HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

smoking and uc

Support Forums
>
Ulcerative Colitis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
12 3
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 5/31/2009 1:50 PM (GMT 0)
i know there are probably tonnes of topics about this but i haven't been able to find one.

I am of an apparently disproportionate percentage of uc sufferers who experienced their first major flare-up shortly after quitting smoking. I have now realised that i managed to gain remission from this first flare-up shortly after i started smoking again for a week on holiday.

And then, a month or so after giving up for a second time, i experienced my second flare-up.

I know there probably isn't much to be said for sacrificing lungs for colon but has anyone else experienced this? I know there are some studies which agree with me.
Posted 5/31/2009 2:11 PM (GMT 0)
I forgot to add- cessation of smoking DEFINITELY makes my mouth ulcers worse.

I know this is hardly a long term solution but i haven't been offered any meds yet (except some ineffective rectal foam) and i'm really worried about going on holiday on thursday!
Posted 5/31/2009 2:42 PM (GMT 0)

Trebbo,

I started seeing symptoms soon after I quit smoking as well.  I've heard that the nicotine for some reason helps with UC symtoms but like you said, I'd rather have a "crappy" colon then black lungs.

Posted 5/31/2009 2:55 PM (GMT 0)
I quit smoking in March of 2005, and in July 2005 I was diagnosed with UC. I think I had it before then, but smoking kept in in control. Once I quit BAMM
Posted 5/31/2009 2:55 PM (GMT 0)
i've actually taken up exercise since giving up too so it would be harsh if i started again. I'm thinking i might smoke in flare-ups and then give up? Might sound naive but it would be convenient until i get some meds.
Posted 5/31/2009 3:40 PM (GMT 0)
I quit smoking when I got pregnant in 1995 and was diagnosed with proctitis soon after. I started smoking again when I went back to work.

Fast forward to September 2006, I quit smoking again and within two months went through my worst episode so far - I didn't see the doctor, I thought it was just a bad episode of proctitis - I got some enemas from a friend. Now that I have been diagnosed with UC due to a serious flare that started in December 2008, I am pretty sure that the 2006 episode was probably the beginning of my UC rather than proctitis since my usual meds didn't help.

I think smoking did help to control my illness. I won't go back to it though. I am pleased to have finally kicked the habit.
Posted 5/31/2009 5:59 PM (GMT 0)
I can join the camp on this one. All of my symptoms started after I stopped smoking. At first I thought I was using the restroom alot since I gained the usual weight after stopping. I wonder if the weight gain has something to do with it. Before diagnosed I used the restroom once a day.
Posted 5/31/2009 6:07 PM (GMT 0)
What about patches do they simular effects on the control of UC. I would never somke again. I smoked when I was a teenager and ended up on pred. This is because I have asthma, It also made my allergies much worse.
Posted 5/31/2009 7:01 PM (GMT 0)
I've been looking at some studies and the nicotine apparently acts as an anti-inflammatory so i suppose patches would be an option. But there was also something mentioned about the muccus production helping which i assume is through smoking.

Personally this is a real dilemma for me. I'm the kind of person who would choose an increased likelihood of a terminal disease in the future rather than an embarrassing and thoroughly unpleasant disease right now. :(
Posted 5/31/2009 7:04 PM (GMT 0)
i would note that none of these studies are 100% conclusive.
Posted 5/31/2009 7:12 PM (GMT 0)
     This topic is interesting.  I started smoking at age nineteen.  I always had IBS as far back as I can remember.  My smoking was considered only recreational, like when I went to a club or something.  about twelve years ago, while going for a walk, I found myself very short winded with upper respiratory discomfort.  I went to the ER and the first thing the doctor asked was whether or not I smoked.   Even though I only smoked a few cigarettes a day, it was a few too many.  A few years following this episode is when I developed IBD.  I haven't touched a cigarette since that ER visit but the ulcerative proctitis is really getting me down.  I asked the doctor about nicotine patches but he nixed that idea.  Maybe I should go back to my two cigarettes a day and see if that helps.
Posted 5/31/2009 8:22 PM (GMT 0)
Trebbo...what medications are you on at this time? What hasn't worked for you?

Where in the colon is your UC....throughout or limited?

mouth ulcers and smoking seem a bad idea...for future, I mean...
q
Posted 5/31/2009 9:19 PM (GMT 0)
i am on salofak rectal foam 1g, have been taking it for 10 days or so and it doesn't help. Apart from that just fish oil (how much of this does everyone take?)

As for the rest, i only got my specialist a month ago so i haven't even had my first colonoscopy yet.
Posted 6/1/2009 1:11 AM (GMT 0)
As tempting as it may be, good for those of you who quit! I have lost so many family members to tobacco related diseases. I thank God almost every day that I quit as a teenager. I can't imagine how hard it is for people with UC who smoke knowing if they quit, they will flare. It seems so cruel. I wonder if the patch or gum would help?
Posted 6/1/2009 2:19 AM (GMT 0)
Trebbo, my story is the same. Got UC after quitting, go into instant remission if I start smoking again. The patch and smokeless tobacco do nothing to help me. I'd rather take the chance on smoking-related disease than have UC. The risks of smoking are just risks, the UC is real and immediate and requires harsh long term meds with health implications.
Posted 6/1/2009 4:08 AM (GMT 0)
yes, smoking.....   catch 22 .. again...

i quit smoking, i get uc.

i start smoking, it goes away.

this has been repeated a number of times.

i just quit smoking agian a few weeks ago and BAM!  worst flare ever.

in like 2 days i went from no UC to the worst UC ever.

i puke everytime i go to the bathroom. i have to take oxycontin every 4 hours.

i am in excrutiating pain.

it sucks.

and it sucks that smoking will make it go away. but i dont want to smoke.

im trying to get preggers and cant smoke.

and if i did smoke, what then, when i quit, uc just comes back?

Please watch the language.  This is a PG-13 site.

Post Edited By Moderator (Red_34) : 6/1/2009 9:53:49 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 6/1/2009 7:54 AM (GMT 0)
this sucks.
Posted 6/1/2009 8:05 AM (GMT 0)
Trebbo...you could probably do the foam twice a day....and you should be on oral 5ASA as well...
Posted 6/1/2009 8:09 AM (GMT 0)
seriously the foam seems to make it WORSE... I'm gonna finish my course then wait for my colonoscopy to see what he puts me on.
Posted 6/1/2009 8:43 AM (GMT 0)
does anyone who smokes also have asthma

Posted 6/1/2009 10:53 AM (GMT 0)
i feel like i'm tempting people to smoke now. I do not endorse cigarettes! Your organs are your friends!
Posted 6/1/2009 11:07 AM (GMT 0)
I think it is truly sad that we would endure UC with all its risks, indignities, and chronic nature rather than simply smoke a few cigs a day. Shows how irrational our "public health" crusades have made us.
Posted 6/1/2009 1:39 PM (GMT 0)
I started again yesterday but i really don't like it. It makes me feel crap and smell bad. Suppose it's the lesser of two evils though.
Posted 6/1/2009 2:10 PM (GMT 0)

good morning

April 2007  I quite smoking and May 2007 i ended up in the hospital for 8 days.  I was using the patch to help with the quitting so I dont think the nicotine really played a factor for me.  My doctors did mention the quiting smoking probably brought on the UC.

I did start smoking again, have tried to quit a few times but when I do things start to happen.  I have Remicade every 8 weeks which seems to be working for the most part.  I want to quit again but a little nervous about it.

Posted 6/1/2009 2:13 PM (GMT 0)
how many per day? Think i can get away with 1or2?
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
123