This May Sound Strange But...

[bcalvanese]

I have not smoked a cigarette for close to 4 months thanks to e-cigarettes, but yesturday I smoked 2 cigarettes, and today I have smoked 1 cigarette so far, and I am thinking about going back to smoking 2 or 3 cigarettes a day.

I have some concernes about totally quitting, and they are as follows.

A long time ago, I was watching a show about smoking. There was a doctor who was talking about a theory that had to do with quitting smoking. He was saying that your body is always fighting cancer while you are a smoker, and that some people who quit could actually getr cancer from quitting. He said that quitting could trick your body in thinking it didn't have to fight anymore, and cancer could possibly be triggered from quitting.

Now i know this sounds strange, and it is just a theory, but my Father got lung cancer about 20 years after he quit smoking, and my uncly (his brother) got lung cancer about 20 years after he quit smoking. My other unclu (his other brother) never quit smoking, and although he suffers from many of the long term effects from being a heavy smoker, he never got lung cancer.

This kindof concerns me, because if there is anything to this theory, and I could inherently be at risk for this, I figure smoking a few cigarettes a day could maybe be enough stop me from meeting the same fait, and at the same time wont be too harmful.

Thoughts?
Opinions?
Suggestions?

 

[DC2]

Interesting theory.

 

[zapped]

I think when its your time time to go its your time to go and theres nothing you, me or anyone else can do about it personally. Ive seen something similar to that online and Id rather die knowing my last years were healthy up until that point.

For me at least, its a quality of life issue.I dont want to spend the last 10 years of my life hooked up to an oxygen tank.

 

[mikejm]

I think it would take a lot less than daily cigarettes to maintain an immune response. Your immune system contains memory. One cigarette per month would probably kick it in.

 

[twisted1]

Noob here.
I fear cigarettes more than cancer.
I've been exposed to high levels of carcinogens throughout my life.

 

[hugrem]

Smoke a cigar on the weekend just dont go back on cigarettes.

 

[Buggs5347]

I think you are over thinking it and applying this "theory" incorrectly. I am familiar with the theory, and it's a relatively short period of time after smoking cessation that this applies. The theory is a questionable hypothesis, not proven fact.

Getting the big C, 20 years after quitting smoking, does not equate that they got it from quitting smoking. There are far more risks of getting cancer or other horrible illness from continuing to smoke than there ever would be from quitting smoking.

Eat healthy and get plenty of natural anti-oxidant rich foods or supplement with vitamin C if you are worried about it. Those are the proactive things you can do.

 

[440BB]

Having a cigarette or two once in a while probably doesn't cause much harm, but thinking that inhaling carcinogens regularly helps your body fight cancer is a rationalization that I can't accept. I rationalize many things that I know are wrong but this one is too much for me.

I am so much healthier than before I started vaping that it is clear which way is best for living a healthy life.

 

[mikejm]

Just a smoke a cigar after you have your flu shots and you'll be fine.

 

[Brotolemaeus]

Anecdotal evidence, especially that loose, does not support a theory. Your best bet is clean living, no smoking, and proactively staving off cancer by taking in anti-oxidants and remaining physically active.

Smoking a few cigarettes a day is going to do nothing to prevent cancer, but will keep you attached to a deadly habit and industry.

 

[Sylvaria]

Could you please define "clean living" *looks left... looks right, clutches chocolate and Dew bottle with a vise grip* The physically active part is not a problem. The caffeine and chocolate habit... well you just don't understand that... it's more than an addiction that is a necessity of life.

Syl

 

[NancyR]

Lung cancer has many causes tho, smoking is just one of them. You didn't say anything about the type of lung cancer they had, what other risks there where, if they where in the service.

I brought up the service part as many service personal have been exposed to such things as agent orange while stationed in war zones, and long term effects from some of those chemicals are just now being fully understood.

 

[_more_]

I never knew about that particular theory.

But, I had a cig the other day and was stunned that it didn't taste nasty or smell disgusting to me after reading so many who say it does. It didn't make me want to smoke more it was just that a friend gave it to me.

I guess we are all different.

 

[Butters78]

I developed Chron's disease after I quit smoking. I've been hospitalized a few times. Right now is the longest I've been in remission thankfully. Researching crohns there are a few of us who got it after quiting smoking.

 

[Duckbitesman]

yeah there are plenty of things floating around to cause cancer, i really do not believe it is fully understood. and about the service thing that Nancy R said, I was a civilian worker at an air force base here in oklahoma and i worked in 2 buildings that regularly glass bead and plastic bead blasted B1 bombers and scuff sanded paint and surfaces on c-130's and kc-135's and steel shot peened several other components on aircraft parts and i can tell you that the danger of lung disease is very high there chemical paint stripping too, i knew then that smoking wasn't the only danger, it is crazy how yearly physicals showed steady increases in blood levels of cadmium, strontium chromate, and lead.

 

[subversive]

A few cigarettes a day aren't going to cause a lot of harm. That said, you don't want it to move beyond 1 or 2 cigarettes a day. It makes it easy to justify having 2-3 after smoking 1-2. Don't go backwards after 4 months of doing so well! I also have had relatives that got lung cancer a decade or more after quitting. Even so, we have all seen videos of smokers on their deathbed with ravaged lungs still lighting up.
I honestly think it all goes back to genetics. People who get it 2 decades after quitting were already going to get it. Quitting, though, may have given them a better chance for longer quality of life than someone who was still smoking during cancer treatment.

 

[tmcase]

I've heard some pretty crazy stuff but this theory takes the cake. No offence to you if you believe it but it sounds to me like another BT gimmick... to get vapors back to smoking.

 

[alank]

I have not smoked a cigarette for close to 4 months thanks to e-cigarettes, but yesturday I smoked 2 cigarettes, and today I have smoked 1 cigarette so far, and I am thinking about going back to smoking 2 or 3 cigarettes a day.

I have some concernes about totally quitting, and they are as follows.

A long time ago, I was watching a show about smoking. There was a doctor who was talking about a theory that had to do with quitting smoking. He was saying that your body is always fighting cancer while you are a smoker, and that some people who quit could actually getr cancer from quitting. He said that quitting could trick your body in thinking it didn't have to fight anymore, and cancer could possibly be triggered from quitting.

Now i know this sounds strange, and it is just a theory, but my Father got lung cancer about 20 years after he quit smoking, and my uncly (his brother) got lung cancer about 20 years after he quit smoking. My other unclu (his other brother) never quit smoking, and although he suffers from many of the long term effects from being a heavy smoker, he never got lung cancer.

This kindof concerns me, because if there is anything to this theory, and I could inherently be at risk for this, I figure smoking a few cigarettes a day could maybe be enough stop me from meeting the same fait, and at the same time wont be too harmful.

Thoughts?
Opinions?
Suggestions?

You mentioned cancer but didn't mention COPD/Emphysema. Cancer can be a death warrant and so too COPD. You can still have a bit of time after a diagnosis of either but one can be long and torturous. That would be COPD/Emphysema, consider having to move about with an oxygen tank for another 10-15 years. I have moderate COPD and have not yet fully quit, the sooner I fully quit the less the likelihood of needing an oxygen tank. So, that is something to factor into your personal equation. I suppose I too should also factor in cancer in a decade or so myself.
40 year pack a day smoker now down to 6-7 analogs a day... Perhaps I had better pick up the reduction/tapering pace a bit???

 

[myyrkezaan]

I think when its your time time to go its your time to go and theres nothing you, me or anyone else can do about it personally. Ive seen something similar to that online and Id rather die knowing my last years were healthy up until that point.

For me at least, its a quality of life issue.I dont want to spend the last 10 years of my life hooked up to an oxygen tank.

Quality of life doesn't work so well if something else kills you off first.

Having a cigarette or two once in a while probably doesn't cause much harm, but thinking that inhaling carcinogens regularly helps your body fight cancer is a rationalization that I can't accept. I rationalize many things that I know are wrong but this one is too much for me.

I am so much healthier than before I started vaping that it is clear which way is best for living a healthy life.

Would be an interesting case study.

Lung cancer has many causes tho, smoking is just one of them. You didn't say anything about the type of lung cancer they had, what other risks there where, if they where in the service.

I brought up the service part as many service personal have been exposed to such things as agent orange while stationed in war zones, and long term effects from some of those chemicals are just now being fully understood.

I've always been curious as to what the affects of exhaust are.

@Duckbitesman: That's really a sonic vaporizer with screw driver capabilities.

 

[DC2]

Now that I've been vaping for 3.5 years I no longer fear the grip of cigarettes, when done in moderation.
Sometimes I'll have one, although they certainly don't taste all that great.

Who knew you could have a smoke now and then without worrying about going back?
Only a vaper could understand that I guess.