History of smoking a possible co-factor of ME/CFS?
- Thread starter Levi
- Start date
Never smoked, hate the smell, cross the road/hold the breath to avoid even a molecule of smoke.
Interesting how many here have never smoked. If it were just Aussies I wouldn't be surprised (we now have bans on smoking on the footpath where i live). But overseas smoking rates seem to be so much higher.
Interesting how many here have never smoked. If it were just Aussies I wouldn't be surprised (we now have bans on smoking on the footpath where i live). But overseas smoking rates seem to be so much higher.
I noticed when I started smoking in my teens I was not able to drink as much alcohol. It made me more intolerant - so interesting. I think smoking could possibly have been "a hit" among many (for me personally) that could have made me more vulnerable to getting ME. So, my 'hits' could have been; smoking, infection, antibiotics, flu x2, overexertion.
Smoking has had pluses and minuses but the minuses are greater. It's the most difficult thing to give up.
Smoking has had pluses and minuses but the minuses are greater. It's the most difficult thing to give up.
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- 47
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- Los Angeles
I smoked socially (but I socialized a LOT!) until I was 38, when I had trouble conceiving. Although with hindsight I can see that elements of my illness were apparent at an earlier age, my stopping smoking pretty much coincided with the onset of fibro/CFS. Have always thought of this as a coincidence but since I'm now on a vasoconstrictor (midodrine) and smoking is also one, I'm beginning to wonder - would I have gotten really ill earlier if I can't smoked?
merylg
Senior Member
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- 841
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- Sydney, NSW, Australia
Poll needs another question along the lines of
"Were you heavily exposed to passive smoking due those around you smoking at home or in your workplace?"
I would answer "Yes"
"Were you heavily exposed to passive smoking due those around you smoking at home or in your workplace?"
I would answer "Yes"
I used to get hay fever a lot as a child. Felt miserable with it at times. Smoking desensitized me remarkably. Not a recommended "fix" though!
- Messages
- 97
- Location
- San Francisco, CA USA
My mother smoked when I was growing up, though to her credit, she always quit when pregnant -- and this was before the dangers of smoking were as widely recognized as they are now. I'm a former smoker who smoked off and on most of my adult life.
My ME/CFS journey started with a mono diagnosis in June of 2014, and I quit two months before that, because although I wasn't yet sick, I started to feel "off" in a way that's hard to describe. I hadn't been to a doctor in a number of years, so I knew I needed to go in for a physical. I also knew any doctor I saw would tell me to stop smoking, so I decided to just quit and take that issue off the table.
It was hard, but it was a relief to quit for many reasons. I was traveling a lot before I got really sick and it became almost impossible to find a hotel that allowed it. I was also both ashamed to be a smoker and really didn't want to bother people with my second-hand smoke, so the logistics of finding a place to enjoy a smoke in private were taking up a lot of my time and energy.
Having said all that, I miss it! I get such intense cravings out of the blue sometimes that the only thing that stops me from popping out to the corner store for a pack is my chronic fatigue which, has me housebound for now and unable to make the 1-1/2 block journey.
If I found out the end of the world was coming, I'd send my partner out for a carton and live it up a little in my final days.
My ME/CFS journey started with a mono diagnosis in June of 2014, and I quit two months before that, because although I wasn't yet sick, I started to feel "off" in a way that's hard to describe. I hadn't been to a doctor in a number of years, so I knew I needed to go in for a physical. I also knew any doctor I saw would tell me to stop smoking, so I decided to just quit and take that issue off the table.
It was hard, but it was a relief to quit for many reasons. I was traveling a lot before I got really sick and it became almost impossible to find a hotel that allowed it. I was also both ashamed to be a smoker and really didn't want to bother people with my second-hand smoke, so the logistics of finding a place to enjoy a smoke in private were taking up a lot of my time and energy.
Having said all that, I miss it! I get such intense cravings out of the blue sometimes that the only thing that stops me from popping out to the corner store for a pack is my chronic fatigue which, has me housebound for now and unable to make the 1-1/2 block journey.
If I found out the end of the world was coming, I'd send my partner out for a carton and live it up a little in my final days.