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Has anyone here quit smoking without it causing flare ups.

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 11/5/2007 4:38 PM (GMT 0)
I'm on my 6th week off the cigs and i'm confident that i will stay off them. Has anyone here quit without suffering a flare up i wonder. It does seem that quitting does cause extra problems.

       Marty

Posted 11/5/2007 4:51 PM (GMT 0)
Hey Fatboyslim

Congrats on quitting.  I quit smoking two years ago and up until September of this year never really had any symptoms of a flare, although, I think I might of had the beginnings of UC during that time and not have known it because nicotine helps to mask the symptoms of UC.  But during that time I was fine.

 

Posted 11/5/2007 8:29 PM (GMT 0)
This is a common thing for UCers mainly because it's been discovered that the carbon monoxide in nicotine has anit-inflammatory affects in the colon...they are working on a med based on this info that will not include (hopefully) the harmful effects of actually smoking.

:)
Posted 11/5/2007 9:22 PM (GMT 0)

Kudos on quitting smoking!  I tried a few weeks ago and lasted a week.  It wasn't the cravings that sucked me back in, it was the fact that I started to flare again and just wasn't ready to let it turn into a full blown hell-on-earth kind of flare so I started again.  Good luck to you and I hope your symptoms settle down.

Posted 11/6/2007 1:54 AM (GMT 0)
I have that daunting task ahead of me too. I've often wondered if a slow taper (2 a day, 1 a day, 1 every other day, etc.) might successfully stop the flare from developing. Probably harder to do than cold turkey but who knows... Or just adjusting meds as you see symptoms starting?
Posted 11/6/2007 8:41 PM (GMT 0)
I took the champix tablets for first 2 days but i couldn't handle the headaches. So i have done it cold turkey.Don't feel too bad now to be honest, It was a lot easier than i thought. I smoked for twenty years, i hope i can stay off them.I had a lot more cramps around second week but they did pass andthings seem to be calming down again.
Posted 11/6/2007 8:54 PM (GMT 0)

Hi Marty!

Good for you!  When I was first was diagnosed I smoked also for many years.  I quit when I was hospitalized for about a year and half.  It felt like I was never going to get over that flare.  One around last January I started to smoke one here and there (don't try this) and I noticed my bowels were better and I actually started to feel better.  Well in my eyes this can't be bad.  Well it is almost a year since I went back and I am sorry I did.  I still at times have bad days, fatigue and I still get diarrhea and stomach pains and nausea but no where near like I did.  I want to try and quit again but am scared.  I am trying to talk myself into it again for January.  I did tell my GI doc and he did say "When I quit again I will flare".  Great.  Interesting he said when.  It seems to be a trend with UC'ers. 

I certainly wouldn't suggest going back.  I commend you.  Keep up the good work.

Stacy

Posted 11/6/2007 9:04 PM (GMT 0)
I quit smoking cold turkey once, just threw my half full pack away and didn't touch another cigarette for a year, but I was sick and in my worst flare that entire year. Then, I started smoking again and after maybe a month I was in full remission. I decided December of '06 to try it again and this time, instead of cold turkey I weened myself off... Like, "Today, I will have one cigarette on the way to work, one on break, and one after," after a few days of that I went one in the morning one at night, then just one at night, and then down to none. I'm almost at my year mark and while I did flare a bit and had to go back on prednisone, I feel I'm almost completely out of the flare and it wasn't nearly as bad as the first one. Sometimes I feel like giving up and starting again but when I really weigh it out, it's just not worth it. And I'm glad I don't smell like an ashtray all the time anymore ;)

Anyway, good luck! Don't let a flare discourage you, quitting smoking is the way to go and you can totally do it. If you do flare it will eventually go away, and you'll feel so much better in the end!
Posted 11/6/2007 10:21 PM (GMT 0)
2 years after quitting is when I got UC.  And yes I started smoking again last year after being diagnosed (though I know it's not any healthier)  I'm also afraid of quitting, only because there's that chance I'll end up with a massive flare like I had last year.   Guess that's better than lung cancer.

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