Hiv and ecigs

[ScaredNinja]

I don't know where to ask but I been vaping for a year and my blood work has been UD and CD4 900 to 1110 around abouts.  So my question is anyone know if being hiv positive and vaping is a total danger.  I used to smoke BTW so I just wanted to hear anyone that vape s experience or if they know something.

[Jim Allen]

Hi

I do vape, i used to smoke near 2 packs a day, vaping is cheaper, I stink less and  it better than smoking, but its not perfect. In a perfect world I would not vape either.

Last time we discussed vaping we had plenty of opinions from people who stopped smoking cold turkey and felt the need to express that. Well inst that just great for them, lol.

My doctor recommend vaping, I ignored him for a while but made the switch in the end more for the cost benefits if i'm honest. Look e-cigarettes have been estimated to cause 95% less harm than cigarette smoking. They are able to deliver nicotine into the body without the carcinogens that are so prevalent and dangerous in tobacco cigarettes.

Because of this significant potential to improve health on the larger community level, the UK medicines regulator has even approved the marketing of an e-cigarette brand as a non-smoking aid.

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2015/08August/Pages/E-cigarettes-95-per-cent-less-harmful-than-smoking-says-report.aspx

Anyhow look we know smoking is really bad not only to yourself but also everyone around you so well done getting off them.

https://www.poz.com/article/smoking-drives-heart-attacks
Smoking Drives Heart Attacks - HIV-positive individuals studied for research on smoking and high blood pressure. January 9, 2017

https://www.poz.com/article/HIV-positive-smokers-23686-2609
HIV-Positive Smokers Lose More Years

EDIT:

What did your own doctor recommend or say?

Jim

[Buckdog]

26 year smoker here. Quit smoking 3 years ago and switched to vaping. Blood work has always been good. Blood pressure has come down. Breathing has gotten better. My doc doesnt approve of smoking or vaping but has agreed it is better than smoking.

[BT65]

I've been vaping a little over a year.  My breathing improved so much I was able to stop using the daily Spiriva.  I still have a rescue inhaler in case I get a bad chest cold (which I haven't gotten either since quitting smoking).  In 2015 I got pneumonia 3 times.  I smoked through the first two.  The last time I had it I went to light a cigarette and literally could not breathe in, so that prompted me to quit and switch to vaping. 

I haven't discussed it with my doctor but I'm sure she would rather see me vape.  I actually had been getting prescribed oxygen when I kept getting pneumonia but haven't used it in over a year, since I quit smoking.

I know there are people who quit cold turkey, have used other things, that disagree with vaping.  Like Jim said, in a perfect world I wouldn't vape either.  But I'm not perfect and cannot just quit nicotine. I have gone down in mg's though.

[skeebo1969]

   I switched from cigarettes to vaping 3 years ago.  I have a very active job, and noticed my endurance improved immensely.  I fully understand it hasn't been around very long, so knowledge on it's long term effects is pretty nil. 

  I look at it like this though-- it's more about harm reduction for me.

[RemyG1971]

Cigarettes smell like a chemical fire.

If in 2017 you are still smoking e-cigs or cigarettes you might be a moron.

#jussayin

[Jim Allen]

@Remy

Stay out of the thread since you have nothing of intelligence to add.
First, last and only warning go troll somewhere else.

#jussayin  - (puke)

Jim

[mecch]

#jussayin - many cigs smell fab. (or they used to at least)  and cigars, pipes and shisha.  smoking is a social, body, and psychological pleasure. When i was young smoking was glamorous AND much cheaper than drinking in clubs.

[DANIELtakashi]

Remy,

  I wish you were respectful to the members.
This is a group of adults,  not young kids.
Please think of the people who come here for help and advice.
I am from Asian culture but what l have learned here is that we are the people sharing the same feelings.    We all need to be considerate of each other no matter where we are or where we are from.

[skeebo1969]

Cigarettes smell like a chemical fire.

If in 2017 you are still smoking e-cigs or cigarettes you might be a moron.

#jussayin

Your bitterness and anger is definitely apparent, I hope you are ok.  Please feel free to share what is really bothering you.

[Jim Allen]

@All

As caring and well intended as it maybe can we please stay on topic and also not engage or comment on Remy in this thread. Its unfair to him as he has been asked not to post here and its unfair to the OP's topic. 

Thank you.

Jim

[TheNormalLife]

I used to smoke a pack a day until my diagnosis... Vaping was never my thing although I knew it was a much better option.

Every now and then (I'd say twice a year) I smoke a few cigarrettes and enjoy a drink (or two or seven), I really hope there's nothing wrong with that. Once I read that vaping was as dangerous as driving in the highway at 100 mph, and that smoking was the same but with the eyes closed!

Ray

[skeebo1969]

I used to smoke a pack a day until my diagnosis... Vaping was never my thing although I knew it was a much better option.

Every now and then (I'd say twice a year) I smoke a few cigarrettes and enjoy a drink (or two or seven), I really hope there's nothing wrong with that. Once I read that vaping was as dangerous as driving in the highway at 100 mph, and that smoking was the same but with the eyes closed!

Ray

To be honest I have a hard time discerning between big tobacco propaganda towards vaping and what is truth.  I will say this though, the difference between vaping and smoking and how I feel overall-- is a big difference.

[ScaredNinja]

Sorry took so long for the reply had so much going on, my dad was just dx with lung cancer. He has been smoking almost all his life. Anyways thanks for the info. I just wanted know being hiv and vaping had any effect with treatments etc.

[CaveyUK]

No, zero interaction with treatment.

I watched some doctor (French I think) a couple of years ago on TV talk about Vaping vs Smoking. He was talking about risk comparisons and he said that Vaping was like driving at 100mph on the motorway. Smoking was like driving at 100mph on the motorway in the wrong direction.

Personally, I've been a pack-a-day smoker for longer than I care to remember. I switched to vaping about 4 years ago, but have had a couple of relapses - usually after a holiday where I stock up on duty free fags. I've now recently (like, in the last month) moved back to exclusively vaping. I tend to find it easier if I don't think of it as 'stopping smoking' but rather that I am 'choosing not to smoke'.

My problem is that there are certain very specific situations where I actively *enjoy* smoking a cigarette. Thankfully they don't come around that often, but I will have to see if I can resist next time (One example is in 40 degree heat in a dusty music festival when had quite a few drinks....somehow drawing on a metal battery powered device doesn't quite hit the spot...), or at least if I can't resist I need to resist stopping by the duty free shop in the airport....