[josephlott]

#1058684

Hi,
My close friends was diagnosed to have grave’s disease.
though he is a smoker, he isn’t a heavy smoker.
My question is is there a deep correlation between
smoking and grave’s disease?
I’m pretty sure smoking is bad for your health, but
i was wondering if smoking directly causes graves disease.

[Kimberly]

#1169343

Hello – although smoking does not cause Graves’ disease, smoking is a major risk factor for Thyroid Eye Disease. Smokers have a much higher incidence of complications with TED (including proptosis and double vision) and, they do not respond as well to available treatments.

Obviously, quitting is a huge challenge, but there are posters here who have been successful. We would love to have your friend join us here if he is interested.

[hothead]

#1169344

Smoking is one of the hardest things I’ve had to cut out of my life… It was impossible to quit cold turkey. I needed people around me to keep me from going back to the cancer sticks. Maybe you could be that support for your friend ” title=”Smile” />

[MariaG]

#1169345

As much as I know, the chances of NOT GETTING the thyroid eye disease (once you have/had/will have Graves) – TED – are quite SMALL for SMOKERS. The more cigarettes one smokes, the higher the likelihood, the worse the problems, etc.
So there is definitely a ‚scare factor’- with TED, worse case scenario is blindness, but double vision and proptosis that TED might cause (and for smokers, it seems as if it almost always the case) are hard enough for most. If there seems to be no other reasons for quitting, maybe this scare factor will do the trick.

I myself quit almost four weeks ago now. And I must say that making decision itself was much harder than the cessation process. I use nicotine patches (ok by endo) and I feel they help a lot (it’s a 10-week process so the body is not nicotine-free, but apparently with cigarette smoking and TED it’s something else that affects the eyes). So this past month I have been addition free (45-60min a day more time and I’m truly liberated by knowing I can do whatever I want at any time I want) and experienced only positive outcome – free breathing, the scents in the air give me the ‘happy’ feeling, I work out a lot and the progress there is enormous as well. All-in-all, my enjoyment of life is much greater. Quitting smoking is truly a smart thing to do and right now I’m fully committed to staying smart.

So, please encourage your friend. Quitting is different for everyone, but even if the beginning happens to be excruciating, the benefits are huge (you can check it here – quitting cold turkey – http://whyquit.com/whyquit/A_Benefits_Time_Table.html. The list seems to apply for aided quitting as well – at least in my case). If one quits, the likelihood of getting the worse of TED seems to become smaller (according to my endo and I’m hoping that’ll be true in my case – got swollen eyelids, tired and sometimes red eyes, diplopia in the morning for some minutes, but at least it hasn’t gone worse since I quit smoking – all the symptoms developed already while I smoked).

P.S. Apologies for any hiccups in my English – I’m not a native speaker.

[snelsen]

#1169346

Maria, I am writing to compliment you on your wonderful post. For people who are struggling with trying to stop smoking, your experience is so supportive. It is empowering for anyone. It is beautifully written, and so informative. It is a classic, and I am sure it will be a stellar and supportive reference for years to come. Thank you so much for taking the time to write.
Your English is perfect! Probably better than some native English speakers!!!
Shirley

[justin80]

#1169347

I too have someone special to me who had been diagnosed with Grave’s Disease, actually my brother. And he is also a smoker, not a heavy one but still a smoker. It is really hard for them to quit immediately. First is that he should be the one to decide to quit that’s really important. Then to make his decision counts both of you should learn the bad effects that smoking have. And then day by day he should start to lessen his smoking until the day that he only smokes 1 cigarette a day then it would lead to him quitting smoking.

[chris21]

#1169348

Hi, although I didn’t join this Forum to talk about quitting smoking, it is a subject, that being a successful ‘quitter’ myself I feel that I can contribute something which hopefully will be of value.
Let me say straightaway that I am vehemently anti-smoking, having not only been a victim of it for eight years but also having witnessed at first hand through my voluntary work in Africa following graduation, the appallingly cynical and totally irresponsible way that those connected with the big tobaccco companies, at ‘arm’s length’ needless to say so that denying involvement is easy, give children free cigarettes to get the next generation started on the road to declining health and premature death.
Sorry, I told you I was vehement!
Anyway, I won’t embark on a long sermon, but I have studied the subject of quitting in some detail and I have an honours degree in a science discipline, so hopefully my advice is reasonably sound.
Firstly, Will Power is NOT a factor in quitting. Apparently some people have sufficient will power to do all sorts of wonderful things, but my research hasn’t yet found anyone in this category and nobody should be under the illusion that it is a serious weapon to use in your endeavours to stop.
Secondly, cutting down gradually is most definitely NOT a viable option. If you seriously intend to quit, you quit right from the word go – but there’s no use saying ‘go’ without some definite plan to enable you to reprogram your mind away from cigarette dependence.
Will power, if there is such a thing, is absolutely no good but imagination is.
Imagination in the form of visualising yourself as a non-smoker, experiencing in your mind your freedom from cigarettes and the better life you have ahead of you. Seeing yourself as a more attractive person, who doesn’t smell like a stale ashtray, who doesn’t repeatedly demonstrate to people that they’re not in control of their own lives by being unable to avoid putting a smouldering drug stick in their mouth and dragging the revolting smoke and tar and toxins into their own vital organs.
It’s easy for me to write this now but at the time I knew I needed help, which some of my friends could give me, but they weren’t going to be there all the time.
The only help I found I could rely on that was available 24/7 was self-help in the form of self-hypnosis
.
OK, maybe it sounds a little quirky, but if you check out the results, it’s got a good track record, is easy to integrate into your life and has many other benefits.
I promise you that I’m not an agent for any courses or books or anything else on this subject but I would urge anyone who knows deep down that quitting is the only option, to just have a browse round the internet and get a feel for the subject.
It’s really easy to get your own personal technique established which I firmly recommend that you do well before smoking that last cigarette.
You can just drift into the world of self-hypnosis over a couple of weeks; it’s wonderfully relaxing and you can really get to know yourself and then to appreciate yourself so much that you can’t envisage continuing to poison yourself any more.
That’s when quitting feels so natural that you really don’t even have to decide to do it!

Here endeth the lesson!

[Brent01]

#1169349

josephlott wrote:My question is is there a deep correlation between
smoking and grave’s disease?
… but i was wondering if smoking directly causes graves disease.

Kim is correct. Smoking is not a direct cause of Graves, but can exacerbate certain conditions (as she stated TED, for instance) caused by Graves.

Graves has a hereditary component. It affects up to 2% of the female population, and is between five and ten times as common in females as in males.

The exact trigger for autoantibody production which is at the heart of the Graves condition is not known. Some people may have a genetic predisposition to develop TSH receptor autoantibodies. So, no, smoking by itself is not a cause.

[planetbob]

#1169350

Ok heavy smoking may sometime lead to grave diseases, but what about passive smoking.. I have heard that passive smoking is more dangerous. Though I am not a smoker, I have a friend circle that does heavy smoking. Should i avoid their company to save myself from grave diseases??

[taserguy]

#1169351

I am a reformed smoker for 6 months and used the patch (Nicoderm CQ) to quit. My friend whom has Graves has been smoking for 5 years and have just got her started on the patch. The only problem she is still smoking 1-2 cigs a day which is better than the pack a day. I just hope the patch and still smoking does not cause any problems or aggravation of the disease. She has not consulted her doctor about the patches.

[phMcinc]

#1169352

My sister has graves disease and smokes more than I would like her to. She has tried quitting quite a few times but nothing has ever been successful. I recently got her to call the Colorado quit line. Not sure if you guys have this in your state too but they provide tons of help and even free patches to those looking to quit. So far this has been the best outlook for her. I truly hope it helps and will update as more results come up.

[Bobbi]

#1169353

To taserguy: get your friend to stop smoking while wearing the patch. Probably a cigarette or two wont’ hurt, but you can get toxic levels of nicotine if you are doing both, and your smoking is at asignificant enough level.

As a former smoker — it’s almost ten years ago to the day when I quit — I would agree with most of what Chris said above in terms of how to go about quitting. But the most important aspect of things for ME, was the recognition that I was an addict; that I couldn’t have just one cigarette. Most people are in denial about the addiction side of things, but until you recognize that you cannot have even one cigarette, just like an alcoholic cannot have one drink, you are increasing the odds of failure.

Also, for me, the help aid was an anti-smoking drug — a prescription. I tried all manner of other ways to quit, including hypnosis, but the prescription drug made the final difference.

Just as there are different treatment options for Graves, there are different ways people try to quit smoking. It doesn’t matter what you try, just try. Some may work better for some people than for others. It’s the quitting that is the goal, not the method used.

[derekrae]

#1169354

Hi guys,

My late grandmother did suffer from GD and she was a heavy smoker during her younger age. However, over the past 20 years, she has reduced her smoking by a significant level, and it can be seen that GD has subsided by a lot.

I don’t know whether there is any relationship between GD and smoking, just sharing my experience here. ” title=”Smile” />

[RebeccaJT]

#1169355

Hiya

Just to say I have GD and TED and quit smoking ten months ago after some (well meant) threats and facts from my doctor!! I totally agree with Bobbi about facing up to the addiction side and that one cigarette will trigger the relapse process. That said, it took me a few run ups at it to completely surrender and give it up – so I cut down to two or three a day, but it was agony, and I knew I had to muster the willingness to let it go completely. I know this solution is not for everyone but also I found the power of prayer (just like alcoholics do in AA) incredibly helpful ‘Dear God, I’m craving a cigarette, please remove my compulsion to smoke’ – it worked! I am now in remission for my GD on ATDs and I’m still being treated for my TED but the damage and symptoms are now mild.

Both my endo and my eye doctor (TED specialist) told me that thyroid illness is far more likely in smokers, and I was told that my history of heavy smoking, hard partying (a misspent youth!) and crash dieting (along with underlying genetic factors, there are several autoimmune diseases in my family) had all probably contributed to my GD, along with my complete addiction to stress and adrenalin and being way too busy and not looking after myself. I was a million miles an hour, over achieving, codependent wreck by the time of my diagnosis and learning to calm the heck down, has been the focus of my recovery. Quitting smoking was part of this commitment to start treating myself with a bit more kindness!!

The crunch with cigarettes came when my TED doctor told me that my chances of severe complications, including blindness, were 8x higher if I continued to smoke. Threats of steroids were also made which scared me sufficiently – not saying steroids don’t have their place, but who in their right mind would take them if the whole nightmare could be avoided by stopping pumping their own body full of noxious chemicals. The good news is the cigarette factor in TED is dose related, so the LESS you can smoke, the better it is for your eyes.

Anyway, that’s my take on the situation. But please encourage your friend, all smokers know they shouldn’t do it(we are addicts not idiots) and most addicts get very touchy when told what to do

With best wishes

Rebecca

[Kimberly]

#1169356

Rebecca – This is a truly inspirational story…thanks for posting!

[Author]

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