Sticky Mucous

[warbdan]

I've dealt with sinus infections my whole life. I can't say that VG is making them any worse, but I've had one for about 3 weeks now. I had chalked it up to the weather, but I may try adding a little more PG to my mixes. I have already gone from 20% flavoring which was very hard on my breathing to around 5% flavoring and feel great relief from making that little change. I agree though, about the VG vapor, I'll miss it. I can fog up a room with my 50/50 mix

 

[Uma]

I've been vaping for a year now and you can add me to Stuffy Nose list. I'm all over the board with my mixes though, and it would be impossible to pin down the culprit.

 

[Filthy-Beast]

Interesting topic. I've only been vapping for a week now. Before with analogs I would regularly wake up with a sinus headache if I didn't take real sudafed at bedtime. I haven't taken any all week and have not been awakened with a sinus headache since starting to vap.

When I was into cigars one of the mods was to put PG on the sponge in the humidor. It helped to soak up the water and it made it last longer and also helped to produce a more consistent humidity. Could the PG be soaking up some moisture from you normal lung mucus making whats left thicker.

I remember reading a newsletter from the Mayo clinic that stated water was the best decongestant. I wonder if more water would help solve the problem. Maybe prolonged higher intake of water would keep things moving?

 

[dedmonwakin]

Well, at the time of creating this thread. I had this epiphany. Maybe in fact it wasn't the liquid in general or in total that was leading to these frequent and harsh bronchial infections. Maybe it was my habit and the way I vaped.

Here's the thing, I don't use disposable tips. I drip directly onto the bridge of the atty and vape away. This is not cleanly which is obvious, but never really crossed my mind when doing this. Unlike my past analog habit which is a one time use for pleasure, a single atty often lasts me anywhere from 2 weeks to 60 plus days. Well, it's a known fact that saliva can carry up to 600 different types of bacteria by the millions. Most of which are killed by saliva itself or by stomach enzymes.......but what happens if they become airborne and carried by vapor directly into my lungs? So, I've been using an empty plastic tip and wipe them down with 90% isopropyl alcohol after every other use or as frequent as I remember and toss them out after a week or two of use. I have yet to suffer any of the previous symptoms, 3 months and going strong with fingers crossed.

I'll check back with an update, but so far....my vaping continuance is looking bright.

 

[Melloh]

Good idea. I use a drip tip and when I put it away, which is usually my front jacket pocket, it does seem to collect a bit of crud on the inside of the tip. Dust etc. It would be wise to just give it a thorough rinse or a good cleaning once in a while. I think I get a bit lazy and forget or just don't bother. The vg is the worst, since it's a lot thicker and seems to coat the inside opening of the tip leaving it prone to dust and dirt collection. I'll try to flush my atty and the drip tip more often than not. Clean instruments should aid in the general health of our continued habit. Thanks for the update!! There's so much to learn.

 

[sweetblackkitten]

my grandmother smoked for about 20 yrs. and ya know what? for the rest of her life she had phlegm. she never touched an e cig.

 

[jamie]

my grandmother smoked for about 20 yrs. and ya know what? for the rest of her life she had phlegm. she never touched an e cig.

Same with my dad after he quit cold turkey - phlegm problem that has never gone away.

 

[warbdan]

A guy at work that quit smoking told me that quitting wrecked his sinuses too. Maybe it's just another effect of quitting smoking or maybe smoking was masking the sinuses all along. It's well documented that cigarette smoke constricts blood vessels. Maybe it does the same to our "snot vessels" lol!

Edit: As a side note. My sinuses have been doing better since switching brands of VG. This could be a coincidence, but I doubt since the old brand was breaking me out too.

 

[keelalagirl55]

So, I've been using an empty plastic tip and wipe them down with 90% isopropyl alcohol after every other use or as frequent as I remember and toss them out after a week or two of use.

When I started reading this thread, "buggies" were the first thing that came to my mind.....don't forget that atty though.....if there are "buggies" on the tip, they easily travel to the atty. I soak mine anymore in everclear or any grain alc 90 proof and above. Using everclear or pga (any higher proof) it doesn't take long to kill off whatever may be there. At LEAST once a week...every couple days would be better....drop em for 5 or 10 min. I overkill....lol...before bed I drop mine in and take it out in the am......put on a previously cleaned and dry atty for the day and by bed time when it's due to go in, the other is dry and ready to go.

 

[dinky]

a lot of mine is sinus drippage dr sent me for allergy tests and yup i needed shots. im much more sensitive to everything now especially environmental stuff. also put me on allergy pills and sinus spray that has a gel in it. put me on a round of steroids.... 1 week only and 2 weeks of antibiotics. im much better. my body seemed to be going nuts. now its settling down again. have to believe my body didnt know what to do with all these changes it was experincing

 

[Mayasveil]

All are interesting experiences. I came to this part of the forum to post a thread pertaining to increase mucus production. Poof, here it is. I too am having an increase in this area. The "buggie" sounds like a real culprit. I'm gonna do what many are already doing. Cleaning my atty and cart nightly. Hopefully this makes a difference. Ciao!

 

[telsie]

I'm approaching a year and a half of vaping and I'd say in maybe the past six months I've noticed that I have some thicker mucus in my throat some days. I've had chronic sinus problems for many years, so I'm used to post-nasal drip. The difference now just seems to be that sometimes it's thicker than usual. I suspect that the problem is from not drinking enough water on days that I happen to have annoyed sinuses.

I'll have to pay better attention to when this happens to me and see if my suspicion is correct. We know ecigs can tend to dry you out, so we should make sure we drink a healthy amount of water every day. When I first started vaping, I definitely did, but as time went on, I didn't feel especially dry or thirsty so I don't really think about water intake anymore. Maybe I (we?) just need to remember to keep the fluid intake up?

 

[Mayasveil]

Telsie you raised 2 valid points. A...sinus issues B...water intake. This is day one with clean atty & Cart with no noticable difference. I'm too am a long time sinus sufferer like many out here; like you I "use to " get dried up while vaping ... high concentrations of vg.

After 1 wk of clean hardware and I don't see an improvement, I increase the fluid intake and see if that makes a difference. Thanks for the tip. Now it's time to drio..drip..drip.

 

[binaryman]

All are interesting experiences. I came to this part of the forum to post a thread pertaining to increase mucus production. Poof, here it is. I too am having an increase in this area. The "buggie" sounds like a real culprit. I'm gonna do what many are already doing. Cleaning my atty and cart nightly. Hopefully this makes a difference. Ciao!

I came to the forum because of this issue as well. I have been vaping for the past 4 weeks and the last 2 days I am beginning to have sinus issues and this deep cough when I try to clear my throat.

I don't know what to attribute this too.

Changes to me that might have started this:

1. Normal effects from sustaining from analogs (just not beginning to manifest). I father quit smoking 30 years ago and he still has this hacking cough.

2. I switched eLiguid to something I actually like. It is now my favorite liquid.

3. A week ago I got the flu shot.

4. I have been vaping almost non-stop everyday for the past 4 weeks.


I believe the difference between smoking analogs and vaping is we've exchanged a dry inhale to a moist one. So I can imagine to our systems that our lungs, throat and sinuses feel like we're in a humid environment all the time. Kind of like someone that has a low impact inhaler.

With that in mind, I can imagine our lungs being more moist than dry. I also believe coalescing of vapor in the lungs could be true also. Again I am not a doctor and am not trying to scare anyone. As a matter of fact, I am not going to stop vaping, at least not yet.

From this thread the most serious threat I can see is sanitary issues with the devices. I believe I need to do myself a favor and make sure I keep the device clean. I use clearomizers with drip tips. The drip tips tend to erode over time and I have also peeled caked residue from them overtime. I imagine this is coalesced vapor & liquid and bacteria build up.


Thanks for all the insight everyone. This is an awesome forum. Oh and I also agree, if anyone decided to not do eCigs , please don't go back to Analogs...

 

[scootertramp]

I did the same thing a week ago. At first I thought it wasn't helping, but the last 3 days I have been waking up feeling great. Saw my Dr and she said that "our" area is having an early pollen issue and that I should chalk it up to that. But if I have problems once the pollen is cleared and we are full into summer, she will do some research for me. I suffer this time of year, so am not ready to assume my new habit has attributed to any of it.
She also said that if a little sinus aggregation was the worst of it then I am still better off than smoking analogs...she is so happy that I am doing this. She has been trying for 7 plus years to convince me to quit. Making my doctor happy just thrilled me! This was the first time she didn't leave me shaking her head!!!!

 

[BigMikeInNY]

refined sugar , bread and anything you eat that white will create mucus

 

[binaryman]

This might sound counter-productive but perhaps it's a good sign that mucus is being produced. Perhaps we should worry about the ones who aren't producing mucus.

 

[Mayasveil]

Okay, this is the 5 day experimenting why the increase in mucus production. Every night I soaked my cart and atty in isoprophyl for 5 min, blew out the excess and let it air dry. Poof! mucus production reduced tremendously! For me ... it was the germ build up.

 

[meems]

I'm having issues. I had quit competely & gotten rid of my cough, so I know it's not from clearing that out. I am thinking it's the different juice I was using, the darker juice...testing to go back to lighter & see if that helps. I'm back top full fledged smokers hack...haven't done that in 4 yrs. 2 things I changesd since the cough began, switched to an ego & changed juice...

I've always been picky about cleaning, so don't think thats it.

 

[CoughingBad]

So glad i found this thread, i have vaped for over two months. i dont have any sinus issue but recently i notice the same thing as OP, i have this sticky mucus at the back of my throat that i have hard time getting it out.

I use carto exclusively and i like vg in my juice, high pg is too dry for me and i thought that actually makes it worse (but i am so clueless what is causing the issue so i could be wrong). i do reuse my carto and dont really clean it, well, how do i clean a carto anyways?!?