2 months post-op... dying for a joint!

[frodo]

I quit smoking cigarettes (for good) a couple of months before surgery, and then a month before quit smoking joints temporarily (cos I heard smoking slows down the healing process)

It's been 2 months post surgery now, though, and I wonder if I can start hitting the hash again... It's been a kinda stressful time for me lately, and it would be awesome if I could smoke again.... what do you reckon?

I had gynecomastia by the time I was 15, and didnt smoke my first joint until I was 23, so obviously theres no co-relation there...

I've stopped wearing my compression vest (after 6 weeks) although my left side still looks bigger than the right (although I can't feel any gland under there now) the doc says its cos the left side was bigger to begin with... I'm hoping it will still go down more. cos it still feels more sore than the right side, so there must be more healing left to do... I hope it'll shrink.

So I guess what I'm asking is, since I'm not wearing the vest anymore (cos apparently it doesnt make any difference after 6 weeks) can I start smoking pot/hash again, now that I'm more than 2 months post-op?

I'm not asking this from a general health perspective (cos we all know any kind of smoking is unhealthy) but in terms of healing after a gynecomastia operation........ Now's a time in my life when I really need to smoke a little bit.... joints, not cigs (I'm done with those for good, theres nothing remotely positive about them) 

[wolfman]

and its nothing positive about smokin hash get together man and shape up, u dont need that shit it doesnt solve anything.

[frodo]

I guess its cos its a social activity too, hanging out with friends and smoking a joint.... and frankly I'd rather smoke a doob than lots of cigarettes or alcohol every night... I don't have a girlfriend and the only girl I like isnt gonna break up with her bf and ...gah thats not really relevant to this....

anyway thanks wolfman, but that still didnt answer my question, really....

[drpepper]

I'm not a doctor, but i do know quite a bit about marijuana! The correlation between marijuana and gynecomastia is what i would like to call "bullshit". There is no proof of any specific chemical in marijuana smoke that would result in boobs on a man.

As far as your smoking goes, I would imagine your fine to puff away. I've had gynecomastia my whole life, well before I used marijuana. If you look at some of the painkillers people use, and other methods of recreational drug use, like alcohol, they are MUCH MUCH more dangerous than marijuana will every be.

Smoke in general can slow down the healing process but at 2months I don't know if it would have an effect. But again, I'm not a doctor. Take into consideration other methods of smoking, you don't need to smoke a whole joint. Try taking a bong rip or a few small chillum puffs. The amount of marijuana smoke it takes to get high is NOTHING compared to the amount inhaled from a ciggarette which is what I am sure most doctors are reffering to in your case.

Good luck and smoke one for me!

[frodo]

Thanks drpepper! And I will take a hit for you when I smoke  I'm not big on bongs or chillums, but I wouldnt smoke a whole j by myself, probably share it with a friend or two...

I don't know if you've had surgery or not... but I am curious how long it was after the operation it was before you, or other pot users, started smoking again... and if it had any negative effect. I also believe theres no corelation between the two, but just checking to be safe 

[drpepper]

Unfortunately, i have not had the surgery yet. I cannot wait to, hopefull january or feb. i can get it done, but need to raise the funds. Gynecomastia has pretty much ruined my life or at least made sure i was tormented throughout it. I think at the least, people like use could use a lil ganja in their lives. It keeps us level!

You might want to check out a vaporizer as well my friend. Its not actually smoking. The herb is heated to the point that THC is released but the material is not burned meaning you get VAPOR not smoke, and since marijuana has yet to releated to any type of cancer, this brings the chances of damage to your lungs to a minimum! And the high is incredible and conserves your herb greatly.        

[frodo]

So smoking weed/hash isnt gonna cause my gyne to come back right? I mean, it didnt cause it in the first place....

youre right drpepper, it does keep us level... I think to some extent it also helped me come to terms with my gyne and brave enough to admit I needed surgery.....

[elderkid]

So true Wolfman:  when did smoking weed every put anyone on the level.  Language says it all - 'i'm dying for a joint'  yeah man so cool

[Personal]

Frodo, I got gynecomastia by smoking weed. You don't have it anymore, and keep it that way. Stop smoking that shit, you'll regret it when you see gynecomastia coming back ;x..

[manic91m9]

i dont see anything wrong with having it every now and again. i think it realy depends on how well healed you are at this stage. tho theres a difference between doin it a little bit and alot. if your getting stoned off ur nut that wont be good for healing for sure. listen to your body.

[nitewatch]

I'm not a doctor, but i do know quite a bit about marijuana! The correlation between marijuana and gynecomastia is what i would like to call "bullshit". There is no proof of any specific chemical in marijuana smoke that would result in boobs on a man.

As far as your smoking goes, I would imagine your fine to puff away. I've had gynecomastia my whole life, well before I used marijuana. If you look at some of the painkillers people use, and other methods of recreational drug use, like alcohol, they are MUCH MUCH more dangerous than marijuana will every be.

Smoke in general can slow down the healing process but at 2months I don't know if it would have an effect. But again, I'm not a doctor. Take into consideration other methods of smoking, you don't need to smoke a whole joint. Try taking a bong rip or a few small chillum puffs. The amount of marijuana smoke it takes to get high is NOTHING compared to the amount inhaled from a ciggarette which is what I am sure most doctors are reffering to in your case.

Good luck and smoke one for me!

It's not so much a chemical in Marijuana that causes Gynecomastia, but the fact that Marijuana has been documented and researched to cause hormone fluxuations, more commonly being your testosterone shooting down, allowing your estrogen level to remain normal.

This causes a bad balance in hormones, as your estrogen remains at normal levels during your high and thereafter, your testosterone isn't at a level where it can "defend" fat stores in your breast area.

While having a "J" here and there might not give you man boobs, I am sure that over time of your hormones jumping + late night munchies would certainly have a chance to put the man boobs on you.

[drpepper]

Great explanation.
 I'm not defending marijuana (or to saying its cool), just the right to use it and to really evaluate its impact on gynecomastia.

I just think there is a crazy amount of negative stigma on pot that is really being overshot here. Alcohol lowers testosterone at a greater rate than pot. And there are a few recent studies that refute that pot lowers testosterone. But there probably wouldn't be so many people bashing frodo's  post if he said he was "dying for a beer." So many chemicals influence our testosterone levels, pot is just illegal and and therefore an easy target. If your basing this on the fluxuations in hormones caused by the use of a substance, the list should not stop or focus at marijuana.

Like you said, there are other factors that contribute, not just marijuana smoke alone.

[frodo]

From what I've researched, using pot can cause fluctuations in hormones during puberty... is there any proof of it doing this in adulthood?

I'm 27 by the way, and as I've mentioned before, potsmoking did NOT cause my gynecomastia; I already had that when I was 14, and didnt smoke anything until I was 23.

[nitewatch]

I think it's fair to say that alcohol has just as much effect on your hormone fluxuations as pot would, maybe even more so. I cannot judge the amount.

I think it's also fair to say that pot is something that gets a gringy social aspect for several reasons. Alcohol, while just as bad for your body in just as many ways is legal, and therefore socially acceptable.

I'm not advocating pot or alcohol, but one does have to see the obvious social implications and that in the end, we do what we're told in regard to what we think is 'perfectly acceptable'.

The greatest scientist and physician announcing that "alcohol is more likely to kill you than pot would" wouldn't change that. But I am not to say whether that is true or not, just that I accept and notice these assumptions.

[elderkid]

In my experience -  male heavy drinkers (alcohol) invariably develop man boobs.  However, i cant say  that i have noticed this with hash smokers.  I have also noticed that women who drink to excess have a tendancy to shrink in the breast department.  Therefore it would be reasonable to conclude that alcohol messes
with the hormones.  Not the image that Budwieser like to portray though!!!