Hi everyone! Im a month and helf way to my surgery and yesterday my navigator called and told me that i needed one more test and is nicotine , i dont know if im going to pass it i been smoking im not a person that smokes half or one box a day I literally smoke from two or 3 cigarettes one day and like two or three day without smoking or one cigarette and the other one day same , if i do the test would it come to positive? Its blood test, or should i wait a week not smoking at all and do it please help im trying my best now not to smoke this surgery is so important to me

For an infrequent smoker, 10 days would be a safe window for a blood test (usually). For a urine test, after about 4 days. Saliva tests are after about 4 days as well. The thing is, it depends on frequency over a long term, so it's probably best to plan for the worst.

There's an article on WebMD that breaks it down more, just search "nicotine testing".

6 minutes ago, Sigi42 said:

For an infrequent smoker, 10 days would be a safe window for a blood test (usually). For a urine test, after about 4 days. Saliva tests are after about 4 days as well. The thing is, it depends on frequency over a long term, so it's probably best to plan for the worst.

There's an article on WebMD that breaks it down more, just search "nicotine testing".

Thanks so much i went to my family doctor and ask him about this he said for me to wait a week or 2 to the test hopefully i will pass

Try to quit now.. especially for smoking so little. The surgeon requires you to be smoke free min 30 days before they will operate. I am not sure if they will do another test closer to the surgery date just to ensure you havent started smoking again.

Hi everyone! Im a month and helf way to my surgery and yesterday my navigator called and told me that i needed one more test and is nicotine , i dont know if im going to pass it i been smoking im not a person that smokes half or one box a day I literally smoke from two or 3 cigarettes one day and like two or three day without smoking or one cigarette and the other one day same , if i do the test would it come to positive? Its blood test, or should i wait a week not smoking at all and do it please help im trying my best now not to smoke this surgery is so important to me

The surgeon uses a "quantitative" test. It doesn't test nicotine in the blood (which can disappear in a few days) . Quantitative testing tests nicotine levels in the body and can tell if you had any nicotine in the last 3 months. Most surgeons require you to be smoke free for about 4 months prior to surgery. It's for this reason they use the quantitative test prior to testing. That's why if the if the surgery is important you NEED to remain smoke free. Not a cigarette here and there. Just remind yourself.... Everytime you light up.... It starts your 4 months OVER. IF I were you I'd take the test and be done with it. Maybe done with it. Maybe you'll get lucky but as a nurse I'm going to say I highly doubtful it. 4 months will go by quickly. Just keep reminding yourself when your tempted to light up.... What do you want be more? The cigarette or the surgery? This time it was cigarette.

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I had a urine test... and self tested at home to be sure I’d pass. It took about 8 days to pass the home tests and when I had the in office test, I hadn’t used NRT for about 15 days. You can buy the home tests on amazon for like 5 bucks.

To be fair, I was using NRTs like e cigarettes and hadn’t had a real cigarette in about 7 months when all this occurred... to be fair, I was heavily using the NRTs when I had to stop, so that could be why it took 8 days to get out of my urine.

I thought most programs used the urine test due to cost and that it could detect cotinine (metabolite of nicotine) for longer periods?

At any rate, good luck! Quitting smoking was brutal but absolutely the best thing I ever did for myself health-wise.

5 hours ago, lifeasfaith said:

The surgeon uses a "quantitative" test. It doesn't test nicotine in the blood (which can disappear in a few days) . Quantitative testing tests nicotine levels in the body and can tell if you had any nicotine in the last 3 months. Most surgeons require you to be smoke free for about 4 months prior to surgery. It's for this reason they use the quantitative test prior to testing. That's why if the if the surgery is important you NEED to remain smoke free. Not a cigarette here and there. Just remind yourself.... Everytime you light up.... It starts your 4 months OVER. IF I were you I'd take the test and be done with it. Maybe done with it. Maybe you'll get lucky but as a nurse I'm going to say I highly doubtful it. 4 months will go by quickly. Just keep reminding yourself when your tempted to light up.... What do you want be more? The cigarette or the surgery? This time it was cigarette.

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They just told my that my insurance is the one who is requiring so i can get approved well i just hope i will come out clean thanks so much

They just told my that my insurance is the one who is requiring so i can get approved well i just hope i will come out clean thanks so much

Don't sweat it. Just do it and get it over with. The worse that happens is your surgery gets pushed back and you learned a hard lesson. The best case scenario you pass!

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Oh and just in case I'd hydrate the hell outta myself prior to the blood test. Couldn't hurt!

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If they are just doing a simple blood test I'd wait one week while hydrating the heck outta myself.... Take the test and pray to the powers that be!!!!

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If they are just doing a simple blood test I'd wait one week while hydrating the heck outta myself.... Take the test and pray to the powers that be!!!!

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You also might drink a couple cups of detox tea a day while hydrating yourself well while waiting to go in for your blood test. Wal Mart carries a good detox tea on the coffee/tea aisle called detox tea by traditional medicines

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Thanks so much and yes im drinking ginger tea hope that works and im willing now quit smoking not for this surgery but for life time ! Once again thanks

8 hours ago, lifeasfaith said:

If they are just doing a simple blood test I'd wait one week while hydrating the heck outta myself.... Take the test and pray to the powers that be!!!!

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Do you know if they test nicotine for the last three months or its resent? Or how that works

Do you know if they test nicotine for the last three months or its resent? Or how that works

It depends on your Dr. A lot of Drs do a "quantitative" test which tests for nicotine in the body and can detect nicotine as far back as 3-4 months. Tests are getting more and more sophisticated. If people are serious about getting this surgery and one of the criteria is to be smoke free for 4 months prior to surgery then you must be prepared to do just that and not be surprised if your gets cancelled because you think you can be the exception to the rule. Do you want the cigarettes more or the surgery more? You have to pick one because you can't pick both.

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On 01/24/2019 at 17:59, Camiladeleon said:

Do you know if they test nicotine for the last three months or its resent? Or how that works

My test was basically pass/fail. If levels in urine were over 300 someunitofmeasure then it was a fail, but as long as you were under you were fine.

The reason for this, is because you could passively inhale second hand smoke and still have it show up in the test if they just failed you for having any amount.

It’s worth noting you could still fail if you inhale a lot of second hand smoke, like if you live with a smoker who smokes indoors or ride in the car with someone smoking... that could make you test high enough to fail.

On 1/23/2019 at 9:33 AM, insta_adventurer said:

I had a urine test... and self tested at home to be sure I’d pass. It took about 8 days to pass the home tests and when I had the in office test, I hadn’t used NRT for about 15 days. You can buy the home tests on Amazon for like 5 bucks.

To be fair, I was using NRTs like e cigarettes and hadn’t had a real cigarette in about 7 months when all this occurred... to be fair, I was heavily using the NRTs when I had to stop, so that could be why it took 8 days to get out of my urine.

I thought most programs used the urine test due to cost and that it could detect cotinine (metabolite of nicotine) for longer periods?

At any rate, good luck! Quitting smoking was brutal but absolutely the best thing I ever did for myself health-wise.

I tested my self and it came negative on the urine test but im not sure if its the same as a blood test the results