Quit Smoking Triggered UC Flare

Wondering if anybody has had any experience with this recently quit smoking May of this year still having a horrible colitis flare. It started within a week of quitting and read all kinds of articles on how nicotine kind of blankets the symptoms of colitis . I’ve also been reading articles that nicotine replacement patches being prescribed therapeutically for colitis just wondering if there’s any helpful information out here in this support group

Not me, but my paternal grandfather had all kinds of "unexplained rectal bleeding" any time he quit smoking. He was never officially diagnosed with UC, but always had issues with inflammatory polyps. He smoked pretty much up to the day he died of lung cancer because he complained that his "gut acted up" any time he quit.

I have found nicotine patches helpful when flaring, but I don't use them long term. Perhaps someone else on the forum would have more experience in answer to your question.

Don't go back to the nicotine. It's horrible to get off of, even the patches. Nicotine actually makes my UC worse and I got UC as a smoker, but yes, there is an association for many.

I've been using nicotine gum and it seems to make my UC a little worse. But then again, I got UC as a smoker and it always made my a little UC symptoms worse, too. The patch gave me diarrhea when I first started it, so be aware that can happen if you do try it.

My first flare started after quitting cigarettes 15 years ago. Smoking is terrible for your health, though, so keep quitting. It's just a trigger, but worth it overall to stop cause you'll never have that trigger again!

smoking = bad , uc = really bad ----- conclusion ? if i needed to, i would start smoking -

The mechanism involved in the protective effect of smoking is thought to be activation of the AhR/il22 pathway by a dioxin type compound in smoke. There are safer ways to activate this including Qing Dai (indigo naturalis), some Lactobacilli probiotics and some flavonoids. Qing Dai is probably the most effective for UC but is not without risk orally. In a suppository for mild/moderate proctitis/proctosigmoiditis it appears to be safe and effective as the dose is much smaller and topical.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc8264659/

https://www.karger.com/article/abstract/501152