Cigarettes and WLS
I have been advised that I must quit smoking 2
months before the surgery, but am finding it almost as
difficult as losing weight! Is there anyone out there who
has continued to smoke and if so, has it caused
problems?? I want to quit, really–But with everything
else…
January 8th, 2004 at 8:49 pm
Hi there. For what it’s worth, my surgeon
(Pacific Bariatric Surgical Medical Group in San Diego)
will not perform surgery if patients haven’t quit
smoking for 6 months.<br><br>I’m not a smoker and using
the incentive spirometer post-surgery and the
coughing that caused were bad enough…I can’t imagine
what it must be like for smokers.<br><br>You really,
really don’t want to cough…trust me on this
*s*<br><br>Linda
January 9th, 2004 at 2:10 am
What I have to say may seem a little harsh but
please understand that Im speaking with love, and from
experience. If I were a surgeon I would not perform surgery
on anyone that has smoked in the last 6-12 months.
To me a cigarette addiction would be an indication
that someone is not devoted to a new healthy
lifestyle. I would not see the point in performing surgery
so someone can lose weight and get healthy if they
are only killing themselves from smoking. If you are
serious about the surgery and a new life, then the
smoking has to stop. There are no 2 ways about it.<br>I
really am speaking from experience. You HAVE TO just one
day say to yourself.."this is it. Im making changes
starting right now."<br>After a year without cigarretes,
you will be repulsed by their sickening smell, and
wonder how you could ever have done that to yourself. I
see smokers now and I want to just grab them by the
throat and say, "quit already. What are you waiting
for?" <br><br>Please stop smoking. If not for yourself,
then for all the people who love you and wont want to
watch you die.
January 9th, 2004 at 7:31 am
From what I have heard (ie from nurses), it takes
3 days to get over the nicotine cravings- if you
can do it cold-turkey or with the help of gum or the
patch (worked for my husband), and can suffer through
those first three days, it is just the HABIT that is
difficult to break. For instance: if you would smoke after
eating, you must find something ELSE to do to replace
that, like picking up a book, or drinking a glass of
water. Or if you ‘always’ smoke a cigarette on your way
home from work, take a different route until you are
comfortable. Avoid situations where you want to smoke for a
while- a party, a bar (not here in California!) outside
with co-workers on your break. You must at least try
to quit smoking. If you try and fail , and least you
can say you’ve TRIED, but to just say "it’s going to
be too hard" you won’t know unless you do it.
<br>Also, to elaborate a little on the health issues, in my
opinion ONLY, why would a Doctor who has taken the
Hippocratic Oath to try and save all life no matter what,
want to perform WLS on you to save yours from obesity,
only to have you try and destroy your body another
way, by smoking. That to a Doctor, is a moot point,
and a waste of time in his eyes. WLS is to promote
HEALTHLY LIFESTYLES.<br>Take the plunge, and give it up.
You have to just do it, there will never be a ‘good
time’ to quit, there will always be something in your
way or some excuse. I heard them for a long time from
my Husband….
January 9th, 2004 at 12:52 pm
Im 5 weeks post-op and managed to quit 3 weeks
before my surgery. What i did was tell myself that
instead of smoking, i could have something to eat! For
years its always been the other way: have a cigarette
instead of a snack, but i decided that in the long run a
few extra pounds (turned out to be 15!) would be less
damaging before the surgery than to continue smoking. So i
slapped on a Nicoderm CQ (or 2) and munched away on
whatever my little heart desired for 3 weeks. I wish i had
been able to stop earlier, because im having cravings
now i think i could be avoiding if i had quit
earlier. 72 hours to get the nicotine out of your system,
6 weeks for the habit. I know exactly what you mean
about the stress, but if you can make youself bite the
bullet, do. Else you will be hating yourself in the
hospital! <br>Incidentally, i found this part of of the
whole process much harder than adjusting to the new
food relationship. We smokers/exsmokers have got that
other demon to deal with and extra support is needed.
Feel free to write!
January 9th, 2004 at 6:13 pm
Hey there. This is my first post to this board,
but I have been reading everything here for a
while.<br>I just wanted to address the cigarette issue. I
used to be a smoker. Then I started researching WLS
and most of the information I read claimed that your
doctor will request that you quit before surgery and not
to resume after surgery. I needed this surgery so
bad that I was not willing to ruin my chances by
continuing to smoke. I quit on Halloween 1998 and I have not
smoked since then. The other person that said after one
year you would be repulsed by their sickening smell is
SO RIGHT!! I can not believe that I used to put
those stinking things in my mouth! Just passing by
someone that smokes - I can smell it on them and it
reminds me of how glad I am that I quit.<br>Please,
please quit now. You can not get healthy by just loosing
weight. You must get healthy in all aspects of your
living which includes giving up the cigarettes.<br>You
will also be surprised at how much better you feel a
couple of months after you quit, you can actually start
smelling things, tasting foods and breathing so much
better. Sorry I have rambled on for so long, I just
really wanted to reach out to you and let you know that
you are not alone. Others have done this all for the
sake of getting healthy - all over.<br>Good luck to
you!<br>Debbie H<br>296/184/160<br>8/4/99 Dr. Alexander -
Dallas, TX
January 10th, 2004 at 4:54 am
I am 3 weeks post op today. The surgery was much
harder than I exected. I can’t imagine if I had been a
smoker I would do everything possible to be in the best
of health before you go to surgery. My good news is
today I went to Cato’s and had dropped 2 sizes in 3
weeks!!!I’m so happy.<br> Give up the smoking, you have
nothing to lose and all to gain! Barbie
January 18th, 2004 at 12:02 am
Hello! I’m new to the list and have been reading
a lot of the past posts and felt compelled to reply
to the smoking issue. I’m almost positive that I’ll
make some people mad, but please know that truely is
not my intent. That said, here we go.<br> There are
several reasons that the surgeons require patients to
stop smoking before surgery (and that means any
surgery, not just wls.). One reason is the impact of the
smoke on the lungs. <br>Need to have good lung function
to get that oxygen to the tissues so they can heal.
Smokers are also more likely to have respiratory problems
post op. Another reason to stop smoking is because of
the impact that nicotine has on your blood vessels.
Everytime you smoke (or put on a patch!) the nicotine
constricts (makes smaller) your blood vessels. When the
vessels are constricted, the amount of blood getting to
the surgery site is limited. If the blood flow is
decreased, you aren’t getting all of the nutrients to the
surgery site and you won’t heal as well. <br>And now to
address the issue of "adopting a healthy lifestyle",
smoking and wls. The first thing that jumped into my mind
when I read the responses about how a smoker should
"just quit" or they shouldn’t have the surgery was,
"WHAT A BUNCH OF HYPOCRITS!!" Why should stopping
smoking be any easier than losing weight? How many times
have we been told that we should "just eat less and we
would lose the weight". We all know that doesn’t work
or we wouldn’t be needing wls! If the surgeons were
so into having their wls patients "adopt a healthy
lifestyle" in order to be eligible for surgery, why don’t
they require us to sign a contract stating that we
will never ride in a car without wearing a seatbelt,
we will always obey every traffic law, we will never
use illegal drugs, we will never get involved in
abusive relationships, we will always wear sensible
shoes, etc…… My point is, I don’t think it’s fair to
question someone’s commitment to wls or judge them based
on their addiction to cigarettes. We need to
encourage them to quit. Inform them about why it’s
important to stop, especially before surgery. We need to be
supportive and understanding when they are having a hard
time. Offer advice and ideas on how to be successful.
To imply, as some of those posts did (in my
opinion), that the person reaching out is not worthy of wls
is just wrong. <br>Again, I’m sorry if I upset
anyone. I just wanted to share how I felt about some of
the comments.<br><br>And (taking my own advice) I
would like to make a suggestion to the person that
needs to quit smoking before surgery. Have you tried
talking to your doctor about a prescription for
Welbutrin? The Welbutrin works in your head and helps to
stop the cravings. And it comes with a program to help
you change your habits, too. My boyfriend had to quit
smoking 2 months before his back surgery in February and
was able to do it with the Welbutrin. He was a 1 to 2
pack a day smoker for 20 years and it worked (with
some effort) for him. And he had some major stress
going on at the same time, too. (His Mom died in
January, his ex-wife was pulling a bunch of ugly stuff and
he’d been off work for about 10 months)<br>But he was
able to do it. His surgeon even made him do random
testing to make sure he wasn’t smoking! <br>So, give it
your best shot. I know you can do it. It will only
help you out in the long run. And think of all the
money you will save! :)<br>Zoombah2<br>preop bmi
53<br>lap rny<br><br>p.s. I’m also a former smoker, so I
understand!
January 18th, 2004 at 5:23 am
Although I dont agree with your words, I still
applaud your comments. I think its important for readers
to get various oppinions before taking their own
stance. I was one of the many that commented on the
healthy lifestyle issue and do NOT feel Im a hypocric at
all. Just becasue I was overweight does not
necessarily mean that I was addicted to food. For this
reason, I cannot compare it to a smoke addiction. That is
a catagory that not all fat people fit into. The
other thing I want to say is that my doctor did council
me on a healthy lifestyle and it makes sence to me
why he WONT operate on a smoker. I can say this
without prejudice becasue I was a smoker also. I quit
because I was commited to getting healthy and my doctor
said, "why should I offer you a lifesaving operation
only to watch you pump poison into your system?" It
made me think, and I quit. It was hard but Im almost 2
years without a cigarette and I think he was right. I
am a firm believer that anyone who smokes should be
forced to quit in order to have the operation. Its a
matter of will power, and if someone doesnt have the
will power to stop smoking then they should not have
this operation. This surgery alters the way you think,
the way you look and the way you feel. Once someone
gives up smoking for 6 months and then has this
operation, Im sure they wouldnt want to start smoking again.
They will start looking and feeling better and
thinking clearer. <br>Yes it is hard to quit. I shook
badly for 2 days but I got through it and Im all the
better for it.
January 18th, 2004 at 4:04 pm
I would love to respond to the message posted. I
too, was one of the people that replied telling
everyone that you really must stop smoking before WLS. I
was a smoker and I did , as you said "Just Quit". I
know that not everyone can "Just Quit". I certainly
don’t expect that to be the case. I was only stating
that was what I did. I really really wanted this
surgery and smoking was certainly not going to quelch my
chances of obtaining it.<br>I do not take offense to your
message, just wanted to let you all know that I myself am
not a Hypocrite about these issues.<br>Thank
you<br>Debbie
January 19th, 2004 at 2:46 am
I, too, was recently informed by the surgeon’s
nurse, I have to quit smoking. I wish I could do like
lionsmum and eat instead of smoke! I can’t do this because
I was also told I can’t gain any weight or I may
not qualify for the surgery! I am 5′4" 276 pound BMI
47+ and I thin my BMI can’t go above 50. I cut down
in the last few days and intend to quit shortly. I
will see a doctor today about some kind of pills that
are supposed to be better than the patch or gum. If
they are not too expensive or if they are covered I
will get them, otherwise, it’s cold turkey soon. I
have already started walking again and trying to eat 3
meals a day as recommended by my surgeon. I hope I can
quit without gaining too much!<br>HUGS<br>Shawna