n00b question, coughing

[mdaniels80]

Hello, I am new to the forum but not entirely new to vaping.
My question is why does vaping make me cough more than cigarettes. I smoke Marlboro red, my current vapor set up is a eleaf istick with a nautilis aspire tank. I have my wattage down to 5 (lowest I can get it) and the air hole at smallest I can close it to. I am currently using 18mg nicotine juice . This thing hits harder than cigarette with less smoke. Makes me cough alot. What can I do to Smooth it out or is it an anatomy thing for me...thanks

 

[jbnuke]

I had this problem myself. Me personally I got used to it after a week or so and no more coughing. Also you could try juices with a higher vg percentage as vg has less of that throat hit you are talking about...

 

[drtinker]

Hmmm

How long have you been exclusively vaping? I really struggled with finding it harsh.coughing in my initial week of vaping only. By the end of the second week I had completely adjusted and have not coughed when drawing since. I started at 18mg juice-but have noticed the flavours/pg/vg ratios to have more effect on my throat than the nic strength.

What juices are you using?

 

[Renuzor]

It can be pg/vg ratio, nicotine is making throath hit too, first time i vaped some health potion 30/70 pg vg 6mg, wanted some more hit so i made 50/50 20mg nicotine and it hits so hard i can take so so 2 sec draws sometimes and sometimes i get used to it and can do more. Try lower nicotine or add vg

 

[Redruth]

I had this problem at first, so I used a non-nicotine juice and played around until I got the technique right. I don't know how to find the link but I'm sure someone will post it for you.

 

[granolaboy]

I found that some flavours (like candy flavours) had a rather harsh throat hit...it took me some time to find flavours that were smooth.

I found a nice maple tobacco that was really smooth and a locally made RY4 that really hit the spot.

What setup are you using?

 

[ArdDarvis]

I used to experience the same thing- I'd buy some juice from online or a brink and mortar, and the vape would make me cough and make my chest very tight.

What worked for me- bump down the nic level, and bump up the VG percentage. You can do this yourself by simply getting some USP VG from a drug store and cutting your juice, 2:10, 3:10, whatever you like.
The VG mellows out the intensity as well as produces more vapor.

I make my own juice now; 20pg/80vg, 6mg/ml, and I vape pretty often throughout the day.

 

[Matthew Shelbourn]

I have a couple of suggestions...

I am currently using 18mg nicotine juice

First of all, I would try lowering your nicotine to 12mg or even 6mg if vaping is making you cough. This could be because of the nicotine, but I have a sneaking suspicion based on this statement you made...

This thing hits harder than cigarette with less smoke.

If you aren't getting a lot of vapor production and it's really harsh it could indicate that your tank is flooding. In my experience, when my atty is flooded I will get very little vapor and it will instantly make me cough, almost to the point where I gag from coughing so hard. Try clearing the flood (if there is one). To do this with the Nautilus just turn it upside down and blow sharply through the air intake hole (on the side of the tank near the bottom). If it is flooded then the excess e-liquid will come out the mouthpiece.

Last piece of advice...drink plenty of water while vaping. The main components of e-liquid will dry out your mouth and throat. Staying well hydrated could help with the cough. Regardless, it's important to drink more water if you vape.

Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[zapped]

One thing you can try is adjusting your 'drag".

You cant hit it like a cigarette....or something else.

Inhale slowly into your mouth then hold the vapor for 5 seconds. Count if you have to. If you watch P Busardos juice reviews you can see him doing this. THEN inhale into your lungs....Will be MUCH smoother.

Takes a little practice the first few times but you'll be doing it without thinking about it in no time at all.

Hope that helps

 

[dc99]

You could be like me and have a reaction to PG. PG hurts my throat and makes me cough bad. I make most of my own juice but some places will mix it anyway you like it. MtBaker offers max VG. If I buy juice, that's the only way I can vape it.

 

[mdaniels80]

the juice is from Twilight Vapor, its atleast 50% PG since its the first item listed. 18 mg

 

[mdaniels80]

I might try to lean out the PG with VG before i make an attempt to drop nic level. The only reason i get less smoke is because I take micro draws in attempt to not be to harsh on me. if i take a big draw it puts out alot more smoke. I ve only been vaping for a day on this go round, i will try to adapt to it then delude the PG to VG to see what works better. thanks

 

[ArdDarvis]

I might try to lean out the PG with VG before i make an attempt to drop nic level. The only reason i get less smoke is because I take micro draws in attempt to not be to harsh on me. if i take a big draw it puts out alot more smoke. I ve only been vaping for a day on this go round, i will try to adapt to it then delude the PG to VG to see what works better. thanks

you will literally be amazed what a difference it makes. NOT ONLY does it mellow it out, but it also doesn't dim the flavor too much, so you can stretch your juices out, even double them. Whenever i get juice from the brick and motor down the road (not often), I immediately cut it 50juice/50VG. Doubles your juice, "doubles" your clouds, nullifies that harshness, and doesn't mute the flavor too bad.

be sure you get USP Vegetable Glycerine, not "food grade". It's not expensive, it's readily available (online, B&M), and it lasts forever.

Also, if you feel you HAVE to take micro hits, there is obviously something wrong, and it is NOT you, it's your equipment. No one should have to "suffer through" vaping- it should be 100% enjoyable. If you don't feel comfortable taking a huge lung hit (not to say you will every time), then it's time to switch something up.

 

[Treeskier79]

I had to do away with PG altogether and go 100pct VG to avoid that intense throat hit/lung fullness. Especially when I was just starting out vaping. My first pull with 50/50 nearly choked me out. Kept dropping PG until I realized I didn't enjoy/couldn't handle much of a throat hit after smoking cigs so much for so long. After a month now, I can handle the 50/50, but still lean to heavy VG if not 100pct. Not a big throat hit fan. YMMV.

 

[williamclarkonet]

Hello, I am new to the forum but not entirely new to vaping.
My question is why does vaping make me cough more than cigarettes. I smoke Marlboro red, my current vapor set up is a eleaf istick with a nautilis aspire tank. I have my wattage down to 5 (lowest I can get it) and the air hole at smallest I can close it to. I am currently using 18mg nicotine juice . This thing hits harder than cigarette with less smoke. Makes me cough alot. What can I do to Smooth it out or is it an anatomy thing for me...thanks

I think we you quit smoking the coughing is your lungs getting rid of all that tar from years of smoking

 

[mdaniels80]

As ive spent some quality time vaping this afternoon the harshness has tamed some .. maybe its just a transition process however since my current juice is 65% pg I will tame it down and experiment to see what I like better .thank you for your advice

 

[shortdraw]

I'm 6 days in myself and I noticed the first day I could hardly inhale without choking. A lot of it is your lungs are used to smoke, not vapor. Here's what worked for me- Start by only holding the vapor in your mouth. After you're comfortable with that, try exhaling through your nose. Once that's not an issue, try taking a tiny bit from your mouth into your lungs, then exhale through your nose.. By day three you should be able to take a mouthful, then inhale completely and exhale through your nose. Remember, your mouth and nose will absorb nicotine better than your lungs will when vaping. Another thing about exhaling out your nose, it seems to give me more flavor when done that way. If by day three or four you're still choking on it, try a different PG/VG mix. I have foung the high VG formulations to leave a strange waxy film in my mouth that I don't care for.

 

[DisgruntledGoat]

I might try to lean out the PG with VG before i make an attempt to drop nic level. The only reason i get less smoke is because I take micro draws in attempt to not be to harsh on me. if i take a big draw it puts out alot more smoke. I ve only been vaping for a day on this go round, i will try to adapt to it then delude the PG to VG to see what works better. thanks

Relatively new vaper her myself...

While I'm sure all the advice regarding PG/VG levels is good, I can say that I had a similar experience, and for me, a lot of it was just technique. First of all, you *should* get more used to it as you go along. I coughed pretty much every hit at first, but now hardly ever (though the first vape of the day still usually hits me with a few coughs). 2nd, don't concentrate as much on the size of the hit you take, but how you're taking it. WIth traditional cigs, it's normal to take a very short, full drag into the mouth, and then quickly inhale it into the lungs and exhale. I started enjoying vaping much more once I broke my habit and changed the way I take my puffs. What I now prefer to do is take a lighter but more drawn out pull off of my rig (~5 seconds). I will actually draw straight into my lungs, as opposed to doing a mouth to lung inhale, and after about 5 seconds I release the power from the battery and continue to inhale for another second or two, hold for a moment, then exhale.

This is very different from how I used to smoke cigarettes, and even though I'm drawing a lot more vapor off of each puff, I'm coughing less and getting smoother hits. You may not like this method at all, all vapers probably have their own preferred method, but the point is to kind of play around with it because at the very least you probably DON'T want to pull off of the thing like you did with cigarettes.

The one good thing I'll say about vapor, is when you do cough mid-puff, it doesn't burn the throat like smoke does.

 

[The Torch]

More pointers:
-Some juice flavors tickle my throat and make me cough like crazy.
-18mG nic should be fine for a Marlboro smoker, but some people still find it too harsh. You could try 12mg and see if that helps.
-After about a week of reducing my smoking dramatically, I got the "quitters flu" where your lungs are clearing out. During that time smoking was fine, but vaping made me cough a lot.
-Experiment with air hole adjustment

You'll probably have to work it out yourself with all the advice in here so just keep asking and let us know what works and what does not.

 

[mcclintock]

I have my wattage down to 5 (lowest I can get it) and the air hole at smallest I can close it to. I am currently using 18mg nicotine juice . This thing hits harder than cigarette with less smoke. Makes me cough alot. What can I do to Smooth it out or is it an anatomy thing for me...thanks

I prefer letting some air in around the mouthpiece, cooling and adding turbulence, gives more flavor. This requires an easy draw, so might want to change airflow. Otherwise it helps once you get further away from smoking, at first you don't get the benefit.

18 mg is fairly strong, try 12.