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Doctor said this!!!

 
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londa



Quit Date:
July 28, 2004

Posts: 2469
Location: new york, USA

PostPosted: June 4, 2008 11:57 AM    Post subject: Doctor said this!!! Reply with quote

Hi folks, incase you do not remember me, I'm Londa. Free from smoking for almost 4 years.... But I digress... the reason I am on the site is because I work at a school and this young man told me the following:

"I would really like to quit smoking, but my doctor says I am too young for the patch and that if I quit smoking now, I would have a higher risk of getting cancer"

I was enraged. I set that young man straight (nicely of course) and told him his doctor was wrong. Downloaded loads of information from whyquit.com ( I only had a few minutes to do this cuz he had to get to class)

I told him about this site and explained how much healthier he would be if he quit. I also said, "Okay, lets pretend your doctor is right and if you keep smoking you won't get cancer... let me tell you what you do get. And I went on to explain all the other rotten things.

I also gave him a picture of a 17 year old boy who had his jaw removed.
That shocked him.

I know I must sound horrid and cruel right now, but I have had enough of this pussy footen around. These kids have got to know.

Now I know this kid could have been lying to me, BUT I wasn't taking that chance. Alot of people have given up on this kid. I refuse.

Thanks for listening. I know I havn't been on awhile but you all are always in my thoughts and prayers.

GOd Bless

Love, Londa
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My name is Londa. I am 57 and I act like I'm 20. I love to laugh and smile. The more the better. Being kind to someone is the best thing you can do.
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texas2step



Quit Date:
-

Posts: 793
Location: Texas

PostPosted: June 4, 2008 2:09 PM    Post subject: good to see you Reply with quote

So nice to see you checking in Londa! Yes doctors seem to know the least about smoking cessation of anyone sometimes - no surprises there.... I called our family doctor when we decided to quit he said - you're quitting? well if you manage to do it let me know how and I'll quit too...... our dentist - heck he uses the patches AND the gum at work all day and smokes at night - sheesh....

I don't think many doctors have kept a finger on the pulse of smokers quitting - only on the cancer and lung diseases they get as a result..... this isn't the first time I have read or heard of something like that coming from doctors..... but true the kid may have "embellished" his tale too....

All the same - grand of you to help him and takr your time and super good to stop in here and say hey to all of us.

Have a great week
Texas
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Anonymous

Quit: 8/14/06
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Doggygirl



Quit Date:
February 26, 2007

Posts: 788
Location: Joliet, IL

PostPosted: June 4, 2008 7:24 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Londa, it's so good to see you! Good for you taking extra time to try helping a kid see the light.

DG
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Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same. ~Francesca Reigler
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Barbara K.



Quit Date:
December 23, 2004

Posts: 5977

PostPosted: June 4, 2008 9:12 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi londa,

My bet is that the kid was lying. Hopefully he will come to his senses.
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Blessings,
Barbara K.
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Patty129



Quit Date:
February 18, 2007

Posts: 828
Location: Saginaw, MI

PostPosted: June 5, 2008 7:43 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Londa, good to see you here again......if the kid is a smoker maybe you helped plant a seed about quitting.....and, I agree with Texas, way too many docs don't seem to understand addiction. Hope to see you here more often.
Patty
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kevin
Site Admin


Quit Date:
-

Posts: 9538
Location: cincinnati, oh

PostPosted: June 5, 2008 11:04 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

i'm never surprised by the ignorance of doctors when it comes to quitting smoking; they get little to no training in dealing with addiction in medical school, and once they're out, they don't need to learn anything: after all, the us department of health and human services publishes guidelines for smoking cessation treatment that tell them all they need to know. to quote:

"Numerous effective medications are available for tobacco dependence, and clinicians should encourage their use by all patients attempting to quit smoking..."

~ "Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: 2008 Update—Clinical Practice Guideline"; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service:

http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco/treating_tobacco_use08.pdf

the "effective medications" they're referring to - the ones they're telling doctors that all their patients who are trying to quit should be encouraged to use - are nicotine replacement therapy (which is not a "medication" at all; it's just more of the same poison that smokers are already addicted to), zyban/wellbutrin, and chantix.

one of the remarkable things about this recommendation is that studies have shown that people who quit cold turkey are 13 times more likely to stay quit long term than people who use any form of quitting aid. and yet, these same guidelines actually discourage doctors from advising their patients to quit cold turkey.

instead, they recommend that doctors encourage their patients who are attempting to quit to use quitting aids like the patch. why? don't they know that over 93% of people who use the patch are smoking again inside of 6 months, and of the 7% who aren't smoking again at 6 months, nearly 100% are still wearing the patch (despite the fact that the recommended course of treatment for these products is 8 weeks)?

the fact is the patch only works 7% of the time, and then only as long as you keep using it. (btw: nearly 100% of people who use the patch on a second or subsequent quit attempt are smoking again inside of six months, regardless of whether they're still wearing the patch.) and these numbers are from the pharmaceutical companies' own studies:

http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/12/1/21

http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/12/3/310

so why would this committee be recommending expensive pharmaceutical-based quitting methods that have been shown to be almost totally ineffective and discouraging free and highly effective quitting methods like quitting cold turkey?

could it be because the chairman of the committee charged with writing these recommendations has strong financial ties (as in 6-figure ties) to pharmaceutical companies that make the recommended quit-smoking aids? or the fact that at least 8 other members of that committee also have financial ties to companies that make quit-smoking products?

(the following article was published last year in the wall street journal; it's not in their online archive any more, but it's been reprinted with permission at whyquit):

http://whyquit.com/NRT/WSJ_Helliker_Nicotine_Fix_020807.html

let me see if i have this right:

big pharmaceutical companies make quit-smoking aids that have been shown to be dismally ineffective (in the case of nrt, for over 20 years now), and, just coincidentally, the committee that writes the clinical practice guidelines for the department of health and human services happens to be stacked with people who have accepted (and continue to accept) hundreds of thousands of dollars from these same pharmaceutical companies.

could there be some sort of ethical conflict here?

nah. probably not. these people are scientists and doctors and college professors; they'd never let a measly hundred grand or two every so often cloud their professional judgment...
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kevin

the zen of the quit
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Cowgirl UP!



Quit Date:
July 26, 2004

Posts: 5029
Location: Ala

PostPosted: June 7, 2008 9:44 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Londa, I am glad you helped the young lad....

Kevin, I strongly disagree that zyban/wellbutrin is not a medication...wellbutrin is given to patients all the time as an anti-depressant which is how they figured out it helped people to quit smoking. I am not saying I may never fail but I am ONE who quit using the patch and zyban and would do it again...yes, I used the patch longer than I needed to but that was just my own lack of self confidence. I think it is wonderful that you were able to quit cold turkey and you should be commended for that...however, I don't think you should make someone feel bad for being less strong. The end result is what matters. I think everyone should try to lay the cigs down and walk away...but if they fail and before they give up trying, they should seek medical help.
Kay
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Rusty



Quit Date:
December 13, 2004

Posts: 497
Location: North Florida

PostPosted: June 8, 2008 8:36 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree with you, Kay. I was able to quit cold turkey because a switch went off in my brain -- my counselor said I had a "mind meld". In the past every time I tried with whatever method -- CT, patch, gum -- I couldn't quit. This time I did. But most of the folks I know quit using some kind of something, and I don't care and they don't care -- they are quit just the same as me.

And you just gave me the excuse I needed to flaunt my stats!

I have been quit for 3 Years, 5 Months, 3 Weeks, 4 Days, 9 hours, 41 minutes and 33 seconds (1,272 days). I have saved $5,566.76 by not smoking 31,810 cigarettes. I have saved 3 Months, 2 Weeks, 6 Days, 10 hours and 50 minutes of my life. My Quit Date: 12/13/2004 10:54 PM

Rusty
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The Buddha says: Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.
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Snowlover



Quit Date:
-

Posts: 566
Location: Northern California

PostPosted: June 8, 2008 1:52 PM    Post subject: Uninformed doctors Reply with quote

Doctors just don't have the time it takes to really help someone quit. They think "just do it", if you don't you'll die. Better they say nothing. At least if they would refer people to the internet it would be better than just prescribing or not prescribing. Two doctors I've been to here are not aware of the Lung Association Program (classroom or internet). And, they don't think of it as an addiction.

Maybe it's just job security.

K
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kevin
Site Admin


Quit Date:
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Posts: 9538
Location: cincinnati, oh

PostPosted: June 8, 2008 6:42 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

kay, i didn't say zyban and chantix are not medications; i said nicotine replacement therapy (nrt) is not a medication. and it's not; it's nicotine. the very drug we're all addicted to. and it was not my intention to make anyone feel bad because they didn't quit cold turkey; sorry if you took it that way.

but the numbers are the numbers, and despite the absolutely miserable record of quit-smoking aids in general (particularly nrt), and despite the fact that the fda is rethinking their approval of chantix because of potentially fatal side-effects that are now showing up, doctors are still being advised to encourage all their patients who are trying to quit to use them anyway, and those recommendations are coming from so-called scientists who are being paid off by the manufacturers of those ineffective and dangerous products.

and that pisses me off.
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kevin

the zen of the quit
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Cowgirl UP!



Quit Date:
July 26, 2004

Posts: 5029
Location: Ala

PostPosted: June 8, 2008 6:58 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

I know you Kevin and your intentions...I just did not want someone starting out to quit before they even got going due to not being able to quit cold turkey. Sorry if I misread the post.
Kay
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kevin
Site Admin


Quit Date:
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Posts: 9538
Location: cincinnati, oh

PostPosted: June 8, 2008 9:28 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

no need to apologize, kay; i appreciate you pointing it out - if you read it that way, chances are somebody else read it that way, too, but didn't say anything. this way, i had a chance to clarify my point a bit (i hope).
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kevin

the zen of the quit
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