Crohn's Disease & Ulcerative Colitis Support Group

Its just a stupid way for them to make more money of poisoning us.

There are no benefits to smoking, the only one may be to help push stool out, becuase when I use to smoke I noticed the chemicals after I lit a cigarette would give me the urge to poop.

But dont buy into it..

I know I didn't know or have (unsure) that I had UC until I quit smoking. It was severe enough that even a year later I still struggle to do day to day activities. So my personal experience it that it had an effect.
Just my thoughts. I smoked for 26 years. My body was fighting daily the toxins I put in my body. When I quit I think my body was still on hyperdrive to fight the smoking chemicals that it turned on itself. I know that my thoughts are a little out there but I believe it. Smoking is a nasty extremely addictive habit that if you don't smoke don't for the sake of UC.

I'm 30 years old. I was diagnosed with UC at 19, although thinking back, I had symptoms even before that. I was also a young smoker. I think my first flare happened the first time I quit.

Regarding tobacco/nicotine and IBD, it's a documented fact in numerous studies that:

1. Current and former smoking are both bad for Crohn's, so don't even think about it if you have Crohn's.. you might want to look into medical marijuana if it's legal in your state. If not, move to somewhere where it is.
2. Former smoking is bad for UC, so don't ever start and make sure your biological children know they could suffer for it if they do start
3. Current smoking is beneficial for UC- this is the category I fall into and the purpose of the rest of my post.

I'll bet most of the people on this forum with UC smoked at one point in time in their lives and don't any more (or maybe not as much). I wish I had never started, but its too late for that now. Not because I don't have the discipline to quit, because I do. But now that I have been a smoker, if I try to stop the tobacco, I will flare up within 24 hours. Most physicians will not accept my claim that my UC will flare up that quickly from no tobacco, but I have done it enough times to know how my body works.

I am against smoking. I've moved on to vaporizing tobacco in a device that is also used by medical marijuana patients. You can heat the nicotine to a temperature below what causes combustion and forcing that air into a bag from which you can inhale. I do a one gallon bag in the morning and one at night. It's not dirty like smoking. It releases the chemicals I need to keep my UC in remission. I've tried the gum and the patch and something about those delivery mechanisms for nicotine is inneffective. I've read that the carbon monoxide in cigarettes could be an anti-inflammatory. I've read other places that the nicotine somehow helps improve the mucousa lining inside the colon. I've also heard that the suppression of the immune system is why nicotine helps. Nobody fully understands what's happening. Perhaps with the gum or patch, you get certain benefits of tobacco (like just nicotine), but not others. I use only additive free tobacco, which doesn't contain extra chemicals, so I doubt its anything besides the tobacco providing any benefit like a previous poster said (I'll be looking for the raw leaves soon). I can do this inside my house without my house stinking like cigarettes because the smell of nicotine without combustion is more akin to incense than anything else.

I'm not trying to convince anyone else to use this approach, BUT I wanted you to know that there is a non-smoking nicotine (and whatever other chemicals in the tobacco that are helping) delivery mechanism that has been effective for at least one person.

Here's a breakdown of the treatments I've tried and their effectiveness on me: predinsone (bad side effects, difficulty tapering), rowasa (effective if used consistently), sulfa (no impact), fish oil (midly effective), glutamine (TBD). Diets I've tried: SCD (no difference), vegetarian (no difference). Things to avoid: alcohol, insufficient rest/sleep.

The one thing about this process is it is a bit of a pain. It is much easier to just light up and be done in 5 minutes. The process with the vape takes about 15-20 minutes.

I recognize that there may be a long term risk with this treatment. I might just be making the problem worse for myself, but I also recognize that every person is different. I am choosing quality of life now over future unknown. And as a result, I try to suck the joy out of every moment I have... with or without flare

How very interesting somethintosay.
It is absolutely a confirmed medical fact that smoking makes crohn's worse and UC better.
Sorry, but there it is. Probably no reason to start smoking, I'm sure the negatives outweigh the positives but it is true.

I have no doubt from personal experience that smoking controls UC. UC, little ulcers everywhere in the colon, flared 3 months after stopping smoking, a significant period according to an article in the NJ journal of medicine. Steroids controlled the flare but after they were finished symptoms of UC returned and smoking restarted fixed the problem.

Only thing is I also have Crohn's. I lost a chunk of my colon a year later due to abscess and fistula and I think, though cannot be sure ,that the abscess may have started during the UC flare! So as I have said before damned if you do and damned if you don't!................JR

PS I make my own cigs, roll-ups, no Potassium Nitrate (salt petre) to contend with!...........JR