• Welcome to Crohn's Forum, a support group for people with all forms of IBD. While this community is not a substitute for doctor's advice and we cannot treat or diagnose, we find being able to communicate with others who have IBD is invaluable as we navigate our struggles and celebrate our successes. We invite you to join us.

Smoking and Crohn's Colitis . . . .

. . . . . .

Would it have the same "benefits" (I use that word loosely, haha) as it would in someone with Ulcerative Colitis? Seeing as it's limited to the Colon?
 
Nope. Apparently it's the nicotine in cigarettes that has the effect on Crohn's and UC. It makes Crohn's worse and UC better, no matter where your Crohn's is located.
 

Jennifer

Adminstrator
Staff member
Location
SLO
"Researchers have discovered that it is the nicotine in tobacco cigarettes that has a positive influence on symptoms of ulcerative colitis... It is theorized that the nicotine in cigarettes affects the smooth muscle inside the colon. This effect may alter gut motility (the rate at which food material moves through the GI tract)... Smoking cigarettes actually has a detrimental effect on Crohn's disease... Nicotine does not appear to be beneficial as a maintenance therapy; it may not help patients stay in remission. Rather, it seems to have a positive effect on active disease (flare-ups)." http://ibdcrohns.about.com/cs/ibdfaqs/a/smokingguts.htm
 
Don't I know it! I was an on/off smoker for many years. CD was always worse when I smoked. Luckily it was easy for me to quit.
 
I quit when I was sick. I had the flu bug of some sort. I had been going outside for years to smoke, so it was a real chore to make myself get up and go out. I threw away my packs and my lighter. Of course, when I got better I still had some withdrawal, but the worst was over by the time I was better.

The first time I quit was when I was in the hospital. You can't smoke there, so I just make up my mind I would quit. Then one day I thought I could handle having just ONE. NOPE! LOL!! Not me!! I still miss it, but, it is over and done with. I am not going back. (I hope)
 
I have been smoking now for almost 15 yrs. To me, the smoking helps me handle stress. And stress hurts my Crohn's more than my smoking. I know everyone is different though.
 
Smoking kills me. I flare way more often and way more severely. It took awhile for me to admit this, because I LOVED smoking. I have Crohn's colitis.
 
with me the stimulant properties of smoking i find helpful, i can cope with diarrhea however horrible but constipation i find horrendous, possibly because i have a number of adhesions..

i'm also with jessica on this in that those five minutes of sitting/standing with a cigarette seem to help relieve stress.. of course i realize that the stress release is probably the 5 minutes of peace but there is something in lighting a ciggie, taking a breath and thinking "now relax"..

i guess we all know, or at least should know, the risks associated with smoking and any smoker would be a fool to think they are somehow immune from those risks.. i guess you have to way up your own personal odds when making that choice of whether to, or not to, smoke..
 
Thanks all, just finding it very hard to quit outright myself, my GP recommended Nicotine patches, I don't see the point seeing as it might just be the nicotine in the smokes that aggravates the Crohn's.
 
Thanks all, just finding it very hard to quit outright myself, my GP recommended Nicotine patches, I don't see the point seeing as it might just be the nicotine in the smokes that aggravates the Crohn's.
Well its not pointless if it helps you quit. IMO. I used gum and quit on a new years resolution. Over 5 years later and I am still quit. I only used the gum for like 2 weeks and only when I was niccing out really bad.
 
Well its not pointless if it helps you quit. IMO. I used gum and quit on a new years resolution. Over 5 years later and I am still quit. I only used the gum for like 2 weeks and only when I was niccing out really bad.
I bought a bag of dum dum suckers. When I wanted a cig, I would pop one in my mouth.
 

vonfunk

Bourbon Bandito
Location
Toronto,
It's not just the nicotine that is the reason behind smoking helping UC.

UC patients have a higher number of sulfate reducing bacteria in the gut. This produces hydrogen sulfide gas which is toxic, the hydrogen cyanide in cigarette smoke mixes with the hydrogen sulfide and reduces it by changing it into a non-toxic substance.

However this is just theoretical as smoking causes cancer and any study that outright contributes to the harming of a patient goes against the Hippocratic oath is unethical and can't take place.
 
Top