Should i quit smoking if i have Hep C?

[edz0r1990]

So,im 21, i love smoking, but i do have hcv, just wondering how bad this is for me and my liver, please i dont need any smart *** responses.
Also if anyone could help me out finding a diet to help with a healthy liver, im also wondering if fish oil pills are safe to take, im starting to get scared although i have no symptoms i know a guy that died at the age of 55 because of it, id like to live past that any help would be appreciated!

[orphanedhawk]

I'm sorry. My comment was short and not well thought out.

It was based on my own experiences watching friends struggle to quit cigarettes for years.
I've never known anyone who had a problem quitting pot.

Of course for someone with an emotional dependency, it would not be an easy thing to quit.
If anyone over indulges in anything every day for years, they are addicted.

Wishing you great success with this big step to improving your life.
OH

[edz0r1990]

I have an appointment tomorrow to get my bloodwork results, hoping all is well, i was perfectly healthy but i wasn't checked for 2 years, i was being stupid and over indulged in alchohol last summer and i knew i shouldn't but like i said, i was being stupid. Wish me luck :D

[edz0r1990]

As they say it is not an addictive drug, it is a mental dependency, after smoking it for 6 years all day every day, i can not sleep or eat without throwing up, i did some research and it can cause an eating disorder which can last up to a month of lack of appetite, changes hunger pains into just pain and nausea. So that is what im battling with at the moment. It really isn't as
easy as you would like to think. Knowing one joint would let me eat the whole house lol.

[screaming48]

I haven't had a cigarette since May. My mom in law was in the icu and watching her trying to breathe was horrible. Her shoulders would rise to her ears and she was on oxygen. She is at home now but she can't do anything and actually hasn't been able to for about 8 years, not much of a life when all you can do is go from bed to chair.
I loved smoking too and still miss it sometimes but I also found out I am a carrier of a gene that predisposes me to copd. It was time to quit and glad I did because with my hgb down around 8 most of the first few months on tx I needed all the oxygen I could get.  good luck anne

[HectorSF]

Of course the best thing to do is to know the status of your liver disease and then decided if you are ready to treat the hepatitis. Not smoking or changing your diet is not going to stop the virus from progressively damaging your liver only treatment will.

"i love smoking" It is called "addiction", not love.
If you haven't figured out that smoking is a one of the worse things you can do to your health then I don't know what can convince you. Smoking kills almost half a million Americans every year way more than hepatitis or liver disease. It is a toxic substance with no benefits but to make the cigarette companies hundreds millions of dollars a year while cost our health system hundreds if not billions of dollars per year.

Smoking causes death.

*    The adverse health effects from cigarette smoking account for an estimated 443,000 deaths, or nearly one of every five deaths, each year in the United States.
*    More deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined.
*    Smoking causes an estimated 90% of all lung cancer deaths in men and 80% of all lung cancer deaths in women.
*    An estimated 90% of all deaths from chronic obstructive lung disease are caused by smoking.
*    Smoking causes coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States.

Smoking causes the following cancers:

    Acute myeloid leukemia
    Bladder cancer
    Cancer of the cervix
    Cancer of the esophagus
    Kidney cancer
    Cancer of the larynx (voice box)
    Lung cancer
    Cancer of the oral cavity (mouth)
    Cancer of the pharynx (throat)
    Stomach cancer
    Cancer of the uterus

Compared with nonsmokers, smoking is estimated to increase the risk of—
    coronary heart disease by 2 to 4 times
    stroke by 2 to 4 times
    men developing lung cancer by 23 times
    women developing lung cancer by 13 times, and dying from chronic obstructive lung diseases (such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema) by 12 to 13 times.

Hector

[orphanedhawk]

Quitting weed is easy.
Quitting cigarettes is really difficult.
Nicotine is physically addictive, cannabis is not.

Good luck
OH

[edz0r1990]

At the moment i am quitting weed after smoking it for 6 years,6 days in so far and going strong, And that is why i was wondering, because i notice myself smoking alot more cigarettes then usual. I plan on quitting cigarettes next but i can only do one thing at a time, Maybe you should heed his words before its too late.

[Livinontheedge]

Ok,  I 'll admit, I am a smoker and have smoked cigarettes since I was 14 years old and now I am 49.     I would love to quit, but then again I enjoy it.  Its nasty , disgusting and putting lot of havoc on my body .   I really never took the time to find out what damages it would have on my liver.   But like my GI said to me.   Here I am trying to help you get healed, and your smoking could do alot of damage somewhere else.    ????????    

[edz0r1990]

That was meant to be for the both of you, sorry.

[edz0r1990]

I figured as much, I really appreciate your quick response thank you.

[orphanedhawk]

You can take fish oil. I do.My hepatologist ( liver doctor) doesn't mind.

The liver is a filter. So, the best diet is one as organic and free of additives as possible.It also filters what you breathe, like smoke, hair spray fumes, etc.
Think clean and pure.
Having said that, there are people who eat junk food, have hep C and their livers are undamaged.

[willbb]

just wondering how bad this is for me and my liver, please i dont need any smart *** responses.
---------------------------------------

ok  no smart *** response.

Smoking  is known to speed up fibrosis in those with HCV,as well as increase the chance of HCC(liver cancer)  and somewhat decresae the chance of treatment therapy

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16682255

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17036378?ordinalpos=14&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15378774?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum