and it will help you finish getting rid of the junk. I've been taking the non-DM mucinex ever since I was medicating for that nasty cold, and it has helped a great deal.

Andria

 

[AmandaD]

Interesting, I coughed with some juice the first couple of weeks, but this week I've been coughing like crazy when I vape anything but Tribecca. I even tried DIY unflavored and that made me cough with every combination of PG/VG (or with just PG or VG with no nic). I have no idea why I can vape Tribeca, but this is getting annoying....LOL And I'm almost at the 4 month mark (and I haven't had an analog since I started vaping).

 

[AndriaD]

I have this "stop smoking start vaping" chart on my wall, that I printed from an image that someone posted, and it says that around the 12wk/3mo mark, your lungs regain the ability to clean themselves; I guess a regrowth of cilia. So you and the OP might just be having a somewhat delayed reaction to quitting, by virtue of the fact that you've reached the point where the lungs can clear themselves. I really think it was the aftermath of that cold that got me cleared out -- you know how bad colds are, to smokers, and when I *got* that cold (about the 3rd wk of Jan), I was still smoking, so 4/6 wks later, all that congestion was still coming up, and I guess since I wasn't smoking anymore, it just went on and cleared out about 90% of the tar at the same time.

Andria

 

[FireDragon1138]

When I started vaping last year I was a non-smoker (ex-smoker rather, I've spent more of my life dipping, snusing, or on the patch than smoking), using Blu, which is 100 VG, and I actually developed a bit of a cough in the morning. This was surprising as I had little coughing previous, but I do have very mild asthma (I'd sometimes get a little chesty and cough around cooking odors or pollution). So maybe it's the juice.

Recently I cut back on my cig smoking a lot and started vaping and dipping snuff moreso (I'm starting to find stuff that works better in the way of vaping), and I notice a lot of phlegm sometimes in the morning. No cough but just a lot of thin phlegm. I've never been a heavy, long term smoker so I don't have a lot of lung cookies in there I'm sure but I do have to wonder if the juice doesn't sometimes get coughed up.

 

[Bontasia]

Lots of good thoughts here. I've also read that the lung clearing also depends a lot on how long/how much you've been smoking. I was 1-2 packs a day for 29 years and I'm only 2 weeks in so I think it will be a while.

I agree with the others maybe some decongestant with NO suppressant, lotsa water and maybe some herbal tea with lemon and honey and see your doctor if it doesn't let up. Good luck!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AndriaD]

When I started vaping last year I was a non-smoker (ex-smoker rather, I've spent more of my life dipping, snusing, or on the patch than smoking), using Blu, which is 100 VG, and I actually developed a bit of a cough in the morning. This was surprising as I had little coughing previous, but I do have very mild asthma (I'd sometimes get a little chesty and cough around cooking odors or pollution). So maybe it's the juice.

Recently I cut back on my cig smoking a lot and started vaping and dipping snuff moreso (I'm starting to find stuff that works better in the way of vaping), and I notice a lot of phlegm sometimes in the morning. No cough but just a lot of thin phlegm. I've never been a heavy, long term smoker so I don't have a lot of lung cookies in there I'm sure but I do have to wonder if the juice doesn't sometimes get coughed up.

Yeah I think it does cause a bit of that morning cough, especially for asthmatics; I never had asthma before I started smoking, got it about 10 yrs after I started smoking; I'm so accustomed to the morning coughing that I cant' say it bothers me that much now; it's so much LESS! than when I was smoking, I'm just grateful!

One thing I've noticed is that my sinuses really haven't improved at all; I always figured a lot of my sinus issues were from 2nd hand smoke when I was a child, and then my own after I started smoking, but I think the vapor must contribute to it quite a bit. Or maybe it just takes smoke-acclimated sinuses longer to heal? I dunno, but that's still as much a problem as it ever was.

Of course, it might be an allergy symptom; we have a cat, who lives in the garage but does come thru the house from the various doors on a fairly regular basis, and I've been allergic to cats all my life, but now take a Zyrtec every morning, so I can be around her and touch her (always have to wash my hands after, even with the zyrtec!). So if that's true, maybe I ought to up my dosage on the Zyrtec, see if that helps any.

Andria

 

[Raths]

Everyone's different when it comes to the "lung oysters." Mine set in after the second week and didn't let up until a month later.

At two weeks analog free and having the coughing...hope it dont last a month LOL

 

[JaxMike]

But not from the vaping...

I have been vaping for 141 days. For the past 3 weeks, I have had a serious case of the purging cough. Big wads of phlegm that look like they have ground pepper in them (sorry for the visual). I knew that this would happen, but wow! I didn't expect to see it so soon, or so heavy. There is lots of crud coming out. I am so glad to see it.

Does this happen if you just quit smoking without switching to vaping? I've known lots of folks that quit smoking, and never heard of this from them. Several vapers I know have asked me if "the coughing" started yet.

Shame on you ANTZ. You should wish that this would happen to people, not fight it.

I have read (outside of vaper's forums) of "quitters flu" that features the kind of symptoms you have... coughing up phlegm that contains speckles of "junk" accumulated while smoking. (I'm 3 months in after 30 years of smoking and have had zero negative symptoms btw)

Here's a link to one article discussing this symptom of quitting: The Quitters Flu. It suggests that what you're dealing with is not uncommon; it does seem a little unusual - but not unheard of - that it's happening several months after quitting (I guess you quit smoking 141 days ago? or is that just when you started vaping?)

You're probably fine and just expelling crap from smoking, but I wouldn't advise taking too much medical advice from a blog; if the symptoms don't ease up soon you really ought to see a doctor. Blogs like this (not just this one... any blog devoted to a specific cause or activity) tend to be a little one-sided in their reaction to tales like yours'.

Good luck with it... hope it clears up soon!

 

[MD_Boater]

I have read (outside of vaper's forums) of "quitters flu" that features the kind of symptoms you have... coughing up phlegm that contains speckles of "junk" accumulated while smoking. (I'm 3 months in after 30 years of smoking and have had zero negative symptoms btw)

Here's a link to one article discussing this symptom of quitting: The Quitters Flu. It suggests that what you're dealing with is not uncommon; it does seem a little unusual - but not unheard of - that it's happening several months after quitting (I guess you quit smoking 141 days ago? or is that just when you started vaping?)

You're probably fine and just expelling crap from smoking, but I wouldn't advise taking too much medical advice from a blog; if the symptoms don't ease up soon you really ought to see a doctor. Blogs like this (not just this one... any blog devoted to a specific cause or activity) tend to be a little one-sided in their reaction to tales like yours'.

Good luck with it... hope it clears up soon!

First, a little clarification. The cough is very intermittant. Maybe a half dozen times per day. Far less coughing than when I was still smoking. I feel great. The pghlem is very clear except for the "pepper" in it. I wouldn't go to the doctor specifically for this because I expected it to happen, and I expect it to continue until there is nothing left for the cilia to sweep away. There is no way I would take any medicines to prevent it from happening. I want it to come out.

My friend that convinced me to switch to vaping quit smoking and started vaping over a year and a half ago. His experiences track with mine (we were both 30+ year smokers). His "quitter's flu" lasted just over a year. He spoke with his doctor about it during a checkup, and the doc told him that it would not be unusual for a 30 year smoker's lungs to be expelling the junk for a year or longer.

I expected this to happen, and I expect that it will go on for some time. I am glad to see all of this crud coming out. It helps reenforce the fact that I should never pick up a cigarette ever again. It's all good.

 

[Altaire Versailles]

I wasnt coughing anything up after 4 months, I had stopped coughing up colorful phlegm crap after the first couple weeks. I do still hack up this clear globulous glutinous film though, its most likely from vaping 100%vg and I because I vape to my lungs, doesnt happen when I dont vape.

 

[SAR41]

I'm at 4 weeks analog free and have had no coughing yet. This is after 41 yrs and 2-3 PAD for the last years. Have not noticed any changes yet, other than sense of smell is much better. Wife still on analogs, told her last night when we got in my vehicle and she lit one up, Hey, I don't smoke in here any more!! She just looked at me and I knew it was better to laugh than not live long enough to enjoy the coughing later. LOL