E-cigs?

I know there are some threads here about e-cigs, but I'm wondering if they're better than/as good as medication. Rather, I'm wondering if I can vape in lieu of taking meds.

Warning, the following will be more of a rant.

I'm nineteen now, and was diagnosed when I was about seventeen (although symptoms made themselves painfully apparent when I was about sixteen). Two of my siblings have UC as well, but I'm the only one having real trouble--and the only one on meds. My brothers seem to be able to smoke away their symptoms (one tried to quite, got intense flare up, and started right back up). Meanwhile, meds seem to do very little for me. Yes, I have fewer bowel movements when I'm on them, but I'm still in pain, I'm still bloated, I'm still bleeding from my ass, and frankly, I'm getting sick of the side-effects. Hair loss, dry mouth, constantly tired. And my symptoms aren't even being managed properly. It's not worth it.

Now, here's where everyone is welcome to call me an idiot: I've stopped taking meds about two weeks ago (which I would NOT recommend, by any means. Seriously, I'm a reckless nineteen year old. Don't follow my actions!), and have started smoking e-cigs. I vaped some last night, and this morning, felt better immediately. No blood, no pain. Way less gas. Because I've been off the meds for two weeks, my hair has stopped falling out.

Basically, I feel good.

Now, here's my question: Do you think the e-cigs are actually working (and so quick? It seems a bit too good to be true...), or do you think a good portion of my feeling better is the placebo effect? I'm planning to do an update in a week or two.

Has anyone else used nicotine as their PRIMARY form of medication? As in, without other medication? If so, how did you guys manage? Feel free to include experiences with e-cigs, traditional cigarettes, nicotine patches, what have you.

Disclaimer: Again, I don't advocate just stopping the meds. I'm aware that what I'm doing is dumb and risky, and e-cigs have their own problems. This is something of a reckless teenager just saying "**** it."

Hmm somehow nicotine is not harmful to one's body? It's a foreign chemical introduced into your body much like the uc medications are... I think stopping your uc medications is well as you put it above... use them both together if you must, but don't quit your uc meds.

i don't think you are being stupid at all!!

some people just don't do well on meds. it's a fact and you can't help it.

while i still take my meds, i use nicotine, too, and it helps me.

my dad has been in remission for 25 years using cigarettes. he tried to quit last year and saw blood. he also tried to transition to the patches but it didn't work for him. he doesn't like that he has to smoke, but he does fine UC wise with no medications.

i don't have any side effects from using the patch besides insomnia if i leave it on at night. i have tried the e cigs, too, and LOVE them. they just wouldn't work for me since i can't take smoke breaks all day to get my fix. how much nicotine are you using?

I'm planning on starting nicotine patches just as soon as I finish breastfeeding my second (and last) baby.

I'm pretty confident smoking pushed me into remission before my diagnosis 7 years ago.

Nicotine patches have a better safety profile than e-cigs because you aren't inhaling liquid nicotine into the lungs. But e-cigs undoubtably safer than most of the stronger UC drugs, IMHO.

Poppie, you mean e-cigs gave you GERD? The two are connected?

Bananagirl, I smoke Blu's "high" nicotine cartridges (13-16mg). Unfortunately, though, I'm not sure how many cigarettes I'm smoking, seeing as each cartridge has "over a thousand puffs" as the website puts it. I can't say how many "cigarettes" I'm smoking, but my goal is the equivalent of two (according to research papers I've read in the past, 1-3 cigarettes a day defines a "moderate" smoker, which is what prevents symptoms). I'm sort of just winging the amount I smoke in a day.

Bettylou, I'm curious of how the patch works, if you wouldn't mind posting a response on here, or another thread, with your experience.

Day two, and I'm still feeling a lot better than I was on or off meds. So yay. Let's hope this keeps up.

There is a difference between how many mg is in a specific delivery vehicle and how much is actually absorbed. The only real equivalence you can measure is actual blood levels of nicotine.

That being said, if we assume that the absorption level of vapor is roughly equivalent to that of smoke, then 1 ml of 24 mg/ml juice is about equal to a pack and a half of cigarettes. I go through about a ml per day, so that’s about the same as my pack and a half habit that I had when I was smoking.

I started smoking as a therapy several years ago and it successfully transformed my watery diarrhea to more solid stools and quite quickly (no more than 3 days). I also tried nicotine patches that worked quite well although they were giving me headaches and nausea. The nicotine gums caused me disturbances in the pancreas and they were quite inconvenient as well. Finally I switched to e-cigs (as a healthier alternative) and I did not have any relapse which means they work just as well.

Just grabbed up some 21mg patches to use along with the lozenges.