Smoking

I currently am a smoker, and actually started again in December 2006 during my first major flare after having quit for about a year and a half when I read that nicotine helps UC.  I know...many other health risks associated with it that outweigh the benefits smoking may have on UC...which is why I now want to quit.  My concern is I had previously set my quit date (which is coming up next week) and I am currently flaring.  I worried that quitting right now might make my flare worse or otherwise sideline my attempts to get it under control.  I don't want to put off my quit date but I have to be honest, my priority right now is to get back into remission.   

We all know how bad smoking is for us and should never be started as a way to treat colitis.There are far too many higher risk diseases that smoking causes. Unfortunately for all of us who do smoke we find that trying to quit causes flare ups that don't go away until we start smoking again. Some do get off them without problems, but generally quitting smoking sends our Immune system into a spin for a while.
I have tried many times but i just can't get off them without flaring. I tried last year after my Aunt died of Lung Cancer and i started flaring after 10 days. I will keep trying in the hope that one day i won't flare.
If i were you i would try the nicotine patches and see how it goes.
Marty

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Post Edited (fatboyslim) : 8/27/2007 2:00:03 PM (GMT-6)

Yup....starting smoking to treat UC is just plain stupid. I agree completely. As someone who has started and stopped many times over the years and loves to smoke, discovering that nicotine can help UC was just the "green light" I was obviously looking for at the time to start again. I do want to kick the habit for good, not because I don't enjoy it (I do) but because it is so very, very bad for my health. I was planning to use the nicotine patches so I am hoping they will prevent any negative effects on my UC for now (hard to say what will happen when I wean myself off the patches).

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Sandra, age 34

I quit smoking cold turkey once in December of 2004 at which time I went into one of the worst flares of my life and it lasted without relief until July 2005 when I started smoking again and went into a remission of sorts after maybe a month of smoking again. So when I decided it was time to quit this last time, I was definitely nervous and it took me awhile to get up the nerve. But December 3 3006 I threw my cigarettes away and haven't smoked one since so far. I did flare up pretty bad and ended up on prednisone again, and I'm still flaring but it's not that bad this time. I think I'm getting close to remission with my medication. I'm hoping anyway. I'm determined not to start smoking again and I know eventually I will get my colitis under control.

Oh also before I quit this last time, I sort of weened myself off of them for a bit. I was smoking like half a pack to a pack a day, and then I would only bring a few cigarettes to work or leave them in my car when I got home. Like I would have one before work, one on break, one after work, one after dinner. Then It was one before work, one after work. Then just one after work. Then down to none. I think that helped a lot.

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Female, 22, Ulcerative colitis (pancolitis) since 1999; GERD; gastritis; osteopenia in hip & lumbar region of spine from long term prednisone use

Current Meds:
Primadophilus Reuteri
40 mg Citalopram (for depression/social anxiety)
125mg Imuran

The first time I quit smoking, I did it cold turkey. And I flared badly. There was no net back then....and I did not know another person who had IBD so I never associated the two.
Then about ten years later, believe it or not, I started smoking again and noticed my flares were less intense.

But I decided to quit for good in 2003. However, I did it slowly, tapering down to 10 for a few weeks, then to five for a month. Then to 2 for a week. Then I quit and I did not flare badly at all.

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diagnosed with UC in 1962
regualr meds:
Asulfadine (500mg tablets, 6 daily)
Folic Acid
Zantac as needed
open heart surgery in 2005 for removal of aortic root aneurysm

Hi I posted about Nicotine patches and did not notice this post which gives me a lot of the information that I was looking for. I quit smoking 4 or so years ago. I can't imagine smoking again but I am seriously considering the patch. My main concern is that it will make me sick. And I don't care if it makes me sick for a while as long as it is not forever. I wonder if there is anything wrong with using the patch forever if it works for UC flares? Any thoughts?

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Asacol 2x 3 times per day
Hydrocortisone Enema 1 or 2x's per day
8oz Aloe 2x's per day
Zango on and off

Hi,

I am a smoker. I quit when I was having really bad symptoms before being first diagnosed...didn't smoke for about a month and a half. Then I started again. I can't tell you if quitting had any effect on me because I was already flaring really badly, so I don't know if quitting made it worse or not. It makes me mad that the one thing smoking could have possibly protected me from (getting UC), it didn't. The only sort of "good" thing about it. lol.

I sort of feel like smoking may actually be making my symptoms worse. I know I should quit again, but I guess I'm not ready to quite yet.

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23 years old
Diagnosed with UC March 2007

Asacol 4 tablets 3x/day

It was actually yrs ago when my colon and rectom surgeon told me about the positive effects of smoking and inflammation in the colon (be it from crohns or ulcerative colitis) and he told me not to quit...I quit around 6 yrs ago, and went through extra hell with my crohns-colitis (crohns affecting my colon), I started again and it helped things calm down some again.

Guess bottom line is each person has to weigh the pros with the cons...I choose to continue with smoking, 6/day is better then a pack a day which is what I used to smoke.

This is the same line of thinking I had (and still have) when I started smoking again during my first flare - keep it to 6 cigarettes a day to get the "benefits" with minimal exposure to the many hazards...and not let it get out of control. Unfortunately, those 6/day have crept up over the months and is now closer to 12+. I have given this a lot of thought and I think right now I am going to work on cutting back instead of quitting completely and try to get myself back to being a "maintenance" puffer...LOL.

mjw: I would definitely talk to your doctor before using nicotine patches to treat UC. I don't know if they would help UC or not (most of the articles I have read on the topic suggest they do not) and the packaging clearly states they are not to be used on a long term basis (more than 3 months) so there may be some health risks doing so.

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Sandra, age 34

I just wanted to say that I smoked for about 10 years. During that time I never felt better. My doctor also told me that smoking does help UC....of course, we all know it's not good for us but anyway, I ended up quitting and have not smoked in about 8 years. I am happy that I don't smoke but I do miss it sometimes. Anyway, just putting my thoughts on this topic.

I smoked all of my adult life with attempts at quitting lasting up to a few months and always using the patch.  about 4 years ago I quit cold turkey and didn't smoke again.  I guess I'm one of those in that percentage of people who quit cigarettes that develop UC. I honestly believe, had I known, I would not have quit. Also, if it would do any good to reverse this disease, I would start again tomorrow. 

The patches dont work..

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Male 36yrs old. Indeterminate Colitis 6 yrs.

100 mg 6-mp
Lialda 2 a day

Protonix
multi vitamin