How Could a “Clever” Smoker Possibly Become Ill?

The Coach's Team ^ | 4/6/17 | Doug Book

[Oldpuppymax]

I started smoking in 1971; bought 3 packs of Camels one day (unfiltered) for a total of 99 cents plus tax.

But now, 46 years later, I no longer use tobacco. You see, seven years ago I switched to Electronic Cigarettes. Just pour in a little nicotine liquid mixed with vegetable oil—your choice of potency—and you’re all set to “vape” away. No lung-threatening, tarry chemicals. No smelly, annoying smoke to attract nasty looks. In fact, the “discharge” from these pricey little, battery-driven machines can be blown around your doctor’s consulting room and neither he nor his staff will be any the wiser.

It was the best of all possible worlds. I could continue to infuse myself at will with my favorite drug and risk no ill effects.

And did I take careless advantage of my discovery? I did not! In fact, to be extra cautious, I stopped inhaling the vapor altogether. Instead, I began drawing in the nicotine-laced smoke, rolling it around in my mouth and spitting it right back out with my next little bit of air. I had invented a thoroughly safe method of smoking—that is, of enjoying nicotine. Damn, I was clever!

Then suddenly, a few weeks ago, I couldn’t breathe. It was very late on a Sunday night and as I walked from my bathroom into my bedroom, I found I couldn’t get any air. Collapsing in a chair I began panting, gasping, sitting doubled over. I remembered a small, Albuterol inhaler I hadn’t used in quite some time, still laying on my night stand. I grabbed it and took 2 or 3 puffs. In a short time I began collecting a bit of oxygen; enough, at least, to be rid of some of the panic which had overtaken me. I’m not too proud to admit that I was scared as Hell.

I spent the rest of the night staring straight ahead, afraid to move lest that awful, complete loss of air should overtake me again. I scheduled an appointment with my doctor of 25 years and underwent a series of chest X-Rays. Getting to my car, walking into Eric’s office and later through the hospital; each was a more difficult and physically demanding task than anything I could remember taking on in decades. Of course, I finally had to ask that I be taken by wheelchair through the endless hospital corridors to X-Ray. I couldn’t walk the distance. I remember the X-Ray tech told me to take a deep breath and hold it as she pressed the button. Christ, if I’d been able to take a deep breath, I wouldn’t have been there. Standing quite still against the X-Ray backdrop, supported by nothing but my legs…and she wanted me to breathe too?

A “large pneumothorax” or collapsed lung. That was the diagnosis. And strangely enough, it was damned good news. For I hadn’t been home 30 minutes from X-Ray when the telephone rang and I read Eric’s name on the receiver. In 25 years he had never called me at home. Not once. I expected him to say, “Sorry Doug, but you have stage 4, lung cancer. With aggressive treatment, you could live a year, maybe more.” Talk about blood running cold. Seeing that name on my phone was the definition.

But my collapsed lung was very treatable. And that's why Eric had called--to recommend, strongly recommend as my friend and doctor that I head to the emergency room right away. A chest tube inserted to help the lung re-inflate, 2 ½ days in the hospital; a follow up visit with the surgeon and I’m still breathing just fine; or at least as well as I have for the past several years. And it all came with a free lesson in medicine and humility. For nicotine is the real culprit in cigarette tobacco, not tar or those other evil chemicals smokers have heard about for years on end. It’s nicotine that’s the real killer. As for my clever decision to switch to Electronic Cigarettes and avoid inhaling—I was kidding myself. I didn’t know. It seemed a damned good idea at the time. But not after talking with half a dozen doctors, each telling me just how dumb I was (in a very pleasant way, of course.)

The lesson is a simple one.

Anyone who smokes is a moron. I’ve seen the pictures of my lungs. So take my word for it. And there is NO way to game the system. There are no safe cigarettes—electronic or otherwise. And there is no safe method of infusing nicotine. Of course, nicotine-free liquid is available for those who wish (for whatever reason) to appear that they are smoking. But I’ll still guarantee that even that won’t be good for you.

So no preaching. Just quit and live longer or continue the intake of nicotine and die sooner. Enjoy.

[Bob434]

rk- what helped me tremendously was everytime gthe cravings got bad- I reminded myself what hell it was beating it each and every hour I struggled in hte beginning- I kept saying to myself “I’ve endured it this long, I’m NOT wasting the hours of hell i went htrough by quitting now

I think one key is to REWARD yourself by makign yourself understand that you WILL feel much better and increase your chances that you might not get cancer because you are quitting now-

Keep tellign yourself “Nope- I’m NOT wasting all those hours of effort and misery by havign even onem ore cigarette- (because you know that you can never have ‘just one cigartette’ as a ‘reward’ to yourself- it WILL cause you to start smoking again-

You’re tough- You can beat this

Also tell yourself everytime the cravigns get rough “Pfffft- I’ve had colds that were worse than this- I WILL get through thsi craving (the cravings really only do last a very short while each time they hit- You CAN get through htem- Colds make us feel miserable too- and we just grit our teeth and get through the worst symptoms- Well, we can do the same with hte cravings too- they WILL pass- and every day will get easdier and easier-

[Wissa]

Did you read the article?

What article? All I see posted here is a work of fiction.

[jjsheridan5]

Yes. I did. And I see no medical literature backing up your assertion that nicotine caused a collapsed lung.

Collapsed lungs are caused by many things: pneumonia, COPD, asthma. But not, in any medical literature I have ever seen, "nicotine". Maybe smoking (not vaping, smoking) causes COPD, which can lead to a collapsed lung. But nicotine on its own? Extraordinary claims, such as yours, require at least some evidence.

[Buckeye Battle Cry]

Keep trying.

My Mom smoked two packs a day for 54 years. Once cancer hit she went quick.

[rktman]

She’s worth it. She didn’t ask but ya know the undercurrent is there. LOL!

[Bob434]

[[Smoked unfiltered Camels for 39 years, but it’s the 7 years of vaping that’s the culprit?]]

exactly- Very likely the culprit is the real ciggs even though he’s been quit on them for 7 years- Folks wanna blame something, anything, rather than themselves- it was almost surely his choice to smoke real ciggs that caused the damage AND made his lungs more susceptible to collapsing later in life—

[Ransomed]

I didn’t get that part about nicotine causing the collapsed lung either. I have heard something called ‘popcorn lung’ is a risk with this vape stuff, don’t know if that is legit. But I thought it was due to water vapor/vaporized flavoring inhaled.

In any case you can get 0% nicotine juices for your vape device. Decreasing nicotine is an option for some, it wouldn’t have worked for me, I would have just hammered that thing all day long to make up for the decrease in nicotine. 0% nicotine lets you have the ritual of smoking which is a huge benefit psychologically when you are trying to quit, at least it was for me. I actually went cold turkey for a month before I got a vape pen, but it still helped. Now I don’t even want the vape pen, even around folks who still smoke.

Freegards

[Flick Lives]

My dad is 81. He smoked when he was a teenager but stopped shorty after accepting Christ at 17. (He and his buddies went to an outdoor revival to make fun of the proceedings while drinking beer in back of a pickup. By the end of the week he had given his life to God and surrendered to the ministry; he still pastors a church today.)

Cool story about your Dad.

[Telepathic Intruder]

Defend smoking all you like, I don’t care. But although I’m not a doctor (I don’t even play one on TV), I hear things. There are no positive aspects to breathing in smoke or injecting nicotine in your bloodstream. It can cause heart or lung disease. I can notice the difference in how I feel now as opposed to when I smoked. I can work harder without getting winded. I don’t get sick as often. But be your own judge, and I’ll be mine.

[euram]

For 5 years I restricted my smoking to no more than 5 cigarettes per day, if I went over that, I smoked that many less the next day. Then 19 months ago, I stopped altogether. But, the damage done by about 40+ years of 1.5 to 2 packs per day is still with me and always will be.

[rktman]

Thanks to all the FReepers for the words of encouragement. Actually, when we met, I had quit for 3 years and she still smoked and I got started back up. Now she’s quit and I’m getting there. Went to dinner at one of the casinos last night and then did some slots. That’ normally a trigger for me. Going to a jam session tonight in a smokey bar and that’ll be another trigger. Gotta push the envelope and boundaries since I’ll continue to be exposed to the jam sessions. ;-)

[Telepathic Intruder]

It’s the article that asserts nicotine caused the collapsed lung, not mine. But I’m not going to doubt it because there’s no need. Nicotine isn’t natural. It’s a drug that like all drugs can be taken in excess with consequences. Correlation doesn’t prove causation, I agree. But we can use common sense as well.

[meatloaf]

Look up popcorn lung. It’s sneaking up on some vapers.

[jjsheridan5]

“Popcorn lung” isn’t really a risk of ecigs. Popcorn lung was called that because workers in popcorn plants developed this lung issue, due to the artificial butter particles entering their lungs. They were exposed to *massive* amounts of this chemical (I forget the name of it, but it starts with a “d”). Some flavorings in ecigs used the same chemical. But it is important to remember that the dosage is the poison. Vaporers who used that flavor were not exposed to the massive quantities as were the popcorn workers.

It may be a very, very small risk, but in all likelihood the risk was essentially non-existent.

Many e-juice suppliers don’t use that chemical, just to err on the safe side. But a few still do. There are publicly available charts that show which brands have been verified (by lab) free of this chemical, but, quite honestly, anyone worrying about it would probably be better off worrying about Planet X, or maybe the Yellowstone Caldera.

[laplata]

Best wishes and prayers.

[jjsheridan5]

Nicotine isn’t natural.

It isn't???

Tell that to a tomato. Or a potato. Or eggplant. Or a bell pepper. Basically, tell it to your salad. It would be quite surprised to learn that it was harboring unnatural chemicals.

[Raycpa]

When I quit, I used various incentives and mind tricks to keep from having another cigarette. The one mental trick that worked the best was understanding that there is a limited number of urges to smoke before they cease. You do not know how many urges there will be but you do know that each urge is one less...unless you have another cigarette then you go back to square one. So every time I got the urge to have a cigarette instead of dreading them I cherished them because when it was done it would be one less that I had to endure.

The final lesson I learned was the connection smoking had to past experiences. Each time you have a past experience that you last were a smoker you will likely have an urge to smoke. After going for over a year with no urges to smoke I suddenly had numerous urges and I was getting ready to give up and have a cigarette until I realized a connection. The urges were happening when I was on vacation and I had never been on vacation in the prior 15 years without a cigarette. As soon as I realized the connection I was able to handle the urges very easily.

[mbynack]

I had a friend in college who switched from cigarettes to snuff. He ended up with cancer in his mouth and had to have his lower jaw removed.

My father and father-in-law were both heavy smokers and both died of throat cancer. My mother-in-law never smoked, but contracted emphysema from secondary smoke.

[Bob434]

[[I can notice the difference in how I feel now as opposed to when I smoked.]]

The reason you can is because you’re not ingesting upward of 4000 known carcinogens and dangerous chemicals all day long anymore- Nicotine isn’t the culprit- it hasn’t as far as i know, been deemed a carcinogen- and while ingesting it certainly isn’t ideal, it’s simply not the cause of cancer- the other 4000 chemicals, and tar and carcinogens are what causes cancers- it’s all the other crap in ciggs- Nicotine patches don’t cause collapsed lungs- COPD, Emphysema etc- all the other crap in ciggs that do-

When you smoked- you were ingesting thick gooey tars and 4000 or so cehmicals- many carcinogens- every day- several times an hour-

While vaping certainly isn’t ideal- cold turkey being the ultimate ideal- vaping will save many lives- just as nicotine patches and gums and sprays will

[Telepathic Intruder]

Let me be more specific: it's not natural to inject nicotine into your bloodstream, or to intentionally breathe smoke. So there will be consequences that our bodies are not able to cope with.