You're learning how to vape with an electronic cigarette and are discovering all the techniques associated with it. Your smoking withdrawal is a progressive process, and you might not be used to the new world of vaping yet. You may have purchased your first e-cig already, but there's a small problem, it's making you cough and you're rightfully wondering why.
Arômes et Liquides tells you why this can happen. Here's everything you need to know to become a real vaping expert!
Discover why vaping can make you cough
Vaping is not like smoking
Quitting smoking is a decisive step in the fight against tobacco. When you vape for the first time, you tend to think you'll get the same feeling you got with a classic cigarette. However, inhaling on an electronic cigarette is very different from smoking!
This is the main reason you cough during your first puffs. Indeed, a traditional cigarette's combustion and heat produces a tighter draw than an electronic cigarette's. An electronic cigarette's draw is airier, because the vapour it produces cools down upon coming into contact with the air.
Therefore, you have to inhale for longer and more gently. In addition, you must hold your vaping device vertically, and not horizontally like a traditional cigarette.
A normal reaction
Contrary to what you might think, it is not unusual for you to cough for a few days when you start vaping, it's very common actually!
As you probably know, the carbon monoxide found in tobacco smoke clogs and irritates your bronchial tubes. Obviously, when you quit smoking, your body manifests itself! Almost every former smoker experiences a fatty cough in the two weeks that follow his withdrawal, regardless of whether he uses an electronic cigarette or not. This cough helps your body eliminate the tar and chemicals it's accumulated over years of smoking.
Your tobacco consumption may also have caused throat and mucosal sores. These sores react when the vapour passes through, as it's drier and airier than tobacco smoke.
Luckily for you it only takes a few days for your body to heal itself and get rid of the leftover toxic substances! Thanks to vaping, you'll quickly notice the benefits of smoking withdrawal.
The coughing will be gone in about two weeks. If it's too much for you though, you can lower the power of your e-cigarette's battery, if it can be adjusted of course. If you don't want the sores to come back, don't touch another cigarette, plain and simple!
A nicotine level that may be too high
Many vapers are looking for that 'hit' feeling, and you may be one of them! This muscular contraction in your throat, followed by a delightful feeling, is well known by former smokers. Most of the times, they want to feel the same hit when vaping.
This is where nicotine comes in! It's the main reason why you're addicted in the first place, and it's vital that your e-liquids contain some when you're giving up tobacco. Indeed, it'll make your withdrawal much easier.
Furthermore, it allows you to get the same 'hit' with your electronic cigarette. If it's too highly dosed, it can make your throat itch and cough.
When the first electronic cigarettes were released, manufacturers recommended heavy smokers use the highest legal dosage, ie. 18 mg/mL. However, back then, vaping equipment could only reach about 10 watts, so the impact was very minimal.
E-cigarettes have greatly improved since then, and they have much more power. More power equals a greater nicotine delivery in a shorter time span. Thus, choosing the right nicotine level depending on your device has become an essential step.
Therefore, you must adjust your nicotine level to suit your battery's power, otherwise the hit might be too strong.
If you choose to lower your battery's power whilst retaining a high nicotine content, your e-cig will vaporise the e-liquid less. Therefore, you'll feel a weaker hit. You'll consume less e-liquid, but you'll produce less vapour.
Conversely, if you lower your nicotine level and vape at a high power, you'll vapourise much more e-liquid. Despite your nicotine level being lower, you'll obtain a thicker vapour. You'll still get the much sought-after hit in the end, but you'll consume more e-liquid.
Overall, the development of ever better devices is a good thing for vapers, as they allow them to adjust their nicotine intake more precisely, thus better suiting their needs. When fighting your tobacco addiction, this definitely makes electronic cigarettes a much more reliable solution than the usual nicotine substitutes.
Adjusting your nicotine intake
Now, you know that an excessive nicotine level can make you cough or irritate your throat.
Once you've found your ideal nicotine ratio, it's not always easy to recreate it when you're not used to doing so. Indeed, since the implementation of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), European e-liquid manufacturers have to follow a drastic set of standards in regards to nicotine content.
This regulation is the one that impacts you the most as a consumer, because it limits the size of nicotined liquid bottles to 10mL. Moreover, these nicotined liquids cannot have a nicotine content that's above 20 mg/mL.
If you buy e-liquid bottles that are larger than 10mL, or if you buy concentrates for making your own DIY e-liquids, then you'll have to acquire nicotine boosters separately and add them to your mixture.
This is the part that can seem complex, especially when you're starting out, but don't worry! Arômes et Liquides provides you with a handy nicotined base calculator!
How does it work? Well, it's very simple! Just enter your desired nicotine level and the volume of your empty bottle. Then, the calculator displays the number of 10mL nicotine boosters you'll have to add to your recipe. Each booster has a 20mg/mL nicotine ratio.
After all these tips and tricks, you'll be able to adjust your nicotine level as you please. No more coughing!
An inappropriate equipment
You think you've found the ideal nicotine level, and you're getting used to vaping bit by bit, but one thing still bothers you. Your electronic cigarette is still making you cough!
The first step in successfully quitting smoking is to find a suitable device! If you're reading this, there's a good chance you're just discovering vaping. Consequently, you need a device that's suited to a beginner use.
Among the plethora of electronic cigarettes available today, you should favour one with a clearomizer that has a tight draw. This type of clearomizer, also referred to as 'indirect inhale' or 'Mouth-To-Lung' clearomizers, offer the same feeling than a tobacco cigarette. Once you close the clearomizer's airflows, you can try this two-step inhaling process. First you keep the vapour in your mouth, before inhaling into your lungs afterwards. This MTL inhaling will seem very familiar to former smokers!
Equipment designed for an indirect inhale doesn't produce a lot of vapour, because the goal here is to get you used to vaping as quickly as possible, without you coughing too much.
On a more technical note, you must make sure that your clearomizer can accommodate high-value coils of more than 1 Ohm. This allows you to have a moderately hot vapour, without producing a massive cloud that can irritate your respiratory system and make you cough.
As for your battery's power, you'll have to lower it to about 15 watts, depending on the coil. Again, a lower power produces less vapour, which is something you'll enjoy when you start vaping.
Finally, here's a bit of info concerning the drip tip! It's the mouthpiece that's fitted on top of your electronic cigarette, and sometimes its material alone can make you cough. It's often made from stainless steel or another metal alloy, which stay hot for longer. This can be what's causing your cough.
If that's the case, you can use a Delrin or Teflon drip tip instead, as these materials cool the vapour's temperature. We recommend you opt for a thin drip tip in the beginning, as flared 810 drip tips allow you to inhale more vapour, but you might feel like you're suffocating a bit if you're not used to them.
With these tips, you won't get a sore throat or a cough when using your e-cigarette!
The Propylene Glycol's role
As you may already know, e-liquids are made from a mixture of vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol. The more propylene glycol they contain, the stronger the 'hit' will be, and the more likely you'll cough.
If you're new to vaping, we recommend you start with a reasonably balanced PG/VG ratio, such as 50PG/50VG e-liquids.
It is very rare, but some vapers can be intolerant to Propylene Glycol. Symptoms include coughing, nausea, sore throat and migraines.
Don't worry though, if that happens to you, it doesn't necessarily mean you have to stop vaping. You'll just have to use an e-liquid with a lower propylene glycol content, such as High-VG e-liquids or vegetol-based e-liquids.
Personal advice
If you're new to the world of vaping, we strongly recommend you contact our customer service. Our team of experts will be able to give you tailored advice, suited to your specific needs, as well as answer any questions you may have!
It's very easy to contact us! You can send us an email at [email protected] or call 0033477400961.
Finally, we can't stress enough that quitting smoking is a crucial step in improving your health, and that this daunting task can be made easier if you follow our advice.
Learn more about electronic cigarettes:
- How to clean your electronic cigarette
- Learn how to fill your electronic cigarette with ease!
- Why does an electronic cigarette blink?
- How often should you vape?