I am currently in the midst of stopping smoking. I am using Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT). I am using Nicorette gum and/or Commit lozenges, both of which contain nicotene. My questions are:
1) what impact does smoking have?
2) what chemical in the smoke causes the problem?
If it's the nicotene then I suppose that the NRT's would be just as detrimental as smoking itself and I will have to find another way to quit.
I'm interested myself. I still smoke, which I know is not good and I should quit, but I'm also in a very stressful time right now. Sleeping is difficult as it is, let alone quitting and not being able to sleep due to that
You know many times I have given up smoking and the three times I have ,have been cold turkey.I have not had a cig for two years. The time before I gave up for 6 years and then thought I could have a cig when out drinking etc ( once a smoker always a smoker).BIG MISTAKE. I know how hard it can be really it's only the first two weeks that are really hard not knowing what to do with your hands and feeling like something it missing but before you know it you are a non smoker.
I hear that Nenu! My problem is that I don't even want to quit, although I know it's killing me faster than MS! I want to want it, I just don't.
The lozenges worked very well for a friend of mine who quit a habit of over thirty years. My best friend quit a few years ago with the patch. It gave her some strange dreams, but it worked. She also put up a picture in her bedroom of what lungs of a smoker look like, and that helped too!
__________________
April
dx 9/07
Avonex started 11/07,
Stopped 4/10 due to no insurance.
Hey Mitch, good for you! Im still a smoker, and like April said, not real committed to quitting at the moment..but I should. We ALL should...but good for you for making the leap!
To answer your question, Nicotine is what is addictive in the cigarettes, so by using NRT, you are still getting it, but no where near the amount that you would be smoking..which is also why they come in different strengths, youre supposed to be able to wean yourself down every few weeks...as far as what causes the problems with the neurological system, its the whole package. From the Nicotine to the Tar and all the additives in between, they all play havoc on your system. I dont know if you were around when we had the ongoing thread about chantix....but if you search Chantix and MS youll find it..there was some pretty scary stuf out a few months ago on Chantix, which is the stop smoking prescription...I tried it, my husband tried it, my sister and half my family tried it..no one quit on it and now they have a warning on the insert that it MAY cause Neurological problems...funny stuf that Chantix..
You might find more answers to your questions on the smoking cessation board of healthboards..but PLEASE keep us posted on how youre doing!
You know. We could all set a date for quitting... and try and quit this stinky habit together. Wonder how that would work?
Really you do have to be in the right frame of mind to quit successfully. When I quit for 6 months, it was cold turkey. I'd always go cold turkey to quit. Only way I can do it. Tapering off slowly does not work for me.
What I found neru is what you said before you have to want to give up that is the only time it will work I hated that feeling that smoking ruled me and what it was doing to me.
Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) discovered that cigarette smoking may contribute to the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), suggesting that quitting smoking could limit or delay central nervous system deterioration. Study results appeared in the March 9, 2005 issue of Brain.
I hope this helps. I had a co-worker long ago who went cold turkey. He later discovered that he was actually allergic to cigarettes. To this day he can have allergic reaction to smoke or smoke residue.
Quitting is indeed a difficult undertaking, but it is a worthy goal. I have no experience with smoking, but I have friends and a niece by marriage who are currently trying to stop. I applaud all who try to quit. The possible problem with the progression of MS might give you the motivation to get you through the hard times.
Just this past year a study came out that negated the findings of previous studies had been done, including the one from Harvard that MSJayhawk cited. What do I say to that? Rubbish! (And please note that this post is being written by a smoker!) The fact that smoking can cause white matter lesions aside (albeit not specifically MS lesions), I absolutely believe that smoking is very possibly detrimental to MS.
It was just one. I think we even discussed it on the board here at the time.
Again, I believe the FORMER studies -- makes more sense to me, especially since I believe that endotoxins may be implicated in MS, at least in some folks.
Here is a more recent study: New research carried out at the Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center (BNAC) of the University at Buffalo has shown that smoking increases the degree of disability of people who have MS due to a increase of the degree of brain tissue shrinkage. The study included 253 RRMS patients, 9 PPMS, 90 SPMS, and 16 who had just "started" MS. This study was published Oct 14, 2007.
Here's the kicker...the study that came out saying that there was NO association between smoking and MS progression was released on October 8, 2007. I had to look for it because I remembered that two reports were literally on the heels of one another!! I can't post any of the links I found but the study I'm talking about was published in the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, based on a 364 person sample in the Netherlands.
Just goes to show you, as with MANY things MS related, it's not unusual for studies to be contradictory! But like I said before, instinctively, I'm with the "smoking is not good for MS" camp. I've also read accounts from former smokers who say they've noticed an improvement in their symptoms. I hope to one day be a former smoker who can also report my own account of improvements!
As a fellow smoker, I totally agree with Beary and the study she cited. How could smoking NOT be bad for MS, or for anything else? It makes no sense at all to me.
It's definitely a good incentive, and one that will hopefully motivate me. It's at least the biggest motivation so far!
__________________
April
dx 9/07
Avonex started 11/07,
Stopped 4/10 due to no insurance.
My intial interview with the ms specialist smoking was one of the questions that came up I am not sure what he said exactly but indicated that there is a colition between the two both before and after dx.
My intial interview with the ms specialist smoking was one of the questions that came up I am not sure what he said exactly but indicated that there is a coalition between the two both before and after dx.
I was asked as well. Other drugs were questioned too.
On my diagnosis sheet my neuro wrote up, he put 'smoker' as an alert.
I think we even discussed it on the board here at the time. 
