Quitters Cough

[sorrylungs]

Hello,

I have specifically joined this site to ask a few questions Google hasn't answered. First off, did anyone give up smoking and literally feel really ill? I gave up smoking and started vaping 3 months ago and I can honestly say I have never felt so low on energy, tired and just generally malaise ever. Also, I fully expected to develop a smokers cough to get up all that gunk up from 35 years of smoking but not a thing? I am wondering if my lungs have turned to stone as I havent coughed at all. I used to keep myself awake all night with a little rasp but now that's gone and I dont have any breathing difficulty at all. I dont want to sound like I am complaining but I am wondering if anyone else has the same experience?

 

[QcVaper]

Hey and welcome to ecf !
For your first question unfortunately i cannot answer, i was always a generally low energy/lazy kind of guy tbh and there was no difference for me.

Although for your second question, i had the same experience, granted i didn't smoke nearly as long as you did (10-15 years) i did not experience any phlem coughing or anything of the sort, my nose seems more dried up since i started vaping, but besides that nothing just the occasionnal cough from dry mouth.

 

[bombastinator]

Hello,

I have specifically joined this site to ask a few questions Google hasn't answered. First off, did anyone give up smoking and literally feel really ill?

Standard rules for whenever anyone here has some sort of ailment: see a doctor. We aren’t doctors. We’re random schmoes on the internet.

it’s not common but I’ve heard of such things happening here. There are a couple of things that could cause it that I can think of off hand:

1. Too much nicotine. If you drastically upped your nicotine intake those symptoms could appear
2. Allergy to an ingredient. PG allergies are the most common but there are several possible ones.
3. Smoking was masking an ailment you already had. This is rare but not unheard of.
4. Coincidence. You got sick just as you quit smoking.

I gave up smoking and started vaping 3 months ago and I can honestly say I have never felt so low on energy, tired and just generally malaise ever. Also, I fully expected to develop a smokers cough to get up all that gunk up from 35 years of smoking but not a thing? I am wondering if my lungs have turned to stone as I havent coughed at all. I used to keep myself awake all night with a little rasp but now that's gone and I dont have any breathing difficulty at all. I dont want to sound like I am complaining but I am wondering if anyone else has the same experience?

 

[sorrylungs]

Hey and welcome to ecf !
For your first question unfortunately i cannot answer, i was always a generally low energy/lazy kind of guy tbh and there was no difference for me.

Although for your second question, i had the same experience, granted i didn't smoke nearly as long as you did (10-15 years) i did not experience any phlem coughing or anything of the sort, my nose seems more dried up since i started vaping, but besides that nothing just the occasionnal cough from dry mouth.

Hi and thank you for taking the time to reply.

 

[sorrylungs]

Standard rules for whenever anyone here has some sort of ailment: see a doctor. We aren’t doctors. We’re random schmoes on the internet.

it’s not common but I’ve heard of such things happening here. There are a couple of things that could cause it that I can think of off hand:

1. Too much nicotine. If you drastically upped your nicotine intake those symptoms could appear
2. Allergy to an ingredient. PG allergies are the most common but there are several possible ones.
3. Smoking was masking an ailment you already had. This is rare but not unheard of.
4. Coincidence. You got sick just as you quit smoking.

Hello, thank you for replying. Good points. I do tend to vape more than i smoked as it doesn't require me to leave the house etc. I will maybe cut down on the vaping first and see if that helps.

 

[Bozzlite]

I smoked a pack and half a day for 40 years. Amazing, but I only had a slight smoker's cough. I switched overnight to vaping and was expecting some sort of huge physical transformation. But......nothing really. I didn't experience an improvement in anything except losing the cough. Started with 12mg juice, bumped it up to 18mg, and finally settled in at 24 mg.

You may be allergic to an ingredient in your nic juice. What flavors are you vaping, and what percentage PG/VG is it? What device are you using and at what power?

 

[sorrylungs]

I smoked a pack and half a day for 40 years. Amazing, but I only had a slight smoker's cough. I switched overnight to vaping and was expecting some sort of huge physical transformation. But......nothing really. I didn't experience an improvement in anything except losing the cough. Started with 12mg juice, bumped it up to 18mg, and finally settled in at 24 mg.

You may be allergic to an ingredient in your nic juice. What flavors are you vaping, and what percentage PG/VG is it? What device are you using and at what power?

Hi, thank you for replying. I am using different liquids - I just buy them from whichever shop I am near when I run out! Always go for an 18mg though as that's the highest most general stores seem to sell in my area (not sure about vape shops as I have only been into them a couple of times and didn't purchase liquid). I am unsure what my device is as a neighbour bought it for me. It is more substantial than the one I bought myself when I first started (purchased from local garage, cost £10 and broke 3 times within 3 days). It has a much bigger battery and I can alter the burn setting (sorry I don't know the correct term) and I have seen similar ones for sale for between £20 and £30 online. What are the symptoms of an allergy to vaping?

 

[DeloresRose]

I smoked about 1.5 pad for about 35 years. And I had quit a few times, always got quitter’s cough, and switching to vaping was no different.

But some people do, and others don’t.
As for feeling ill... I have a chronic illness (unrelated to smoking) so there’s no way I’d be able to say if I felt sick from quitting, or from vaping, or if it was just me as usual.

I agree with seeing your doctor. I tend to ride things out, see if they go away or get worse. But if it doesn’t do one or the other in a few days, get checked out.

Some illnesses present very vaguely. Better safe than sorry.

 

[Opinionated]

Hello,

I have specifically joined this site to ask a few questions Google hasn't answered. First off, did anyone give up smoking and literally feel really ill? I gave up smoking and started vaping 3 months ago and I can honestly say I have never felt so low on energy, tired and just generally malaise ever. Also, I fully expected to develop a smokers cough to get up all that gunk up from 35 years of smoking but not a thing? I am wondering if my lungs have turned to stone as I havent coughed at all. I used to keep myself awake all night with a little rasp but now that's gone and I dont have any breathing difficulty at all. I dont want to sound like I am complaining but I am wondering if anyone else has the same experience?

The general low energy malaise is normal. I pretty much stayed in bed for the first 3 days of quitting claiming flu (although I didn't have the flu) because of how I felt overall.

It goes away slowly.. you will gradually begin to feel better and have more energy although it may take a while to stop feeling a bit out of your head. It's just withdrawals.

I smoked for 32 years and coughed after making the switch, but not everyone does so don't worry about it.. you may still cough when you start exercising though, if you don't exercise already.

 

[Opinionated]

Hi, thank you for replying. I am using different liquids - I just buy them from whichever shop I am near when I run out! Always go for an 18mg though as that's the highest most general stores seem to sell in my area (not sure about vape shops as I have only been into them a couple of times and didn't purchase liquid). I am unsure what my device is as a neighbour bought it for me. It is more substantial than the one I bought myself when I first started (purchased from local garage, cost £10 and broke 3 times within 3 days). It has a much bigger battery and I can alter the burn setting (sorry I don't know the correct term) and I have seen similar ones for sale for between £20 and £30 online. What are the symptoms of an allergy to vaping?

your not experiencing an allergy, general malaise is common with quitting smoking..

Allergy symptoms are far far less subtle.

 

[Baditude]

The malaise sounds like the typical withdrawal symptoms of anyone who is addicted to something.

 

[BrotherBob]

Hello,
I have specifically joined this site to ask a few questions Google hasn't answered. First off, did anyone give up smoking and literally feel really ill? I gave up smoking and started vaping 3 months ago and I can honestly say I have never felt so low on energy, tired and just generally malaise ever. Also, I fully expected to develop a smokers cough to get up all that gunk up from 35 years of smoking but not a thing? I am wondering if my lungs have turned to stone as I havent coughed at all. I used to keep myself awake all night with a little rasp but now that's gone and I dont have any breathing difficulty at all. I dont want to sound like I am complaining but I am wondering if anyone else has the same experience?

Welcome and glad you joined.
May like to read the following paying particular attention to:
Welcome and glad you joined.
Section 1: Medical symptoms of tobacco cessation
Section 2: Vaping-related issues
re: A list of symptoms when quitting tobacco and changing to an ecigarette
Here's another from your side of the pond*:
E-Cigarette Side Effects: What Every Vaper Needs to Know
* TU for adding your location.

 

[dsites]

Congratulations on 3 months .... it's a big deal!

 

[vapdivrr]

I agree that your laziness or low energy is a withdrawal symptom from chemicals in cigs other than nic. As for no flem, etc, that was me. I definitely had a smokers hack and when I switched, it just gradually went away, but i didnt start expelling stuff from my lungs or anything like that

 

[vaper1960]

I assume your device is what they call a "mod" (the battery part) and a "tank" the part that holds the juice (and coil) Find out which tank you have and how much juice it holds (ml) Try to guess how many ml total you vape in one day. Do you "chain vape" (almost constant vaping for long sessions)? When I quite cigs, I also used 18mg nicotine and it worked great fro me, but I only vaped around 2-3ml a day. Some people vape 10 ml or more a day. Some tanks (actually depends on the coil) create huge amounts of vape clouds, others are what they call MTL (mouth to lung) and produce much less vapor. Now I vape 12 mg nicotine around 3-4 ml a day.
Side note: always drink water when vaping... it helps counter the effects of the e-liquid.
BTW, welcome and gongrats!

 

[Ryan1]

I think it’s a combination of the effects of quitting smoking with the effects of starting to vape. I went from about a half pack a day directly to sub ohm vaping about two months ago. The first week, I thought vaping was disgusting because my whole body felt inundated with the flavors, if that makes sense. Then I got what seemed like a very mild cold for about a week or two. I stuck with it because I didn’t want to go back to cigs. Everything’s been fine the last couple weeks. I have noticed some strange sensations in the gut and some constipation, but I think that’s from not drinking enough water while vaping. I’ll be monitoring all this closely. I exercise daily and haven’t noticed any effects on energy since those first few weeks.

 

[Ace80s]

My transition from smoking to vaping was pretty mild even though I smoked heavy for decades. I didn't notice any major pros or cons except for the major money savings. The one thing that has bothered me since I quit is sleep. I don't sleep as well but it may or may not be related.

 

[stols001]

Everyone's different. I felt pretty awful switching but I was a 3 ppd smoker. Oddly enough I didn't cough up much tar, dead lung etc. You'd think I would I had pneumonia for 18 straight months before quitting but I sort of never have.

I started with a bad cough inhaling DL at 12 mg of nic. That was way too much in all sorts of ways, so I quickly moved to a 19 mg MTL setup which was much better for me.

I can't vape PG I am sensitive to it, but it didn't cause "general malaise" or coughing it was like inhaling a bunch of pins and needles.

3 months... You should be starting to feel better but everyone's different. You may or may not be sensitive to one of the things in your vape. The only way to figure that out really is the vaper's elimination diet, unfortunately, like start with VG only then add nic, then add PG, etc.

But go to your doc FIRST and make sure something else is not going on ENTIRELY. It very well might be. Get your thyroid function tested and some other things.

There was a great post on symptoms of switching and I can't seem to find it. Maybe someone else has it. It was really helpful during my quit, but I'm on a new computer.

This may be it, or may be generally helpful: A list of symptoms when quitting tobacco and changing to an ecigarette

Good luck and welcome I hope vaping can work for you!

Anna

 

[HigherStateD]

Are you drinking enough water? Vaping dehydrates me more than smoking did. As others have said, see a doctor, I'm not one, I only play one on T. V.

Oh, and...

Greetings and salutations!

 

[markfm]

I smoked a pack a day for 37 years before switching to vaping 9+ years ago.

I never developed a new cough after starting vaping.

My old slightly raspy nighttime issues from when I was smoking went away.

I did develop "dead" tastebuds, vaping tongue, several times during the first 6 months or so - eliquids just didn't taste as good for short periods of time. I would just switch to something else for a bit, and it would clear up. (That phase passed, hasn't happened again in over 8 years.)

My lungs were definitely improving within a couple of months after I switched to vaping. I had spirometry (lung function) tests as part of my scuba instructor physical, tested above average across the board.

I did have to learn to drink lots of water (soda water in my case) when vaping. The carriers in eliquids (pg & vg) are both humectants - the vapor you see is primarily water drawn out of the air in your mouth and lungs. It expresses as being hoarse. (We have the same thing in scuba, as the air we use is very dry)

Some people have sensitivity to vg, others to pg, and some have sensitivities to different specific flavorings. If you notice something with one specific eliquid, try switching to others. If you've only been vaping one thing all along, again try something different.

A others noted, see a doctor for general health questions.

Good luck!