Doc's Man Makeover

…This post is bit uncomfortable I guess because I'm a bloke:

Firstly, an update:

So I'm 50 days without a smoke now (Go Team Champix) and feeling pretty sterling. No longer an asthmatic at all - still haven't owned a puffer since quit week and haven't wheezed since. Moods are great - no strange Champix mood shifts to report thus far so I'm pretty stoked with the approach.

The makeover bit:

Well, I have a pretty enthusiastic local GP practice that I visit. They're surprisingly hyped about my whole quit journey. I get high 5's and stuff when I tell them I'm still on track. Kind of corny, but amusing. Anyway - my doctor is very keen to not only make me feel better, but to also wipe away the physical signs of smoking for me.

As I said in a previous post, he put me on Vitamin C (skin and tissue healing) E (Heart and circulation) and Lysine (Usually for cold sores, but also to boost collagen as the skin repairs). Of course, even though vitamins are usually a rip off, I took his advice as I guess it makes some sense that your body needs more support if it is in repair-mode. Some good results, and I feel great.

So I went back to the doctor's yesterday and he's actually put me on 'Retin A' now to rebuild my post-smoker's skin. He said week 6 is good timing for this as the blood flow to the skin is somewhere back to pre-smoker levels and it's key time to reverse smoking damage.

All this skin stuff... I'll admit - it's shamefully vain for a 38-year-old man. But since this is an anonymous forum, I guess I can admit that I'm secretly kind of excited that my doctor is getting me into this stuff as I am looking quite a bit better - and younger lately. If he wants to help with an added kick, all the better.

I wanted to post this approach mostly I guess because it is probably not typical for most doctors. I know a lot of people want better skin after they quit, so perhaps they can ask their own doctor if a similar approach may work after a few weeks post-quitting?

I'll keep you guys updated on how the Balmain regime is working for me.

Jack