Persistent cough

[HKUSP45C]

OK, so I've been on my e-cig for about 3 weeks now and I feel so much better but, I have a question. I've been a fairly heavy (pack a day or more) smoker for a little over 20 years now. I developed a persistent "smoker's cough" early on and have had it for as long as I can remember. Not "hacking spasms" just the "one hack" all day long.

Does anyone know if a) it will eventualluy go away and b) roughly how long it will take to do so? I realize I've only been off of the analogs a little while but, I was looking for a little insight.

Finally, for those who have been vaping for a long time, does it produce or irritate a cough? I'm so new at this I'm not sure if I'm just dealing with 2 decades of lung abuse or an expected side effect of vaping. That said, even if the vaping does cause (or not cure) a cough it's still got to be orders of magnitude more healthy than analogs.

Thanks in advance for any advice, this place has been a gold mine of info.

 

[dormouse]

What nicotine level and what PG/VG ratio are you vaping, and are you drinking plenty of fluids?

Nicotine is a skin irritant. High or medium nic in 100% PG can be quite irritating.

 

[Ev0lution]

20 years is quite some time, but you should notice real improvement over time, give your body some months to recover from the smoke abuse and you´ll see...

 

[Kent C]

I was a 3 pack a day smoker for decades and never really developed the cough - sometimes in the morning during the winter - but after about 3 months of vaping - I could tell a difference in upper respiratory track - much lighter feeling. Heed what dormouses says on fluids, pg/vg and nic levels.....

 

[Bozzlite]

I had the smokers cough too before I switched to vaping. Really bad. Where I couldn't catch my breath for 10 or 15 seconds because I was coughing so hard. After a few weeks, nay, actually after a few days it went away.

I still have a little cough every now and then, but I think its from chain vaping. I really over do it with vaping. But its much better than smoking.

 

[HKUSP45C]

What nicotine level and what PG/VG ratio are you vaping, and are you drinking plenty of fluids?

Nicotine is a skin irritant. High or medium nic in 100% PG can be quite irritating.

26mg Elixirliquid RY4 and Bailey's (alternating, my wife doesn't like the cloying sweet smell from the Bailey's so I smoke the RY4 when she's around). To be frank I have no clue what the PG/VG ratios are as I'm still very ignorant to the whole e-cig "sea of knowledge."

I stay hydrated as a matter of habit, I try to drink at minimum 88oz of water a day, often more. I grew up in the desert and drinking water wasn't as much a good idea as it was necessary so, those habits have followed me to adulthood.

It doesn't feel any different now than it did when I was smoking analogs. That is to say, I don't feel an irritation per se more than I just don't feel a cessation of the original cough I've been carrying around for over half my life. I will say this, the phlegm I'm producing is a much more "healthy" color than it was 3 weeks ago. (sorry for the gross discussion)

 

[Bozzlite]

It may take a while, but eventually it should subside.

If it takes more than a few weeks for your coughing to improve.....well could be something else causing it. JMHO.

 

[cbabbman]

I had a persistent smokers cough... Should have too since I was smoking 1.5 packs a day for almost 30 years... Every time I sat back in a chair for a half hour or fell a sleep for a few mins, I'd get up and cough till my tongue was numb... Same with the mornings, sometimes taking a half hour to get to the point I could just breath in without coughing...

All of that went away within a few days for me... ALL of it, once I started vaping.... now when I cough, it's almost a surprise since I hardly ever cough any more... I'm a little over 2 months in and I feel 1000 times better

Vaping was the best thing I ever started

 

[dormouse]

Well if it's 100% PG and 26mg then it is probably too much irritation for starting out of you already had a cough.

And what PV and ohms atty or carto are you vaping it on? If a big PV with LR carto or atty then that is double whammy and you should try standard resistance atty or carto.

You are not the first person to get sore throat and lungs and it is usually 24+ nic in 100% PG

Except for Vapor4Life (I am down to low nic now so the one I like is not too harsh), I don't buy eliquid anywhere that doesn't at least say that it is a PG/VG blend.

 

[classwife]

Hi HK...(did you have your Dr. check out your pre existing cough ?)

 

[Bozzlite]

Hi HK...(did you have your Dr. check out your pre existing cough ?)

I guess this is what I really meant.

Hi classwife.

 

[jjcordone]

My doctor told me that the smokers cough, especially in the morning, could take up to a year to completely go away.
But, he also said I should feel an improvement in only a mater of weeks. Unfortunately, smoking for a lot of years, 35 for me, does cause unrepairable lung damage so I doubt I'll ever run a marathon.

 

[HKUSP45C]

Hi HK...(did you have your Dr. check out your pre existing cough ?)

No, partially because I'm not "worried" yet and also because my doctor would just chastise me for trading addictions, even if one were remarkably more healthy than the other.

Like I said, I do actually fell better already and I'm pretty sure it's not psychosomatic.

I was just curious if anyone had the same experience. I guess I may just make a Dr. appt. this week. It certainly couldn't hurt.

 

[WomanOfHeart]

No, it wouldn't hurt to go see the doctor. You'll feel tons better when he tells you that it's the smoker's cough and it'll go away soon. Your doctor might surprise you with his/her reaction. Mine did.

 

[HKUSP45C]

No, it wouldn't hurt to go see the doctor. You'll feel tons better when he tells you that it's the smoker's cough and it'll go away soon. Your doctor might surprise you with his/her reaction. Mine did.

While I'm the ever-brimming optimist, I've known my GP for a decade and she's a peerless ball buster, which is one of many reasons she's still my GP. She tells me what she thinks without a care about my "feelings." I asked her about Chantix, I asked her about the patch, I asked her about the gum, her general attitude is that trading one crutch for another is stupid, which, I suppose, I get.

I'm going to call her and make an appt. for this week, for my own peace, not hers. I do not, however, expect her to be in a cheery mood when I explain I've found a relatively safe way to consume nicotine. Besides, I need a refill for my statin.

 

[CBB]

I was taking an expectorant when I quit smoking because I had a chest cold at the time. I started coughing up lots of colorful stuff, but when I got over the cold my smoker's cough was gone too. I was a 24 year 2.5 PAD smoker, and within two weeks of stopping smoking my cough was gone.

 

[HKUSP45C]

Well if it's 100% PG and 26mg then it is probably too much irritation for starting out of you already had a cough.

And what PV and ohms atty or carto are you vaping it on? If a big PV with LR carto or atty then that is double whammy and you should try standard resistance atty or carto.

You are not the first person to get sore throat and lungs and it is usually 24+ nic in 100% PG

Except for Vapor4Life (I am down to low nic now so the one I like is not too harsh), I don't buy eliquid anywhere that doesn't at least say that it is a PG/VG blend.

I'm on a standard 510 eGo with regular carts (not 'omizers, the included ones) and no mods. It's not a sore throat or lungs, it's just same small hack I've had for a s long as I can remember. Maybe the Nic/ratio is too much, I don't know. I'd rather not spend a hundred bucks trying to find the right ratio. Particularly since my original plan was to vape and taper until I could get off of the nicotine. If I know me, having 13 different 10-30ml bottles of Nicotine hanging around the house is just going to encourage me to keep vaping instead of following the path I originally intended.

 

[subversive]

just wanted to share my 3 month experience with ecigs thus far. i had a terrible smoker's cough (spasm-ing hack, not just one hack). laughing would make me hack. waking up would make me hack. family and friends were always on me about it, including smokers. i also have a sinus drip, so i was constantly blowing my nose and also coughing from that.

my smoker's hack is gone. i don't wake up with a burning chest anymore and all the aforementioned friends and family have noticed an enormous difference as well. i still have the sinus drip, but i don't blow my nose all day long anymore and i don't have the congestion i used to have. i vape 3ml a day @ 24mg or higher, varying ratios of pg/vg. i've gone through a lot of samples, and those were all 50/50, so that's probably what ratio i have vaped the most. i still cough now and then, but it's a short, shallow sinus-drip type cough, not a deep-lung-smoker's hack. i'm also not coughing up phlegm anymore, which i used to do on a daily basis (in colors besides clear *yuck*) as a smoker. so gross and glad to be rid of it.

i'm 25, so can't say i have decades of smoking behind me, but i was smoking 2+ packs per day of full flavored cigs with constant bronchitis and sinus infections. started experimenting at 11, was addicted and smoking like a "real" smoker by 16. so i guess about 9 years of heavy smoking. my first post here was about vaping and chronic cough/bronchitis. everyone was very encouraging, and they were right..it got much better ! not sure how long it will take for you, but for me i would say i really noticed it after 1 1/2 months.

 

[Tas1]

Very happy my constant cough has disappeared after three weeks, keep at it everyone's different but I'm sure it will improve

 

[Beez]

My throat is irritated by more than a minimum amt. of PG. It is almost like the scratchiness of an allergy. And it makes me cough a lot as a result. If you are using PG, try VG.