I feel bad for smokers. I do. When a smoker gets any sort of health problem, any sympathy they might get comes with an equal (or greater) dose of blame and "well-what-did-they-expect" type comments. Any smoker with a chronic disease who doesn't quit immediately also gets unsolicited advice about quitting and accused of making things worse, often before or instead of offers of help or support. It seems like a Catch-22 in that if I smoked, I'm pretty sure that some of the symptoms of multiple sclerosis that cause me anxiety would also compel me to reach for my pack of cigarettes to sooth me until I came back to rationality.
Therefore, in the spirit of not accusing, not blaming and not (intentionally) making things worse for smokers, I am presenting the following articles from a neutral, non-judgmental place. I urge any of you who want to share these with your smoking friends to do the same. If you are a current or former smoker, try not to play the "what if" game or indulge in too much regret - that really doesn't help anything.
Without further ado, here is what I found out about smoking and MS:
I was dx with RRMS at the age of 28 in 1991. I am on Copaxone (since Nov ‘08). I started smoking at the age of 12 and smoked 1/2 a pack a day for 23 years. I gave up 3 1/2 months ago and have had 2 relapses in that time! This is not good for me, I usually relapse around once every year to eighteen months! Is this due to giving up smoking? I saw my neuro yesterday regarding this latest relapse and have told him that I feel that the Copaxone is not doing its job, but after reading all the smoking info, I am now wondering if it is my body getting used to not having nicotine and all the bad chemicals put into it 10 times a day? What’s going on?!
I started smoking at age 15 and was diagnosed at 19 with RRMS and every time I tried to quit smoking I would get bad relapses so I would start smoking again and everything would be back to normal. My theory is that I was shocking my system and chemical imbalances (good or bad) have been known to cause problems. So, finally at the age of 23 I quite smoking using Nicorette so I could very slowly wean myself off of the nicotine. That worked, I did not have even the slightest relapse and the MS even seemed to get better.
Good luck.
I have been smoking since i was 16, I am now 26. I got diagnosed with MS febuary this year, 2 weeks before the birth of my second son. I am currently on copaxone and I have had 3 relapses since starting treatment, smoking is my only sanity as I have 2 kids under two and dont drink or take drugs so i am not prepered to give up my sanity now.