Flare up after 7 years due to quitting smoking…would vaping help? any advice appreciated

I quit 3 weeks ago - and have a flare up - i am so upset, words cannot describe it. I will not/cannot go back there (i was 17 months on Prednisone and almost 4 years on Immurane, plus Salofalk which i still take).

Nothing, i mean nothing worked for me. No dietary restriction, not complimentary medicine (did it all: Ayurveda, Naturopathic, Herbalist) for months at a time; the only thing that helped is me picking up smoking after 10 years of not…

So here were are again: promptly i went and started to smoke 2 days ago, and already the symptoms are getting better….again i am so upset, because its like what do i choose, smoking or having to live with flare ups and bloody diarrhoea 30-40 a day? Obviously option one, since i need to keep my job…

Anyway, my question is for anyone out there who switched to vaping - did it help you with the symptoms? My understanding (and from my doctor) is that it is the nicotine that somehow helps the UC (but even he admitted the medical establishment doesn't know why). Overall while not ideal, it would be better then cigarettes.

Thank you for your replies. Glad i have find this forum, i posted a similar question on the quit smoking site and was almost crucified because they took the UC as an excuse not to quit…. unless you have lived through the hell of UC nobody, i mean nobody can relate or understand.

Ladybug22

7 years is a very good run with a remission, although I am sorry to hear you are flaring again.

There's been various discussions about nicotine over the years, whether smoked, vaped or taken as a patch. I seem to remember the cigarettes as being the one people often claim to be the most effective (it may not be just the nicotine that helps but also another chemical from the cigs). I remember there was one poster who used nicotine patches, can't remember who it was or how successful they were. Vaping I don't believe has been discussed a whole lot. My memory is a little fuzzy on this subject...

Certainly I would want to know more about your current UC medications and doses and what you have tried and failed in the past. Best to have a more complete history for you. As often nicotine helps some but isn;t solely responsible for a remission, meds are often essential.

Its available online I'm sure.

q

Good luck, report back on how it goes!

Vaping is indeed way safer than smoking. Tons of research has been studied on vaping. Pg , vg and natural flavorings and nicotine is whats in alot of juices. I ran a vape shop for 2 years and actually hekped 2 colleges run trials. You will need a higher dose of nicotine like a 12mg to really do any good. I tried it for 6 months when i was first diagnosed and it helped a little. I would suggest if you are in south carolina by chance to check out vape58 or in San Diego California to check out vape58. Very high quality juices that have been tested and are made in a clean lab. The pg or propylene glycol is also found in tooth paste and makeup, vegetable glycerin is found in foods like food coloring, nicotine is actually used to stop on the onset of Alzheimer's and is also used in clinical trials to help kids with adhd and mental paintients have found nicotine to be calming and help them think. Please do research before starting any new course of action.

eekseel said...

quincy said...

Vaping is no safer than cigarettes.
q

Citation needed. How is inhaling propylene glycol, nicotine and flavoring "no safer" than inhaling the 40,000+ chemicals (15,000 of which are proven to cause cancer) from burning tobacco leaves? There still may be risks but saying it's "no safer" is nonsense.

#vapenashe

+1

An appeal to the authority of google is no citation.

There are more articles pointing toward the relative safety of e-cigs compared to smoking than there are to the contrary. The only sticking point is that in non-smokers, there is still question since young people can become addicted to nicotine through the use of e-cigs, but for people who already smoke there is more evidence that vaping is an improvement.

A few have found success with a nicotine patch but others say it isn't enough. Even more have found that e-cigs work. But if only smoking real cigarettes helps you then some have found success with smoking as few as 3-5, cigs a day which is a minimal health risk compared to constant inflammation.

Ladybug22, I'm really sympathizing with how demoralized you must be feeling right now. You try and do the right thing and again UC puts a stop to our best-laid plans. I quit smoking over a year ago now and I was terrified of how my UC would react when I did as it had always given me relief, however, unlike you I had still had flares while smoking. I tried to remind myself of this as I quit and luckily I didn't experience much of a flare during the first few weeks. However, the first post-quitting smoking flare I experienced had me wanting to run straight back to them. But I persisted and now it's done, I can't really say whether I have more flares now than I used to, but I am actually physically incapable of smoking now anyway, I tried only one and ended up vomiting. I guess my outlook is, you can't keep smoking, it's not the answer, you still had UC while smoking, it didn't cure you of it so there's no point risking your getting cancer over, hopefully the vaping works for you.