(unpleasantness warning) how long before the visual effects of smoking go away?

[Skree]

I'll start right off by saying that the question i have to ask is pretty unpleasant so if you're eating, squeamish, or easily disgusted, look away now.. You have been warned, twice





How long should it be before i stop coughing up lung butter with really tiny bits of tar brown in it? it seems to be getting worse the longer i vape, happened very occasionally as a smoker, is every day now i vape.. i'm guessing it's my lungs clearing out the accumulated garbage of smoking unfiltered strong tobacco for years but it's properly nasty and a little bit worrying, i've only been vaping since mid february

?

 

[generic mutant]

The cilia in your lungs grow back when you stop smoking - I think that's a fairly quick process, although I'm no expert. They are at least partly responsible for expelling the crud in your lungs, while you smoked they didn't work, and now they're making up for lost time. If you google 'lung cilia quitting smoking' you'll find lots of information, some of it even probably true

I guess vaping doesn't help them, but vapour is at much cooler temperature than smoke, so I don't doubt they will regenerate. I guess there isn't data yet to tell you how long it'll take if you're vaping on top of quitting, so you'll have to rely on anecdotes. I can't say, I'm new to this myself.

You might consider buying some expectorants to help - I've chewed liquorice root on previous attempts to quit, and it did make me feel better, giving me something to focus on / fiddle with, and soothing my throat. Whether it actually sped up getting the gunk out, who knows, but it's cheap as chips on ebay so worth a shot!

Hope you feel better...

 

[Cucco]

I was a four pack-a-day, forty-two year smoker. I have emphysemia. I have been vaping 6 months 7 days. It took several months for me to cough the crap out of my lungs. Things are great now. So much difference in my lungs! Hang in there!

Question: What liquid are you vaping? I vape strictly VG. I tried PG once. I had a reaction that resulted in coughing. I looked it up, and gound that some people have an alergic reaction to PG.

 

[ERK08]

I smoke a pack a day for around 10 years and it took several weeks.

 

[generic mutant]

...but vapour is at much cooler temperature than smoke...

Hmmm, interestingly I just googled that to check I wasn't talking rubbish, and can't find any figures. It certainly feels cooler on a 'standard' battery / atomiser. Anyone know any numbers?

 

[Skree]

Aye anecdotal evidence was what i was after, really.. i know there isn't going to be much good information on quit + vape regen time. I'll try that expectorant idea, see if that helps.

I feel so much healthier already, it'll be great if i continue improving

Most of the juices i have don't give their pg/vg ratio but they're fairly bog standard juices sold locally in a bricks & mortar so im guessing 80:20 or close to it, throat hit is strong. I recently tried some 50:50 vanilla custard though and really liked it, much smoother, easier on the throat in the morning.. less satisfying but still nicer late at night.. so i'm currently on 80:20ish but i'm going to 50:50, it's payday tomorrow, and i've finished ordering hardware for now so it's time to start building a stash of juice

my smok 1.5 ohm short dcc is really hot on an ego battery, compared to a clearo, dunno how hot compared to smoking though

 

[generic mutant]

Have a google about diketones and custardy flavours, if you haven't already. Personally something I'm trying to avoid (I found out about them after ordering a few bottles that probably have them in - I'll vape those, but probably won't order more).

If you get liquorice, be warned, it's an acquired taste. Just suck / chew on a very small amount at a time, it's bitter at first, but becomes sweeter.

It makes really good tea, too, if you can be bothered to stick it through a cheese grater

 

[73ckn797]

It took me about a month when the lungoids quit on a regular basis. Occassionaly have a few but it is spring and the polin is thick around here.

 

[Statistic]

I think it also depends on what you smoked before. I stopped smoking for a short while years ago when I was smoking Marlboro and coughed up nastiness for several weeks.

This time I was smoking a pack or more a day of American Spirit and I've coughed up WAYYY less stuff in the last couple months.

Above all just hang in there and know that every bit you cough out is a little more freedom you are taking back from tobacco.

 

[73ckn797]

American Spirit former smoker here. Pretty much the same thing. I also never had the morning buzz when smoking the first cigarette of the day like I did when smoking Camels. I smoked full flavor, rarely lights. There were also no jitters when I would go without for several hours with AS.

I think it also depends on what you smoked before. I stopped smoking for a short while years ago when I was smoking Marlboro and coughed up nastiness for several weeks.

This time I was smoking a pack or more a day of American Spirit and I've coughed up WAYYY less stuff in the last couple months.

Above all just hang in there and know that every bit you cough out is a little more freedom you are taking back from tobacco.

 

[Skree]

I smoked american spirit rolling tobacco for a while, used additive free as a slight harm reduction at first, then went whole hog lol

as for the diketones.. food for thought, certainly.. we know there is no diacetyl in GVC but yeah, something to consider. nothing's ever simple..

used to chew liquorice root as a kid

 

[crxess]

Still coughing up now and then - 8 months in. However I have to consider breaking a 45yr habit and now my sinus are working again, Some is no more than drainage while sleeping.

 

[Moueix]

You don't have to inhale vapor fully into your lungs to get the nicotine. It took me a couple months of concerted effort to train myself to only pull it in deep enough to reach the epiglottis, where I can then either exhale through the mouth or nose, and stop pulling all the way to my lungs. Since we're basically lab rats for vaping PG/VG/Flavorings, I don't see the point of exposing more of my organs than what is necessary to achieve the desired results. It has entirely eliminated the heaviness/coughing/soreness issues that I had previously attributed to the base.

 

[BAREFOOT OKIE]

Still coughing up now and then - 8 months in. However I have to consider breaking a 45yr habit and now my sinus are working again, Some is no more than drainage while sleeping.

I'm so hoping my sinus starts working! I'm only a little over a week quit, but can already tell my lungs are working better. I live in the mountains and have started walking my dogs on the forest trails - up and down mountains. It gets easier everyday. I'm not coughing a lot which really surprises me as I have been a pack and a half a day smoker for 50 years.....but no more! Woot woot!

 

[laylajone]

It took me a few months at least,if not even more, but after it stopped my lungs felt great. Just stick with it and it will get better. I smoked full flavor for over twenty years, then switched to rolled tobacco the last year--a little better, but nothing like now. It'll get better, every day. BTW, congrats!

 

[Light Seeker]

vapour is at much cooler temperature than smoke

Perhaps a bottom coil design or a carto, but it seems my top coil vivas are warmer than a smoke, i dunno. Actually, one of the reasons I've been thinking about a kanger pro.

You don't have to inhale vapor fully into your lungs to get the nicotine. It took me a couple months of concerted effort to train myself to only pull it in deep enough to reach the epiglottis, where I can then either exhale through the mouth or nose, and stop pulling all the way to my lungs.

I'm learning myself, its just so natural to inhale deep into your lungs after so many years of stinkies. Also finding that the nic hit is quite a bit higher when exhaling thru your nose.

 

[Jibbu]

<snip great warning>

How long should it be before i stop coughing up lung butter with really tiny bits of tar brown in it? it seems to be getting worse the longer i vape, happened very occasionally as a smoker, is every day now i vape.. i'm guessing it's my lungs clearing out the accumulated garbage of smoking unfiltered strong tobacco for years but it's properly nasty and a little bit worrying, i've only been vaping since mid february

?

Skree, I love this question because my chest and I went through hell and I thought I was the only one! I even emailed the Jewish Lung Center (not sure of the name) in Colorado with something like this:

I'm coughing up a veritable rainbow of colors and there are times when I'm sure I'm about to suffocate because I think I can't breathe. It feels and sounds like asthma but my medihaler doesn't help, so I panic. As a smoker I never coughed or hacked and the asthma appeared only as a reaction to an inhaled irritant like dust or mold.

A nurse emailed back and told me to give it more time, I'd be fine, that I was accurately describing quitting smoking, and to read about tiny-breath breathing which really did help.

The process took a little over a month with occasional-to-rare "lung butter" spurts for some weeks longer. While I'm at it, try not to reward yourself as much as I did. Taking the weight back off takes much longer than putting it on!

And hoooooooraaaay for you!!!

 

[Kagey K]

I find that my lung crap has loosened up a bit since I started vaping. When I first started vaping big gobs of brown phlegm were coming up, now after 2 months when I sneeze a big glob seems to come out but it's mostly white with a touch of brown in the middle.

I smoked for 20 years (pack a day) and can feel the difference it's making, but I do notice I sneeze a lot more now and my morning cough disappeared after 3 days.