Started on the ego, mixed opinion

[sonshi]

First off, I'm pretty damn excited about this thing. It's the first pv I've owned as well as the first one I've tried. I spent the better part of the first evening vaping, playing with carts, dripping, etc. All in all a good time with a great new toy.

I really want to recommend these to people who are motivated to quit, but struggle with keeping off analogs long term [people such as myself]. The ingredients are, relative to analogs, non-toxic. I guess there could be some question about chronic exposure to the heated metal/plastic/petroleum hardware components, but my instinct is that those are minimal.

One thing bothers me. I specifically wanted a product that gave a great throat hit. In my past [and sometimes present] I've been a regular a half pack a day of analogs. This ego [standard kit attys, carts] are .....ing up my throat/lungs something fierce. I haven't been continuously vaping. First day was the most, then days 2-3 maybe 3-4 hours total. Today I had to call in sick to work because I'm coughing. It's a productive cough, though I definitely notice that it doesn't stink like when I've gone overboard on analogs and hack up those nasty goobs. I know the other hack that happens when you stop smoking, I've experienced that multiple times when I've 'quit' in the past -- this is different. Am I inhaling when you shouldn't inhale? Do people just get used to it?

Chemically, I know it's better than smoking. I'm just a little surprised at the irritation and cough considering my lungs are pretty iron-clad from years of analogs. Anyone have a similar experience at the beginning? Did it get better?

 

[Mudflap]

I've found that I can get a happy medium between flavor and throat hit by moderating my inhale. I gently inhale a puff of vapor into my mouth, remove the PV from my lips, then I inhale into my lungs mixed with some more air. Tasty, not too much throat hit, not bothering my lungs.

It's not a blunt, dude.

 

[sonshi]

I'm a little backward on smoking in general. Friends would comment that I was 'doing it wrong'. No pride here! Thanks for the tip, I'm pretty much all alone with regard to my smoking and vaping. I've watched many online videos but it's hard to tell how/when/if they're inhaling. Often it seems like they're just pulling into their mouths to show off the biggest plume of vapor. I'll try diluting the inhale a bit as you suggest. So far analog free, but part of that is probably because my throat hurts so much

 

[jplanet]

First of all, a reduction in cigarettes is likely to cause coughing - it's a very typical reaction when reducing or quitting smoking. Also, inhaling moist, warm vapor of any kind will loosen any phlegm. This gave me productive coughs when I first started vaping.Try helping it along by taking Mucinex and let your lungs cough out all that junk....

 

[WomanOfHeart]

A lot of people get a sore throat when they start vaping. Make sure you're drinking plenty of water and that should help some. The rest is simply adjusting to vaping. The inhalation technique is very different from smoking. Try taking long, slow gentle drags. If you suck on it like it's a milkshake through a straw it won't work right. If you want more throat hit, then you might want more PG in your juice and that will help.

And just a friendly warning...I wouldn't discuss illicit drugs anymore. It's not allowed here and it could get your thread closed.

 

[dormouse]

What juice are you using? The prefilled carts and juices many multi-brand hardware vendors sell might be the simple 100% PG Dekang juices from China. 100% PG is too harsh for me. If that's what you are using, then try some 70% pg / 30% vg juice, maybe 80/20 if you want more TH (PG lets through more TH and VG smooths it out a bit and adds more visible vapor)

FreedomSMokeUSA might be a good places to start - their normal sizes are almost all configurable for PG/VG as well as nicotine. They have a lot of tobacco flavors, a lot of other flavors, their normal discount code freedomsmokeusa gives 10% off and they usually throw a free random 3ml sample juice in with any juice order.

And re TH - fill your mouth with vapor then draw it in hard maybe followed by a bit of air. You aren't breathing burning leaves and paper anymore. There are also flavors with more natural TH like flavors with spices, ginger, menthol/mint, cinnamon or red hots, etc. FreedomSmokeUSA sells some juices I would not use alone but you could use them to add TH to a juice - they have a black pepper one and a ginger one in their Flavor Range juices.

But don't go overboard with TH - you don't want to keep getting a sore throat or tongue. I recommend you try juices you think might satisfy you in other ways like their aroma as well as provide satisfactory TH.

 

[greyrat]

Just a thought, but I just got an eGo last week and experienced harsh inhales. It turned out my cartridge was melting on the atty and that was causing it. Then my atty started producing very harsh vapor. I cleaned it and still got the harsh vapor. So I replaced that atty with another and the harshness went away.

 

[NukeDOC]

a friend of mine just picked up an eGo. it came with the prefilled carts in "marl" high. he is a 2ppd smoker and he choked on it. i took his cart, and smashed it in a paper towel to squeeze the juice out of it. put it back in and used some of the "nicer" stuff i have on hand. i think it was a watermelon in 100%VG 24mg nic. result: love. same happened to a co-worker. its just the stuff they put in it. no good. too harsh. get some quality juice. junk the "free" juice if its killing you.

vaping 24mg nic juices this weekend dropped him from a usual 5-6 packs to a pack and a half. even if it doesnt get him to quit, thats a damn good change for the better. plus, where he's from, a premium brand pack of smokes is $12. he NEEDED this hahaha.

 

[Zen~]

That productive cough may be a good thing... You're getting junk out of your lungs.

The other thing that occassionally happens with new vapers is they inhale a fair amount of "poly fill" by running things too dry, and are not used to the tell tale signs of that. You're used to sucking nasty smoke into your lungs... I'm sorry to say you may not be able to tell the actual difference yet. This will ABSO-FREAKING-LUTELY tear up your throat a bit, if not more than a bit.

Keep that atty WET! (but not flooded) I see in your post you've been dripping, but even dry hits on an atty with no cart can produce a harsh effect.

 

[Zen~]

this weekend dropped him from a usual 5-6 packs to a pack and a half.

If he's awake 16 hours per day, A 5 PAD habit is one cigarette every 9 1/2 minutes or so, the entire time he's awake... I'm not saying you're exagerating... I'm saying he's insane!

That is a whole lot of tar... I could pave my driveway with the contents of his left lung, if he still has it.

Edit: Sorry, I read your post incorrectly... he smokes 2PAD so the 5-6 Packs was for the whole weekend... I'm glad I was wrong!

Now I need a new plan to get that driveway paved... oh well...

 

[NukeDOC]

If he's awake 16 hours per day, A 5 PAD habit is one cigarette every 9 1/2 minutes or so, the entire time he's awake... I'm not saying you're exagerating... I'm saying he's insane!

That is a whole lot of tar... I could pave my driveway with the contents of his left lung, if he still has it.

Edit: Sorry, I read your post incorrectly... he smokes 2PAD so the 5-6 Packs was for the whole weekend... I'm glad I was wrong!

Now I need a new plan to get that driveway paved... oh well...

haha what i meant was that for the whole weekend, which was three days, he would have had 5-6 packs total... since he's a 2ppd smoker. so cutting it down to 1.5 packs of analogs with the rest supplemented by vaping was a very good thing.

 

[Panhandler]

Nice guitar Nukedoc....is that a Paul?

 

[DC2]

Vaping will dehydrate you, and contribute to a sore throat, so drink lots of fluids.
Also, getting a juice with more VG in it will reduce throat hit considerably, if you want to try that.

 

[sonshi]

Thanks for the responses, after a couple more weeks I determined that I need to avoid inhaling the vapor as much as possible. As recommended above, I've changed to just filling my mouth -- then a tiny inhale. And hydration, of course, but that's been a problem for me my whole life.
I've been reading a lot in the health and safety section, very interesting stuff. Quite a potential resource, though the data is pretty uncontrolled/biased. I notice some severe hacking/coughing episodes if I vape in bed while watching movies. . .laying down is a huge no-no for me anymore while vaping. I've also noticed a ringing in the ears! Not quite tinnitus, but the fact I'm noticing it does give me some concern. I'm sure it's developed or gotten worse since vaping, but in no way can I attribute vaping as a cause. It could be related to the hydration issue, but I'm definitely going to get it checked out [when I get coverage again] because ear problems are quite often *irreversible*.
Just now working on my first VG only liquids, varying mixes. . .no real differences to report as of yet, but the initial problems I had have gone away since I stopped inhaling the stuff so deeply.
Anyway, thanks for the input everyone.

 

[DonG]

ears/sinuses are very closely related and a symptom of one often results in a felt side effect to the other. If your sinuses are clearer since you started vaping, it may be that you are just now being able to notice the ringing in your ears which may have been caused by another source/occupation at some point in your smoking life when you couldn't breathe as well.

Glad to hear you have stuck with vaping and are getting your small problems worked through.