non-smokers who started smoking

hello

i was just wondering if there were any members on this forum who were previously non-smokers but started smoking after being diagnosed with uc.

i'd like to hear how long you've been smoking, the amount, and just your overall comments/concerns

thanks!

I started smoking after UC. Smoking for 3 years. I only started because I was in the worst flare of my life. Almost a year with the flare, mostly because I refused to take pred. I knew that if I were to go on pred once again, something will get effd long term. So when flare started I decided that I had to find another way and I didnt care how long it took. I went through almost every alternative treatment, remedies, supplements, and diets that were supposedly good for UC. There was a couple of things that seemed to help a little but not enough to get me in remission. I knew about smoking a long time ago but I hated cigs. One day, after I realized I tried so many things, I just said f it and lit one up. A month later, I was almost fully recovered. I smoked about 3-5 a day for 2 years and never flared after I started. I have moderate to severe UC. The third year I started using ecigs but sometimes I smoke regular cigs like once a week.

Dont listen to some of the people who might come in here, telling you that its not a good idea to smoke for UC. They're brainwashed into thinking that you'll definitely die tomorrow if you smoke today from all the smoking commercials, and signs there are all over the place. They'll say that you'll be trying to improve one thing but then damaging your lungs and really destroying your health. Yes they are bad for your health but we're not trying to go on 3 packs a day. I think if you smoke 2 cigs a day, nothing bad will happen. IDK how bad your UC is or what meds you take but dont meds screw your health with all the side effects? Some people here have got side effects from their meds that became permanent and now they have to take meds for THAT... c'mon now.

Post Edited (Ernee) : 12/15/2013 12:25:19 AM (GMT-7)

@enfyre: your original post contained excerpts from different studies that had different opinions on the matter. here's an excerpt from the other study you were referring to:

"It can be concluded from these data that transdermal nicotine alone has limited efficacy in active ulcerative colitis and is ineffective as maintenance treatment. On the other hand, if administered in combination with mesalazine, nicotine is superior to placebo in promoting clinical remission of ulcerative colitis of mild to moderate degree, may represent an efficacious alternative to steroids in selected cases and, when effective, seems to exert a longer-lasting therapeutic effect than prednisone."

and since you say that nicotine has been 'proven" to not maintain long term remission, does ernee's post disprove yours? and im more intersted in cigs as a whole rather than nicotine be itself.

@ernee: thanks for the info. i know that smoking doesn't come without risk/consequences but
i do agree with your last sentence. i've seen hundreds of posts of people with prednisone induced diabetes among other things. i myself had pancreatitis after about 7 months on 6-mp.

@embersglow1: i think people are quick to judge the harmful aspects of cig's but lets be honest, the cocktail of drugs uc patients take isn't the safest of methods, it's just whats available. and i don't think e-cigs are even regulated. anyways, i hope you achieve remission soon ^_^

i don't think the risks of smoking cigs should be viewed alone, rather, i think we have to view it in our (ppl with uc) perspective since we have to balance the risks between smoking and current meds and choose the lesser of two evils.

Dental hygienist chiming in… I'm new to this disease so i didn't know about this link. But I would suggest the alternative risk of getting the nicotine, i.e. patches or e-cigs - lets not forget about how smoke causes ORAL cancer too.

i'm not trying to rile anyone up lol. i just wanted to hear some of the stories of ppl who started smoking after uc and how it has been working out. kinda went off topic when you ex-smokers decided to butt in ^_^

I appreciate your post sixfour. I do know 2 UC sufferers who maintain remission by smoking. You wouldn't find them on forums like this because UC isn't a big deal in their life.

I always found the 'cigarettes only work for ex-smokers' perspective nonsensical and illogical given what we know about possible pathways. In reality I suspect overcoming the nausea that nicotine causes if you've never taken it before means that almost no never-smokers have ever properly tried this therapy.

Having said that, going back to smoking isn't for me. I'm getting great success from the more healthy RS approach...