I want to vape, but...can't?? COUGH COUGH COUGH

[Arel3]

I have absolutely no problems inhaling and exhaling any cigarette, cigar, or other smokable material.
I cough horribly when I try to vape. Any ideas what could be causing the cough?

I've tried:
All levels of nicotine from 24 down to 1. Coughed with all of them 8mg and above while anything less than 8mg does not satisfy my craving for a cig. Not enough throat hit. Even with barely any throat hit it still causes a ton of coughing.
-Straight VG, just VG and I cough on that
-2 to .3 ohms (I don't like anything less than 8ohms- takes too long to get a hit)
- 60VG/40PG, 80VG/20PG, 50/50...coughed on them all.

I do not have adjustable voltage and I'm not wasting any more money on this buying more gear. I have 5 different disposable atomizers, a Kanger Pro EVOD tank, and an rda. I have plenty of gear. More than enough to try this out with and see if it will cause me to reach my goal of quitting smoking cigs.

Could it be the cotton I'm using for the wick that's causing the exhale cough? That would be my next trial is making sure I have organic cotton. I was not told to be sure they were organic, just to get cotton balls so I grabbed the first bag of cotton balls I saw.

Any ideas what is causing the cough? If it's not other chemicals in the possible non-organic cotton I'm using for wicks?
Or maybe this vape thing just isn't for me and it's another failed attempt at quitting cancer sticks. I'm not ready to give up.

Note: I'm almost 100% sure it's not the cotton because when I started vaping I had the same issues with the pens. I could not hit a manufactured pen without coughing either until I got my mechanical mod. Now I can hit the pen with 8mg 50/50, but not the mod. Any input appreciated.

I'm headed out to get some organic balls.

Update: Not the cotton I'm using. Bag says 100% cotton and that's all I could find at several stores. Are the organic ones specifically labelled with the word "organic"? If they are, where do you find them?

Nobody has any ideas or input?

 

[Susan~S]

How long have you been vaping?

 

[AzPlumber]

Some folks have a harder time adjusting to vapor but once their body gets used to it there's no problem. The trick is slowly introducing the vapor over time until you adjust. This can be done by taking the vapor in your mouth and hold it a few seconds before slowly inhaling just a bit at first and over time increasing the amount.

Another consideration is you may be sensitive to something in the liquid. Most often this would be PG but can be VG or certain flavorings. First try using liquids that have a high VG ratio. If that doesn't help consider some of the other ingredients as the cause and make adjustments.

Hope you get it figured out and can enjoy vaping.

 

[Unforeseen]

Moved to New Members

 

[Garry1]

Hi Arel3 time to yelp a good vape shop in your area find someone that really knows how to build all kinds of attys. It might cost about 5 - 10 bucks but explain the problem. I wish you lived in los angeles cuz i can probabpy solve the problem but im sure there a millions with the expertize you need. I promise you vaping should be fun and Not Hurt! Lol its definately your build though and possibly to some degree your juice but you will find someone local that can help get you back on track. And if not search you tube you will find great tips on building. Let me know if i can help you

 

[dfazin]

Welcome, I'm just as new as you. But I will tell you what worked for me and I can't explain why.

All the research I did kept pointing to hydration. Vaping is like smoking an extremely stale cigarette which I'm sure you know makes you cough. Anyway people kept saying stay hydrated and sip water as you vape. In theory it seemed to make sense. On top of it being something new to your body VG/PG suck up moisture in your body causing a dry throat itchy irritated throat.

Well I went out and started drinking different fluids, nothing seemed to work. Water, not at all. Sports drinks, nope. Hot or cold teas? Nope! Soda! Well hrmm none were working until I tried mountain dew. I found that after about 15 minutes of sipping mountain dew my cough slowly got better, the longer I sipped the better it got, until I was able to take huge drags and make huge plumes of vapor. Why does it work? The citrus? The Sugar? I have no idea but its the ONLY thing so far that I have found that works. We are talking about just a short time of me testing this but its making a world of a difference for me. If I can vape without coughing then I have zero cravings for cigs. Hope you find a remedy and please let us know if you do.

 

[Warpigs]

When I started vaping I used to cough too. I was like huh? This is supposed to be better than smokes. It's just something you have to get used to. Start with small hits and work your way up. You will get to the point were you won't cough anymore. On the otherhand it's also possible that you may be allergic to 1 or more juices.

 

[salemgold]

This -2 to .3 ohms (I don't like anything less than 8ohms- takes too long to get a hit)

Try a higher resistance IMO It could be too much heat making you cough. Or did you mean that you do not like anything more than .8 ohms? Trying 1.5 -2.0 would be worth a shot IMO It may actually help you to stop coughing and be able to vape. Hit the button on your mod for a few seconds and then take a draw with the higher ohms.

Good luck!

 

[ENAUD]

Arel, I had a bit of a rough start when switching to vaping. I was smoking 2.5 packs of cigs per day, and I would cough when I took too big of a puff on my ecig. This was a Ego type battery with a bottom coil clearomizer set up. As a heavy smoker, my lungs were accustomed to the smoke, but the vapor seemed to cause a cough reaction. This lessened with time, and eventually went away altogether, it took about a week or two to adjust to vaping for me. I think it is just a normal adjustment that some people experience to the change. Drink lots of water, try taking shallower puffs, like a cigar, and keep at it. Best of luck to you!

 

[Warpigs]

Yeah I use 1.8 or 2.5 coils. Depends on how I wanna vape at the moment. I have 10 tanks 5 with 1.8 and 5 with 2.5. So I have enough tanks to have a decent variety/ohms at the ready.

 

[Katya]

-2 to .3 ohms (I don't like anything less than 8ohms- takes too long to get a hit)

Not sure what that means. What wattage are you at? Resistance of your atty alone doesn't give us enough information. Let's say you're using a 2Ω atty--at what voltage?

Are you trying to direct inhale? Straight into your lungs? That might be problem. Start inhaling slowly into your mouth first, and then, if you must, inhale (gently) into your lungs.

 

[mattcsaunders]

I just bought some AMAZING organic cotton on eBay for $10. Already washed and rinsed. Probably enough there to last me till Jesus comes back. PM me and I'll send you the link.

 

[Equilibrium]

.... Where's the OP?

".2 - .3 ohms".... I'd say that's what's making you cough. Get to 1 ohm + and I bet you won't cough nearly as much, if at all.

 

[Arel3]

Thank you all for the input and suggestions! I really want to get in to this and quit smoking cigarettes. I've been attempting to vape now for maybe a month. I started with the Ego (if that's what the $20 button/plastic tank ones are called) and had the same trouble with that but I figured out that the juice I got with it was a massive 24mg nicotine. My friend vapes 6mg though and I couldn't hit that either until I got my dripper mod. Now I can hit most nic levels of juice in an Ego pen...but I still can't hit anything at all very well with the mod. I tried just taking it in my mouth. If even a TINY little bit goes past my throat I cough like someone that's just starting on cigarettes. Which is honestly a red flag in my opinion. I wish I could quit all together and not even vape but after so many failed trials at quitting smoking I'm not sure it's going to happen. I'll have to inhale something, if this is truly healthier than smoking that is why I'm so determined to figure out what's causing the cough and stop it from happening.

As I've said I tried almost every ohm setting there is. It does help me hit it at higher ohms but I don't have patience for the length of time it takes to get a hit at higher ohms, plus I don't know how high of ohms my battery can handle. I will take all of these suggestions in and try the ones I haven't already tried. I'm also going to try as low of a nicotine level as I can get. I may even make my own juice because I'm starting to think that's the problem, the nicotine level. A cigarette, the cigarettes I smoke which are very similar to newports only have 1.4mg of nicotine. The lowest vape juice you can get is 6?? That's quite a big jump. So I'm considering making my own juice starting at 4mg nicotine and if I can't handle that drop down to 2.

I've tried vaping straight VG and I even coughed on that. I don't have straight PG or I would have tried it to see if it might be the VG.
Other than getting dehydrated I don't seem to have problems with it but I'm not 100% sure on that. I'm also thinking it might be the VG.
I'm not interested in making huge clouds, I'm only interested in this getting me to quit the cancer sticks. I won't give up until I feel I've tried everything I can to vape and get off the cigs.

Maybe this will help someone help me: When my wicks start getting low on juice I can actually inhale a little of it.
Does that mean I'm trying too high of a level of one of the ingredients? Which one, if that's the case, is the next million dollar question.
...that I'm determined to eventually figure out.

Thank you all again! Very much!

 

[Katya]

Maybe this will help someone help me: When my wicks start getting low on juice I can actually inhale a little of it.
Does that mean I'm trying too high of a level of one of the ingredients? Which one, if that's the case, is the next million dollar question.
...that I'm determined to eventually figure out.

Thank you all again! Very much!

When wick/coil dries out, you're back to smoking. You're actually inhaling the smoke from the gunk that's being burned off of your coil. Dry hits are nasty, very irritating and potentially harmful. Make sure you're staying within the safe wattage range (5.5-8watts) or so, depending on your device, at least at the beginning.

Whatever you do, don't let your tanks go dry. Refill your tank as needed, and make sure the wick (and the coil) are always, always wet.

 

[Tracey1]

Arel, I had a bit of a rough start when switching to vaping. I was smoking 2.5 packs of cigs per day, and I would cough when I took too big of a puff on my ecig. This was a Ego type battery with a bottom coil clearomizer set up. As a heavy smoker, my lungs were accustomed to the smoke, but the vapor seemed to cause a cough reaction. This lessened with time, and eventually went away altogether, it took about a week or two to adjust to vaping for me. I think it is just a normal adjustment that some people experience to the change. Drink lots of water, try taking shallower puffs, like a cigar, and keep at it. Best of luck to you!

I could have written the above post. That is exactly what happened to me. but I was determined that this would work for me. Be persistent and let your lungs adjust to the vapor instead of the tar. Your lungs will thank you later.

 

[ShariR]

What flavors of juice are you vaping. Some can be irritating to your throat, especially anything with cinnamon and some heavily mentholated. Higher nicotine levels can be irritating. A general rule of thumb is to take the ohms of your coil (or head) and add 2 and then adjust a little up or down to find what tastes good.

You also need to inhale on an ecig differently than how you smoke. Long, gentle inhale into the mouth. The nicotine is mostly absorbed though the mouth and nose, not your lungs when you vape. It is different than smoking. I suggest you get a variable voltage device if you do not have one. Sounds like you need to experiment with the heat your coil is getting and/or the pg/vg ratio of your juices.

Vaping in the beginning is trial and error to find out what is going to work for you. Everyone is different so it can be hard to advise you what specifically to do. What does the person at the vape shop say? Have you gone down there and asked for help?