Myasthenia Gravis Support Group

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a neuromuscular disease leading to fluctuating muscle weakness and fatiguability. The hallmark of myasthenia gravis is muscle weakness that increases during periods of activity and improves after periods of rest. Although myasthenia gravis may affect any voluntary muscle, muscles that control eye and eyelid movement, facial expression, and...

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ShanAlis 02/04/2013

Hi All,

I am scheduled to have my robotic thymectomy on February 26th of this month. Although i am extremely anxious and nervous i am excited to have this done and out of the way. I am just wondering what you all know about thymectomy and smoking. In the pre-surgery booklet they have given me it says i cannot smoke for 24 hours before the surgery which i know will be fine. Does anyone know anything about smoking after your thymectomy? I do understand im not going to be smoking for probably at least 5 or 6 days afterwards as thats what i had done when i got my wisdom teeth out anyways a year ago... but does anyone know the reasoning as to WHY? Also, would it be safe for me to wear one of those nicotine patches?

I understand smoking is bad and many of you probably have bad feelings towards it anyways, but please stay on topic!!

Thanks :)

BCCanada 02/04/2013

In hospitals and doctors' offices you will see signs on the wall recommending to stop smoking 2 weeks before any operation to promote better and faster healing. And no, I am pretty sure that the nicotine patch is on the list of no go meds for MG. Check with pharmacist or doctor. Sorry to be bearer of bad news. Your MG does not cause any breathless ness (yet)?

BCCanada 02/04/2013

ps to previous comment; I did not meant to scare you about breathlessness- came out wrong. It is my fear coming out. Sorry

cgreens 02/04/2013

You shouldn't be smoking anyway, but it is directly contraindicated for people with MG.

I quit immediately.

I had always said I was going to quit, but MG made me quit cold turkey! Do yourself a favor and do the same thing!

tesb 02/04/2013

Nicotine patches are contraindicated if you have MG sorry its hard

cgreens 02/04/2013

I should say it is directly contraindicated for people with generalised MG.

Ocular MG not so much.

I smoked for 15 yrs straight. From 22 to 37 yrs old basically.

I remember smoking my last cigarette and my lungs constricting and I could not finish the smoke. This was after I quit for several months to a year. I actually tried to smoke again when I had a bad night...and a little alcohol too.

Good luck to you!

Troy

limpnoodle 02/04/2013

Some surgeons will refuse to do surgery unless you have quit smoking. The theory I was told is that they do not want to be held responsible for the significantly poorer healing properties brought on by the smoking. Hope all works out well for you.

jimmijane 02/04/2013

First off being excited and anxious about having a thymectomy is normal, gather as much info as you can before hand ,to help relieve the anxiety part ,though you won't be rid of it all together.
As for the smoking part not such a good idea,l know that doesn't go so well with the excited ,anxious part of you right now,but cutting back as much as you can between now and then would be fantastic for you.Maybe you can use the l know l can't afterwards to help kick start quitting.

Good luck with you thymectomy............and because l just can't help myself .no more smoking......(put that down to oppositional defiance disorder)

cgreens 02/04/2013

ShanAlis,

I found this for you. Take heed because your health is at stake:

"Smokers have an increased chance of complications during and after surgery, including wound infections, pneumonia and heart attacks. The earlier you quit before surgery, the better your chances of no complications..."

See video here:

http://www.lifelinetomodernmedicine.com/Anesthesia-Topics/Stop-Smoking-for-Surgery.aspx

Questions answered here:

http://www.lifelinetomodernmedicine.com/Anesthesia-Topics/QA-Stop-Smoking.aspx

In addition, the bottom line is the surgery represents a chance for you to quit!

ShanAlis 02/04/2013

Thank you Cgreen! Im going to try my best to quit this upcoming Sunday... its gunna be difficult but really really try my best. That gives me 2 weeks of quitting before the surgery.

You are right though, this is my health. Smoking is bad, and i was planning to kick the habit by 2014, might as well just do it now! thanks.

cgreens 02/04/2013

Good luck!

I know you can do it!

Let us know how everything is going, ok?

Peace,
Troy

wbdolphin 02/04/2013

ShanAlis-
When I scheduled my transternal thymectomy I was told I had to quit 3 weeks before my surgery or they would not do it and they would be doing a blood test to detect nicotine levels. I quit 16 days before my surgery and yes, it was soooo hard. I had the surgery, and....started smoking again about 4 days after I came home. At my first post op appointment the surgeon commented on how good my incision looked, sure am glad you stopped smoking, blah, blah, blah. I told them that unfortunately I had started up again and the surgeon said, "well it's no wonder your scar is taking so long to heal". I chose not to fuss at them, but I sure did think ill thoughts.
Do I regret starting smoking again? Yes, without a doubt and I could kick myself for doing so.
I'd suggest quitting at least a week to 2 weeks before. Your body is going to be going through a lot and having clear lungs will only give you an advantage.
Luckily, thankfully, blessedly, my ocular symptoms went away about 2 weeks after my surgery so I can't say that smoking affected my results.

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