I can't believed this actually helped me.

You might have ulcerative colitis rather than Crohn's. Smoking helps relieve the symptoms of UC but aggravates the symptoms of Crohn's. Rather than smoking, many on the UC forum prefer nicotine lozenges or e-cigs to get their nicotine rather than ingesting all that toxic smoke from cigarettes.

Some research indicates that it is the carbon monoxide from smoking that relieves UC, not the nicotine. But so many have found that nicotine itself works. I would rather you tried clean nicotine lozenges to see if they are helpful rather than inhaling toxic carcinogenic smoke.

I have crohn's colitis as well (it's definitely CD that I have since I have the perianal crohn's skin tags as well my CD was affecting my small intestine along with my colon and anal tags for the first 3 yrs when I first became sick so my DX is definitely CD)....I too found when I quit smoking that my CD turned even more horrible, I quit for 3 yrs and I started smoking again (I only smoke 6/day) and it definitely helped calm things down some.

It is true that it's the carbon monoxide that specifically aids with inflammation in the colon (which are basically the words from the researchers that discovered this, therefore it doesn't matter if the inflammation is from CD or UC.

Smoking is bad for CD in the small intestine but I have not had it affect my small intestines for the last 17 yrs and I've smoked through most of those 17 yrs....besides, we are all different and none of the research is necessarily written in stone either. Some CDers don't do any worse from smoking, while others do, just like not all UCers that smoke find relief either.


Apparently they're suppose to be working on a med that mimics what carbon monoxide from smoking does to help relieve inflammation in the colon, until then I will continue to smoke...my doc already confirmed to me that a mere 6 smokes a day is no different or worse than the pollution/poisons we breath in daily from our environment anyway.

I certainly am not trying to promote smoking because it is bad overall for you, I'm just sharing my experiances with it/without it.

I was addicted to cigs for a long time. It was bad for my health, expensive, non social and a total bugger to quit.

Only about 5% of folks at any one time who are trying to quit are still smoke free 2 years later (or something like that).

I 100% understand feeling poorly everyday and needing to feel better. And perhaps having some cigs is the only way to go but please wait a bit.

Try the nicotine and other suggestions for a least a bit of time and see if they work for you.

Perhaps you will not have the trouble most have but many many have started cigs with 2 or 6 per day and before they knew it they were fully addicted and having a pack a day.

Again, I am not saying you are wrong, or that I do not understand, but for your own sake in the long term, and so you are not replacing one issue with another, put the cigs down for a bit and try the other alternatives. You can always take the cigs, but putting them down can be very very tough. You really do not want to start smoking unless it is the last resort.

Hope you consider

Dave

 

Well, on the one hand it totally makes sense - almost all of us take prescription drugs that have some pretty possibly dire consequences in order to feel better, so who am I to judge smoking as a medication.
I am happy you are feeling better.
On the other hand, I was a smoker for years, and unfortunately I think it is one of the things that caused / exacerbated my crohns (illeum / cecum). I haven't smoked for several years now (after trying so many times to quit after starting with "just a few a day") - now if I even have one drag it makes me SO sick - I flare, and feel nauseous for hours and bad crohns cramps. The last time I tried one cigarette it ruined a whole weekend holiday - sent me into severe flare - fever, couldn't eat for days. At the beginning of my CD this never happened, but the smoking made my CD worse and once my CD was worse I couldn't handle smoking.
My worry for you it that if you do have CD and not just colitis that the smoking may CAUSE CD to escalate in a different part of your system (like your small intestine) even if it is helping your colon.
Also, although a doctor may have said it is "no different than the toxins we breathe in every day" you are still breathing in those daily toxins PLUS now smoking, in effect doubling the number of toxins you breathe in every day.
I realize I'm going on a bit of a rant perhaps, and I'm not trying to tell you what to do - because like I said I was a smoker for a long time and I take my own drugs (remicade) that carry risks, but I also work in health care and see many, many, people die of COPD and lung cancer so I've seen the result and it is scarier than CD.
I understand your desire for relief from pain, and if this is it I really do wish you the best with it, and I really hope it doesn't cause you further problems.
Take care!

I'm no doctor too. But my idea of this helping would be that the stress play a huge part in crohn's desease and cigarettes is proven to have good effect on stress. More than just help relaxe because of the feeling of smoking but some of the ingrediants really effect the brain to be less stressed. I saw a huge inprovement when I was less stressed and anxious. But I actualy would consider others alternatives than smoking.

I am not a smoker so I am not 100 percent sure of these facts, but I heard that modern designer cigarettes of the past century are more of a health hazard than the older more natural cigs. For example is it true that in western countries there is definitely a correlation between smoking and cancer, but that correlation is much weaker in China?

Modern cigarettes contain about 600 additional additives some of which are hazardous to health. This is in addition to the 4000 chemicals created when tobacco burns in a cigarette. Health freaks who are also smokers (sounds like an oxymoron) would know more about this than I.

Mother Earth magazine advertises American Spirit cigs which have no additives. So if the smoke is necessary to alleviate symptoms then perhaps this would work better than designer cigarettes. Otherwise I would prefer clean nicotine lozenges (but I am not sure if I have Crohn's or UC).

http://quitsmoking.about.com/cs/nicotineinhaler/a/cigingredients.htm

Post Edited (BabeintheWoods) : 8/31/2011 6:11:02 PM (GMT-6)

^ I started smoking again out of desperation due to how much worse my CD flared after I quit smoking for 3 yrs. Life in general can lead to worse problems down the road, that's just how I see life in general...I'd rather have a better quality of life CD wise as a smoker, than a longer and crappier life with my CD flare worse as it was when I quit smoking. For me it's quality not quantity.

My grandfather was a very heavy smoker, he lived to 102 yrs old, he died of a brain anurysm, never had cancer in his long life or heart disease. My 2 grandmother-in-laws (one still alive, one passed) both smoked moderately for decades, the one that passed was 99 yrs old (died of old age, not any complications from smoking) the other will be 98 in November, they both quit in their 80's....being a smoker does not guarantee death by cancer or heart disease or other smoking related illnesses...not for everyone that is.

Other than myself having CD I have no other health issues, my cholesterol is in the healthy range, my blood pressure is and always has been "perfect" according to my family doc...I've been smoking mostly on (over the yrs, sometimes off) since I was 14, I'm now 44, I've never had gum disease or any other periodontal disease/issues, infact my dentist always asks me if I've quit smoking because my gums, mouth and teeth are always so healthy (even when I used to be a heavy smoker) infact my teeth are quite white and I don't use whiteners on my teeth, very strong and have a nice gloss to them especially for my age and for how long I've mainly been a smoker....my dentist says my mouth is in better shape than many non-smoking patients that he has.

I take amazing care of myself regardless of being a smoker (6 cigs/day) I eat nothing processed, no refined sugar, no bad fats, I take vitamins, C, D, B12, A and just as importantly I exercise regularly and am in better shape than most teenagers/young adults. I have great muscle tone, quite amazing lung capacity considering how long I've been a smoker for...I weigh 120 lbs and I'm 5'5" tall.

Bottom line, although I smoke 6 cigs a day, weigh in the rest of my lifestyle, and if it helps control my crohn's then until they create a med that mimics the benefit of smoking for inflammation in the colon, I will not quit....if I can't leave my house and live somewhat of a life, I mine as well be dead now....that's how I look at it...for me.

I'm either allergic or non-responsive to traditional RX used for IBD that's why I use what is listed in my signature below...to be honest I'm glad that I'm either allergic or non-responsive to them....I have no side-effects to deal with like the meds they use to "treat" IBD which are all actually cross-over meds for other diseases/conditions.

Sorry about your Mom Zanne, my mom had UC, never smoked a day in her life, she also passed away last year (brain anurysm just like my Dad's father as I mentioned above)....she was 82 yrs old. Although smoking "can" increase the risk for cancer, heart disease, etc, doesn't mean it will for everyone that smokes...smoking is not the only thing that can cause people to die from cancer, heart disease, etc. And, finally, we're all gonna die someday anyway.

PB4 I can see as a smoker you are fighting for the smokers (I was the same way when I was a smoker). But in this case, you yourself even admit that smoking is bad for people with Crohns. I smoked for 29 years, during that time I only had my two primary flares in the first 4 years then went on to a 20 year remission. But....my Crohns still came back and came back even worse. Thats when I learned how bad smoking is for Crohnies and I quit. I have had no problems being smoke free with my Crohns. And my Crohns is in the small and large intestine, I have Ileocolitis type of Crohns. There are other ways to get the nicotine, and I think BosnianBoy would be wiser to use one of those than put the poision of cigarette smoke in his body. jmho

Javajay,

Check out this link...

http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/eode/eode-air-quality-impact.pdf

I agree (better numbers) just saying 6/day works for me along with what's listed in my sig below....when I quit smoking using Zyban (which worked great for me) I was quite happy but when my CD took a turn for the worse, I still stuck it out for 2 yrs and 11 months of not smoking until I finally gave in and opted to smoke only a small amount each day. If it helped I would stick with it, if not then I would quit, it helped me by the next day when I noticed my guts were more managable, it may have been coincidence but I'm not risking finding out...I'm sick and tired after 20 yrs of CD predicting my entire life to me, right down to the clothes and shoes I wear (I missed wearing high heels, hard to run to the can in them and especially in public places) but I've been able to wear heels again and my CD isn't as controlling as it was when I was a non-smoker. It just works best this way for me, for now.

An old man went to the doctor, who noted what a spry and healthy 90-something he was, and asked what was the secret to his long life.

"I never smoked, drank or slept with a woman in my life!" the patient said proudly.

To which the doctor asked, "Then why did you bother?"

tsitodawg,

The best way I can explain myself is...if it wasn't for CD I wouldn't be eating the diet I eat or likely even exercising...everything that I do (including smoking 6 cigs a day) is for some relief from CD...the patch does nothing for me.

I'm well aware of the effects of smoking, and I appreciate your concern (I mean that sincerely as sometimes sincerity does get lost in written posts) but my own personal outlook on life is, when your time is up, it's up and there's still a better chance that something besides smoking 6 cigs a day will kill me at some point in my life but if it happens to be the 6 cigs/day then so be it...I'm trying to be here for a good time, not a long time. Besides, if I didn't smoke my 6 cigs a day then (and didn't have crohn's) then I might actually be "perfect" LOL....I don't drink or do drugs, smoking is the only bad habit I have and I only do it because I get some added relief from my CD as a result of it. I should mention, I used to be quite the junk-food junky (which is not a healthy life-style either) and even though I've always been lean, eating unhealthy for the majority of my life wasn't good either...like MikeB's post reflects...."why bother". Giving up the bad diet wasn't easy and the only reason I did it was for the sake of feeling so crappy CD wise...same reason why I find CD benefit from 6 cigs/day...I don't know how else to justify it to everyone here, not that I really have to but I do appreciate the concern.

MikeB---Kudos to your post, it definitely proves a point in my books!!