How healthy is vaping - irritated lungs etc.

[joker]

I've been a heavy cigarette and weed smoker for the past 10 years (now 26 years old) altough I took a break for a while start of this year which lasted a couple of months. At the moment I smoke 0.5-1 gram a day.

Before I smoked 1-2 packs a day and 2-5 grams of weed. At one point when I would go to bed and wake up when I would breathe I would hear a peep like you only see 80 year old smokers have in movies. Also my lungs hurt a lot and when I breathe deep it hurts. I also sweat really fast (I think that's because of the cigarettes) since I started again while I'm perfect weight. This was not happening the previous 9 years of heavy abuse)

Since a few months I also have insane dry mouth. After work I smoke 1 joint and I simply die from thirst for hours, nothing works, if I go to bed in 1 minute it's so bad my throat and mouth close up from dryness and I need to drink all the time which causes a bathroom visit every 30 minutes. I need like 1 liter/hour to get me through the evening and my mouth still gets dry after I stop drinking. It's quite exhausting to smoke weed now lol but I just like some of it's moments.

I'm smoking since a few months again and my lung /throat irritation (pain in lungs and throat is often tickly and feels odd) is already coming back. Will using a vaporizer get rid of these effects, if I ofcourse stop smoking cigarettes too?

I always start smoking cigarettes again because I roll joints with weed+tobacco, I just find it disgusiting pure and too heavy on the throat. I was thinking of getting a Pax 2, that looked decent to me.

 

[SlinginPaint]

Sounds like Vaping would serve you well. I used to get really tight-chested when I would smoke. The switch to Vaping helped immensely. Grab a Pax2 and let her rip, looking forward to hearing how the switch helped!

Check out the Pax2 ans Solo threads for any and all info.

Also check out the Zion thread. I dont have one yet, but it seems to be a champ.

 

[CarolKing]

This also comes in a mouth spray. It helps me with my dry mouth and throat.

Vaporizing will be easier on your lungs and your mouth won't taste so funky but you may still get a dry mouth from vaporizing. I had combusted cannabis for 25+ years before I switched to vaporizing. It was the best thing I could have done for my health. I was getting a smoker's cough in the mornings. My lungs feel better than ever.

You can over do with the vaporizing too. There have been folks that have tried too high of temp, they felt like they burnt their lungs. I think this person was a little too enthusiastic.

What I like about vaporizing is you can experience the wonderful different flavor of our fav flower. I'm vaporizing some Blackberry Kush in my Enano and it tastes like blackberries. When I combusted I couldn't taste the true flavor of the herb.

I stopped combusting 3 years ago this Dec. Always remember toooooooooooo Fuckcombustion.

 

[capcoho]

Hey I was in your shoes a couple years ago. I am quite athletic but I also combusted all day and night either cigs or joints rolled with tobacco. I also had chronic bronchitis and a very tight chest needing an asthma inhaler quite often.

NOW, about 2 years since quitting combustion, I am a free breather, no hacking, no tightness of chest. Can't believe all the brown stuff I used to hack up.

I use an ecig for my nic fix. I strongly believe the PG in ejuice has kept the colds and flus away as a bonus.

It does take a while to clear your system of the nasties from smoking but it is so worth it. This time of year (autumn) I would have had my bronchitis popping up and waking up each morning coughing my lungs clear. Then after my lungs cleared up enough I'd have a smoke. Can't even imagine living like that now.

Not sure where you are located but a humidifier might help the dryness. AS CK mentioned biotene is good for dry mouth as well.

 

[ginolicious]

1. It's time to vape.
2. It's time to quit cigarettes. They do absolutely nothing for you. They don't get you high and a waste of money. I say this as o smoked for 15 years. I haven't smoked in 2 years

 

[CarolKing]

With vaporizing you probably could reduce your cannabis budget in half, you could afford top shelf. The money you spend on a vaporizer will be paid back within a couple months depending on how much you spend and how much cannabis you buy. With combusting you just burn up your product along with your $.

Edit
By the way @joker welcome to Fuckcombustion.

 

[ReggieB]

I gave up combusting recently and the biggest benefit came after giving up tobacco, I swapped it for an e-pen, almost immediately (2-3 days) I got some lung capacity back and the cough didn't linger any more, which in turn meant vaporising was easier. I'm also finding that I'm not reaching for the e-pen as much now either, that was going to be the next stage, phasing out nicotine/e-pen altogether. I'm really glad I stopped combusting, I just wish I'd stopped sooner.

Swapping to vaporizing will do you a lot of favours but you should really take a look around at the other vapes and see what suits your needs, there are so many on the market you should be able to find the perfect fit.

 

[virtualpurple]

Yeah it's definitely time to quit the smokes and combusting.

I don't know about the pax 2 (looks nice though), but there are plenty of great vapes available. What is your budget? That will help us get you started.

The Drymouth may persist, but you may find that lozenges help. I have always found that pineapple juice helps with a dry throat when I have a virus, it may also be helpful for dry mouth as well, I'll have to pick up some of the little cans and give them a shot.

 

[woolspinner]

Not sure where you are located but a humidifier might help the dryness. AS CK mentioned biotene is good for dry mouth as well.

True. I read somewhere that too dry air can contribute to getting colds.

@joker As @CarolKing says, one can still suffer dry mouth even vaping. For me, how bad depends on strain.

Love vaping and will not go back to the head rush and hacking cough of combustion. Fuck that!

Welcome to FC.

 

[ReggieB]

I still cough but it's much less than it used to be and dry mouth is just a question of making another drink.

 

[joker]

Wow great replies, thanks guys.

I've tried soms vaporizers in the past, last being the volcano. I remember the high was pretty different and not a couch lock/heavy high, until I smoked a cigarette after. I personally do love smoking a joint , taking 50 hits over the course of an hour just feels really satisfting for me and the dizzyness/lightheadness as well. However my lungs hurt so bad right now I can't even breathe deep
while I didn't even smoke yet.

I read reviews the past hours about vsporizers and noticed the following:

Vaporizer blogs promote them a lot and don't say a bad word about them, probably becuse they recieve commission. I've read (but mostly by by people who try to sell vapes) they do twice as long with the same amount of weed, however from me and my friends experiences you need to use more. A gram usually gives me 4 joints that I smoke in 8-12 hours and am baked all the time where 1 gram with a vape was gone in 3-5 hours and the high was gone pretty fast after that.

About half the people say vaping doens't get them high or only for a short time. Others say it works great. Some said overtime after they quit combustion they'd get way higher than at the start. I guess I have no other option anyway since my lungs hurt so bad at my age already. I was thinking of getting an e-sig with it to give the satisfactory feeling I really miss with vaping/bongs/pipes/pure joints.

I'm not actually sure what vape to buy, pax 2 seems kind of expensive. I prefer to spend the least amount of money possible but don't want a bad vape ofcourse. I prefer a portable one but if their price/quality is much worse I don't mind getting a regular. 150€ would be great.

Any advice appreciated. And thanks again for the other tips.

 

[Ace of Space]

Long term smoking may have fucked up your mouth hygiene, with bacteria causing problems in your gums and saliva glands. I had the same problem, extreme dry mouth and no amount of water i drank would help, at all.
For me, the problems actually started with vaping, as i had a vape that required loooong, slow inhales that only at the second inhale produced vapor. At that point, my throath and mouth were already irritated, dry and sore, and that made me swallow excessively and so it went worse and worse.
With the purchase of the amazing Enano and better mouth hygiene my problems disappeared. I still have cottonmouth, of course, but in a normal fashion

 

[kellya86]

When I fucked combustion 8 weeks ago, the first thing I noticed, apart from how amazing the vaping high is, was how clean my mouth now felt.

No more gammy, fury, stinky breath in the morning and night.
No more tight chest at the end of the night.
No more palpitations in bed.

It is still irritating to the throat though. As @Ace of Space highlighted, if you get too greedy with your draws, you can ruin your night of vaping by going to hard on your throat. But it soon fixes in minutes. Not like smoking where if you fuck your throat it can last for days.

Anyway I like the slight irritation, it takes your breath away. And that makes me feel like I have smoked. Which I like as I smoked for 16 years.

 

[zor]

While I am a strong proponent of vaping I think it's always important to bear in mind that even with vaporizing you are inhaling small particles which our lungs, in general, don't particularly like (per all the mechanisms we have in our respiratory system to expunge debris, macro- and microscopic). I tend to lose sight of this often and pull on vapes like I'm sucking up taffy through a straw only to pay the price with a pissed off throat and lots of coughing

 

[ginolicious]

I use to smoke a half ounce a week out of a bong. Now I vape about a gram a week. Sometimes 2 grams lasts 3 weeks. Depends on how much I vape on the weekend and if I'm hammered as well and if the wife gets in it. Sometimes she does.

 

[hackslasher]

When it comes to the amount, kinda depends in the vape. Take the plenty. Never tried but hear good things about it, also hear it's a weed hog and will eat up your stash. There's plenty of vapes that a great for conserving your stash. Triihouse products, log vapes, most butane vapes, and the list goes on. Kinda just have to continue looking into them and asking questions about them. As for the irratation from smoking and vaping.... first I think cigs are the biggest reason for this. Since switching to an e cig don't cough up brown/black and green shit in the morning, not getting a horrible cold with the changing season, don't have troubles catching a good breath (at times I have to take a single deep breath and when was smoking would have to try for like five minutes now usually first try and get it), don't smell nasty and taste and smell has greatly improved. I think once quit cigs will want to switch to vaping weed just because burning shit starts to taste filthy. With vaping, I still get throat irratation, as zor was saying feels like little particles are scratching the very bottom of my throat at time, and personally for me (cause everyone's different) I cough more vaping. Think has to do with inhaling the heat mixed with the scratchy particle feeling, but when I do cough nothing nasty looking is coming up. So all in all I think quiting smokes first and for most will help the most and then switching to vaping will continue with the healing of your lungs

 

[ReggieB]

It depends what your tolerances are to everything really and the vape you use but the key is that you start to take a lot more notice of how you're vaping and adjust yourself accordingly, sounds like you need something that you can take small hits from.

Once you start only vaping it can take a little time to go through the transitional period, the whole experience changes, I used to hit doobies all day long, a portable vape has replaced that and I'm no longer hitting it all day long, just when I need to for pain relief, I'm definitely doing less, I'm not compelled by the tobacco to constantly light up, so now my personal needs are at the forefront of my experience, not what the tobacco made me think I needed. I suspect that some of the 'hit' you experience atm is coming from the tobacco use, lack of oxygen to the brain, that kind of thing...

 

[ReggieB]

As for vaporizer bloggers/sites promoting vaping, yes they do and some are sort of paid to do it but places like FC aren't, they're direct users who have varying needs, some of them purely medicinal where health is paramount, with a sub-forum dedicated to just that, if you want an honest opinion, I think you'll probably find it here.

 

[joker]

As for vaporizer bloggers/sites promoting vaping, yes they do and some are sort of paid to do it but places like FC aren't, they're direct users who have varying needs, some of them purely medicinal where health is paramount, with a sub-forum dedicated to just that, if you want an honest opinion, I think you'll probably find it here.

So I'm really curious. One guy above went from 14 to 1 gram a week, I can hardly believe that. I read 1000's of comments so far on forums and 80% discuss how it's possible they don't get so high from vaping compared to combusting and why it doesn't last as long.. only a handful say they actually get properly baked.

Most stories I read people use twice as much weed now and still don't get the same long lasting buzz. From the times I tried I didn't get really stoned but more high, I could maybe start appreciating it more.

I do remember after smoking the volcano I walked outside and it was like my body was half the weight and I was kind of floating, instead of having gravity feel like it's 10x than normal. It was pretty interesting and probably better for social settings than regular smoking. I prefer to smoke alone at my pc though and I like to be buzzed then.

Also last, I was looking at portables and non portables. Are the non portables that much better? I was going to use it 80% of the times at home anyway, and if they are I can live with not vaping outside.

Was mainly looking at Pax 2 and Arizer Solo. For at home the Arizer Extreme Q or V-Tower looked nice.

 

[hackslasher]

That stoned rush is probably the nasty shit from combusting to be honest. Is possible to get that more stoned couch lock feel with a vape though too. Just got to vape at higher temps. As for not getting quite as high, think Reggie has it right and a lot of people who say that don't give the proper transitional time. Now I myself didn't go from 14g to 1g a week went from about 14 to 7-8g's a week. My blunts usually consisted of .5ish and usually take me about 2 to get the feeling I get off three half packed mighty bowls, 2 underdog glass stems or three lily bowls. This is because with the vape I'm getting more of the goodies (thc, cbd, all that) and less of its going up in smoke. Anyway think a lot of the people who say don't get high from it don't give the transition peiod long enough, have a bad mind set about vaping (mindset effects highs) and probably will cut your consumption down because do get more goodies from your weed but please don't have in your mind will be using just a pinch a day and be good as from the sound of your consumption habits, that just won't be possible for you.
Side note: underdog nylon stem is awesome for nice back to back to back one hitters while chilling at the computer

 

[joker]

While I agree mindset definately can alter your high, if you smoke enough good stuff you just know you're baked instantly.. no matter what you think. From what I read I thought the extra effects came from

a) lack of oxygen

b) tobacco constricting blood vessles

c) more cannabinoids being used with combustion compared to vaping

I remember when I just started smoking, even though we smoked joints with tobacco most people would smoke a cig after to get more stoned.

For a while when I smoke I often get an extremely pale face, and my lips lose colour and turn greyish, it kind of freaks me out, I also have bad circulation in legs/arms and I hope vaping will solve that too.

I guess I will just have to get used to the 'new' high, because health is more important in the end and I've let things already go way too far.

It's unfortunate vaping/e cigs are really not popular here yet (Netherlands) and I have no way to test anything out.

 

[hoptimum]

more cannabinoids being used with combustion compared to vaping

This is not true

 

[hackslasher]

If you vape enough good stuff you'll know you're baked instantly lol. But yea holds some truth. The vape high takes a lil to kick in but if like me vaping multiple bowls, you're definitely going to feel it come the second or third bowl lol. Thiking you have it right with a and b being as to why but c is actually opposite of the truth as you're destroying cannibionides by setting them a blaze. The smoking a cig after goes back to the carbon monoxide and other nasties and getting high off those. And also I personally don't see a difference in highs. I vape only at high temps and yea the highs pretty much the same high for me.

 

[Chill Dude]

I'm smoking since a few months again and my lung /throat irritation (pain in lungs and throat is often tickly and feels odd) is already coming back. Will using a vaporizer get rid of these effects, if I ofcourse stop smoking cigarettes too?

I always start smoking cigarettes again because I roll joints with weed+tobacco, I just find it disgusiting pure and too heavy on the throat. I was thinking of getting a Pax 2, that looked decent to me.

If you're having throat irritation issues, I would definitely not purchase the pax 2. Although it's a fine vape for out and about for just taking a couple hits here in there. However, IMO the Pax 2 vapor is one of the most irritating on the throat of all vapes.

You said in a previous post that you sometimes take like 50 hits in a session, for most vapes that's like 3 or 4 good bowls. Vaping that much with any portable will irritate your lungs due to the very short vapor path. I'd recommend a quality desktop with with a long whip and possibly water filtration to cool the vapor and be much less irritating to your throat..

As to the difference in high between smoking and vaping, I'd say they're fairly similar. I'd say the vaping high lasts longer, but the smoking high is more intense during the initial 5 minutes or so.. I still smoke a joint or two per month just for old times sake and that powerfull initial head rush and intensity that I get from combustion. I usually only smoke joints in social situations generally with people younger than me... 20s and 30s who only like to smoke. I'm 95% vaping and 5% combustion..

Another thought.... I typically need about 10 vape hits of flower to be sufficiently high, but i must say if my tolerance was so high that I needed 40+ hits to get medicated, I would strongly suggest using concentrates
You could do two nice big dabs and get really high quickly vs. huffing and puffing on a vape for 4 bowls..and, of course, much less throat irritation .

 

[joker]

If you vape enough good stuff you'll know you're baked instantly lol. But yea holds some truth. The vape high takes a lil to kick in but if like me vaping multiple bowls, you're definitely going to feel it come the second or third bowl lol. Thiking you have it right with a and b being as to why but c is actually opposite of the truth as you're destroying cannibionides by setting them a blaze. The smoking a cig after goes back to the carbon monoxide and other nasties and getting high off those. And also I personally don't see a difference in highs. I vape only at high temps and yea the highs pretty much the same high for me.

How much is 1 bowl, 0.1 gram?

I roll 3-4 joints with 1 gram weed (2/3rd cig per joint) and I believe they are like 50 hits each.. didn't count but definately a lot... I do 30 min with the first, 1 hour with the 2nd, 2 hours with the 3rd etc. cause I'm too stoned to smoke more.

My tolerance isn't that high right now, 1 gram keeps me high for 8+ hours.