im new to herb, i have a bottle bong that i use when my bros asleep so i cant fill if with water and i take chambers of uncooled smoke with out coughing at all. but then again my dad smokes so that might have made me a bit resistant. i would say that coughing is normal when you take the hit and a short time after. the coughing fits probably mean that you lungs are agitated(spelling) so just take small puffs slowly and sip water after a few hits you should be right :rasta: