I'm a doctor and I vape - FDA can get STUFFed!

[Basil]

Time has come to stand up in support of e-cigs and to give them a chance to be properly evaluated in comparison to cigarettes.

I'm a licensed physician, practising outside the US/UK. I started smoking late (final exams in Canada in 1996) and worked up to a 2-pack a day habit since.
Stress doesn't make smoking go away

Finally decided to try e-cigs myself. A trial of Chantix was a total expensive disaster, causing me quite bad depression.
Figured that any possible harm from e-cigs should be lower than the proven harm to myself and others around me from regular cigarettes. How much lower if at all needs to be studied objectively and comprehensively.

Results after being off analogs for about 2 months now: I feel better, breathe better, smell better..Apart from a small weight gain, it's all been good.

The best choice would have been to quit altogether, but as a second-best choice e-cigs have their place.

My 2p worth (UK by birth)

Basil

 

[Caesarea]

Well said, Basil! There is no shortage of places to do battle for the e-cig.

Best,

C.



PS for heaven's sake if you are a Dr, write to your professional associations, write a blog, write to the Lancet, do interviews for youtube, write for the forums, for the vaping organisations, shout it from the rooftops!!!!!!

 

[JenJen]

YAY! My dad's a doc and he is thrilled that I am vaping rather then smoking! Keep speaking out - we need you guys!

Time has come to stand up in support of e-cigs and to give them a chance to be properly evaluated in comparison to cigarettes.

I'm a licensed physician, practising outside the US/UK. I started smoking late (final exams in Canada in 1996) and worked up to a 2-pack a day habit since.
Stress doesn't make smoking go away

Finally decided to try e-cigs myself. A trial of Chantix was a total expensive disaster, causing me quite bad depression.
Figured that any possible harm from e-cigs should be lower than the proven harm to myself and others around me from regular cigarettes. How much lower if at all needs to be studied objectively and comprehensively.

Results after being off analogs for about 2 months now: I feel better, breathe better, smell better..Apart from a small weight gain, it's all been good.

The best choice would have been to quit altogether, but as a second-best choice e-cigs have their place.

My 2p worth (UK by birth)

Basil

 

[Chrissie]

Brilliant post Basil

I couldn't agree more with Caesarea - shout about it from the roof tops

 

[Moonflame]

Great post Basil! I really think that the more doctors (both ones that smoke and switch and ones that have seen the benefit to their patients) that speak out, the better. How can the FDA compete with tens of thousands of doctors who have seen vast improvements in the health of people who have switched to PVs.

 

[jlcanary]

That is awesome! I'm glad that you found a way to quit analogs that you approve of.

 

[WILDJC]

Hey Doc.

You would do this forum a great service if you started your own thread or sticky perhaps, so that you can reach out to other doctors who might be lurking on this forum. It would be instrumental for all of us to have a doctor's group advocating our cause. I'm sure many in the medical community are reluctant to do this because of professional peer backlash, but since this forum is anonymous, it would be much appreciated.

 

[breakfastchef]

Thanks for sharing your experience, Basil. Being a medical professional, you are tuned into the latest scientific literature on a daily basis. Have you done extensive research on the relative safey of inhaling PG or VG long term? If so, what have you found. Like many of us who are cautious yet committed to vaping, we assume that the long term effects of vaping will be innocuous.

 

[Basil]

Thanks for all the support. Thought long and hard before posting above.
The thing is that in N America the threat of legal action is always hanging over a medical professional's head.
What many doctors MUST be saying to each other in private would get them sued if they went public and something went wrong with someone as a result.
And I doubt any practising US doc would publicly post anything against the holiest of holies the FDA. They might get into hot water for daring to hold an opinion against a body that is supposed (!) to provide legal and medical protection to the public. In this case, their screwup kneejerk decision will likely condemning thousands of smokers that cannot or will not quit to a painful (and costly) death or disability.
If Obama is serious about saving healthcare $ - cut smoking-related deaths and disease by studying e-cigs as fast as possible and allow their monitored use until the true facts are established.

 

[breakfastchef]

Thanks for your response, but you failed to take the 'leap of faith' and quantify why you belief that vaping is significantly safer than smoking. Is reducing harm better than continuing along the path to death from analogs? Can you objectively state that vaping is significantly safer than smoking analog cigarettes? I think most forum members would read this thread and look for some support of their harm reduction choice.

There is information ont the Web that claims PG is quite evil. There are also claims that PG inhalation is much safer than inhaling cigarette smoke. While we do not know the long-term effects of PG inhaltion, vapers would like to know that vaping is significantly better than smoking.

 

[Master_Vapor]

Thanks for your response, but you failed to take the 'leap of faith' and quantify why you belief that vaping is significantly safer than smoking. Is reducing harm better than continuing along the path to death from analogs? Can you objectively state that vaping is significantly safer than smoking analog cigarettes? I think most forum members would read this thread and look for some support of their harm reduction choice.

There is information ont the Web that claims PG is quite evil. There are also claims that PG inhalation is much safer than inhaling cigarette smoke. While we do not know the long-term effects of PG inhaltion, vapers would like to know that vaping is significantly better than smoking.

I would like to first thank the good Doctor for his input!! As for any concern about propylene glycol, the above link is to a study done in 1942 some 67 years ago! I have been vaping for only 3 weeks and am now completely off those deadly cigarettes. Also, my asthma (since birth) and more recent COPD is gone! No more ADVAIR at $250 a month. I have very little concern about PG as it has given me no ill effect. I do have concern about the FDA, as if e-cigs are banned, it will cause my death as the gum and patches do not work. I have yet been able to blow smoke with the gum, which is half of my nicotine addition…oral fixation. My biggest concern is the juice from China. I only use juice made in the USA (you know who) as after the “deadly dog food”, “poisonous lead paint” for our kids toys, and now the sulfur dioxide in Chinese dry wall, well, maybe I’m just a “worry wart”. Nonetheless, I’m saving not only my life, but $450+ a month in the process!

 

[rjp44]

I think more Doctors will come on board as they learn about e-cigs from those of us who are using them and improving our health. Last visit to my own Dr., my e-cig was on route and I mentioned what I was going to try. My Dr. had not heard of them, but was very interested in what results I might achieve. Looking forward to the next visit in a couple of weeks to see what the Dr. thinks of the change in my lungs.

 

[yknotagain]

I have an MD customer who will no longer prescribe chantix after seeing many disturbing results and now recommends they try e-cigs.

 

[ProfessorDaffy]

Wonderful posting. There are so many people out there who are against e-cigs who don't even smoke or use them. It doesn't take a doctor to say, "I tried it, it works, and I feel better." There are so many wonderful success stories out there that it's really an inspiration. My favorites are the hopeless cases who have tired everything to quit using cigarettes and put them down in only a week or two of using an e-cig.

You don't have to sell people on e-cigs, just do what the others on this forum have done. Tell your story, share you experiences, and let the reach their own conclusions.

--Prof Daffy
P.S. No quack jokes from the little black duck this time around.

 

[Vocalek]

P.S. No quack jokes from the little black duck this time around.

Why not? Those jokes quack me up!

 

[Vocalek]

I would like to first thank the good Doctor for his input!! As for any concern about propylene glycol, the above link is to a study done in 1942 some 67 years ago! I have been vaping for only 3 weeks and am now completely off those deadly cigarettes. Also, my asthma (since birth) and more recent COPD is gone! No more ADVAIR at $250 a month. I have very little concern about PG as it has given me no ill effect. I do have concern about the FDA, as if e-cigs are banned, it will cause my death as the gum and patches do not work. I have yet been able to blow smoke with the gum, which is half of my nicotine addition…oral fixation. My biggest concern is the juice from China. I only use juice made in the USA (you know who) as after the “deadly dog food”, “poisonous lead paint” for our kids toys, and now the sulfur dioxide in Chinese dry wall, well, maybe I’m just a “worry wart”. Nonetheless, I’m saving not only my life, but $450+ a month in the process!

Shawn at zigcigs.com has a series on his experiences with e-cigarettes posted on YouTube. In Episode 8 he reviews the PG study. YouTube - Episode 8 - Health Concerns Smoking a Electronic Cigarette

An interesting point is that one aspect of studying PG was to see whether it could be used to prevent the flu. On, Thursday my brother-in-law was in an accident and my husband and I spent some time in the ER lending moral support to my husband's sister. There were a lot of people in the ER waiting area with pronounced coughing. Most were wearing the supplied surgical masks, but nevertheless, my husband has come down with a major cold. He does not use an e-cig. I was there about an hour longer than he was and I have not come down with anything -- even though my sick husband is coughing and sneezing around the house.

 

[trog100]

if the totalitarianism world of the USA.. a place that used to be called the land of the free now demands absolute proof of every claim made before it can be made you are all *****.

any fool knows that e cigs are safer than real cigs... but if absolute proof is required before anyone with something to lose dares say it you really are all ******.

trog

 

[surbitonPete]

any fool knows that e cigs are safer than real cigs... but if absolute proof is required before anyone with something to lose dares say it you really are all ******..

trog

Perfect ....I think that just about sums it all up in one.

 

[MaxUT]

if the totalitarianism world of the USA.. a place that used to be called the land of the free now demands absolute proof of every claim made before it can be made you are all ****.. trog

It is totalitarianism when the interests of lawyers, politicians and bureaucrats trump the judgement of physicians and the common sense of ordinary citizens.

 

[kklogan]

You know they are always bringing up President Obama's struggle to quit smoking. The media makes it sound ongoing. We should lobby him to use ecigs instead.