smokeing

I read in a pamplet my gastro gave me that smokeing ciggs makes hepc worse  is this true ? Is it just as bad as drinking for your liver?
Becouse I just started smokeing again after not smokeing for 2 1/2 years ....I know who does that anyway .

[carol411]

Well, I didn't quit.  It was all just too stressful.  My doctor never even suggested it.  I finished tx almost four months ago and so far so good.

By the way, my 411 is my height.  What's yours?

Carol

[skyler411]

Ha' 5'3    it's just the pamplet has cigs right up there with alcohole & I can't see how ...

[skyler411]

actually 411 is in refrince to something that has nothing to do with hight ..lol.

[carol411]

Wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard "you know that stunts your growth don't you".  
lol

[HectorSF]

Patients with hepatitis C patients who smoke may be more likely to develop liver fibrosis. More data needs to be looked at to confirm this result.
Alcohol is known to increase the amount of liver damage in patients with chronic hepatitis c.

Smoking impacts many body systems and of course increases the risk of a person getting cancer including liver cancer.

If a patient needs a liver transplant they will not be able to receive a donors liver if they smoke.

Hectorsf

[skyler411]

I didn't know that ..about not being able to get tp if you smoke ...ciggs  Why's that?

[Bill1954]

Smoking has much higher odds of killing someone than HCV does. We’re told roughly 5% of HCV patients will eventually die from the disease, while around 50% of smokers will succumb to tobacco related causes.

Why would a transplant team consider allocating a precious liver to someone with those odds?

Not to mention that nicotine acts as a vasoconstrictor, limiting blood supply to tissue, etc. I’m sure there are many more reasons; as Hector pointed out above, tobacco affects multiple systems.

I’m not going all moral on you; I smoked heavily for years, so I get it :o).

-Bill

[speed502]

Maybe a little off topic here but this is from an editorial letter I saved a few years ago from our local newspaper: A hospital board at the University of Washington Medical Center cited a patient's use of marijuana as grounds for keeping him off the transplant list. The 56 year old patient used physician prescribed marijuana to ease his pain and nausea while awaiting a liver transplant.
Here is a link to more recent information although I can't vouch for it's validity.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/russ-belville/the-denial-of-organ-trans_b_435348.html

speed

[Mary4now]

Please stop smoking, I smoked for years and its been 32 years since I stopped, it is awful for your body, your lungs, your blood supply, your lymph system it is devestating, please stop and please stop supporting these corporations.  Think of the money you would save and the fun things you could do with that money,  take a friend to lunch, donate to a good cause, pay your electric.  get a massage.  Please stop

[nygirl7]

i admit I did not stop either. If it stunted my growth that is ok cause i'm 5'7 right now and probably would have been over 6ft tall ;-O

I do want to quit but have other vices that need to go first. But I ended up SVR........could have been one of the reasons I was stage 3 but seriously I put that on the alcohol I drank like a fish for 25 years.

[paen53]

I smoked for over 40 years and I tried quitting many, many times, never made it more than a year. Finally decided to get serious and quit about a week before tx started. It's been over two years now and no relapse as far as the cigs go.

I was concerned that while on tx and with low hgb and the shortness of breath that occurs because of it, that I would be better off not adding more to the mix as far as breathing probs. And it's one less toxin for our livers to deal with........Pam

[skyler411]

Niccorett here I come .....UGH!

[Susan_1a_CC]

the beautiful thing about niccorette is that you know you aren't having physical withdrawal symptoms - for me, this let me catch my breath (no pun intended) and focus on just how much I mentally relied on cigarettes to "always be there."  Seeing through what you think they offer you can make you much stronger in your quest to set them down forever.  Now, I can't even imagine that I ever smoked...
Best of luck to you,
Susan

[GoofyDad]

"...never made it more than a year."

A year? It took me a few false starts, but once I got to a few weeks I knew I was done. I can hardly remember smoking, But I can't remember much else either, LOL.  

Hey NYgirl - do you smoke after sex? Have a look next time and let us know!

[can-do-man]

"If a patient needs a liver transplant they will not be able to receive a donors liver if they smoke."

Maybe not where you live, which wouldn't surprise me :) But thats not the case here. Besides alot of risky things and behavior out there, why are smokers always picked on?

[Mary4now]

Picked On?  I agree smoking is a hard one.  I started at 14 and quite at 28 after having bouts of bronchitis and realizing I was doing it to myself .
Smoking is so bad for you and your precious lungs., did you know that the lymph system cannot process the tar and it stays in your system.  Bottom line I am so sorry you cannot see what you are doing to yourself.