smoking and uc

Sara, I am just as entitled to express my opinions as YOU or anyone eles on this board and it seems like just because YOU don't agree with me, you are taking my replies as hostile as you THINK I am being towards you but I'm not, I can't help if you think I'm freaking out on you (which I'm not) that's just the way you're preceiving it cuz I'm disagreeing with your replies which makes it your problem not mine. The fact that I've had disagreements with others on here means nothing, lots of people have had disagreements here that have not involved myself.

I have not encouraged anyone to smoke, I've simply defended those that do and the two are not the same so don't twist my words around...nothing worse than a reformed smoker because they are the biggest hypocrits, honestly as if anyone needs to point out what the risks are of smoking like we don't all know already so if we choose to smoke then so be it, where do you get off being a recently ex-smoker judging others that continue to smoke by saying things like "If you die from a smoking related illness, you won't have to worry about quality of life"?????

And if you don't like my posts, then hit the ignore button.


:) :) :)

I will reply to who ever the heck I want and if YOU don't like it then hit the ignore button!

You're not telling me anything I don't already know, we all know smoking kills lots of people, I have not disputed that, but that doesn't change the fact that you're being hypocritical and you know it.

:)

Obviously you have not hit the ignore button, good to see you really stand by your words.

Subdued...

Colon surgery is not an option for me, and that is MY choice.

You see the disease your way and I see it mine. Please don't try to tell me that my way is the wrong way.

I see peoples opinions on this thread, not an advocation for smoking.

 Some could take your words as an attack, I take it as an opinion, and like it or not subdued, we are ALL entitled to have one..
You disagree with mine, I disagree with yours.
Isn't America great?

subdued said...
I thought this was a global forum, not just a forum for the U.S.

Anyway, it's a good thing that colon surgery is an option for most people who have UC.

Yes, isn't it great that they have a choice, and I have a choice. 

Ok, subdued, with respect to this board and it's rules, I will let you have the last word.  

Have a good evening.

smoke smoke smoke... sheesh...

if someone chooses to smoke to help their UC who are any of you to say its wrong. only what you do for yourself is wrong or right to you.

i started smoking 6 months ago to get rid of my flare. and it worked.
it went away a charm. i only had 3-5 cigs a day.
and then 2 weeks ago i decided to quit smoking cuz i want to have a baby.
i dont have a smoking addiction problem. a lot of people do, yes, but not everyone.

well now i am in the flare from hell since i quit. it is worse than its ever been.
i throw up everytime i go to the toilet due to the pain and the blood is nonstop.

i want to start smoking again right now. but then i think, i will just go thru this again when i quit again. i guess get it over wtih now.
if i can.
but i tell you what. i will definitely smoke again before i have my colon removed.

its not a lighthearted situation or easy way out. colon surgery is major. dont treat it like its just an easy option over smoking.
who cares if people smoke. let them smoke.
its not hurting you. if you dont like it, then dont do it.
but if someone chooses to, dont give them a hard time. this disease is hard enough as it is by itself.
we come here for support, not to be scolded cuz we do something that you might not agree with.

My BF is 31 and was diagnosed with UC at 21 after quitting smoking after 8 years. Almost immediately after he quit, he experienced his first ever flare. Since he didn't know what it was, he let it go too long without seeking medical attention, and ended up in the hospital for 10 days. It was at that time that he was diagnosed.

During the past 8 years since his diagnosis, his flares and remissions have directly correlated with the periods when he has either smoked or not smoked. He has been on daily Asacol oral treatment as well as rectal mesalamine enemas. The longest symptom-free stretch of time while he wasn't smoking lasted about a year, which is pretty great, but the symptoms inevitably returned. From about summer of 2010 through May 2011, he experienced a kind of partial remission, where he was constantly experiencing low grade symptoms, but they never flared out of control. Then, in May 2011 , after returning from a trip to the Caribbean, his symptoms spiraled out of control and landed him in the hospital again for 5 days.

Over the course of the following month after he came home, he lost about 30 pounds from a 5'10" frame that only weighed 155 to begin with. He could barely leave the couch/bed, was forced to work from home, and none of the medications his specialist had prescribed him seemed to be improving the situation, including steroids, which in the past had taken care of things.

After about three months of living like this, with horrible symptoms that showed no signs of improving, he went to see his GI specialist again. The doctor told him that their best bet was to move to immunosuppressants as a next step for treatment. We discussed this option a lot over the course of many days and weighed the potential side effects of treatment with immunosuppressants versus the potential long term side effects of smoking. We did TONS of research, and even found a paper written by a reputable doctor at the University of Chicago Medial Center who actually advocates that UC patients who seem to have periods of onset and remission triggered by smoking go the route of smoking 4 cigarettes a day as treatment rather than subjecting themselves to the dangers of immunosuppressant treatment....that the potential risks of immunosuppressant treatment far outweigh the risks of smoking 4 cigarettes per day.

So we made the very educated decision for him to start smoking again, on a very limited basis, as a form of treatment to get him out of this horrible flare. He started out smoking 4 cigarettes a day, and found he had to gradually increase the dosage to 7 cigarettes a day to put the symptoms into full remission. His symptoms began subsiding within a week of starting smoking again, and a few weeks later he went back to his doctor, who was shocked to see how much he had improved and how much weight he had already gained back, just from smoking.

At this point he continues to smoke 7 cigarettes per day and is in complete remission. He is able to live life normally rather than being in constant pain and always having to think about where the nearest bathroom is. For us, this was the right treatment decision.

I would like to add here that this is not our long term plan. We have done a lot of research on the fecal bacteriotherapy treatment that doctors are beginning to entertain, and hope to pursue that as a means toward permanent remission and cessation of smoking for him.

My flair had also started shortly after I quit smoking. When I went to my first GI appointment and asked if it was true that it could be

smoking related and he said yes I gave myself another month to start getting better or I was going to start again.

Luckily I did start to get better. But I must say that I completely understand why people will go back to it. Quitting was the hardest thing

I ever did, second only to getting through that flare. I think as a reformed smoker we are hardest on others for a couple of reasons,

We didn't realize how bad it smells, we know it can be done and we miss it. But I also agree that it's gotten out of hand how rude we are

about smoking. We would never think to go up to an over weight person eating a burger and say "You know you're disgusting and that hamburger

going to kill you" But ppl do similar to smokers all the time.

You know it's bad for you. You know you should quit. Don't use UC as an excuse not to quit. BUT do what you have to do to get through the day.