smoking and HRT

[smitty52us]

just wondering how meany of you have quit to start hrt  i did but wondering about the dvt as wemon have estergin and alot of them smoke would like your input thank you

Admin Note: This for a topic for discussion of Using Tobacco products only. Posts discussing any other substances will be removed.

[Emjay]

I quit...

I've had one or two slips but that's been it, other than that I'm tobacco free!

[Cindy]

Smoking is a big no for HRT. Endos have been known to refuse to put you on HRT until you stop. The danger of DVT is very real for us. Also most surgeons won't operate unless you give up as microcirculation repair is badly compromised.

[synesthetic]

Yeah, Cindy's right (as she usually is).
"Please note that some doctors may not prescribe hormones, or prescribe greatly reduced levels, if you are a smoker. This is because smoking closes the estrogen receptors, and in some cases, hormone regimens are almost so ineffective as to be a waste of money. It is actually recommended that if you are transitioning MTF, that you should quit smoking." (source: http://www.albertatrans.org/mtf.shtml)

I quit...

I've had one or two slips but that's been it, other than that I'm tobacco free!

that's awesome! congrats

[Obfuskatie]

I quit a few months before I was able to get in to start hormones.  Quitting was difficult, but it was worth being able to start HRT.

[Ms Grace]

In parts of Australia they have an advertising campaign that states "every cigarette is doing you harm" meaning there is no "safe" level of smoking. That applies to all people but especially to us because of the medication we are on.

[katrinaw]

Luckily I gave up smoking, anything at least 10 years before I started HRT... So proud and so much better off, health wise and financially... And I do agree with Grace's comment.

L Katy 

[Urban Christina]

Luckily I gave up smoking, anything at least 10 years before I started HRT... So proud and so much better off, health wise and financially... And I do agree with Grace's comment.

L Katy 

Congratulations Never smoked cigarettes but am sure it was hard! 

[katrinaw]

Congratulations Never smoked cigarettes but am sure it was hard!

Taa Christina... was hard, and went cold turkey... (hence the proud bit  )

L Katy

[Seras]

I quit post HRT. My doc didn't mind because I am on patches so the risk of blood clots is hugely reduced.

[Christine Eryn]

I continued smoking when I started HRT years ago, but quit a few months after. Oddly enough, when I quit smoking, I stopped HRT and stopped transitioning too. A few months after that, I continued my transitioning path and was back on hormones but never ever smoked again.

[Tori]

My doc was hesitant to let me start HRT while smoking but ultimately did. I am still cutting back (successfully too, but not entirely on the wagon). He will not give me progesterone until I quit. Surgery is also out without quitting for a temporary time at the very least. 

It is more unsafe as others have said, to mix hormones and tobacco than to do just one or the other although tobacco is a far greater risk than hormones.

My doc seemed to be fine with the idea of me switching to other legal alternatives to smoking that involve supplemental nicotine (derived from tobacco) as a way to cut back on my smoking (gum, e-cigs, patches... etc.) but I do not recall if he thought the nicotine alone was safer for my blood or just a good way to quit. I should ask next time. I know nicotine is the most addictive part of smoking but I have not checked to see if it is also what increases clot risk.

Kudos to the quitters in this thread!

[Jill F]

Quitting smoking is easy.  I know because I've done it so many times. /snark

Seriously, I tried gum, patches, cutting back gradually and every time I ended up back at square one.

The time I was finally successful I did the following:

1) I started by promising myself that I was done.  Done for good.  Period, the end.
2) I ID'd situations that normally led to me having a smoke and I avoided them.  This included drinking alcohol, which I ceased for several months.
3) I started walking several miles a day.  The huffing and puffing motivated me.
4) When I had a serious nic fit and I wanted to kill sh*t, I took a hot shower or went in the hot tub.
5) If I was still fiending for a smoke after the shower, I'd call a friend.
6) I occupied myself with reading and playing guitar.
7) I replaced the smoking ritual with a new one- making minty tea after dinner.

So I quit cold turkey, but the jitters and nic fits wore off after about 2 weeks, then the urges became fewer and further between.

I haven't had a cigarette since October, 2011 and I had been a regular smoker since 1986.

[Miss Gina]

Sounds easier then done. But will give this a try

[Jayne]

Smoking is baad okay...sorry I couldn't resist it...... For my first year on hrt I kept smoking as quitting would have been the straw that broke the camels back. During the first year my breasts wouldn't fill an eggcup, it was hard to not to get sarcastic when people posted that they'd been on hrt for a month & were only an a cup!!
I've been on a nicotine vaporisor for 2 months now & both the girls are definitely a cup now, it may be a coincidence but I don't think so.

I don't know the effect of just nicotine but the effects of the stuff in tobacco is well documented. I will still defend any adult who still smokes as it's possibly the hardest thing i've ever given up.

[Damara]

I've never smoked once in my life.. I do burn incense cones and sticks at times and wonder if that is dangerous... not on HRT yet, just a curious thought.

[alexbb]

"My doc seemed to be fine with the idea of me switching to other legal alternatives to smoking that involve supplemental nicotine (derived from tobacco) as a way to cut back on my smoking (gum, e-cigs, patches... etc.) but I do not recall if he thought the nicotine alone was safer for my blood or just a good way to quit. I should ask next time. I know nicotine is the most addictive part of smoking but I have not checked to see if it is also what increases clot risk. "

As i understand it nicotine is habit forming but harmless, the problem is largely the tar, ie the stuff they make roads from, and other combustion products of the tobacco. a vape pen or patches/gum are fine. so say the GP anyway.

[Tori]

Makes sense...

Nicotine is not harmless, it is poisonous at certain amounts, although an experienced smoker builds a tolerance.

[Seras]

Nicotine is an estrogen agonist, it blocks estrogen receptors. It is also nicotine that does the damage to your veins and arteries as well as thickening blood aka getting clots.
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.323.2278&rep=rep1&type=pdf

[Mallory]

Makes sense...

Nicotine is not harmless, it is poisonous at certain amounts, although an experienced smoker builds a tolerance.

This. Nicotine is a toxin. The journal articles ive read from the mid to late 1980's and the articles ive read from the mid 2000's are conflicting. Organizations that perform community health services and that have no dog in that fight (they stand to get nothing but lowering health care costs which is a good thing for everyone) I tend to believe more so than Phillip-Morris who lobbies religiously against anti-tobacco legislation and who has their hands in just about every pharmaceutical, nicotine substitute, or other business model dealing with nicotine.

The absence of nicotine is an extraordinarily good thing that helps you and your wallet.