Smoking and VSG???

Hello all,

Martine asked me to quit smoking before my surgery... Has any of you experienced this and what if I can't do it, are there any risks to the surgery or? I smoke on average 25 cigarettes/day.

Thx :)

I read it was really risky to smoke and have any type of surgery. Something to do with the blood stream and what not. Start by cutting back to 20 and day tomorrow, 15 a day the next day and so on until 0. I know it'll be hard but YOU CAN DO IT. I quit my diet pepsi addiction (3L a day for 15 years) and you can do your smoking addiction. Not really the same thing but it is somewhat relative I believe.

 Did you ever try nicotine replacement therapy like patches or gum?  I knew a lot of people that quit using Zyban...is that still used??

Elena

Hi Elena,

Zyban is no longer prescribed as a smoking cessation aid even if it was quite effective - both my parents quit with it. It has been replaced by Champix.

Monica

Hi Kessey,

As Derek said, smoking presents potential danger with any kind of surgery. My understanding is that the two main issues with it are the decreased lung function - which makes general anesthesia more risky - and the fact that smoking hinders cicatrization.

I was a heavy smoker myself - 25-30 cigs/day for 7 years - until I decided I wanted WLS and decided that I wanted to stop smoking before that happened. I had tried everything to quit before - patches, nicotine gum, fake plastic cigs that give you a shot of nicotine when you suck on them, you name it and I'd tried it, all to no avail.

So, my last resort was medication, Champix to be exact. And to my great surprise, it worked! I've been smoke-free for exactly 9 months to the day! The way Champix works is that once you've accumulated enough of it in your body, it totally cuts off any physical craving you might have for cigarettes. It's supposed to take 6-8 days before that happens (you keep smoking while taking it, until you no longer feel like smoking at all); in my case, I had to take it for 4 weeks before the cravings disappeared. But when they did, it was total and absolute, to the point that when I tried to take a drag I found it absolutely revolting! And I haven't smoked since - although, I admit sometimes the "head craving" still manifests itself (and yes, I've been known to follow strange smokers on the street just so that I could inhale a bit of their second-hand smoke!).

Now, while all this seems miraculous - and in a way it is - as with everything else, it has its downsides: the list of potential side-effects is quite long and you have to take it for 14 weeks, which is a bit of a committment. But honestly, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. I'd never imagined that living smoke-free could be so nice!

Good luck and congratulations on getting your surgery date!

Monica

Thank you all for your suggestions,

Due to the fact of current medication that I am on I cannot take Chanpix :(

So I might try the patch and nicorette, but I want to slow down and eventualy quit cold turkey. But the thing is that Martine told me to quit before my surgery wich is in not even 30 days... So I have to struggle a bit...

But I am so motivated that I am sure I will succeed... :)

I will try the patches and see if it helps at all... BUT I NEED TO QUIT LOL....

I think you should have been told way before 30 days pre-op to quit smoking and the reasons for it in order to give you a bit of time to mentally prep for it....
That being said, I've had surgery both while I was a smoker and a non-smoker, and it was much easier for me to "come to" once they woke me up from the anesthesia when I was a non-smoker.  
Like I mentioned in the other post.. the patch did help with the physical need of nicotine while I fought the mental habit when I quit.  

Good Luck :)

 I know my surgeon and plastic surgeon both test blood samples for nicotine before surgerya nd will refuse patients who have a certain level in their blood... maybe its something other than nicotine... but I know they were quite serious about it.  They said it can cause issues with healing and other serious complications.  

When I quit smoking about 6-7 years ago I had done it cold turkey, however I was on an anti depressant Wellbutrin at the time.  Come to find out that they were prescribing that particular medication to help people stop smoking as well.  Maybe it could help...

As a side note, I now can't stand the smell of cigarette smoke and will avoid it like the plague... it leaves me with a taste that makes me think of licking an ashtray... YUCK!  That and the fact that they are so dang expensive keep me well smoke free!  (down in TX when I quit they were $2.75  a pack!  Now they are crazy rediculous in price!)

I wish you luck!

-Sarah

Kessy you can do it.  Keep your eye on the prize girl.  You can do it.   Good luck.  Doris QC.

Thank you everyone for your kind feeback...  I am struggling right now and I am finding it very difficult to just quit. And I agree, they should of advised me to quit wayt before 30 day pre-op. I did slow down but to be honnest I have not been putting as much effort as I should have... My friend says just to not smoke 2 days pre-op? That is what she did but she was not a heavy smoker to begin with... Grrrrrrr, I am getting frustrated with myself... Wi**** was so easy, and considering I can't take champix it makes it even more difficult... I think I will try the patch and start on it this friday... But my concern is what if I quit and I am only 20 days away, will I not suffer from withdrawl at the same time? I don't want all that to affect my surgery?