I now know that for some people that vaporizing is better for you, however, for myself it had tragic consequences and after stopping all including cigarettes as well as the vaporizing, I now have fewer days of having a COPD attack. Maybe it is the condition of peoples lungs but for myself not good one bit. Thought it was worth putting in black and white as in my own Doctors surgery there was a notice board with it stating that with the evidence to hand it was better for your health, it should have said if you do not have a lung condition.
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phil4u
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The notice in my surgery states that it is better, but better still to give up smoking altogether. It is hard. All I know is when I was diagnosed with cancer, I gave up immediately after having smoked since the age of eight (8) till I was diagnosed with cancer at seventy six (76). I guess it depends how much it frightens you. Scared me stiff. What I do not understand is why people still take up smoking. I never would have if I had known the consequences. In my young days the first thing you did on leaving school and getting your first pay packet was buy your first "fags". Smoking said you were now an adult, a man! The tragedy is that tobacco companies are now buying up vaping companies because tobacco sales are falling year on year. Watch the advertising promoting vaping as Gods gift to the human race. Also, how does anyone, supposedly with COPD, still smoke? Beyond me. Acceptable, I suppose, as long as they do not keep moaning about their condition.
Ah but would you have given up if you hadn't been diagnosed with cancer? Suppose you had just been diagnosed with very mild copd and had virtually no symptoms? This was me and because I was never ill with it or had been blue lighted to hospital etc. carried on with it for 9 years before finally packing it in last year. Fortunately I am still mild.
If you smoked for 68 years you must have known you were never going to get away with it scot free so I wonder why you never stopped before? It was the shock of the cancer diagnosis after all.
Having said that I think it is still much better to use e-cigs rather than real ciggies especially if you are using them to give up nicotine altogether.
I am glad you survived your cancer and are still with us. x
Do you have a spirometry on a regular basis? I know you have mentioned being mild even though you smoked for several years after being diagnosed but wondered what your FEV1 is and has it declined some from what it was nine years ago just not enough to move you to moderate?
Yes I have a spirometry every year at my annual review. My lung function is always around the mid 70's which they told me is mild. It hasn't changed in 10 years thank goodness. x
is this possible, that you had copd for 10 years and you still still smoke and you still have the same lung function from 10 years ago. my doctor told me 5 years ago when I was diagnosed with copd 75% fev1 that there was no treatment for emphysema and I only way I can help myself was to stop smoking and I gave up there and then. I had been a heavy smoker for 50 years. my fev1 now is 65%, I exercise regularly, eat healthy food and I use one inhaler for my asthma.
I have made many friends on Facebook who have copd and all of them have worsened over the last 5 years. some have died.
Hi would like to point out that this post is 7 months old!
I was diagnosed with asthma in my 30's so had regular reviews. In my early 50's at my annual review the nurse told me I was heading for copd, which she diagnosed me with a couple of years later. Copd is the umbrella term for emphysema and chronic bronchitis but I have never been told which one I primarily have, and I think they don't know or care.
Progression is different with everyone and sometimes it's just down to luck - ie I must have some good lung genes as well as bad. Those of your friends who have died probably weren't diagnosed until the more severe stages. If you were mild and lost 10% of your lung function in 10 years and are now moderte and you smoked for 50 years you must be at least in your 60's now. Old age will probably get you long before your copd does! x
hi and thank you for your reply, I am 70 years old now. I was reading other posts on this site and this one cought my eye because of what you said. I wondered why you are still the same as you were 10 years ago as this is the first time I have ever seen this with someone with emphysema and still carried on smoking.
my thoughts were you are extremely lucky or that it might be you don't have emphysema.
hope you carry on with how you are, for me and others that continue to lose our lungs it gets very difficult to handle. I get out of breath so easily now.
You said you only use 1 inhaler now? It's much more normal at your level to have 2 inhalers - a preventer to open your airways. And the second one usually ventolin as and when you are more breathless. I would see your nurse/doctor and ask for more help in managing your breathlessness.
Few have purely emphysema or chronic bronchitis and it is much more likely you have primarily one with some of the other. You said you were diagnosed with copd and not just emphysema. x
I have emphysema chronic bronchitis and asthma. I only use symbicort now, but in the past I sometimes used ventolin but i stopped because it gave me very bad cramps. I think it was that.
I will be doing a lot more reading on this site. thank you for giving me your time.
Really? You might wanna take a closer look at that. It’s a lot like saying rat poison is safer that roach killer. The only thing that is HALF ASS safe to smoke is tobacco that has been organically grown and you roll yourself. I am referring to the tabaco plant not the cannabis although the second obviously safer since it’s actually medecine that cannot be overdosed. The e cigarettes here in the USA are almost all off shelves since they were killing children. We ALL know smoking will cause you to be sucking air before one is even 50 years. SMOKING SUCKS in more ways than one dontcha think✌️
Wrong REAL Cigarettes go Out...... Vap'ing use's batteries that keep on until needing a re-charge and one can continue to Vap until all the liquid is gone(whats in the oil/liquid ?). When you are dragging a bottle of oxygen around you will rethink your decisions thats why I titled the notice *Vaporizing Caution* ~_~CAUTION_~_
Well either smoking real ciggies or e-cigs is not ideal. All I am stating though if e-cigs help you give up real cigs then that is better than carrying on smoking! Sounds like you disagree with that.
Actually it was the answer for me - since switching nine years ago this January I have had no flare-ups of asthma or COPD, my inhalers have been cut to a minimum and my uptake of abs and steroids - well, the last time I had them was over a year ago and not for my lungs. A billion lives will be lost this century to smoking-related lung disease unless safer tobacco products prevail. In UK we have 3 million vapers - really bad news for the Pharmaceutical Giants.
vaping helped me give up cigarettes and I am grateful for that but I stopped when I realised anything going into my lungs other than oxygen and meds was a bit silly xx
I think that’s what they had intended those battery operated cigarettes for was the bridge from ACTUAL cigarettes to smoke free. So bravo for you, short term to achieve goal of a Quitter! To continue choking out on that tool wouldn’t have been smart and you knew it so yeah we win-live another day👍
I am not as I am rational and logical and can work things out and accept we are all human. I gave up smoking last year and do not vape, but many of my friends have given up smoking or cut right down because of e-cigs. To me that is better than smoking. You appear to be saying that it is just as bad or even worse! I can't understand your attitude to be honest as it isn't rational.
I have just become a member and this post come up even though it was from 7 month ago.
if there is anyone still interested in the e cigarette there is a lot of concern in the USA about it.
I too am struggling to give up on e ciggies after being diagnosed with mild copd I feel so angry with myself knowing I'm doing myself more damage but I feel I need this crutch to calm me down at this point in time Yes I know another excuse and I keep on trying to go smoke free Wish me luck I need it
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