What to say when your GP asks if you are a smoker

[lobeydosser]

I still feel uneasy that doctors and other medical people are changing the status of smokers to non smokers when they say that they do not know about e-cigs and have had no directive from the NHS as to their standing on e-cigs.

To me it makes a mockery of the whole smoker/non smoker issue.

[philh]

Hi,
I have been with my present GP for over 20yrs and every time he saw me he would ask if I still smoked and if I was ready to give up yet. No pressure but the same question every time.
Last Sept I phoned the surgery for a repeat prescription and the girl I spoke to said that my doctor wanted to know if I still smoked. I was very proud to tell her that I had made the switch to ecigs and hadn't had a ciggie for nearly 2 months.
For the last 2 weeks I have had a very bad chest infection and have got an appointment tomorrow morning when I will make sure my doc gets the message about ecigs.
Phil

[Deleted]

My GP's are fed up of seeing my e-cigs.....LOL

I sit and wait and vape cos like all the patients think they're some asthma inhaler

And then go in vaping and say 'yeah I bought another shiny the other day - what do you reckon to this' and pull out an even bigger one than last time and they say 'can I whack the hubbie with that' or 'that looks like a dangerous weapon'

GP is fine with it but wants me off the nicotine at some point. But she does say it's better for me than smoking. One GP (the one whose in my bad books for not whipping up a VV in a weekend last year with his son's for a science lesson LOL) said 'I never gave up hope you'd get off the cigs'.

My doctors like my eccentric hobby but then they all like me

Helps...don't know what's on my records - don't care....

Just know not had a chest infection since I started vaping and that's all that matters..

Vape in the waiting room guys. Tell the patients it's an asthma whatsit. Unless you have a cig a like in which case - vape in the loo

[lobeydosser]

The NHS has clearly given a directive that all UK doctors surgeries to record whether a patient is a smoker, a non smoker or an ex-smoker.

However, the NHS has not given any such directive regarding e-cigs and therefore, until such a dirctive is given, anything that is recorded on your medical records will only stand until the NHS lay down its ruling on what it considers e-cigs to be.

If the NHS consider e-cigs to be non smoking, then we are all ex smokers.
If however the NHS considers e-cigs to be smoking related, then like it or lump it, we will all be back to being smokers as far as our medical records are concerned.

I wouldn't bother too much about "educating" our own medical professionals.
Medical records wise, whether we are smokers or ex smokers will be decided in some college of medicine by some professor who couldn't tell an e-cig from a liquorice root.

I vape for my benefit, not for something written on a piece of paper by someone who has not been informed or eductaed enough about e-cigs to make judgement on whether I am one thing or another.
It is up to his superiors to do the educating, not us. All we can do is suggest that because of e-cigs, we feel healthier.

[philh]

Hi,
UPDATE FROM YESTERDAY
I saw my GP and it turns out that I do have a chest infection that is nothing to do with the ecigs. Got some antibiotics and will need a chest xray next week just in case.
I showed the doc my setup and there was a bit of interest especially when I explained that I was still getting my nicotine fix but without all the gunk of smoking.
I'll mark you down as a non smoker was his parting shot.
Phil