Coughing up flem with black strands of flem in it

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Ok, I have smoked pot almost everyday for almost 10 years. I smoked cigarettes when I was very young (11-12) but I haven;t touched them since. A few years ago I moved into my parents abondoned house, and there was a black mold problem there. I started to get really sick and ever since I lived there I have been coughing up this black phlem. I thought it may have be the black mold or something caused by it, however the more I research it the more it leads back to the pot. I have no intentions of quitting smoking, but I am wondering if filtering what I smoke may help.

Wannalivelife · Newbie Joined: 18 Feb 2008 Posts: 2

Hello. I am 27 years old and I wanted to share some of my own experience and thoughts. I started smoking (cigarettes & pot) about the same time and that was in 1996 when I just turned 15 yrs old.

Fast forward about 12 years later, I have quit smoking cigarettes, weed, about 5 weeks ago. Now mind you that it was not always a consistent daily thing and there was significant breaks in there, but that mainly was due to, myself: being in prison, being in jail, being in treatment, some kind of state facility, whatever the reason. Throughout those 12 + years even with breaks I got high and my lungs/body really never got a break.

I've experienced the coughing up dark colored particles in my phlegm many times in the last couple years. I've pretty much been a weed-cigarette smoking monster for the last 4 years straight. Like I said I quit EVERYTHING about 5 wks ago and in the last week-and-a-half, I've experienced spitting/coughing/hacking brown/black/? colored phlegm from my lungs, but am now experiencing the worst of it. I can't help but feel true fear, but I am so happy to be broken free of the bullshit that is ADDICTION!

I went to the doctor a few days ago, but I did not have the balls to tell him about my pot smoking ways. In fact since August of 2007, I was hitting the smoke so hard that I feel like I should be dead. I was so looped out of it & outta control that I didn't stop to think.

Ne ways point I'm saying is that I have the same thing. This time I have it so bad that I'm on 1000 Milligrams of antibiotics and am hoping that I can get my lungs to finally heal and repair themselves so that I may go on start to live life. Reason I worry is because: I wheeze, spit pure black/brown? stuff up - I mean so much that it's crazy. I hope that this is just like Resin trapped/built up in my lungs. You know how when you smoke pot it builds resin in whatever you're smoking out of. Well I would assume that the lungs would kind of retain this tar in there, but I am not a doctor so I do not know. I did not have a chest x-ray yet, but I plan to do that after I get a little more financially stable.

Just know that if I can do it you can do it and hell it's only been 5 weeks. I know I will not ever inhale anything into my lungs. I don't want to die. f*** dying, live life. You only live it once and who knows when that will end. Why make it any sooner than you have to? I have a great support system and I would not be able to do it without that guaranteed. Whoever you are if you want to get clean or get healthy and quit smoking find a good support system. Whatever that may be: family, AA, NA, a sponsor, just someone you can be honest with and they will be real with you and support you. Never give up. Smile

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I'm 15 and I have really bad asthma. I've been coughing a lot lately (not unusual) and I've been coughing up phlegm (also not unusual). It is clearish yellow but there are sometimes black strands or black dots. I DO NOT smoke weed or cigarettes. What is causing it??

Wannalivelife · Newbie Joined: 18 Feb 2008 Posts: 2

Since my first post, I've revisited with my Doctor and he tells me that having Brown/dark/or black colored strands in your phlegm is a definitive sign of Bronchitis or a lung-infection of some kind. It is something worth getting checked out because if it is more dark or black than it is brown it could be dried blood in the lungs which could be any number of things [including cancer of the lungs]. Most notably in the winter time when a person's immune system is down or if you suffer from asthma or a condition as such. If you have weak lungs, it is more likely that you get this. It is not centralized to Bronchitis.

I have a severe case of Bronchitis/a lung infection, hence the 1,000 milligrams of antibiotics I am on. Lung viruses cause you to spit out dark colored phlegm, but smoking can attribute to that as well because it weakens the lungs and chars the lung cells causing them to die. The fact that I have also smoked marijuana and cigarettes for over the past 12 years +, plays a big factor.

Everybody's body is different , but the fact is that it takes your lungs 24 hours to heal and repair themselves from smoking 1 cigarette. . It just finally caught up with me. I think this is a sign for me that I can't play around any more. I have stopped/started smoking again more than I can count on both hands, but I guarantee you that I will not ever inhale/smoke another cigarette or ANY thing in my life period.

This whole experience has been a true eye opener for me. It isn't the first time I have spit out black/brown phlegm, but I hope that it is the last. I now suffer from chronic bronchitis, bronchospasms, mild asthma, and shortness of breath. Not even to mention the several times in my life that I have spit up this crap.

As for non-smokers of any sort, it could be a lung infection, bronchitis, or just get yourself checked out because it could be blood or who knows. Maybe it's nothing at all. Every body is different. It's no telling. As for those who were or are chronic hard core smokers like I have been please take what I am saying seriously, because I've been sick for 3 weeks now and although I am on 1,000 milligrams of antibiotics there is no telling what damage I have done to my lungs or for that matter when and if I will fully recover. last time I had brown/black phlegm it did not last this long I've been spitting up this stuff for about 2-3 months now. I quit smoking every thing 5 weeks ago.

Be safe, be strong, and don't be afraid. Idea

RRT · Newbie Joined: 07 Mar 2008 Posts: 1

The black mucus is just the epithelial linings of your tracheobronchial tree sloughing. While smoking anything is bad for you, we all know, it is much worse if you cough and don't see this crap coming up. That means your body's natural defense against foreign invaders isn't working so hot and you may be immunocompromised or that you simply cannot expectorate very well. I see patients all the time who for some reason even with good coaching, can't bring up anything. They lack the technique to generate a ample enough pressure gradient to move their mucus to their large airways so they can move up the mucociliary escalator at out of their bodies. Now coughing up copious amts. of black mucus would be a bad thing, but if look on the tissue paper and see that the vast majority is just clear in color with little chunks of black strands then it is normal but still wouldn't be an issue if you weren't smoking anything at all. I don't know if I have ever treated anyone inpatient due solely to pot smoking, I am not saying it doesn't happen but I have never seen it. People who are sick enough to be admitted always have a cigarette history as well. It can take years for the black strands to clear after quitting. Exercise and healthy living would expedite the process.

lizbiz · Newbie Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Posts: 1

After reading most of the posts i didnt actually come across any cures for this plem disease, other that 'quit smoking!' its just because i dont smoke, well to be honest i have only ever smoked weed 3 times and this happens to me. it happens very often aswell e.g 5-6 times a day!

so what is the cure for this if you dont actually smoke?

any help will be appreciated x

DrMarkCello · Newbie Joined: 23 Mar 2008 Posts: 2

Hello, my name is mark

I work in the Cardiovascular clinic in one of our nations largest hospitals.
This case that you have is known as Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura. What has happened is your bronchial air passages are causing irregular misdirection from the valves in your heart to your lungs. This case has a mortality rate of about 72%. Yes Tetrahydrocannibus or (Marijuana) has a major reaction in those with Rhesus factor or Rhesus D antigen blood groups.
No worries this is not contagious nor is it air-borne. Unfortunately there are some treatments but no cure, and we have lost countless patients due to this condition. Symptoms of restlessness, sleep deprivation, shortness of breath, random increased heart rate-(tachycardia) happen usually a few months before quietus. Some live for years with this condition so it is not considered fatal. Dr's are still trying to figure out why some live longer than others.
Hope this helps and see your Dr as soon as possible, the longer you wait the worse the condition.

DrMarkCello · Newbie Joined: 23 Mar 2008 Posts: 2

Hello, my name is mark

I work in the Cardiovascular clinic in one of our nations largest hospitals.
This case that you have is known as Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura. What has happened is your bronchial air passages are causing irregular misdirection from the valves in your heart to your lungs. This case has a mortality rate of about 72%. Yes Tetrahydrocannibus or (Marijuana) has a major reaction in those with Rhesus factor or Rhesus D antigen blood groups.
No worries this is not contagious nor is it air-borne. Unfortunately there are some treatments but no cure, and we have lost countless patients due to this condition. Symptoms of restlessness, sleep deprivation, shortness of breath, random increased heart rate-(tachycardia) happen usually a few months before quietus. Some live for years with this condition so it is not considered fatal. Dr's are still trying to figure out why some live longer than others.
Hope this helps and see your Dr as soon as possible, the longer you wait the worse the condition.

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i never have or will smoke cigs, but i have smoked pot every day for a few years.

after a year, i started seeing specks of black in the daily cough-ups. i asked my doctor when this started and i was told that this is normal ,its just lungs clearing tar. this will continue (if even on a small scale) all the while you smoke, and then at least a few months after you stop.

nothing to worry about, but i intend to quit smoking weed when i turn 20

Coughing up flem with black strands of flem in it

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