a question for a friend

[Tribble]

Hello everyone,

I have a friend that is trying to quit smoking so she can have surgery for her gallbladder. She was told that she needs to be nicotine free for 6 weeks before they will do the surgery. Currently she's taking Chantix and has been doing wonderful with not smoking. She's been 3 weeks with no cigarettes, I'm so proud of her! For the past couple of days though, she's been having a very hard time with the withdrawals. She's fighting a good fight and I'd like to see her keep fighting. My question is, if she were to smoke an e cig with no nicotine in it could that possibly help her? Even if she smoked an e cig wit nicotine in it, would it show in the blood work that the doctors are going to do to make sure she's actually quit? She really needs this surgery and my heart is breaking for her that she's suffering so much.

Thank you for any input you could possibly give.

 

[bacc.vap]

I'm no expert for the situation, but I do think it's possible that an ecig with no nic could help her get by. I think it would be best for her not to use nic as requested by the doctor before surgery, don't want to mess with that.If she's going to try an ecig I'd suggest getting and ego twist or equivalent. You can get a simple starter setup and some liquid pretty cheap.

 

[Baditude]

There is more to cigarette addiction than just the nicotine component. The hand-to-mouth behavior and inhaling/exhaling component are also a large part of the overall addiction phenomenon.

Chantix allegedly has helped some people to quit smoking, but everyone I know who has tried it has had terrible side effects and ended up discontinuing it and returned to smoking.

What's unique about using e-cigarettes compared to prescription meds, and the other nicotine replacement methods (nicotine patch, gum, lozenges, inhaler) is that e-cigarettes replicate the other two components of the addiction phenomenon -- hand-to-mouth and inhalation/exhalation behavior.

I smoked for over 30 years and tried all of the other methods to try to quit smoking and the only thing which got me off of cigarettes was using electronic cigarettes. I've been smoke free for over two years and don't miss the smokes at all. I'm currently using 0-nic or 6 mg nic e-liquids in my electronic cigarettes. I find that I still like the hand-to-mouth and inhale/exhale.

Your friend could get a decently priced eGo battery setup or even a cigarette-sized battery setup to be used with either 0-nicotine or a low 6mg nicotine concentration in the e-liquids with which she could quickly wean her nicotine down as required by her surgeon. This could be just what she needs to quit smoking.

Having used both of the above, I more highly recommend the larger ego setup over the cigarette-size batteries for better performance and longer battery life. Google and YouTube searches are useful to find vendors and information on how these devices work.

 

[DC2]

Yes, an electronic cigarette with zero nicotine liquid could help a lot.
And yes, if she uses one with nicotine, it will probably show up in a cotinine test.

 

[p7willm]

Nic from an ecig is no different from nic from a real cigarette. It will show up in any blood test. The doctors also aare saying no nic for a reason. Having nic in her system will increase the chances of bad things happening during and after surgery. I would be the best patient I could be.

I am neither a doctor nor do I play one on television, but in addition to the physical dependance on nic smoking is also a mental addiction to the act of smoking, the ritual of getting one out and lighting it and the oral part of sucking on it. Vaping, even with no nic, should help with that part of smoking. I would give it a try.

 

[Baditude]

Having worked in surgery for over 35 years as a surgical first assistant, I can attest that people that work in the OR can tell which patients are smokers and which ones are not just by the appearance of their tissues beneath the skin. However, this change in tissue appearance is not from nicotine, but the bad effects caused by smoke and all the other harmful chemicals present in the smoke. There is no smoke involved with electronic cigarettes, just water vapor.

Most surgeons are ignorant about vaping and electronic cigarettes. Her surgeon is not going to do a nicotine test prior to her surgery to confirm whether she has stopped smoking. If she can quit smoking using a low concentration of nicotine (for example 6 mg nicotine), she will be good to go without affecting her surgery or recovery.

 

[donnah]

I had breast reduction 13 years ago and the surgeon told me he would not operate on me if I was currently smoking. He said that I would not heal properly. Since this was such an important (cosmetic) procedure I managed to quit cold turkey for the however many weeks before and after the surgery. But just as soon as the time was up.. I couldn't resist smoking again.

with that being said... I am a surgical tech and we regularly do gallbladder surgery on smokers. Most certainly her's will be laparoscopic and she will have tiny "trocar" incisions. I'm not saying she will be fine having surgery as a smoker.. it's always best to quit... just saying that gallbladder surgery on a smoker is not unusual.

 

[DoPeWAFFL3]

Its hard to quit smoking, but when I did I turned to an e-cig. Most other drug addictions from someone who isnt me help by just going cold turkey.

 

[roxynoodle]

I had gbsurgery as a smoker, but I suppose it was an emergency. I had acute pancretitis from a gallstone.

Unfortunately, now I have chronic pancreatitis. Its very important she get rid of that thing. Tell her to try the zeronic along with the Chantix. After the surgery, if she's still struggling she could try it with nic.

 

[RedBeard4081]

Yes Yes Yes!! A zero nic would definitely help. If she's gone a couple of weeks she's pretty much over the nicotine part.
An ecig would be just the thing to take her mind off of it. Don't worry about tobacco flavors try chocolate milk shake or apple pie.
Don't try to make it like smoking, make it fun!
Also, I've seen some stores with a thing they call e-Hooka it's got no nicotine and fun fruity flavors.
Wish your friend our best,
Red

 

[Tribble]

Thank you all for your replies. I'm going to see about getting some flavored e cigs for her to try.