i barley smoke i just love having one with my coffee or tea. its a hard habit to kick. im on the pill, been on it for a year. i know youre not suppose to smoke while taking it but i figured since i dont smoke that often the risk wouldnt be as high. it increases the chance of blood clotting from what i know am i really harming myself by having a smoke or two a day???
Well my pack of pills says if you are a smoker you should condiser quitting... But You changes greatly increase if you are a smoker over 35 or smoke more than 15 cigarettes a day... So yes you are putting yourself at risk.. But a lower risk... if you only smoke 1 or 2 cigs a day .. Quit.. It should be really easy
^ basically what faerie said. if you're over 30-35 and smoke 15+ cigs, you're in the at risk group. if you're under 30 that doesn't mean you can smoke up a storm, but your chances are slightly less. my doc said, though, that if a woman is 30+ and smokes, no doc will write a prescription for birth control for her at that planned parenthood location, and many others will refuse to write one, too. maybe that's just a small-town thing though. i smoked more than a pack a day and took the pill and i still had low blood pressure, so it's not an end-all absolute extreme. i was 19 and told my doc i smoked half a pack a day she she said not to worry. then a year later i told my doc i smoked about 5 cigarettes a day, and she said i might want to quit for general health now, but in terms of the pill i've gotta quit before i'm 30 if i want to keep getting prescriptions.
I have been on the pills for years and also have been smoking for years. All my check-ups have been great with nothing wrong. I guess it verys person to person......
oh yeah, i forgot to mention that smoking lowers your immune system, of course... so if you have certain stds, the combination of smoking and the pill can correlate with/increase your chances of an outbreak. even if you're clean, smoking cigs can effect your pap smear results and increase your chances of dysplasia. not all the time, but it happens.
one to two a day? Obviously, you would be better off if you quit, but hell, you'd also be better off without a lot of modern influences. If one to two cigaretts gets you through the day, I say go for it. . .
Smoking more increases your risk. Being over 35 increases the risk. That doesn't mean that a womyn in her 20s, who smokes and is on the pill is home free. She still has a higher risk for heart related problems than a womyn her age who is also on the Pill and doesn't smoke at all. Certainly not all womyn who take the pill and smoke end up with a blood clot, a heart attack or a stroke, but her RISKS are higher for those things. Everything in life is a risk/benefit ratio balance. Yes, even if you smoke a few cigs a day your risk of circulatory problems is increased, not as much as a womyn who smokes a whole pack, but in some cases people with lower risks have the problems happen, and those with high risks do not. To be your healthiest, don't smoke cigarrettes at all, especially if you are on the Pill. No one can tell you for sure IF or WHEN you will have a circulatory problem, that is why is is called a "risk" and not a "certainty."
