smoking and uc

Hey, just thought id add that smoking too has worked for me in terms of managing my UC, I just have to juggle how many a day to have for it to be affective. I find I need at least a few smokes/day to help me control my bum, problem being with me Im tempted to have a lot more and when I do I feel quite sick. Personally, I prefer battling how many smokes to have in a day compared with how many trips to the bathroom I need in a day.

Lets just think about this for a second. You quit smoking and you flare up. You start smoking and it goes away. Some say its the nicotine which is quite possible but logically it would seem to me its the stress put on the body. Cigarettes are the most addictive things ever made. Just like many drugs out there ex.(prednisone) you don't just stop them. You have to ween yourself off of them. My last serious flare wasn't from quitting if anything I was smoking more. But it was an extremely stressful period I was going through. Everybody's different but if anyone would be curious I'd say try the patch before taking up the habit.

I also was diagnosed with UC directly after I quit smoking. I spent 7 days in the hospital on IV pred and clear liquids with no improvement, severe pain, substantial weight loss and muscle wasting. At this point my GI doc suggested that I stop wearing a nicotine patch and wrote me a pass to go outside and smoke 5 cigs a day. I'm sure he would deny doing this, and at the time told me that he was only recommending this because I had just quit smoking. Of course this was not sound medical advice but it seemed to work for me, as I went into remission shortly afterward. Seems like many of us are in the same boat...

I am still a smoker, but have not managed to stay in remission. Actually, I have had several bad flares since diagnosis so although it could be a quick fix, it has not been my cure.

an increased risk of coronary heart disease.
• an increased risk of lung disease. It is also well documented that smoking causes lung cancer.
• an increased risk of peripheral vascular disease (blood clots and narrowing of the leg veins).
• reduced absorption of vitamins and minerals and altered taste perception of foods.
• reduced general fitness.

at my age I would take these risks, vs spending the rest of my life turning down every invitation, and wonderful event my children and grandchildren will have. Not to mention our love for travel, and even small things like going to our zoo.(or even a walk around the block)

nothing you said has influenced my decision.(if I indeed decide to smoke again) I do what I think is right for me. There is such a thing as quality of life, and if you don't have that, what else matters?

My dr did say that if I quit I would more than likely go into a flare. He also said that when I become pregnant (have to be off humira) but I should feel the best UC wise that I will ever feel. I am not sure why but I guess pregnancy horemones help??? I would very much like to quit smoking but I really do not want to be tied to the bathroom either. As far as antibiotics- I have seen some people talking maybe in other places- Do not take them unless you absolutly have to if you have UC. They will put you in a flare and will totally mess up your bowel inner harmony (what little there is for most of us). Sorry to promote smoking but I just don't know what I am going to do. I did buy a box of patches and maybe I will try for a couple days. If flare starts, even though I have been "normal" on Humira for 5 months, then I think I will start again.

On the topic of weight gain, I did gain a lot of weight on Humira, but my doc said that because I was feeling better I was probally having less anxiety about eating and thus eating more. I totelly believe that. I used to be freaked out about eating because I knew if I ate I got Diareah. I am so happy that I can eat, that I think I just eat everything in my face now. Smoking unfortunantly does not help with hunger for me.

I have tried them all. Been flaring since last September and so far this spring have not been able to enjoy the outside at all. Summer, no swimming, beach, amusement parks, travel, visiting. No family picnics.

I crapped my pants last night before I could make it 10 feet to my bathroom, in front of my husband. Had I been out somewhere I would have died of humilation. It went everywhere.
I'll take my chances with smoker related problems any day over this life I no longer have.

How could anyone want to live a long life say of 85 years old, locked in their home?  But at least I wouldn't have a smoke related illness?

Both my parents had emphazema, and I saw them suffer, so I do NOT make my decision lightly, thank you.

Joylu, I can fully relate, right down to the crapping one's pants. Make your own choices, I say, and take the anti-smoking hyperbole and the finger wagging and dire admonitions about smoking and its dangers for what it is - well-meaning but unhelpful repetition of public health warnings that have nothing to do with your real problem.

I am not judging anyone. I was trying to help people. I didn't want someone casually reading this thread to forget how hard it is for most to stick to just a few smokes a day...because that's what was going through my head when I read this..."oh wow, I can just have one a day, everyone else here is..." It's junky thinking. It's not possible for most people. I also wanted to help Joylu. I did not know she had already tried all meds out there. I am not always the best at writing on here. I think my tone comes across wrong a lot of the time.

Joylu - I was not judging you at all. I hope you didn't take it that way. I have had accidents before too and understand how awful it is. I hope you can find something that helps you and I hope you can live a long life and enjoy your grandchildren.

Like I said, it was just my opinion...but telling someone if they die from a smoking related illness they won't have to worry about quality of life at all and that there are plenty of meds out there to try (when we all know there are risks with those options as well) sounds judgemental to me and as a new non-smoker it is hypocritical to point out the obvious risks of smoking...all smokers know the risks they are taking so making comments like the ones you made are not supportive or helpful (again in my opinion) at least they don't come off that way to me.

I'm either allegic or non-responsive to traditional treatments used for IBD, I quit smoking for 3 yrs and ended up in one of the worst flares ever, I started smoking again (and it helped improve symptoms) 5 yrs ago now and still only smoke 6 cigs a day, before my Dad died I smoked 3/day, if I die from a smoking related illness I honestly coudn't care less cuz I'm gonna die some day anyway (and I've seen a smoker die from cancer, it's not pretty but that's life, IBD isn't pretty either) in my opinion it's quality NOT quantity in life that counts.

Again, just my opinion.

:)

This is just my opinion. Cigarettes are poison, all medications are poison, any Anatomy and Physiology book will tell you this. The question is; what poison works. If you fill yourself full of meds that are not working then you risk renal failure, arthritis, sclerosis of the liver, many pychological disorders including psychosis(Insanity) and this is only a few of the conditions that the meds we take for UC can cause. If you take the route of cigarettes, atleast you don't have to worry about the psychosis. If cigarettes work for you, then you will be filling your body with a poison that works instead of filling it will a prescribed poison that doesn't. Me, I'm done with meds. If I go into another flare that I can not bring under control with an adjustment in my diet, then I will have the problem removed. I'd rather be colon free than to continue putting poison into my body.

  

I don't see anyone on this thread encouraging anyone to smoke.

I see some who no longer have ANY quality of life trying to make a very difficult decicion.