smoking and crohns help...

 i i am new here,iv had 2sml blresuctions and now suffering with fistulas had one drainage but more appering , on pred,imuran,mesalzine,b12inj but my problam is i smoke iv tryed so many times has or dose anyone eles smoke and how dose it affect you.

Well
I have Crohns and I have smoked for 46 yrs.....
This last month I DECIDED it was my time to quit
I wanted to I was really ready
My doc RX CHampix......has a Very high success rate
What it does from my understanding is it sends receptors to the brain saying you are receiving the nicotine ....
For the starter pack you still are able to smoke and I did cut my smoke intake by a good 20%
I am on the continuation PKG now and I have just talked with my doc yesterday as I was finding that 4 or about 4 hrs after taking the pill I would have the worst feelings in hands and fingers..they were purple and you could literally stick a needle in them and I did not feel it...
Plus I am a daily D crohnie ....since the last few days .almost a week I have been totally bound up and have been in severe pain from it...I had called the doc and he ordered me stuff to be able to get bm's to move
It was nice not having the D everyday but I was so backed up I could burp and have vomit in throat as well I had a lump in my throat which made me have to use a straw just to drink and I wasnt eating too much

LOL .Morphine and Oxycontin would not make me have formed stools but this I sure believe did
It might just be me though as I do have another DD that goes with the CD Pyoderma Gangrenosum

I DO believe in these pills I have reported the side effects I have had and the Health Ontario Adverse Reaction Office told me that it will have some effects on some ppl with bowel problems like crohns.......and they listed my SX as well to be put on the registry ........

I have now been told to take the 2 mg pill ( am) and 2 mg pill ( pm) in halves and try to see if that does help.......I did start dropping my intake of the pills back to one , after I got cleaned out and I am doing fine with taking them the way I posted above..this is the first day so ...

I just know I so wanted to quit and I will if I continue to be bound like I was the Doctor has said that
I ( me) cannot take them
That doesnt mean that all else cannot give them a shot
like I said they have really helped my not smoking...the biggest thing for me was keeping hands occupied
I have been doing that

ROFLMBO.....I have crochet hook and wool and I have the biggest blanket in works right now
Takes me 2 hrs to get aound it fully ..........

I hope others will try it if they want to quit......and I wish you all the best
I know I am going to quit completely with or w/o the pills BUT & UNLESS I find it makes my CD worse then............

My smokes are about 2/3rds less daily.........
Welcome to Healing Well
I am sure others will post soon and give their input
Hoping you will stay with us..you can email me if you want under my name at side...LYN

I know you want to quit and I commend you for that! Especially when you look at the data on smoking and CD. If you smoke, the chances of needing surgery go way up. In time, after you quite, the odds go back down to what a non-smokers would be.

Try as many times as you have to--but quit smoking! Good luck!

I smoke, have since I was 13 (I'll be 41 this yr) I've quit on and off over the many yrs I've smoked...I will say I'm the oddball when it comes to smoking with my crohns, I quit for 3 yrs (used Zyban, which worked great) but my flare got severely worse the whole time I was a non-smoker, I started again and things settled down some...I've only had CD affect my small intestines the first couple of yrs when I first got sick (17 yrs ago now) but it's remained constant in my colon, smoking or not and as I said, things got much worse while I wasn't smoking...

I know according to research that smoking is one known environmental trigger for crohns, but like I said, I do much worse when not smoking...not trying to encourage anyone, just sharing my own experiance since I've been on both sides of the fence on this one.

Just a reminder, Zyban worked fantastic for me, it made me feel like I had never smoked in my life, I wish I didn't have to go back to it as smoking is unhealthy and very $$$, if I hadn't felt better when I started again, then I would have quit again immediately.

Good luck!

:)

Thanks for sharing all
I am going to do it unless it makes the CD worse or I break out bad with the Pyoderma.......
either way it has now got me to a good spot
I was an almost a 2 1/2 packs of cigs a day gal smoked when in bed( sitting up ) and when eating of all disgusting things lol....
Am down to 10 a day and will continue
I am doing great with the way my doc told me
Breaking the 1 mg pills in halves and taking them in 6 hr intervals........
Fingers no longer going like they were but I do have fibro so fingers are an issue with me .......
I wish all the best in whatever they decide to do

Rosie my sweet sis
YOU should see this blankie
OMGoodness it is huge ....rofl.
I have to go get more wool today
All pastel colors and now Cait wants to get back into it she has to use a 5 or 6 hook........
Am glad there is something else for us to share.......Sis.

I am getting so much home suppport with this as well

Take care all and all the best .
LYN

Nanners
I was able to do that with alcohol ..no problem in 1979 ,after first huibby killed in car accident .drinking and driving....

IF it comes to a point I cannot take the pill I will stop either way.......

It is my time......

Thanks for sharing your story and congrats to you as well as your daughter

LYN

I have crohn's and I smoked about a pack and a half a day for over 30 years. I got injections in the back of my neck. I am not exactly sure what the name of the drug was but it was similar to Chantix which helps to stop the craving for the nicotine. It was hard but it worked. I haven't had a cigarette for over 2 years and have no desire for one.

I guess because you can't really see what's going on in your digestive system it's kind of hard to think that the smoking is doing any harm to the crohn's but it does. Same way as smoking and COPD, which I also developed from the smoking. I started reading more about smoking and crohn's and decided it was time to quit.

In an article that I just read. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070502153705.htm

“In patients who smoke, Crohn’s disease tends to appear more frequently in the small intestine, rather than the colon,” says study author Dr. Marian Aldhous. “Our data shows that when Crohn’s disease is located here, it tends to cause more penetrating or obstructive damage, which would have to be treated by surgery.”

That's exactly what happened to me. I developed strictures in the small intestine which caused obstructions and I had to have a resection last Oct.