Smoking and Crohn's

[CC1295]

Been getting beat up by the Dr.s (GI and Primary) about my smoking. Was told "with all the things we don't know about Crohn's, what we do know is that smoking causes it to worsen". My question to anyone that has Crohn's and quit, did it help any? And how did you quit?
I have tried the patch and most recently Chantix which helped greatly however I was in a fog constantly and didn't help my stomach any.
Any help would be appreciated. I want to quit anyway but if it made that much diffence with the crohn's then I would work that much harder at it.

Thank you all.

 

[effdee]

I don't have personal experience with this, but tobacco is known to exacerbate Crohn's. As with everything else, I would assume it varies from person to person, and it probably has to do with how much you smoke. I've never heard of anyone with Crohn's getting worse after cessation of smoking, so it seems worth trying.

You say it didn't make much of a difference when you tried quitting before, but maybe it will take longer. I'm not exactly sure what Chantix is but, if it is a patch that contains tobacco to help to ween you off it, you may not notice a change until you stop that as well. Best of luck with quitting.

 

[kd82286]

Ok so I have no room to talk because I indulge this dirty little habit every once in awhile but I will say that it did make a big difference in my symptoms when i quit smoking more than every once in awhile. The cramping definetly subsided and I don't know that it helped with the Big D but I did feel better on the pain side.

 

[Jennifer]

Its not good for Crohn's in any way really. Nicotine itself has been known to be helpful towards UC but not for Crohn's. The patch and the gum would be a better source of nicotine anyhow because then you wont mess up the rest of your body in the process main problem is that those methods are really expensive and not as enjoyable. When I was smoking I'd have diarrhea pretty often because its a diarrhetic. All I know is that for me it didn't cause a flare because I was in remission the entire time I was smoking. I quit cold turkey a couple months ago (this being my 4th time quitting I believe, each time was cold turkey). Every time I quit the only thing I noticed was that I didn't have diarrhea as often.

I don't think adding another possible health problem is going to make much of a difference though. Perfectly healthy people without IBD die from smoking because its just that harmful. My advice would be to find another reason to quit. If our health was such a concern we probably wouldn't have started in the first place let alone kept doing it once we found out the horrors of smoking. The reasons why we keep smoking are trivial compared to the reasons why we should quit. If you really want to quit then that's great! Good luck to you. I know its hard but I believe anyone can do it if they really want to. Cold turkey doesn't work for everyone so I hope you find a way that works best for you.

Edit: I sent this to someone not long ago about nicotine and UC and it also mentions CD.

"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

So basically nicotine seems to help people who have UC while they are mainly in a flare.

 

[Kev]

Smoking isn't good for anyone. The case against it is quite clear and strong. however, it seems to have a positive and incontrovertible benefit in my particular case. My crohns is very atypical... it spread so fast, and so completely, that doctors initially thought it was UC. With it came lots of bleeding... And nothing the doctors did stemmed the loss of blood I was experiencing. Then, some older patients I shared a ward with told me that if I started smoking, the bleeding would stop. I didn't believe them at first, so I started to ask the myriad of doctors I was seeing if there was any truth to it. At first, I got the same response... smoking is a no no, and it negatively affects crohns. But then, I found one doctor who reluctantly admitted it was, way back in the old days, the most common method of treating UC... and, shortly thereafter, another doctor told me essentially the same thing. But, it was for UC, not CC or CD. Why the difference I don't know. So, I started smoking, and the bleeding ceased almost immediately, and I also noticed that it had amazinng powers to ease cramping. So, I'd found a method to lessen my symptoms, but at what cost? Smoking is definitely carcinogenic, no doubt at all about it. Anyway, fast forward... I'd been on LDN treatment for 1/2 a year and was virtually symptom free... and that led me to entertain thoughts of giving up smoking. I went to a sponsored stop smoking program, but when they learned of my history with IBD, they cautioned me that it might cause me to relapse. My GI was concerned too, but we decided that it was worth the risk, bearing in mind I'd be using NRT, Nicotine Replacement Therapy. If the nicotine was causing the allievement of symptoms, then the NRT should allow me to stop smoking without issue. For whatever reason, it didn't.
Within 5 weeks of coming off tobacco, my bleeding resumed and escalated like wildfire.
I resumed smoking, and the bleeding stopped. However, my red count dropped so low it took 11 months to get back to normal. There are literally 100's of ingredients in tobacco other than nicotine, almost all of them dangerous to one extent or another, and I don't know which one (or combo thereof) contains the magic bullet for me, but it does.
I still plan on quitting in the future, but only at such a time as when I can afford to risk possible long term disability. Yes, smoking is a known carcinogen, but it works for me, and when you get right down to it, many of the drugs prescribed to treat IBD are too.

 

[Lydia]

I had the longest remission of my life after I quit. It lasted 4 years. Meds alone could not accomplish what quitting did for me.

 

[ThanksP]

I went into a year long flare when I quit smoking. I suppose like everything with this disease, we all experience it differently.

 

[CC1295]

That's what I needed to hear! Love all of you and this site.

Thanks a million!

 

[Lydia]

I went into a year long flare when I quit smoking. I suppose like everything with this disease, we all experience it differently.

Was that from quitting tobacco or a lack of stress coping skills?

 

[susie]

the evidence is sorta flimsy

My two cents on the subject of smoking.
Best of luck.

 

[Pierreracine]

I have been smoking for exactly...47 years!I had an ileum/half colon resection more than 20 years ago and, of course, I have been smoking during the period that followed. And? Nothing happened. I did, however, had one flare during all those years. Cause? Corn. So eating corn is WAY worst than cigarettes in my case... NEVER EVER believe the consensus necessarily applies to YOU. The body Is WAY too much complex for those stupid and overly simplistic "rules". Conclusion? Make your owns base on YOUR experience.

Of all those I know who died from lung cancer, I'm the only one who smoked before they died and who is STILL alive...

I' m sixty. And I won't let a doctor tell me what behavior I should adopt based on statistics... I'm NOT a statistic. I' m a unique person, like everybody else.

 

[cecilialynn]

Also from Hfx

Smoking isn't good for anyone. The case against it is quite clear and strong. however, it seems to have a positive and incontrovertible benefit in my particular case. My crohns is very atypical... it spread so fast, and so completely, that doctors initially thought it was UC. With it came lots of bleeding... And nothing the doctors did stemmed the loss of blood I was experiencing. Then, some older patients I shared a ward with told me that if I started smoking, the bleeding would stop. I didn't believe them at first, so I started to ask the myriad of doctors I was seeing if there was any truth to it. At first, I got the same response... smoking is a no no, and it negatively affects crohns. But then, I found one doctor who reluctantly admitted it was, way back in the old days, the most common method of treating UC... and, shortly thereafter, another doctor told me essentially the same thing. But, it was for UC, not CC or CD. Why the difference I don't know. So, I started smoking, and the bleeding ceased almost immediately, and I also noticed that it had amazinng powers to ease cramping. So, I'd found a method to lessen my symptoms, but at what cost? Smoking is definitely carcinogenic, no doubt at all about it. Anyway, fast forward... I'd been on LDN treatment for 1/2 a year and was virtually symptom free... and that led me to entertain thoughts of giving up smoking. I went to a sponsored stop smoking program, but when they learned of my history with IBD, they cautioned me that it might cause me to relapse. My GI was concerned too, but we decided that it was worth the risk, bearing in mind I'd be using NRT, Nicotine Replacement Therapy. If the nicotine was causing the allievement of symptoms, then the NRT should allow me to stop smoking without issue. For whatever reason, it didn't.
Within 5 weeks of coming off tobacco, my bleeding resumed and escalated like wildfire.
I resumed smoking, and the bleeding stopped. However, my red count dropped so low it took 11 months to get back to normal. There are literally 100's of ingredients in tobacco other than nicotine, almost all of them dangerous to one extent or another, and I don't know which one (or combo thereof) contains the magic bullet for me, but it does.
I still plan on quitting in the future, but only at such a time as when I can afford to risk possible long term disability. Yes, smoking is a known carcinogen, but it works for me, and when you get right down to it, many of the drugs prescribed to treat IBD are too.

Hi I too have been smoking and heard it from a doctor that it would help relieve my symptons. I have UC and seems that whenever i have tried to quit it has flared up immensly. I will keep smoking and take my chances,because this pain is unbearable, and UC flareups stop you in your tracks.

 

[Ithinkimafigher]

its crazy to read all the different encounters with tobacco(nicotine) and IBD. this disease really is an unpredictable onslaught. we need to advance our tactics and progress with the disease. i used to smoke but only for a short while in my pre-pube years. i then switched to dipping tobacco which im sure is worse with crohns because of the direct link with stomach acid proton pump overstimulation. but nevertheless im convinced that nicotine is an IBD suppressant for whatever witchcraft reason. when i tried to quit last year is when i was diagnosed. when i started back up is when i was getting better... along with other variables for both occasions. im sure its not the answer but it is a variable im sure. i have a link to some studies posted in another thread if you guys are interested in reading. the "no milk and veggie" thread i believe.

 

[Lydia]

Of course statistics mean everything to the group and nothing to the individual. You can only use them to make an informed decision for yourself. If it doesnt apply to you, it doesnt mean the statistic is wrong. It just doesnt apply to you.

 

[kd82286]

I think that the reason the statistic comment was made might be because the poster may have felt personally judged by the statement that smoking is a tool for stress coping. Not everyone smokes for that purpose kinda like statistics apply to the group and not the individual! Just saying that maybe sensitive topics should receive sensitive judgement.

 

[handle]

There is no "witchcraft" involved... smoking increases the micro circulation in the large bowel (but not small bowel, hence concsidered useful for UC and CC.) This helps remove toxins and assists lymphatic fluid movement thereby aiding the heaing process. However, a bit of gentle exercise will do much more. Unfortunately, once the body is accustomed (addicted) to tobacco or nicotine it strongly resists cessation of the product. That is why symptoms worsen when trying to quit. The patches are a good way to help quit but since there are so many chemicals in tobacco it will require time for the body to re-balance (hence the feeling of 'fog' described by CC1295) It needs to be done gradually.

 

[Ithinkimafigher]

i can only hope that my comments are not being passed off or judged because of something i said that may have seemed like an attack on somebody. if so, i sincerely apologize and i am honestly only on this forum to promote good and to take in every bit of useful information i can. i use dipping tobacco. its different. everybody is different. im researching to try and understand what works and why. then i share my findings.
in a nutshell- people who use DIPPING tobacco have been proven to have higher amounts of secretory IgA. secretory IgA produced by B-cells in the mucosa form immune complexes with pathogens and antigens it encounters preventing antigen attachment to the intestinal wall. but what do i know. the medical journals and studies may be lying to all of us for their own agendas.

 

[handle]

If only we knew what the antigen was, or if indeed there even is one...!
Remember that there are contradictory studies in all fields. Medicine is filled with such studies. It's not that they are 'lying' merely that the data may not be reliably obtained, or statistically reliable, amongst many other things including, perhaps, bias in the experimenter. That's why it pays to be cautious when interpreting reports.
Take care.

 

[bellyache]

I too have been told by my GI that smoking is bad for Crohnes and also read that it is. I have been trying to rid myself of the addiction in the months since my ressection. Over this time i have found it very stressful, both when I am not smoking and when I do smoke. I spend my day admonishing myself for smoking a cigarette and getting depressed most of the time, I really don't know what to do!

 

[Lydia]

Well I have crohn's colitis and smoking would give me burning pain the minute I lit up when I was flaring. I also never had a remission for more than 2 months at a time while I smoked. I dont have crohn's anywhere but my colon.

I smoked because I loved the habit and was completely addicted. I told myself it didnt matter if I quit because I would still have crohn's. I set myself up for failure with my logic every time I quit. Its smoker logic and its faulty.

A smoker will read a book that says smoking is bad for you, and then proceed to throw the book away, instead of the smokes.

 

[tek254]

I too smoke and have Crohns in the terminal Ileum. I want to quit and have tried chant ix prior to my diagnosis and the side effects were horrible. This is a Strong and potent ally dangerous med, so talk to your doctor before attempting. I was told by an MD that not only are we smoker addicted to the nicotine, but more so the habits and lifestyle we develop along the way. These are the true hurdles to over some in order to quit. Examples would be driving, having coffee, right after a meal, times of stress, boredom, etc. Look at your daily routine and you will identify them right away. I am looking into a support group for quitting. The research shows almost a 50% increase in quitting with the tips and secrets they have. Best of luck. On a side note, I have read but nothing confirmed, that smokers with Crohns who stop may develop UC. Better than lung Ca? I think.