Phlegm.. What's normal?

[Emklein66]

Apologies for the marginally icky thread.
I just started vaping full time on Saturday and so far so good. No analogs since then and hasn't been that difficult (so far).
One thing I have noticed is an increase in phlegm. Not huge or dramatic, but consistent. Funny thing is, I have only been smoking a year and a half after quitting for probably five years, and I don't remember this happening when I quit before. Granted, the reason I quit before was because I was already on death's doorstep from an unrelated health issue, so maybe it happened and I was just dealing with so much else that I didn't notice.
So I'm just wondering what other factors might be involved potentially. PG/VG ratio in juice? I've only tried 2-3 flavors and while they don't specifically say, I suspect they may be PG heavy.
Could too hot a vape cause that kind of reaction? Like you might get from low resistance attys in an Ego- C (1.7 ohm) or clearomizer (2.1 to 2.4 ohm)?
What about too high a nic level? I'm using 18mg and may be overdoing it a bit due to the novelty. I have some lower juice on order just to give that a shot.
At any rate, It's mostly in my throat, not lungs, not really causing me to cough, just feel like I need to clear my throat a lot.
I've seen a lot of posts about drinking lots of water.. Do vapers need more water than smokers in general?

 

[steved5600]

Some people react to PG. I have got to go down on mine its at 50-50 PG/VG because I sneeze a lot and i have more phlegm. Not a icky topic valid topic after all this is about a safer alternative to analogs. I have not found voltage to make a difference unless I have it so high as to burn the juice.
I'm not a doctor and never played one so it's just an opinion. I'm still a fng but I have a lot of experience with sinus issues. I coughed when I got the 50-50 blend of PG and VG. I plan on backing way down.

 

[-VapoHolic-]

Could be the pg/vg ratio but you"ll need to test that out yourself to see which works better for you. Also coughing of mucus seems to be a common occurrence for some people after they quit smoking. As you said could be that last time you quit you just didn't notice due to other circumstances but cant be sure.

 

[DC2]

Nicotine level doesn't have anything to do with it, and I doubt heat of vape does either.

But there are many people that report high levels of phlegm with higher VG juices.
And I am one of those people.


I don't use anything with more than 50% VG and I prefer to keep it to 20% or 30% at most.

 

[Emklein66]

Thanks steved. I just loaded a stardust with 60/40 PG/VG to see how I react to it. I'll try to remember to update the thread once I've given it a fair test.

 

[j4mmin42]

So, yes, as a lot of people are saying here, some people are *sensitive* to either PG or VG. I personally feel my allergies get worse with PG, but it's hard to say, really. As far as these things CAUSING more mucous, it's possible, but so are a number of other factors:

1. Weather. If it is humid or cold, you will have more respiratory issues- especially when quitting cigs.

2 Seasonal allergies. If you have them, it will affect you- again, especially when quitting cigs.

3. Stress. This is a big one...and it goes hand-in-hand with:

4 QUITTING CIGS. This is the most obvious answer to your problem- think back to the last time you quit- was everything in your environment exactly the same as it is now? Was it the same time of year? Also, remember that with smoking, you have a *cumulative* effect, so even though you quit for 1.5 yrs before, your body was most likely not back up to its baseline from before you started.

Hope this helps! You just quit- give it two week, and if things don't improve, check with your doctor. You will probably feel worse for awhile before you feel better!

EDIT Also, YES, most vapers need to drink much more water than they realize- and most smokers don't give two _s about their health, and subsequently they don't drink enough water either. Nicotine is a diuretic.

 

[njay23]

High VG does it for me. Also sometimes my nose will run continuously if I'm chain vaping VG (like Boba's). Try lower VG content, if that doesn't help then try lower PG content. Maybe you're one of those who are sensitive to PG.

 

[j10nke]

I've noticed an increase of clear phlegm while vamping as well. Usually when I quit smoking for a couple weeks I starts coughing up the brownish tar but this time since I've switched to vamping it is only clear... Does this mean the nicotine is preventing my cilia from regenerating and inhibiting my lungs from ridding the old tar? I've been vamping for 2 months now but have splurged with about 3 packs of smokes in between...big improvement from a pack a day though. Going on about a week with absolutely no smokes so far

 

[nepatitan]

When I first started about a month ago, I believe the juice I got from the place was 100% pg, after trying a few other places that were 70/30 PG/VG. I've noticed some more phlem, need to clear throat a little more than normal.

 

[the_gf]

When you switch to ecigs you will cough up the crap in your lungs. Nothing really to do with the vaping. Cough it up! it can last several months but then you will feel and breath much easier

 

[RockyMountain]

Yuk... phlem.. lol! But really nothing worse than a dirty mouth full of tobacco phlem, right?)

 

[nepatitan]

Soo Soo true!!!

I have noticed before brushing my teeth that I don't have that nasty tar film on them anymore.

Yuk... phlem.. lol! But really nothing worse than a dirty mouth full of tobacco phlem, right?)

 

[geogirl]

My husband got snucky the first month that he was vaping. I will say his teeth are much nicer now and it's nicer kissing him too now.

 

[trevorsdad]

I have only been vaping for about 3 weeks now after 15 years of smoking. For the first week I was coughing a lot of junk up from my lungs. The second week it tapered off quite a bit. Now on the 3rd week, I only cough a few times a day.

 

[geogirl]

I noticed my husband did quite bit of coughing "yuck" up in the mornings when he started vaping, I chalked it up to his body purging the poison he had collected from the 30+ years of smoking tobacco.

 

[mrmiller96]

As most people have said, smoking is cumulative, and your lungs can take up to 5 years to fully clear up and heal completely. That said, the phlegm production from 'smoker's flu' usually starts heavily 1-2 days after quitting and tapers off after the 3rd or 4th week, but may be a minor annoyance (coughing stuff up once or twice a day) for a few months before it stops altogether.

Cutting back on dairy products can help alleviate it a bit, as well as making sure you stay hydrated.

PG or VG can sometimes cause a reaction, PG can cause irritation while VG can increase phlegm production. You might try going mostly PG for now while you are still coughing up loads of phlegm to help ease it a bit, and switch to 50/50 or straight VG only if you have a reaction to the PG.

 

[AttyPops]

+whatever on less VG.
Prolly depends on if you even have any cilia left in your lungs...

P.S.
Word of the day is..."snucky".

 

[Clovery]

Your bronchial tubes contain cilia, which are little hairs that serve to sweep mucus and debris (such as dust, pollen, etc.) up and out of your airways, preventing it from collecting in your lungs. The cilia bring the mucus into your throat, and then a cough is triggered to expel the material. Smoking kills off these cilia; however, they regenerate rather quickly. This is why many smokers have coughing episodes in the morning - some cilia regenerate overnight and bring up the mucus which has been allowed to accumulate in your airway. The longer your history of smoking, the longer it will take for your cilia to completely regenerate and begin to sweep up your airways.

So coughing up phlegm is a good thing - it means that your lungs and bronchi are returning to normal function, and purging themselves of the excess mucus and contaminants. Since you don't have a long history of smoking, I would predict that this period of excess phlegm and coughing will not persist very long. If it does, then you might want to consider the ingredients of your juice and trying eliminating PG or VG and see if that helps. But for now, consider it a normal, healthy process and keep up the good work! Congrats on quitting

 

[Emklein66]

For what it is worth, since switching to the 60/40 PG/VG juice last night, it actually seems worse today, so perhaps I am VG intolerant or perhaps as many have suggested, it is just a normal part of the quitting process. My lower nic juice should arrive today, so I can likely rule that out as well later today.
I have taken a Mucinex and will see if that eases symptoms too.
At any rate, not a big enough deal to discourage me from vaping or make me want to switch back to analogs.