Pulmonary Embolism Support Group
By far the most common form of pulmonary embolism is a thromboembolism, which occurs when a blood clot, generally a venous thrombus, becomes dislodged from its site of formation and embolizes to the arterial blood supply of one of the lungs. Symptoms may include difficulty breathing, pain during breathing, and more rarely circulatory instability and death.
I stopped smoking for about 5 weeks after my PE but then got very discouraged when I gained 10 pounds in a week: it took over a year to loose the 55 pounds and I will do everything in my power not to gain it back!
So, I added green vegetables, started eating healthier and started smoking, aiming to not smoke more than 3 or 4 cigarettes a day. And it worked: I've lost 6 of the pounds already. However, I'm now smoking over 10 cigarettes a day :( The main issue now is that my INR has been below therapeutic since then: last week, it was 1.8, so upped my coumadin to 2.5 mgs every second day. Yesterday, it was at 1.5 so I'm now on 2.5 mgs every day.
I've decided to stop smoking again, but do not want to wreak havoc with my INR anymore than I've already done! Gradually reducing the amount I smoke would be the best way to do it, but the problem is that the only way I've been able to quit is cold turkey.
Has anyone else been that stupid before and managed to quit without having a bleed out?
So, I added green vegetables, started eating healthier and started smoking, aiming to not smoke more than 3 or 4 cigarettes a day. And it worked: I've lost 6 of the pounds already. However, I'm now smoking over 10 cigarettes a day :( The main issue now is that my INR has been below therapeutic since then: last week, it was 1.8, so upped my coumadin to 2.5 mgs every second day. Yesterday, it was at 1.5 so I'm now on 2.5 mgs every day.
I've decided to stop smoking again, but do not want to wreak havoc with my INR anymore than I've already done! Gradually reducing the amount I smoke would be the best way to do it, but the problem is that the only way I've been able to quit is cold turkey.
Has anyone else been that stupid before and managed to quit without having a bleed out?
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Look at what my best friend did with my picture!
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We all have 24 hours in a day. How we spend these hours is important. Watching a little bit of a video about how sitting affects us made me aware of how much sitting and laying down I do. Gonna have to work on that.Your turn. Tell me another truth.
I don't smoke, and eat relatively consistently but my INR still gets wonky once in a while and I've been on warfarin for 5 years. It's just the nature of the drug. So if we decide to eat like crap or smoke or whatever just so our INR won't change or wbecause we don't want our warfarin dose to change, imagine how unhealthy we'd all get and stay.
Find support to quit smoking. I get that it's really hard. But not quitting because you're worried about your INR changing doesn't make sense. It would be like someone who gets diagnosed with diabetes while on warfarin but doesn't want to make dietary changes to combat the diabetes because of their INR. You make the changes, you work with your doc to get your dosage straight to accommodate the changes and then you keep moving on.
You might try the smoking group here on DS for some extra support with quitting. Also, maybe try switching over to sugarless gum for a while to curb the eating instinct you get when you don't smoke.
Good luck!
I will stop smoking and will try to manage the weight issue through healthy eating habits instead of adding a really bad health habit.
Oh, and gum is not an option: I hate the stuff!! I am just no longer used to being hungry since I've had no appetite for the past year due to numerous health issues, including a very, very nasting eye infection a year ago.