I asked for an opinion, I got one!

[dspin]

My lung doctor told me the same thing last yr. along w/my regular doctor. Nicotine by itself won't hurt you, just addictive. Its the cigs and my cigars that are horrible. He even has a list of chemicals posted in all waiting rooms on whats in cigarettes. Anyway, both docs were happy that I quit the cigars and was doing pv's. They did both suggest I quit the pv's - NOT

Hi everyone. I have pretty much unlimited access to every flavor of surgeon you could imagine. Neurosurgeons, general surgeons, vascular surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, cardiac surgeons...the list goes on and on. However, I asked a thoracic surgeon-an expert in the surgical intervention and treatment of smoking-related lung damage, what his take on e-cig use might be. He did some reading so he could form an educated opinion and got back to me. Here's the condensed version of what he thought:
1. E-cigs, as long as the liquid contains nicotine, are not harmless. They are, in his opinion, much safer than smoking cigarettes, and no more harmful and may indeed be less harmful than other forms of NRT, including the patch and nicotine gum.
2. In considering the squawk by the anti-ecig groups regarding the safety of PG-PG is the carrier in many theraputic inhaled and nebulized meds that are prescribed post-op to his lung transplant patients.
3. He saw very little difference (with the exception of flavoring) between an e-cig and the prescription nicotine inhaler.
His words to me were clear and I quote-"DO THIS. Anything, anything at all that gets you away from smoking cigarettes WILL save your life."
While I realize that one thoracic surgeon's opinion is far from a clinical trial or even a research study, it carries a lot of weight. This individual has thirty years of lung transplants, thoracotomies, wedge resections, and pulmonary lobectomies under his belt. It meant a lot for me to hear it from him! I know most of this has been posted in various locations on the forum-but I wanted those who may be lurking, trying to decide whether to take the plunge to see what he thought.
Thanks for reading. I really can run on!

 

[TNT]

My doctor told me that pure nicotine itself is not harmful to the body and is glad I am vaping instead of smoking. She said if this is what works for me than go for it. Theres a warning on some ecig sales sites that say if you have high blood pressure you should not use them. My doctor said my bp has never been this good since I quit smoking and went with ecigs. I have excelent bp now!

Hmmm... I have had an "urgent hypertensive crisis" while on e-cigs. My doctor made no connection between the two except to say it would probably have been worse if I'd still been smoking.

 

[mianker]

Thanks for sharing this, I for one truly appreciate it.

 

[Stownz]

Wonderful it hear great news from educated people.

 

[debber]

Thank You so much for sharing this.....Luv seeing information like this.

 

[renstyle]

Great to see another Iowan here on the forum! Thanks so much for the info!

 

[cookiebun]

Hmmm... I have had an "urgent hypertensive crisis" while on e-cigs. My doctor made no connection between the two except to say it would probably have been worse if I'd still been smoking.

How much salt are you ingesting daily?
MY BP was really high about 18 months ago. I started paying attention to the amount of salt I was getting and was shocked.
Stopping the excess salt brought my bp back down to normal. Now I'm trying to lose weight and cut back the nicotine as well.

 

[Rar]

Excellent post. Thanks so much for sharing.

 

[Seabrook]

Thanks for posting this, Brenna. Blessings and good luck to you in your presentation to the other staff members. Please let us know how the presentation goes in the future. It would be nice to see how many were curious and/or accepting of the info. Welcome to ECF.

 

[misterhyde]

Great post! If we could get more people in this field to speak up like this, vapers wouldn't have half the trouble we have...

 

[Olef]

Thank you for posting this, it's great to know I am doing the right thing.

 

[Nokisu]

Thank you! I already knew about the inhaler and nebulizer medications since my daughter is an RN, BSN who is currently working with patients having breathing problems. I also suffer from COPD and have asthma, but it has greatly improved since I quit smoking analogs and started vaping! No more hacking up a lung everyday, plus I haven't had to use my rescue inhaler once. It's amazing how many people out there don't know this, so it's great that you are helping to educate people.

 

[chimchim]

This is music to my eyeballs! Thank you for posting this!

 

[samuraijill]

If you truly do come to need it, I am an experienced and effective public speaker, and I think the message is important. I'll help!

 

[ScooterGirl]

I am new to e-cigs; mine was given to me a week ago by a client of mine who happens to be a doctor who is double boarded in emergency and internal medicine. I'm willing to bet that most doctors would recommend an e-cig over a tobacco cig any day to people who just can't kick the nicotine habit. Here's to hoping the medical profession will stand behind us when the FDA tries to force us all back to tobacco.

 

[BrennaK]

If you truly do come to need it, I am an experienced and effective public speaker, and I think the message is important. I'll help!

Thanks, Samurai. I'm pretty shy and quiet, and if you have any pointers about how to maintain composure, I'm all ears. I'm afraid I'm going to look like I need a smoke-LOL!
We received approval and are going ahead with this. He wants me to simply share my experience-apparently the folks in that department that have attempted to quit and failed expressed interest! I'm excited about that part. I'm going to touch on the following:
1. I had a twenty-five year history of smoking. I am thirty-four years old which means I smoked my first cig at the age of nine. I was a die-hard smoker as well...I ENJOYED it, as sad as it is. I have tried almost every method known to man to quit and failed each time.
2. I tried e-cigs for the first time only a couple of weeks or so ago as I had tried one that a friend had. Went out and bought my own, expecting that it might help me cut down.
3. Within a few days, I did not desire to smoke. The taste was too horrible to bear. I continue to vape as I used to smoke. Zero cravings, mild withdrawl symptoms.
4. I may touch a heartstring-I am indeed planning on telling this group that when I told my mom that I had cut back for a week and had been off them entirely for a couple of days (at the time of that conversation), she cried and thanked me for not putting her in the position of watching her only daughter die. Do folks here think it is okay to do that?
5. Answering questions to the best of my ability. I do plan on taking some business cards from Puresmoker that I got with some e-juice, and referring people here for information if they are interested.
Thoughts, folks?

 

[BrennaK]

Great to see another Iowan here on the forum! Thanks so much for the info!

Go Iowa!!!! People think there is a whole lotta nuttin here, and I'm glad they do. If they figured out how beautiful a corn field can be, they'd ruin my paradise! Good to see you here! You're the only one I've seen so far.

 

[cowfodder]

Thanks, Samurai. I'm pretty shy and quiet, and if you have any pointers about how to maintain composure, I'm all ears. I'm afraid I'm going to look like I need a smoke-LOL!
We received approval and are going ahead with this. He wants me to simply share my experience-apparently the folks in that department that have attempted to quit and failed expressed interest! I'm excited about that part. I'm going to touch on the following:
1. I had a twenty-five year history of smoking. I am thirty-four years old which means I smoked my first cig at the age of nine. I was a die-hard smoker as well...I ENJOYED it, as sad as it is. I have tried almost every method known to man to quit and failed each time.
2. I tried e-cigs for the first time only a couple of weeks or so ago as I had tried one that a friend had. Went out and bought my own, expecting that it might help me cut down.
3. Within a few days, I did not desire to smoke. The taste was too horrible to bear. I continue to vape as I used to smoke. Zero cravings, mild withdrawl symptoms.
4. I may touch a heartstring-I am indeed planning on telling this group that when I told my mom that I had cut back for a week and had been off them entirely for a couple of days (at the time of that conversation), she cried and thanked me for not putting her in the position of watching her only daughter die. Do folks here think it is okay to do that?
5. Answering questions to the best of my ability. I do plan on taking some business cards from Puresmoker that I got with some e-juice, and referring people here for information if they are interested.
Thoughts, folks?

Grab some info from CASAA as well.

 

[ScooterGirl]

For my part I most definitely DO think it's OK to mention your Mom's reaction. They always say that personal experiences can really drive a point home and that's a personal experience. Plus most of us (if we're lucky) have living parents and the thought of putting them through the pain of losing child is something we didn't want to think about as smokers. It is, however, an important point and as uncomfortable as it may be smokers DO need to be reminded of what their smoking can do to the emotional well being of those who love them. Lastly, my family is not demonstrative by nature but I am glad you posted what your Mom said; I like to believe that my Mom feels the same way but that it's just not in her nature to express it. I hope I made sense; I'm not a very good writer!

 

[Moonflame]

It might be good to point out how good it is for the people around you. My hubby has asthma and used to have to use his rescue inhaler a few times a day when I smoked in the house. Now he uses it a couple times a week at most. Plus, I haven't had bronchitis since I started vaping and I used to have it about 3 times a year and it lasted for months each time.

Good luck with the speech!