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Did you cough when you tried vaping for the first time? This issue is more common than you might think. For reasons we’ll shortly explain, coughing and throat irritation are two of the most common symptoms that people experience when they initially switch from cigarettes to vaping.
In most cases, the coughing is nothing to worry about, and it’ll go away on its own. But if you’re concerned and want to find put how to stop coughing when vaping, read on!
This article is not intended to provide medical advice. If you notice worrying symptoms, call NHS on 111 for help.
It's worth noting that many new vapers cough when they take their first few puffs. The vapour may contain nicotine, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to feel exactly the same as cigarette smoke. Vapour is moist while cigarette smoke is dry. It can take a day or two for your body to acclimatise to vapour.
It can be a mistake to choose the highest available nicotine strength.
When you read about getting started with vaping, you’ll often see advice suggesting that the highest nicotine strength possible is your best choice to kickstart your vaping journey. For most e-liquid brands, the highest available strength is 16-20 mg/ml. Buying the highest possible nicotine strength gets you as close as possible to the nicotine delivery of a tobacco cigarette, which may appear to be what you want when you’re trying to quit.
That advice, however, fails to take two factors into consideration.
If you’re a light smoker, a nicotine strength of 16-20 mg/ml might be too high for you and cause you to cough due to the strength of the throat hit.
In addition, it is important to understand that the amount of nicotine delivered by each puff you take will depend on the resistance of your coil. Low resistance coils heat to higher temperatures and so produce more vapour. More vaper means more nicotine. The lower the resistance of your coil, the lower the nicotine strength you will need.
While some vapers will find menthol to be soothing, others will quickly discover that menthol irritates their throat. If you have chosen an e-liquid that contains menthol and it makes you cough, try a menthol-free flavour. Take care to read product listings carefully as it isn't always possible to identify the presence of mentol by simply looking at flavour names. But if a flavour's monicker includes words such as ice or chill, the juice will likely feature menthol.
Before you blame your coughing on the fact that you’re vaping, you should know that coughing is experienced almost everyone who quits smoking.
Your lungs feature tiny hairs known as cilia. They are responsible for keeping your lungs clean by expelling contaminants. Cigarette smoke causes the cilia to become less efficient, thus allowing tar to accumulate in your lungs more rapidly.
When you quit smoking, the cilia become more active and attempt to rid the lungs of tar and that will make you cough. If you are coughing while vaping, this could simply prove to be a side-effect of quitting smoking.
You should also consider that you may be sensitive to propylene glycol. PG allergies and sensitivities are rare but do exist. Coughing is a know side-effect of PG sensitivity. Other symptoms include itchiness or bumps in or around the mouth.
If you experience these symptoms, you should consider switching to a vape juice with a lower proportion of PG or one that contains no PG. However, remember that high VG e-liquids are suitable only for low resistance coils. If you switch e-liquids, you may need to change your device or at least your coil.
You are likely to start coughing when you quit smoking and those coughs are generally good indications that your lungs are beginning to clean themselves. But if you cough when you vape, you could be sensitive to PG or menthol. You could also have chosen a nicotine strength that is too high. A little trial and error should identify the issue and enable you to enjoy vaping.