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COPD

Hi , I have been a smoker for 45 yrs. and a plasterer for 30yrs hardly ever went to the doctors for anything but bit the bullet last couple of weeks first time he sent me for x-rays 13 of them, but everything was clear and fine, so he sent me for a spirometry apparently I have the lung function of a 67 yr old I am 52 the nurse gave me tiotropium powder capsules and the device to take them once a day , it makes my head spin for a while after using it , I know everyone says stop smoking but I am going to find it extremely hard to do , can I use those vaper devices instead of smoking ?

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padg1

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19 Replies

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Flossie19209 years ago

I also have COPD and wondered about other devices but it is really better to check with your doc first. Good luck

mary

Dragonmum• in reply toFlossie19209 years ago

Can't agree mary - a lot of doctors are abysmally uninformed and their gut reaction is "OMG it's smoking" It is not. Word is spreading through the profession but it's slow; far better to do your own research if in doubt and you will be pleasantly surprised at the peer-reviewed papers available.

casper999 years ago

Hello padg and welcome to the forum. I stopped by using the ecig although, it may be worth you trying the tablet (I can't remember it's name. ) first as many people on here have stopped with it. I couldn't have had it anyway due to my depression.

I have just told another new poster called Dennis, how I went about stopping ect... if you'd care to have a read.

If you do buy an ecig, don't get the one's that are plastic with a long wick. They are rubbish. I had to borrow one off my neice last week because mine broke. I soon realised why she hadn't been successful at stopping smoking. They are too weak.

You want one with a glass, re-fillable tank on the top and a metal bottom. They are about £28 in the highstreet. I should have mentioned this to Dennis.

Crikey!!! 13 xrays, is a heck of a lot. I was diagnosed with COPD, by a scan.

As for the lung age, mine is 74yrs and I'm 55. According to some posters on here, this is a scare tactic to make you give up the smoking. xx

9 years ago

Hi the tablets are called Champix and you can get them on prescription . I think vaping or using e-cigs whilst not ideal is far healthier than smoking so go for it. x

paul659 years ago

hi it is very hard to stop smoking I thought I would never stop but you will just keep on trying you will get there just don't give up it will be the best thing you ever do good luck

Scud9 years ago

Please give it your best shot to stop smoking while you are in the early stages, I thought I could keep fighting the chest infections and carried on smoking for a while, I have now been stopped smoking for 16 years but as copd is a progressive disease I left it to late, I am now on oxygen 24/7 although it's not the end of the world your life style changes and you are limited to what you can do, I hope you find a solution but at the end of the I stopped stopped smoking through sheer will power it was agony at first but now I wished I'd done years ago. Good luck

chronicmick9 years ago

Honestly. Stop smoking or suffer. Nothing will help you until you do.

The vapour device is good start but tobacco is no no

Offcut9 years ago

I am an ex smoker (40 a day) and I had all sorts of problems giving up but once I was in hospital for 10 days on Oxygen I came out and have never smoked since. That was in 1992.

I am not 100% behind the e-cigs as there does not seem to be any real research or control but I do think it is the better of 2 evils as long as you have a plan to give them up to over a set period of time.

Good luck.

Dragonmum• in reply toOffcut9 years ago

I have no intention of giving them up ever Offcut - why would I? Nicotine in the strengths found in e-cigs is not only harmless, it is found to be beneficial in the treatment of memory/cognitive impairments which may come with age. Are you thinking of ditching tea or coffee? Same difference!

Offcut• in reply toDragonmum9 years ago

As I said e-cig better of the 2 evils. Inhalation of hot gases and irritants is not good for the lungs in any form. Tea or coffee has not damaged my lungs or my heart so I will not be giving them up.

I was told that the asbestos I was cutting on a circular saw for over 10 years was safe I have since found it was brown asbestos the second most deadly Asbestos.

Interesting read below.

forbes.com/sites/tarahaelle...

Be Well

Dragonmum• in reply toOffcut9 years ago

This is a question of potential risks Offcut, we'd all be safe if we could live in a bubble; unfortunately humans have human frailties. I cited coffee and tea because the caffeine in those is about equal in harm to the nicotine in an e-cig. I have read the Forbes article, among many others, the fact is that people are dying in their thousands every day from smoking related disease, in the 5+ years I've been vaping no-one has died from the proper use of an e-cig. There is a well-orchestrated campaign by those who stand to lose financially from their success and that includes Governments, Pharmaceuticals and Big Tobacco. I will attempt to post a link (not very good at it) to some real research which is, of course, an ongoing thing.

ecigarette-research.com/web...

Offcut• in reply toDragonmum9 years ago

Cannabis has shown to have loads of health benefits but it is some of the other rubbish in it that can be a problem but that can be taken out and used for medical reasons but the law makers seem to think it will open to many doors?

Dragonmum• in reply toOffcut9 years ago

I've been reading up on that too - some of it is very positive and it seems to be of great help to those suffering from M.S. I think the precautionary principle is being wildly overdone in so many of these issues - if I had anything that might benefit from its use I'd grow it myself! One of the few things in life I've never tried is cannabis.

Dmactds• in reply toOffcut9 years ago

OffCut,

I'm surprised that, by now, you haven't learned 'lawmakers' are not authorities in anything except how to collect graft from lobbyists from various corporations. THEY should pay attention to us.., NOT WE THEM. Discard anything any of them may say as self serving (in one way or the other) garbage.

monkey659 years ago

You might like to check out the Quit Support forum on Health Unlocked too- just click on the 'browse communities' in the 'my communities' tab and search for 'smoking'.

jeanielee9 years ago

Hi I used an electronic cigarette for a couple of years and then used nicotine replacement lozenges.....I think the general consensus is that gaping is better than smoking.

jeanielee9 years ago

Vaping

Dmactds9 years ago

Stopping smoking has been VERY difficult for all of who have done it to do; I smoked for about as long as you've been on the planet but I quit...; DO IT !!!