nicotine gum for relief?

Just to give some background first I've had UC for roughly 8 months and in those eight months I experienced around 5 months of a relatively full remission. I was taking a combination of asacol and prednisone, and at the time was an occasional smoker. However about a month after I quit smoking the UC symptoms returned with a vengeance so I was put on a higher dose of prednisone yielding little to no results. I am beginning to see a trend with people online stating that they have experienced some relief with this disease through smoking/using nicotine gum and I was just curious if anyone here has had any luck using this method themselves.

The gum is too hard on my teeth, and I don't tolerate the patches due to skin rash, but I have had success in achieving and maintaining remission with the nicotine lozenges and electronic cigarettes.

I'm on my 4th day of experimentation with nicotine gum and so far so good. I'm hopefully optimistic at this point as I've experienced some early reduction of symptoms already.

I tried 2 the first day....once around supper then once before I slept. Started next day with one in the morning, then around lunch, supper and then bedtime again. You have to leave enough time after/before eating to make sure the dose is absorbed. So 2 mg 4 times a day had an effect around the third day. The studies I have read suggest anywhere from 11 mg to 22 mg daily for the results they publicize. Since I wasnt sure if this was for me, I purchased a pack of generic nicotine gum (30 pieces at 2 mg) just to start...costs around $11 here in Canada....I will probably buy another pack to see how well I do at 12 mg a day then if successful move to the patch simply for cost and convenience.

The effects for me so far have been a reduction in daily bms to twice a day, big reduction in urgency, ability to drink red wine :) and no cramping. There is still gas however and bms aren't solid but then again aren't complete liquid either (which was what I had previously).

Anyway that's what has worked for me....but then again I am 6'4 and 228 lbs ....so not sure if size will be a factor in dosage so can't really make a recommendation. Any initial dosage may make you feel light headed so I would treat it like any medication warning....dont drive, operate heavy machinery etc etc and follow the instructions closely on how to chew the gum....it is supposed to be released slowly and last around 30 minutes.