# Has anyone tried an e-cigarette with crohns?



## Marybrown

I am new to this whole forum thing. I have had Crohn's disease for 10 years now and I started smoking (bad thing I know) but I have read so many bad things about the chantix so I didn't want to take that but I have bought a high end vaporizer that I put nicotine juice into and I was curious if anyone has tried it and if it helped or made your IBS worse or better?


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## rygon

I thought nicotine was the ingredient that could make crohns worse. So with this I would say it wouldnt help IBD, but it may help quit smoking and without the tar I'm sure you would feel healthier as well


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## Marybrown

I have been using the vaporizer for 11 weeks and no cigarette since then and I do feel a lot better I was just curious if anyone else has had experiences where they had nicotine and did well with their disease. Mine has been doing better the last 3 yrs but I also moved away from stressful people and got divorced from a man who never supported me and my condition. Now I have a very loving hubby and 3 beautiful wonderful children!:smile:


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## afidz

The vaporizer is better than smoking a cigarrette, however it is the nicotine that is bad. It restricts your blood vessels making healing difficult. I know with the vaporizers you can reduce the amount of nicotine you are getting slowly and you still get the motions of smoking. I have quit, but my friends are do this. You can buy nicotine free juice eventually and still be able to smoke with out the harmful effects


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## Traumanurse

I've been considering that. You'll have to post if it helps. I've been doing this so long, I remember when nicotine patches were a recommended treatment for Crohns.  Ha ha!


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## sickinlk

hi, 
I have UC and I went into a big flare last year and because im steroid resistant and cant take 5 asa's my GI wanted to put me on remicade.  I started Remicade in September around the same time as starting smoking again after being of them 2 years.  (by the way it was after giving them up initially that I developed UC).  
Well I thought remicade was a miracle and continued enjoying remission until I decided to give up the smokes again.  all my symptoms came back slowly even with the patch and using an E cigg.  now im on no NRT and the remicade makes no difference.  so in conclusion it was smoking that put me into remission!
ju


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## Marybrown

I started smoking about 3 months before I got pregnant with my baby and was pushing my remicade out 10+ weeks and was doing great. After I got pregnant I quit cold turkey, they made me sick so it was easy, and I had flares off and on since until I picked up a cig and then started doing better again. I knew how bad they were for me but I didn't want to quit this time so I decided to try the e-cig and I am still feeling great and I don't smell like an ashtray or inhale all the harsh chemicals in a cig. So I'm not convinced that its the nicotine that's so bad for you it's everything else in the cigs. I have done research on nicotine and it by itself is about as bad as caffeine. It's just everything else is horrible


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## Myk

You say you have Crohn's but ask if nicotine would make IBS worse. I'm not sure if it's a type-o or what.
Here's the run down.
There are studies showing nicotine helps with UC. Hurts with CD. It's not only the nicotine in cigarette smoke. I've seen more than one UC person diagnosed after quitting who nicotine in patches or ecigs did not help and they were told to go back to smoking.
I haven't seen any studies on nicotine and IBS but with IBS being more of a brain thing I can see how nicotine would help it, and I've heard from more than 1 person with IBS that it helps.

I have Indeterminate Colitis. I think it's UC because I have obvious benefits from nicotine, my doctor thinks Crohn's Colitis. I had an intern on an ecig forum tell me he was taught whether nicotine helps or hurts is not diagnostic, so it's not 100% either way.

I do use ecigs. I had to increase my nicotine over what it took to get me off cigarettes. I quit with 11mg, bled. Went to 0mg, really bled. Got diagnosed, went back to 11mg and then worked my way up to 18mg, after that I've been doing pretty good. 18mg was too much for me when I originally quit cigarettes.
I recently went into a pretty bad flare and wondered if the lack of addictiveness of nicotine without smoke was getting me to vape less so I started using my dual coils more often. It seems to have helped but I started throwing all kinds of things at the flare too so I can't for sure say it was the nicotine.


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## Traumanurse

Well, my story is this:  I quit smoking in the hospital in June after my second bowel resection. To get past the worst of it, I tried the patch again and hated it. Felt "out of it" until I tried the e-cig. I am happy to say that I believe I am now in remission. Still have lots of D from losing 3-4 feet of bowel in the last 10 years, but no pain. Whoooo Hooooo. Now I have a life!

My bottom line is this: Smoking is never "good" for you or your disease BUT, life is a series of give and takes and weighing the risks and benefits when you have Crohns. If I can have a good life, no pain, and be in remission, I'll take the e-cigs and say "Thank God".
Good luck to all, I hope you find your remissions and the best you can be with this horrible disease.


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## davmor

For the last three years at least (confusing symptoms/ diasgnosos as I previously had diverticulitis also)I've suffered with Crohn's/ Ulcerative Colitis (jury is still out according to the specialist) and - having failed to get control with immuno-suppressants, steroids, infliximab, Adalimumab (Humira) or anything else and following two operations in two years - in February this year my colon and rectum were completely removed (I have a permanent ileostomy now - previously had a loop ileostomy as one of the earlier operations).

Up until about six weeks ago I was a non-smoker but have since taken up "vaping" as a means of reducing stress (while I was recovering from the op my wife was diagnosed with cancer for the second time - already had breast cancer/ surgery/ radio and chemo five years ago now has spine and liver cancer and going through the radio/ chemo thing again).  I have to say (and I was/ am an asthma sufferer also!) that both my asthma and general health have improved since starting vaping.  I did start on zero nicotine, just finding that vaping itself was relaxing but have moved to vaping a fairly low level of nicotine (6 to 12mg) which I find relaxing and calming.  Whether it's the calming effect, or the chemical effect, of the nicotine I can't say - what I do know is that I wish I'd started this earlier as it might have saved my colon!

I'm not actually recommending this course of action for anyone else - just saying it appears to be working for me!


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## Daisy123

I was recommended e-cigs by my surgeon. It has been three years and I feel so much better. I am happy vaping and hardly ever need my asthma medication and despite being on Aziathropine no chest infections or flu in three years. It might not be perfect but it works for me.


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## davmor

Just an after-thought to my earlier post, and in contrast to some of the posts above, if you google nicotine and Crohn's (or nicotine and ulcerative colitis) there's quite a body of opinion, and several trials, that indicate that nicotine may help prevent/ reduce the symptoms.  While smoking carries more health risks than it would likely solve in this regard (and, forgive me, is a horrible, smelly habit IMHO!), vaping - although outwardly it might at first appear similar - is completely different (and nicotine is not carcinogenic BTW - it's primarily the tar and myriad other chemicals in cigarette smoke that's harmful).

For those who may not know, Vaping - I prefer the term to e-cigarette as none of the PV's (Personal Vaporizers) I and many others use look anything like a cigarette - as the name suggests produces vapour, not smoke and is available in a wide range of nice flavours (and strengths) rather than just tobacco flavour - although, if that's what you like, that's available too!


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## Jennifer

I've been vaping to help me quit smoking cigarettes. Hasn't helped or worsened my Crohn's any but I do have more energy since I switched about 4 months ago. 

From what I've read online is that Nicotine is a possible treatment for UC http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2014383/ and possibly Crohn's Colitis http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18795117 but not for Crohn's that affects other areas of the digestive tract yet all research states that more research needs to be done.


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## jdv

I do not have IBD but I've been a copyeditor for the journal IBD for several years and I noticed your discussion on nicotine. CD is a lot more difficult to treat than UC but three other things that have been mentioned in the journal as helping SOME but not all with UC are unpasteurized pineapple juice, melatonin, and yogurt with digestive bacteria. Hope one or all of these might help; best wishes.


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## Brandonl303

I was having extreme pain while smoking cigarettes and I moved to an E-cig, the pain went away for 3 months or so and has now come back, i think it is better than smoking cigarettes. Realistically neither are good


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