Smoking / Second Hand Smoke and IBS
#334022 - 08/05/08 10:38 AM
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Nugget
Reged: 02/10/03
Posts: 2167
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I've always been curious if the environment I grew up in has anything to do with my digestive system troubles. I've always had IBS, I believe. When I was a kid, the pediatrician called it a "nervous stomach".
I grew up around LOTS of second-hand smoke. I hated it. I have never smoked, myself, but was around cigarette smoke constantly as a kid. I always had headaches until I moved away and went to college....I got away from the smoky environment.
So I have read a little on-line today about the effects of cigarette smoke on our digestive system and, as one mighet expect, it's not good.
Did anyone else here grow up around second hand smoke, is currently around second hand smoke, or do you smoke?
Just curious whether or not we all have this in common.
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My mom smoked through her entire pregnacy with me.My dad smoked all his life and mom quit at some point but ya I grew up around it.
When my son was a baby,we would visit my parents and my dad and brothers would smoke around him.It took us a few times before we realized the cranky irritated screaming child at 2 in the morning was like that because of the smoke.From then on we would leave the room with him or go outside.I asked my brothers and dad to stop smoking around the kids but my dad is well.....it's his house right.Once my brothers had kids he finally started smoking outside when he saw everyone else who smoked leaving to smoke.
I think it definately has aconnection.How could it not.ciggarettes are evil.
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IBS-D since 1999...mostly stable..i do cheat too.Bad me.
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I've always wanted to ask my mom if she smoked when she was pregnant with me....but I know it would make her feel guilty and terrible. So I never asked. I'm pretty sure she did, though. Even so, she smoked through my whole childhood, so that didn't do me any good either. Finally after I got out of college and was living back at home until I found a job, I kept pestering her to quit smoking. She finally agreed to try it for one day. She said "I'll try it for one day and then you have to leave me alone!!" So she quit for one day, tried to have a smoke the next day and it made her sick. She hasn't had one since and that has been 18 years ago!
I get mad when I see parents now days smoking around kids. It's hard on pets, too. 
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People just don't realize how bad they are.My son gets real upset cause he thinks anyone who smokes is going to die and that bothers him.He has told his grandpa this but it doesn't matter.My dad just won't quit!
I'm so glad your mom did it.That is awesome!
I was wondering.....you don't have kids have you ever thought of adopting?Don't answer if this is too personal.I just see a number of ladies on here that can't have kids and was wondering if anyone had tried adoption.
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IBS-D since 1999...mostly stable..i do cheat too.Bad me.
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Dragonfly....
I don't mind you asking at all about the adoption issue. Actually, at first, my husband and I did talk a little about adopting, but then decided we were happy the way things are. We have our pets and they are our "kids". My husband has two older children from his first marriage, but they choose not to keep in touch...which is really sad. It's hard on him. So we enjoy all the kids around us....our neices and nephews and their children, our friend's children, etc. I never really saw myself as having kids...even when I was real young...I never "longed" to have children of my own. I guess maybe that was God's plan so that it would be easier on me when I had to have my hysterectomy. Things happen for a reason. I do have to admit....the first Mother's Day after I had my hysterectomy was really hard for me. It just hit me that I would NEVER have kids of my own. But I moved on....
I love my dogs...and I believe there is no greater unconditional bond than that between someone and their dog.
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I grew up with smoking my dad.I realize after I left home or even when i would spend the night some were how much better I could breath. There is no smoking in are house or car. After we had are daughter we put a stop to it. My dad is very respectful about it when shes around. He has tried to stop I have seen him but its just to hard for him...
We have thought about adpoting but just don't know how to do it or were to go and its so expensive to!
emmasom
ibs-c
gas
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Sheila...that's great that your dad is respectful about it. I feel bad for kids who are living in a smokers environment. I felt so much better when I got away from it. No more daily headaches and my clothes actually smelled fresh! I hated going to school smelling like cigarettes.
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My boyfriend smokes and I have been trying to get him to quit for more than a year...
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food allergies: soy, dairy, peas, lentils...& more
IBS-A
nausea, dizziness, fatigue
when will it end?
http://artimmersion.etsy.com
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Well we have a lot of friends that have adopted and here in Canada it's a pretty tough process.One you would only want to do if you couldn't live without kids.Friends of mine have been in the "process" for over a year with classes and workshops,in home studies etc.They recently came back from a big conference where they got to "choose" the kids they were interested in.They only found one they felt was for them and they ended up not getting her so...God does have a plan for everyone.It just may not be the one we really wanted!
I hope that your hubbies kids change their minds and you can have a relationship with them.That is a tough situation.
At least dogs listen when told to and they certainly don't talk back so enjoy them as long as you can.I couldn't live without my pets either.
Take care.
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IBS-D since 1999...mostly stable..i do cheat too.Bad me.
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Count me in too... I think my mother smoked some during her pregnancy with me and my dad smoked his entire life and eventually died of lung cancer. It was a generational/situational thing - growing up on a farm during the 30s/40s - he and all his brothers started smoking early - then came WWII - more smoking, especially after he had his shoulder blown off at the Battle of the Bulge. (History lesson here! :-) He mainly smoked a pipe, though - occasionally a cigar and early in the morning 1 cigarette with his coffee. Our home was built in the late 1800s with 14-foot ceilings and exceptionally large, airy rooms, so there never really was a "smoke" smell in the house - but, my brothers and I certainly were exposed. Then, being older than you guys, when I first started working it was OK for people to smoke in offices - that's when I was super exposed to second-hand smoke! Now, I'm so sensitive, I can't be near it or even go in a convenience store where the odor is strong - takes my breath away.
Now for a "hoot" for you younger girls  ... I tell my kids at school that it's a miracle I did not destroy all my brain cells when I was younger, not from smoking pot, but by "huffing" - but no one knew that's what it was. My dad owned one of the two gas stations (used to be called service stations:-) in town and I LOVED the smell of gas! (it smelled different back then:-) Can you believe it? He would fuss at me continually for being out there sniffing the gas! LOL!! And, I loved the smell of lighter fluid - I could sit forever sniffing my dad's or grandfather's lighter. OF COURSE - like we are learning now - all of our mistakes (things we did not know was bad for us) show up in the next generation... God just took care of me - because I should not have any brain cells left!
I had one kid who used to come to school stoned every day and I'd tell him ">>>>>, you've got to stop - you and I can't afford to lose anymore brain cells!" He'd just look at me and say something like "Oh Wow...Yeah"! 
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"I Will Survive! :-)... I shall live and not die and declare the works of The Lord..."
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Funny I had a friend who used to sniff magic markers.The permanent ones.We call them cow markers cause they used to use them to write on the side of the cows.Anyway his mom did it too and eventually lost her job because she was getting high off the fumes and couldn't do any work.
Wacky stuff.The things people do and the dangerous stuff they do to their bodies.Although I did hear once that we only use about 1/10th of our brains so we have a bit of wiggle room (some more than others) 
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IBS-D since 1999...mostly stable..i do cheat too.Bad me.
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GaGa...great story! I would like to add...
I never "huffed" or used drugs or smoke or drank. Led kind of a boring life as a kid if it were considered by some. But, I lived life dangerously by today's standards.
I never wore seat belts or rode in a child restraint seat when I was growing up. Our family took a two week road trip to Canada without ever fastening a seat belt...1975. My family had a Dodge van....you know, the kind where the engine compartment was between the two front seats....the heater rarely worked and, as a toddler, my parents sat me on the engine compartment between the two front seats if we went anywhere in the winter because that was the warmest spot. I was maybe 2 or so. I rollerskated and rode skateboards without helmets, wrist guards, or knee pads. I rode my bike everywhere and explored our neighborhood and beyond without ever wearing a helmet. My friends and I scraped our knees on the playground, got our hair caught in the swingset chain, and received numberous cuts, bumps, stitches, and bruises playing on metal and wood (not plastic) playground equipment...without our parents ever filing a lawsuit. In the winter, we rode our sleds down the steepest hill in the neighborhood without any protective gear. I drank water directly from the garden hose and never got sick because of it. We did all this and more! And we survived! I am a child of the 70s and 80s....and I survived! 
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LOL! Dragonfly! LOL!
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Keep at him....maybe he'll quit. It will not only help his health, but those around him as well.
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Wow. That is a tough process in Canada. It's probably best for the kids, though. Some kids here get adopted by families who should never have kids in the first place and end up having a horrible life.
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I enjoyed everyones comments. Nugget if you think the 70s and 80s were dangerous, I grew up in the 60s. Everything was different. I can relate to all those people who grew up with smokers yuk!!! The headaches, the smelly clothes, car house...I'll be honest I did smoke for a few years, but I never smoked in my house or car or any place my kids would get stuck breathing it. I new it wasn't good for me and it would be worse for my kids. Smoking does have a direct effect on IBS sometimes my stomach would hurt so bad and be in such knots I literally could not stand not too mention the weight loss because of the catch 22. I know stress played a role too but we all know how painful an episode can be and you just don't want to eat anything. People who did not know me and what my real problem was thought I was anorexic, it was scarey. Another problem with smoking or even second hand smoke is the problems it causes in pregnancy and the development of the baby. Breathing or smoking anything that alters your chemistry is not worth the roulette you are playing with a child that is completely dependant on you. Believe me, I am in a line of work that gives me exposure to crack babies, fetal alcohol syndrome, developmental delays....all because of someones own selfishness, it's a shame. 
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Dragonfly -
You mean like "man, there's really a chance for me?" :-)
As someone posted earlier - I, too, work with kids who face all forms of mental/emotional/learning disabilities due to their parents' "drugs of choice"... fetal alcohol syndrome,(to include crack-cocaine babies), minimal brain disorder, and, things like autism - for which I'm not linking to parental drug usage, but they are finding new "causes" daily - dependent on what research you read...
And, Nugget, I grew up pretty much like you - I even drank from the garden hose,rode in the back of a pick up truck and probably ate dirt! :-) But, according to Dr. Jordan Rubin - we still need to eat dirt (just the right kind that no longer seems to be abundant in our country).
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"I Will Survive! :-)... I shall live and not die and declare the works of The Lord..."
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pcrider....I was born in 1968...but was too late to see much of the 60s. I'm not sure I could handle doing what you do to be around crack babies, etc. It takes a special person to do that. I agree, it's a shame that happens because of someone elses selfishness. {{{hugs}}}
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No kidding.even some parents should have to go through a screening process in order to have their own kids.It's crazy the amount things have changed.My grandma adopted 35 years ago and she did it without my grandpa even knowing!They just handed here these two kids and she signed a couple pieces of paper and came home with them.Voila instant family,again,her kids were all grown so the lord only knows what she was thinking.Grandpa had no idea but just went along with it .Crazy huh.That would NEVER happen now.Not here anyway.
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IBS-D since 1999...mostly stable..i do cheat too.Bad me.
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GaGa....Like I told pcrider...It takes a special kind of person to do what you do...being around babies and children who have syndromes and health issues all because their mothers didn't care about taking care of their bodies and babies before and after they were born. Such a shame. {{{hugs}}}
I, too, rode in the back of pickups! and ate dirt...not intentionally, though.
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WOW! How times have changed!
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Nugget, your description of your "dangerous" childhood is hilarious!
I was born in 1980. I remember that our first car didn't even have safety belts in the back seat, lol!
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IBS-C, bloating, cramps
pregnant 
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Glad you enjoyed it! I miss those days before everyone was so concerned about every little thing that might injure us or make us sick. That's life! We are going to get injured and we are going to get sick. And if we do, it doesn't always mean that someone else is at fault. Ya know? Our society now is always looking for someone to blame.
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