who's still smoking with hypothyroidism?

[Paus]

I smoked for 15 years, but not that much i only on 10 to 12 stick a day,
i tried not to smoke for 2 weeks only, & what happened!.... well i have a different experience, i feel uncomfortable, restless, unable to sleep. my mouth is dry & looks weird, i tried to eat candies a day but it wont works, i am still on a heat wave.

@ Now I am back smoking again.

is anyone are still smoking with @ hypothyroidism?



I read some blog about Connection w/ stop smoking and hypothyroidism.


Not The Cause, But The Effect.

1.)   I have a very different experience. I have had hypothyroidsim long before I started smoking. I quit for 2 years and could not believe how "easy" it was. It turned our that the cheap non-branded thyroxine was no longer working. Now I am back smoking again and my thyroid is back to normal. Long story short. You quit because your thyroid is low. Your thyroid is not low because you quit.
—Guest Neil


2.)YES! I stopped 5 months ago. I've had a low thyroid for years but it got really bad after I stopped smoking. So now I am dying to know what his theory was!!! Is there a connection between the two?

Does anyone else know? Did anyone else stop smoking and suddenly have serious symptoms with hypothyroidism?

This is driving me mad!

[Commett56]

I quit smoking in 2006 and in 2008 was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and my TSH was 29.5 before they realized what was wrong. I was dianosed with breast cancer a few months later. I was in my early 50's when quit and was a pack a day smoker. Used Chantix to quit. I am a cancer survivor, chemo and all, and smoking again after 3 years non. I still have all the weight I gained which was 40lbs. and still feel horrible and my meds do not work.

[Semido]

Reduce the number of cigarets each day, may be the solution.

[bev550]

I smoked for 20 years stopped for a year got low thyroid got  med and was fine or what they called in range for years !!! I stopped smoking after  3 months I feel so bad can not get to feeling better. I when to the doctor had so many complaints , about how I was feeling. He ran all kinds of test all was ok.But then my hair started to fall out and my heart  beat was to fast.My joints hurt so bad. My eyes have got so bad to. I am 57 and feel 95. I have decided that my thyroid is high.So I cut the synthroid in half Until I see the doctor.I think that when I quit the cigarettes the medd worked different!

[Paus]

Yes cigarette is bad for health but I always try and try to quit smoke, after a weeks back to smoke again.

Im 35yrs old  still smoking, I don't  have idea what will be the effect  smoking with a hypothyroidism..

[Paus]

Yes  smoking can gives me a lot to relaxation especially when I'm stress or thinking something,
I smoke 1st before I bowel. :-)
Well good news It's 4yrs already not drinking alcohol. For me it's easy to quit alcohol than smoking. :)

I'm just very curious about  this hypothyroidism why after I treated for hyperthyroid RAI after 3months I became hypothyroidism, & i didn't know I'm hypothyroidism that time It takes 4 months before I diagnose. So a lot of terrible doom symptoms I experienced.


Both my father & mother side have thyroid history hyper/hypothyroid but I'm the one who had hypothyroidism,the rest is hyperthyroid after being  treated RAI they didn't become hypothyroid like me.

[Red_Star]

I found a new study that is to be published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology. "Smoking cessation is followed by a sharp but transient rise in the incidence of overt autoimmune hypothyroidism - A population-based case-control study." I added the [under] [over] instead of the symbols which does strange things on the medhelp format. I know. lol! :)

Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2012 Jun 1. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2265.2012.04455.x. [Epub ahead of print]. Carlé A, Pedersen IB, Knudsen N, Perrild H, Ovesen L, Rasmussen LB, Jørgensen T, Laurberg P. - Department of Endocrinology & Medicine, Aalborg Hospital, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.

BACKGROUND:
Current smoking is associated with a low prevalence of thyroid auto-antibodies. On the other hand, smoking withdrawal enhances thyroid autoantibody level and may be a risk factor for development of hypothyroidism. Aim of the study was to assess the association between smoking habits (smoking cessation in particular) and development of autoimmune hypothyroidism.

DESIGN:
Populations-based case-control study.

PARTICIPANTS:
Cases (n=140) newly diagnosed with primary autoimmune overt hypothyroidism were identified prospectively by population monitoring (2,027,208 person-years of observation) of all thyroid function tests performed in the two well-defined geographical areas. Individually age-, sex-, and region-matched euthyroid controls (n=560) were simultaneously included from the same population.

MEASUREMENTS:
Participants gave details on smoking habits including smoking withdrawal and other lifestyle factors. Smoking habits were verified by measuring urinary cotinine (a nicotine metabolite).

RESULTS:
Incident hypothyroidism was very common in people who had recently stopped smoking: OR vs. never smokers (95%-CI); quit smoking [under] 1 years: 7.36 (2.27-23.9); 1-2 years: 6.34 (2.59-15.3); 3-10 years: 0.75 (0.30-1.87); [over] 10 years: 0.76 (0.38-1.51). Results were consistent in both sexes and irrespective of age. Within two years after smoking cessation, the percentage of hypothyroid cases attributable to cessation of smoking was 85%. Current smoking was not associated with altered risk for developing overt hypothyroidism (OR: 0.92 (0.57-1.48)).

CONCLUSIONS:
The risk of having overt autoimmune hypothyroidism diagnosed is more than 6 fold increased the first 2 years after cessation of smoking. Clearly smoking cessation is vital to prevent death and severe disease. However, awareness of hypothyroidism should be high in people who have recently quit smoking, and virtually any complaint should lead to thyroid function testing."

Pubmed - PMID: 22651374

[Red_Star]

Yeah i meant Mary Shomon. :)

[Red_Star]

A good article is by Mary Shalom -  "Cigarette Smoking and Thyroid Disease - The Relationship Between Smoking and Thyroid Disease. An excerpt from the article...

"Smoking Definitely Damages the Thyroid

First, tobacco smoke contains substances that affect the function of the thyroid. Studies show that smokers are more likely to have thyroid enlargement, and it is possible that mild thyroid enlargement in smokers could be a sign of subtle thyroid disturbance. According to a Jan. 27, 1993 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association smokers are twice as likely as nonsmokers to develop Graves' disease. Smoking also apparently worsens eye problems in people with Graves' disease.

Smoking Increases the Risk and Severity of Thyroid Disease

One study also suggested that that smoking may increase the risk of hypothyroidism in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. (Journal of Endocrinology Investigation1996 Oct;19(9):607-612, "Relationship between cigarette smoking and hypothyroidism in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis").

Also, a journal article "Cigarette Smoking and the Thyroid," The New England Journal of Medicine -- October 12, 1995 -- Volume 333, Number 15, -- reported that smoking is associated with so many abnormalities of thyroid function that it is unlikely it has just one single effect on the thyroid gland.

The study results, however, do not indicate that smoking causes hypothyroidism, only that it increases the severity and effects of hypothyroidism.

How Does Smoking Affect the Thyroid?

One component of tobacco smoke is cyanide, which is converted to thiocyanate, which acts as an anti-thyroid agent, directly inhibiting iodide uptake and hormone synthesis. There are many other components of smoke that might have antithyroid action, decrease the binding of triiodothyronine (T3) to its receptors or its post-receptor actions in the liver, muscle, or other organs, or both."

[AJWS6]

Hello friend, I totally agree most symptoms are coincidental.  I smoked again, my thyroid continued to swell.  Truth is no one will ever know why? my thyroid swelled, it just happened.  I try to find justification, possibly when I quit my thyroid tried to heal.  Wishing you well on your journey.  

[hashigirl1972]

smoking has had no effects on my thyroid or my thyroid disorder whatsoever..

I had symptoms when i didn't smoke and i had the same symptoms when i did smoke.. In my opinion any "symptoms" as to smoking or not smoking is completely coincidental, but that has been in my experience and it doesn't mean that it is the same for you..

Who knows? I just know it hasn't made a difference in my life..

[AJWS6]

I smoke through both hypo/hyper, especially in hyper phase, smoking helps relax my nerves.  Now the crazy thing is, I smoked for 30 yrs, after I quit smoking, my thyroid began to swell !! a few yrs ago.  But medication coulid have caused my thyroid to swell, according to radiologist.  

I quit smoking for 1.5 yrs, I was so proud of myself :)  

But I was alway's curious, what effects smoking had on thyroid.  

[hashigirl1972]

ME.. I smoked and quit and then smoked again and i have to say it had no affect what so ever on my symptoms or the progression of my thyroid disorder.. Smoking does not contribute to autoimmune disease or any symptoms related to thyroid disorder in my case..

I've quite, smoked again, quit again and my symptoms have only deteriorated.. I have hashimotos and my thyroid has died a slow death for the last 7 years regardless of smoking and not smoking and it has not shown to alleviate or to produce symptoms regardless..

Hope this helps...