Brown phlegm and a mild cough after cutting down!

[John Praizi]

Hi there fellas,

 

This is my first post here and I do wanna say I'm glad I found this place. So many things which are otherwise confusing can become crystal clear when there's a supportive community with the relevant experience. I just hope that my time here reflects positively on my smoking habit.

 

The reason I'm posting this thread is, like the title says, post-cessation symptoms. This isn't to say I've given up the habit of smoking yet, but I am doing my best to cut down before eventually switching to vaping because, let's be honest, the cold turkey, all or nothing approach doesn't work for most people, which brings me to my topic and the kind of smoking practice I'm hooked on and why I'm looking to get off it.

 

I'm a Dokha smoker, a one-hit but high nicotine tobacco which has recently become a trend in the UK. Instead of smoking a whole cigarette to get your nicotine fix with all the tar, carbon monoxide and bad stink involved, you'd take a couple of draws from this ultra-high nicotine (and in all likeliness, high tar) tobacco and it would be hours (like 4 or 5) before you take another hit. It was supposed to be an alternative (by no means safe) to all-day smoking. But around 5 months ago when I lost my job due to Covid-19, I found myself taking a puff every hour. I'd smoke whenever I was about to switch from one task to another, go to the bathroom or come out of it, before sleeping and upon waking up. It was bad. The craziest part was waking up in the middle of the night just to get the nicotine fix. Like I said, it was crazy and nothing good can come out of it.

 

Things changed when, around  7 or 9 weeks ago, I got fed up with myself and realized how dependent I'd become, how much brown mucus I was spitting out (not that much but still alarming) and how thick my saliva had become. I knew smoking (at this rate, at least) wasn't something I could sustain without wrecking havoc on my health, so I decided to finally cut down and go back to intermittent smoking, like back in the old days when I started the whole thing.

 

It wasn't easy, and the "I want this RIGHT now" voice in my head was strong (at times it didn't let me sleep), but I did it. Initially I'd spend at least 4 hours of my day not smoking, until eventually I'd spend most of my day not smoking (I'd smoke in the morning, then abstain for 6 hours, take a hit and then abstain for another 3 hours). I knew I'd come far when, this morning, I was able to resist that "morning hit/fix" and went for 8 hours without event thinking of my Dokha pipe. This was a milestone (the first time in 5 months I didn't smoke immediately upon waking up) and I have every intention if keeping it up.

 

But like all things in life, progress isn't linear and there's always something to upset you. Yes, I've been able to cut back significantly, but instead of rewarding me with better health, my body decided to respond in a different way; more mucus and a new cough! Not that I didn't have the brown mucus from time to time even before I cut down, but this time it was consistent and a lot more. It's no surprise to me that many heavy smokers who decide to quite go through a period of "cleansing", where the lungs start to flush out all the poison from tobacco smoke (mucus, coughing and even flu-like symptoms for many). I just didn't know it happened to people who cut down as well. Or does it? I mean I really hope all this is just my lungs seizing on this opportunity of being smoke-free for most of the day for the first time in months to do their job which otherwise they couldn't!

Edited November 3, 2020 by John Praizi
Spelling

[jillar]

33 minutes ago, John Praizi said:

I mean I really hope all this is just my lungs seizing on this opportunity of being smoke-free for most of the day for the first time in months to do their job which otherwise they couldn't!

 

It's not your lungs cleaning the mess because you continue to put smoke in them. The cilia doesn't even begin to regenerate until three to four weeks after you quit putting smoke in them. Vaping will do as much or more damage as well.

As far as Brown mucas, that's definitely worth a Dr visit because you could have a lung infection and if you get sick and have a lung infection on top of that it will not be good.... Just saying..

Anyway, we love to have new members but we're a quit smoking site so if you're looking for support to continue killing yourself with cigarettes or vape you've probably come to the wrong place.

Hopefully you'll decide to take your life back and quit all of it and take your seat on the train

[John Praizi]

Three to four weeks? That's exactly how long it took for the mucus to kick in after I drastically cut down. I wonder if anyone else here has been through the same thing. Are you sure the cilia don't regenerate, even in part, when the lungs "catch a break" from all-day smoking over long periods (weeks and months)?

 

I'm not here to promote vaping, I don't even vape, but I was just saying, the NHS over here (like most or all national health services) says it's 95% safer than smoking.

[jillar]

We have a whole forum about vaping that says otherwise https://www.quittrain.com/forum/18-vaping-juuling-unquestionable-addiction-reckless-aftermath/.

As far as your cilia regenerating, it doesn't matter a little or a lot, daily smoking is smoking. 

[Mee]

J, you need to just "bite the bullet" and quit altogether.  As long as you are putting that nicotine into your body, the longer you are ruining your health.  

Don't waste anymore life on a self destruting habit.  You can quit!

 

[Doreensfree]

17 hours ago, John Praizi said:

Three to four weeks? That's exactly how long it took for the mucus to kick in after I drastically cut down. I wonder if anyone else here has been through the same thing. Are you sure the cilia don't regenerate, even in part, when the lungs "catch a break" from all-day smoking over long periods (weeks and months)?

 

I'm not here to promote vaping, I don't even vape, but I was just saying, the NHS over here (like most or all national health services) says it's 95% safer than smoking.

Why put anything in your lungs ????

Why swop one addiction for another .?????.........

I have friends die while vaping ....

Education ....you need to read up on this subject .... knowledge is power ...

We are all different ...I didn't have a cough at all ,and I smoked 52 years ...

[John Praizi]

Well it is winter and I tend to be paranoid and blame all my ills on smoking. Mostly I've been wrong (like when I had Covid-19 and thought it was a smoke-induced disease that finally got to me), but I'm not gonna wait till I'm actually right (and there will be a point when I'm actually gonna be right). Let's not kid ourselves, smoking 3 cigarettes a day and 30 are not the same and never can be the same. I know enthusiastic ex-smokers tend to disregard this fact and draw a black and white picture to crown their victory over smoking, but all or nothing doesn't help.

 

Nicotine may be addictive and unhealthy, but it's not what destroys your lungs and organs when you smoke, even though it's what you crave the most. That's why national health services around the world have something called nicotine replacement therapy, and it works better than cold turkey. Vaping is used as a NRT.

 

That's not to say vaping is safe, but even some foods might carry more risk than vaping, and comparing the effects of low-temperature vaporized liquids on your lungs to that of tar, carbon monoxide and other toxic chemicals produced by tobacco combustion (or any other kind of combustion for that matter) is simply mad and unwarranted.

[jillar]

13 minutes ago, John Praizi said:

Let's not kid ourselves, smoking 3 cigarettes a day and 30 are not the same and never can be the same.

Tell that to the person on oxygen, or the person on chemotherapy. It doesn't matter if it's 1 or 100 John. Smoke in your lungs on a daily basis causes your cilia to be paralyzed and eventually die off. It's well documented if you just educate yourself.

As far as vaping, it is NOT considered as an NRT, although when it first came out a lot of drs. recommended it as a safer alternative to smoking. SAFER, not safe by any means. Now with time they are finding out that's not the case. And who can say years down the road what long term affects vaping will have on your whole body. Not just your lungs.

That being said, I'm not really sure why you are here if you are hell bent on smoking or vaping? 

[JimHannoonen]

Dude, you either smoke or you don't smoke. You can tell yourself whatever you want, but you're not doing yourself any favors by "cutting back".

 

 

[John Praizi]

It's 95% safer than smoking. These numbers come from the NHS (their online website), and if it's good enough for the NHS, it's good enough for me. I'm not hell bent on smoking or vaping (I don't even vape), but in my attempt to quit smoking I'm trying to be realistic, and finding a replacement for nicotine (vaping in this case) seems like a realistic choice.

 

But that's not why I'm here. I'm only here to know whether people who (significantly) cut back go through the same physical withdrawal symptoms as people who quit. Somehow, and judging by the black and white, all or nothing approach I see from the members, I doubt I'll get an honest answer.

 

I'm not advocating "cutting back" as a permanent solution to the smoking problem. No one's that stupid and even one puff of smoke a day can create long-term problems. I'm only arguing that a drastic change of the amount of smoke intake can, over a long period, lead to the same withdrawal symptoms as quitting (withdrawal symptoms, not the full health benefits, which isn't the same).

[Doreensfree]

2 hours ago, John Praizi said:

 

 

Nicotine may be addictive and unhealthy, but it's not what destroys your lungs and organs when you smoke, even though it's what you crave the most. That's why national health services around the world have something called nicotine replacement therapy, and it works better than cold turkey. Vaping is used as a NRT.

 

 

How interesting.....

Watching my husband suffer and finally pass away with Emphysema.....

I'm sure he would have been happy knowing it wasn't the smoking that distroyed his lungs ...

You seem to be very educated on this subject ....

What exactly is it you want help with ....

We help people who want to quit smoking cigarettes.....that what we do ...

We support quitters who use NRT.....

 

 

[jillar]

25 minutes ago, John Praizi said:

I'm only here to know whether people who (significantly) cut back go through the same physical withdrawal symptoms as people who quit. Somehow, and judging by the black and white, all or nothing approach I see from the members, I doubt I'll get an honest answer

The short answer is No they don't because people who quit completely only go through the withdrawals once. Those that just cut back remain in a constant state of withdrawal. That is the honest truth from someone who has tried it. Do yourself a favor and just quit.....

[Doreensfree]

47 minutes ago, John Praizi said:

It's 95% safer than smoking. These numbers come from the NHS (their online website), and if it's good enough for the NHS, it's good enough for me. I'm not hell bent on smoking or vaping (I don't even vape), but in my attempt to quit smoking I'm trying to be realistic, and finding a replacement for nicotine (vaping in this case) seems like a realistic choice.

 

But that's not why I'm here. I'm only here to know whether people who (significantly) cut back go through the same physical withdrawal symptoms as people who quit. Somehow, and judging by the black and white, all or nothing approach I see from the members, I doubt I'll get an honest answer.

 

I'm not advocating "cutting back" as a permanent solution to the smoking problem. No one's that stupid and even one puff of smoke a day can create long-term problems. I'm only arguing that a drastic change of the amount of smoke intake can, over a long period, lead to the same withdrawal symptoms as quitting (withdrawal symptoms, not the full health benefits, which isn't the same).

Your whole post screams ..Junkie Thinking ....

Your a Nicotine Addict ....just as we were ,before we decided to kick Nicotine forever....

NRT...delivers a small amount of nicotine without all the harmful poisons.....in a small time limit...

Smoking was considered harmless too......but it ended up killing more people than in two world wars ...

Who knows what will be discovered about Vaping years down the line ....

We have loads of info here on the Main Board ...which covers most subject's....

Maybe you should start there ..

[John Praizi]

27 minutes ago, Doreensfree said:

How interesting.....

Watching my husband suffer and finally pass away with Emphysema.....

I'm sure he would have been happy knowing it wasn't the smoking that distroyed his lungs ...

You seem to be very educated on this subject ....

What exactly is it you want help with ....

We help people who want to quit smoking cigarettes.....that what we do ...

We support quitters who use NRT.....

 

 

 

I'm sorry did you read what I wrote? Did I say it's not smoking that destroys your lungs? I said clearly that it wasn't the nicotine, but the other (countless) toxic chemicals in tobacco smoke that harm your lungs. You can burn tea leaves, inhale their smoke and expect to end up with pretty much the same diseases that come from smoking tobacco, and for the same reason; combustion.

It's an established fact that smoking-related illnesses have very little to do with nicotine.

[John Praizi]

4 minutes ago, Doreensfree said:

Your whole post screams ..Junkie Thinking ....

Your a Nicotine Addict ....just as we were ,before we decided to kick Nicotine forever....

NRT...delivers a small amount of nicotine without all the harmful poisons.....in a small time limit...

Smoking was considered harmless too......but it ended up killing more people than in two world wars ...

Who knows what will be discovered about Vaping years down the line ....

We have loads of info here on the Main Board ...which covers most subject's....

Maybe you should start there ..

 

Bloody right I am!

 

And again I'm not saying vaping is 100% safe, just that it's significantly safer than smoking, and that the significance, demonstrated by national and international health organizations, cannot be brushed aside with arguments like "who knows what we'll discover about vaping 2000 years from now!".

Yes smoking was considered harmless by many in the past, but the consideration was not medically examined, unlike vaping. Countries simply didn't posses the tools or statistics to figure out what was harmful and what wasn't, at least not as much as they do today.

[Mee]

J, it isn't the nicotine that ruins your lungs, the nicotine keeps you hooked and addicted.  Sucking crap into your lungs is not healthy any way you look at it.  You can believe  what you are doing is safer, but will unfortunately find out differnt down the line.   

[JimHannoonen]

On 11/4/2020 at 11:58 AM, John Praizi said:

 I'm trying to be realistic, and finding a replacement for nicotine (vaping in this case) seems like a realistic choice.

 

 

 

What about the reality that smoking could very well kill you. Just man-up and quit. What are you afraid of, being uncomfortable and cranky? Ugh!

 

I'm sorry to sound like a douche, but this whole scenario you're painting is so half-assed I'm having a hard time believing your even serious.

[John Praizi]

2 hours ago, JimHannoonen said:

 

What about the reality that smoking could very well kill you. Just man-up and quit. What are you afraid of, being uncomfortable and cranky? Ugh!

 

I'm sorry to sound like a douche, but this whole scenario you're painting is so half-assed I'm having a hard time believing your even serious.

 

I'd say the switch I'm dying to make is demonstrably this or that much safer, but then the mods will just delete my post again and accuse me of promoting this or that practice.

 

I've come to hate smoking during the last couple of months. Human lungs were not evolved to inhale anything other than clean air. I hate what's become of my life. That's why I've drastically cut down (I couldn't sleep properly the first two days) and why I will eventually beat this cursed habit. Be positive fellas and don't hammer me like I'm the CEO of Big Tobacco because, believe me, I'm not.