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Posted 6/19/2013 10:32 PM (GMT 0)
And did not croak.

First time a cigarette has been in my mouth since summer 2009.

It tasted foul!  I bought the American Spirit organic lights.

Also bought a pack of my old brand, which I will have as dose 2.

I have been on nic supplementation (e-cig, early adopter) since spring 2009, and therefore did not receive a buzz/sick feeling.

For a few brief moments, I felt weird...like my guts were warm and relaxed.  Now am back to cramping.

All was right with the world for 5 minutes.

 

Posted 6/20/2013 12:34 AM (GMT 0)
40 reads and no comments...what does it mean?

Are you incredulous?

Are you pondering trying it?

Do you think I am crazy?
Posted 6/20/2013 12:51 AM (GMT 0)
I don't think you're crazy. I'm actually intrigued. As an ex-smoker who feels quitting triggered the disease, I wonder if anyone has ever put themselves into remission by starting to smoke again?

If it works then many folks are going to have some real hard decisions to make!

Keep us posted.
Posted 6/20/2013 1:06 AM (GMT 0)
"40 reads and no comments...what does it mean?"

too dumb-founded trying to understand the logic in smoking organic cigarettes -

"Are you incredulous?"

yes thank you, i am - even my mom says so -

"Are you pondering trying it?"

uh.....no !

"Do you think I am crazy?"

absolutely ! but then again, i shot my kids poop up my butt, so who am i to say !

hope it helps !

Posted 6/20/2013 1:59 AM (GMT 0)
Soystud: the organic cigarettes are grown without chemicals applied like regular tobacco cigarettes have. (supposedly) Think other organic produce.

Much of the harm from regular cigarettes comes from chemical alduteration.

I saw a bumper sticker years ago touting another green plant that people smoke (I do not) and the essence was

"God makes (the smokable plant) MAN makes beer. Put your trust in GOD"

I thought it funny. And I do not think that finding relief in tobacco is much different than finding relief in any of the other herbals that we here are so fond of using. It's just that smoking is not politically correct.
Posted 6/20/2013 3:41 AM (GMT 0)
I was an x smoker who changed from ibs to UC right after I quit.

I tried smoking a whole pack, 4 a day for 5 days with no change in my symptoms. I now crave Nat Shermans. I keep trying to talk my husband into buying me another pack and smoking it with me ;)
Posted 6/20/2013 4:14 AM (GMT 0)
I too quit smoking shortly before I got UC. Recently I tried eciggs and nicotrol. Didn't work for me. Some people have theories that it is not the nicotine but other chemical in the cigarettes that help UC. So you have to smoke real cigarettes not just nicotine replacement. I personally don't want the health risk associated with real cigarettes but it is a personal choices that boils down to QOL.
Posted 6/20/2013 4:21 AM (GMT 0)
Nat Shermans sound really good right now. The vanilla ones...
Posted 6/20/2013 7:30 AM (GMT 0)
My signature pretty well say's it all!
Posted 6/20/2013 2:41 PM (GMT 0)
I also was diagnosed soon after quitting. My son is now in his 30s, has had some issues with diarrhea, and is a smoker. I have always been urging him to quit...not so sure if that is the right move or not. I wish they would figure out that smoking/nicotine/UC connection.
Posted 6/20/2013 4:43 PM (GMT 0)

geeker said...
Soystud: the organic cigarettes are grown without chemicals applied like regular tobacco cigarettes have. (supposedly) Think other organic produce.

Much of the harm from regular cigarettes comes from chemical alduteration.

I saw a bumper sticker years ago touting another green plant that people smoke (I do not) and the essence was

"God makes (the smokable plant) MAN makes beer. Put your trust in GOD"

I thought it funny. And I do not think that finding relief in tobacco is much different than finding relief in any of the other herbals that we here are so fond of using. It's just that smoking is not politically correct.


Bingo! Plus they use radioactive fertilizer, no wonder cancer rates are so high. If I smoked, I'd roll my own with organic tobacco or use the organic Natural Spirits.
Posted 6/20/2013 8:55 PM (GMT 0)
My crohn's affects my colon, when I quit smoking it was 3 yrs of the worst hell, I started again (6/day) and found it eased up things some.

My feelings regarding smoking, I love smoking, I've pretty much smoked for 31 years now and although I've quit quite a few times for varying periods of months to a few years I'm always drawn back to it...don't really care what anyone thinks about smokers/smoking, it is after all my life....I'm sick anyway, I don't drink, do drugs or abuse RX, it's really my only vice (different from exercising) and I ENJOY it...I could care less if it ends up killing me, crohn's pretty much "killed" my life so to speak anyway and I'm well aware that I'm not gonna live forever (thank god!) because since getting sick I really haven't been living anyway, just trapped in hell IMO.

I'm also a courteous smoker, I don't even smoke in my own darned house (only in the garage...so glad it's attached).

I'm a smoker and proud of it, I've never drank and drove, I've never killed anyone or intentionally brought harm to anyone (other than myself with smoking duh!) I'm not a drug-addict and I don't preach to people about their choices. My body, my choice!

Smoking is known to aid with inflammation in the colon via the carbon monoxide. Of course what works for some doesn't work for all. Researchers that discovered this about smoking said they were going to try and create a med that mimics the effect that carbon monoxide has on inflammatory responses in the colon without all the harmful effects of smoking...they have yet to figure this out, either way, I'm smoking from here on out.
Posted 6/20/2013 10:52 PM (GMT 0)
RIGHT ON, PB4!

It's YOUR life...glad you have taken control of it!

Posted 6/21/2013 8:32 PM (GMT 0)
Here are things that may affect UC via tobacco smoke (my five cents):

•Nicotine acting as a hunger suppressant, substituting hunger-suppressing hormones which may in large quantities be detrimental for UC and IBS patients. i.e. Cholecystokinin, which both reduces the sensation of hunger and stimulates the secretion of bile. (bile acids may contribute to disease process by providing substrate for pathogenic bacteria like Bilophila Wadsworthia)

•Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN) from smoke reacting with Hydrogen Sulfide from bacteria. Both of these are extremely toxic, but combined they create the nontoxic isothiocyanate, thus nullifying each-others effect.

More on this here.
Posted 6/21/2013 8:35 PM (GMT 0)
I had a DR once who was an avid anti-smoker, but only to a point. His main message was, don't smoke the crap they sell you wrapped in cellophane. Get yourself some nice tobacco and roll your own. It will be much less toxic.
Posted 6/21/2013 11:36 PM (GMT 0)
Clouds:  interesting article...thanks!

Kazbern...I agree.  I may grow my own tobacco plant. LOL

 

Posted 6/22/2013 5:54 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Geeker
I wish you luch with the smoking. I was diagnosed with uc two decades ago, two years after quitting smoking, and living in Denmark and the whole world being less politically correct back then, my doctor was kind enough to inform me about the link between uc and smoking. I picked up smoking a few cigarettes a day, and I have been in remission or only in mild flares since then. I have never been on cortisone, but whenever I try to quit smoking, I go into a pretty bad flare, whereafter I pick up smoking again. In my world there is no doubt that there is a strong connection between smoking and uc.
If you are interested in this subject you could also try this thread where there are lots of stories similar to mine: http://www.ihaveuc.com/does-smoking-really-help-ulcerative-colitis/comment-page-1/#comment-133715
Besides being a smoker, I am, and have been for a long time, very interested in healthy living. Among other things I am a yoga instructor - image what it's like to be faced with all the judgement there is against smoking - as a yoga instructor :-) I have chosen to accept, that as long as there isn't a better cure, I'll continue to smoke, even though I would love to give it up. But rather smoke 6-8 cigarettes a day than take cortisone.
Good luck with the smoking - I hope it works for you
Posted 6/22/2013 6:13 AM (GMT 0)
Interesting topic....What i would really like to know is: my dad was a heavy smoker (he would smoke inside the house) ever since i was born, before even, but he quit when i was 11. Now i started to show signs that my bowel wasn't right when i was 17 - 18. Is it at all possible that all the second hand smoke made me dependent on it in some way and then i developed UC all these year after?
Posted 6/22/2013 9:53 AM (GMT 0)

geeker said...
Clouds: interesting article...thanks!
Kazbern...I agree. I may grow my own tobacco plant. LOL

Its good to see that someone finds it useful! :)

Oh, and me too. I have a couple of Nicotiana Tabacum in the window right now. cool I think I’m getting the hang of the growing aspect, but I don’t really know how to process it and such. With a kiln and all that.
Posted 6/22/2013 12:57 PM (GMT 0)
YogiSmoker:  Your health is nobody's business!  I GET that smoking is frowned upon...There is ONE smoker in my entire company and I pity the disdain that she has to bear.  BUT if the "cure" for UC (in an individual, obv not ALL UCers) is a few cigs a day, I don't understand the judgement...I have read the entire thread from IHaveUC and that is what got me going down this road.  I was a "closet smoker" my whole professional career...did not smoke at all during work hours.  Before and after only, only when I felt comfortable doing it.

Clouds: I come from "Tobacco Country" in the American south...It must be in my blood to be a tobacco farmer.  My family has done it for generations.  I doubt I will REALLY grow a plant, but I probably could if I wanted to.

ConquerUC:  IDK if growing up in a smoky environment (I did too but started smoking myself as a teen) then having the smoke cleared is enough to trigger smoke-related UC in someone.  I wish I could advise you to have a couple then see how they affect you...

As for me, I have to FORCE myself to go outside and just smoke.  I do not enjoy it anymore.  I keep thinking "When will I get to the end of this thing?" when I used to think "OMG, it's gone already?"

My running total of cigs smoked is 13 in 3 days.  My flare is about 50% reduced from what it was before cig one.  For the first time in 2 months, my morning bathroom deposit was more brown than red.

If this continues to help me, I maye never have to face infusion medicine, prednisone, or other RX treatments which may help UC but damage other systems.  HALLELUJAH!

 

Posted 6/22/2013 4:25 PM (GMT 0)
I smoked 3 on Thursday and 3 yesterday, and really am feeling better than I have in weeks. I am also 8 days into the cort enemas, so maybe they just started to kick in, I don't know, or it's all working together. I won't smoke this weekend and I don't want to get into any regular smoking, but I will keep a pack on hand. Anyway, yesterday and today, much less urgency and blood than the first half of the week.
Posted 6/22/2013 4:57 PM (GMT 0)
I thought those Pall Mall orange were actually orange flavored, but the clerk said "NO." confused

I smoked from about 1975 through 1989 but never really heavily and never before afternoon.

I haven't really missed it or think about it because:

1. smoker's mouth disgusts me!!!!! (and ruins the flavor of all foods)
2. smoker's breath disgusts!
3. smoker's clothing disgust me!!

In about 2004 I had a neighbor who heavily smoked. She once brought me some romaine lettuce she bought that she had extra. I thanked her and took it in the house. I soon realized the lettuce smelled like a cigarette. Isn't that gross?!?!?! Yes, I threw it out. Later she brought me some bean salad. After she left I smelled it and guess what? It smelled like cigarette beans!!!! YUCKKK!

So basically this encouraged me to continue to never smoke. It told me that in smoker's homes the smoke goes into the refrigerator (because refrigerator's circulate air) and gets into all the food. YUUCCCKK.

Sorry, I'll never smoke again!


John
Posted 6/22/2013 5:27 PM (GMT 0)
JohnPhx:  That's totally your option!  We DO have options!

I hate being around heavy smoke, too.  Even when I was a "smoker" I took it outside, and only smoked outside of working hours.

Smoking is starting to give me relief from this flare I thought would kill me.  I had one this morning...I did not want it, did not enjoy it, but took my "dose".

No doctor will get the chance to pump me full of IV chemicals that will cause other horrible side effects if these smokes continue to help me. 

 

Posted 6/22/2013 5:52 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Conquer UC
It is possible that you have developed a dependence on smoking from the second hand smoke, but I don't know of any evidence that suggests that being exposed to second hand smoke (or being a smoker) can be the cause of UC. I only know of evidence that smoking can prevent UC. For instance UC used to be primarily a woman's disease, back when fewer women smoked that men, and in Japan, where more men smoke that women, it's still more common among women. So I rather think it’s the other way around – that non-smokers have a higher occurrence of UC, regardless of whether they have always been non-smokers, or they are ex-smokers.
Posted 6/22/2013 5:55 PM (GMT 0)
What about the Patch?
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