I have a question for everybody. Please answer

[jchaplick]

So I was talking to my doctor the other day, and he asked me if I was a smoker and I didnt know how to answer.
I smoke about 10 bowls a week, and i dont inhale.
My question for everybody here is, if you are similar in habits to me, what would your answer be, if you only had yes or no as a choice?

 

[nsfisher]

yes doc, i am a pipe smoker

 

[jship079]

I would tell my DR. except for this if you do tell your DR. you better tell your insurance company if you have life insurance once the investigation starts God forbid it needs to if you tell them you dont smoke and its in your DR. notes you do thats your ass.

 

[ichbinmuede]

yes doc, i am a pipe smoker

+1

Sounds like the way to respond to me.

 

[dylan793]

You should probably explain it to him just as you wrote it. "I smoke x number of bowls a week but don't inhale". Just because you don't inhale doesn't mean you're unaffected by nicotine. Because nicotine raises your heartrate and constricts blood vessels, this is very important for your doctors to know. It can help them prescribe correct medication for whatever you're seeing them about, or help them diagnose whatever unknowns there may be. Your lungs may be clean as a whistle, but us non-inhalers still get the nicotine by absorption.

 

[PeriqueMyInterest]

I say yes the Doctor usually asks how much I smoke, etc. Some medication might react badly with nicotine like Dylan said.

 

[smokey422]

My doctor knows I'm a pipe smoker and pays no attention to it at all. He knows that I don't inhale and don't smoke to excess. In reality, it probably helps relieve stress in my life as I am a type "A" hyper person normally. My pipe calms me down and helps me look at things in a more logical light. I also use nasal snuff.
Smokey

 

[bogie]

I always say no.

 

[loneredtree]

+1 Dylan, Frequency matters. I think 1 or 2 bowls a week would not quality as a smoker. 11 may be a pipe smoker. Another variable would be if you were going for the heavier nic kick tobaccos.

 

[olderthandirt]

Also +1 to Dylans response.

There's rarely a good reason for subterfuge or deceit.

 

[radio807]

My view for just about anything is that you can't go too far wrong by telling the truth. Why on Earth would you withhold information from your doctor? The more he knows about you, the better he can treat and advise you. While your doctor is obligated to give you the best advice he can, you are under no obligation to follow it. I would be much more fearful of allowing my doctor to treat me with incomplete information, than I would hearing him tell me to quit smoking. So, to answer your question directly I would tell him yes.

 

[kamikazesasquatch]

I just say "only an occasional pipe or cigar".

 

[pjm03fatboy]

That is a good ? i have a dr appo in 2 weeks as a long pipe smoker off and on since the mid 70's i stop and start up again all the time, and quit for 6-9 mos at a time. i smoke more in the winter than summer, i just started up again 2 mos ago i smoke 2-3 bowls a day give or take how busy the day is, dont inhale like (bill clinton) ha ha. if any only thru my nose to get the aroma,so if the ? came up from the dr which it has never :: i would say no! That's me

 

[nsfisher]

inhale or not inhale, im sry to say u r still subjectin ur lungs to secondhand smoke which is still smoke in lungs. Now please dont git me wrong, i gave up cigarettes because of health but i still know im still hittin my lungs with nic and smoke just to a lesser extent.

 

[zanthal]

I went to the doctor on Wednesday and was asked the same thing. "Yes, I smoke a pipe."
And they ask "How much, how often?" and I tell them a few times a week. They wrote it down in the file.
To me smoking a pipe, and not (deliberately) inhaling, amounts to me as the medical equivalent of "being exposed to second-hand smoke"

 

[igloo]

I would tell him yes .It is a pipe and not as bad for you cigarettes but it is still smokin . Many here would have you believe it not harmful to you because it is a pipe . But trust me you do inhale and are still getting the the effects of nicotine .There is a noted increase in cancer of the mouth and the throat . 80% of these cancers are in smokers and heavy drinkers. I will say this after 30 years of smoking cigarettes , pipes and cigars . Eating fast and processed food is more harmful than smoking .

 

[nsfisher]

To me smoking a pipe, and not (deliberately) inhaling, amounts to me as the medical equivalent of "being exposed to second-hand smoke"
EXACTLY RIGHT

 

[mluyckx]

+1 with Dylan and Jship. Be honest and consistent

 

[kamikazesasquatch]

As to the whole "second hand smoke" thing: Does that mean that if you didn't smoke but were occasionally around smoke you would report that? I report it because you can absorb the nic in your mouth and nose, not just in your lungs but not because it's like 2nd hand smoke.

 

[ace57]

I was at My Doc. today and was asked, I said I smoke a pipe He asked if I would like to stop I said nope. No more was said about it.