Hi folks 
When I posted "First Time Blues" a few days back, some of you suggested that I keep you posted on progress... or lack thereof. So here t'is.
Despite my coughing problem, I decided to stick with my original stuff (SmokeTip with 16Mg "tobacco" cartomizers) rather than jumping right into experimentation with other systems and strengths. That decision was largely based on what many of you suggested: "stick with it and it'll probably get better in a few days", or words to that effect.
It's getting better! As many of you remarked, the problem was (I think) simply one of technique. Perhaps Lesson #1 for newbies like me is that vaping is not smoking. For whatever reasons, the chemical impact of vapor on the throat is very different from that of tobacco products. It doesn't matter how "tough" one thinks a longtime smoker's throat is... that if it can handle tobacco with all its additives, surely it should be able to handle anything. Might as well argue that if you can handle 2 1/2 packs of analog cigs a day, you should be able to handle graphite or sulphuric acid without missing a beat
So I think -as many suggested- it's just a matter of accustoming one's throat to the new "feel" without inhaling as aggressively as with tobacco smoking. (At least not at first.) The technique I've evolved (again, based on your recommendations) is:
[1] Draw a moderate amount of vapor into the mouth, but don't inhale it into the throat/lungs right away,
[2] Pause for a second or two to be sure you haven't drawn in so much as to make you cough even before you attempt to inhale. (If you have, you'll probably cough it out anyway.)
[3] Then draw air between your lips verrrry slowly through a small opening between them. I think of sucking in air through something as small as a swizzle stick, or even a hollow toothpick. In other words, unlike tobacco smoking, don't open your mouth wide and take a deep breath.
[4] Hold the vapor in your lungs for a beat or two before exhaling. If you exhale right away, the "unabsorbed" vapor may make you cough on the way out or your throat.
In summary, during the early stages of adjustment it's a five-step process: draw in, hold, inhale, hold, exhale. As someone pointed out here, we smokers did have to "learn" to smoke. Vaping is no different, and the principles are very similar.
Anyway, at the end of Day 5 I've reduced my analog cig smoking by 80% (no kidding!), and don't have even a hint of that "this'll never last" feeling I've had when trying to use the patch, gum, etc. And financially speaking -even if for no other reason- that's a good thing! Here in "Flawduh", tobacco cigs run about $5.70 a pack when bought by the carton. Health benefits? I've had a chronic runny nose for months, and now it's just plain gone (the runniness, not the nose Magic! I won't gross you out by talking about coughing up phlegm... suffice to say there's marked improvement there too.
Oddly, my only objection to the system I'm using is the "burn" light at the tip of the battery. Since my taste buds haven't fully recovered yet, I have to use that to gauge how much vapor I'm drawing in. To "see" it, I hold my idle palm up close to it for the reflected light. Maybe a little LED light atop the tip of the battery...?
Thanks, everybody!!
When I posted "First Time Blues" a few days back, some of you suggested that I keep you posted on progress... or lack thereof. So here t'is.
Despite my coughing problem, I decided to stick with my original stuff (SmokeTip with 16Mg "tobacco" cartomizers) rather than jumping right into experimentation with other systems and strengths. That decision was largely based on what many of you suggested: "stick with it and it'll probably get better in a few days", or words to that effect.
It's getting better! As many of you remarked, the problem was (I think) simply one of technique. Perhaps Lesson #1 for newbies like me is that vaping is not smoking. For whatever reasons, the chemical impact of vapor on the throat is very different from that of tobacco products. It doesn't matter how "tough" one thinks a longtime smoker's throat is... that if it can handle tobacco with all its additives, surely it should be able to handle anything. Might as well argue that if you can handle 2 1/2 packs of analog cigs a day, you should be able to handle graphite or sulphuric acid without missing a beat
So I think -as many suggested- it's just a matter of accustoming one's throat to the new "feel" without inhaling as aggressively as with tobacco smoking. (At least not at first.) The technique I've evolved (again, based on your recommendations) is:
[1] Draw a moderate amount of vapor into the mouth, but don't inhale it into the throat/lungs right away,
[2] Pause for a second or two to be sure you haven't drawn in so much as to make you cough even before you attempt to inhale. (If you have, you'll probably cough it out anyway.)
[3] Then draw air between your lips verrrry slowly through a small opening between them. I think of sucking in air through something as small as a swizzle stick, or even a hollow toothpick. In other words, unlike tobacco smoking, don't open your mouth wide and take a deep breath.
[4] Hold the vapor in your lungs for a beat or two before exhaling. If you exhale right away, the "unabsorbed" vapor may make you cough on the way out or your throat.
In summary, during the early stages of adjustment it's a five-step process: draw in, hold, inhale, hold, exhale. As someone pointed out here, we smokers did have to "learn" to smoke. Vaping is no different, and the principles are very similar.
Anyway, at the end of Day 5 I've reduced my analog cig smoking by 80% (no kidding!), and don't have even a hint of that "this'll never last" feeling I've had when trying to use the patch, gum, etc. And financially speaking -even if for no other reason- that's a good thing! Here in "Flawduh", tobacco cigs run about $5.70 a pack when bought by the carton. Health benefits? I've had a chronic runny nose for months, and now it's just plain gone (the runniness, not the nose
Magic! I won't gross you out by talking about coughing up phlegm... suffice to say there's marked improvement there too.Oddly, my only objection to the system I'm using is the "burn" light at the tip of the battery. Since my taste buds haven't fully recovered yet, I have to use that to gauge how much vapor I'm drawing in. To "see" it, I hold my idle palm up close to it for the reflected light. Maybe a little LED light atop the tip of the battery...?
Thanks, everybody!!
