Smoking

[Sue-2009]

Just curious...Growing up I had no symptoms for IBD. I did however have acne and took antibiotics and accutane, At 18 (stupid me - or not) I started smoking. Around 23, I noticed something was up with my bms..Didn't take to much into it. Around age 28ish--I quite smoking - for me and my then fiancee now husband. Five years later..colitis so bad I had a colectomy withing two years of diagnosis. A few years later..now crohns. I have always wonder if the the smoking kept the colitis at bay....Mmmmm:ybatty:

 

[spingirl]

I had the opposite happen - I used to run to the bathroom every time I had a cigarette. However, maybe it was a stress reliever for you...? Were you having a drink with the cigarette? I know that slows me down.

 

[Sue-2009]

Oh no...I loved to smoke. Its been, 15 years for me...I still dream about it. I quit because I wanted to and for my husband. I'm glad I did. But, I remember reading somewhere that the nicotine helped with colitis. I don't know, but no one in my family has Crohns or Colitis. But, I have often wondered about that Accutane. It was 8 years since accutane that I noticed some bm changes, But, the real problem flare happened 17 years later. Mmmmm. I don't know if there is a connection or not....

 

[Ari]

I stopped not so long ago and I don't wanna go back to it. Smoking definitely helps with colitis, but it's bad for CD. Nicotine is a kind of antibiotic that kills bacteria in the colon...so I heard.:kello:

 

[Sue-2009]

Good for you Ari...I still miss it! Fool that I am..It did calm my nerves. At least I've lowered my chance of lung cancer...Now..Mmmm...Colon Cancer!! To quote my kids, "Whatever!" LOL
S

 

[ameslouise]

Sue - Not sure if I shared this with you already.... it's eerie how similar our stories are!!

YES! I smoked for years. I quit a million times and everytime I quit, after about six months, I would get a UC flare. The big one came after I quit when I was pregnant with Harrison. That was the flare I lost my colon to.

I started up again.... quite about four years ago.... Nine months after that was when I started having issues again and was reDX with Crohn's about a year after that.

I don't miss it at all! At the end, I was only smoking 2 or 3 cigs a day. I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't quit this last time.

I tell Harrison all the time he must never start smoking and that smoking is what caused my disease. It isn't really.... but I firmly believe it played a HUGE part in its manifestation.

-Amy

 

[Sue-2009]

OMG! How unbelievable! I don't at all miss the taste. Yuck! But, I think the action. You know doing something with my hands when I am nervous or up tight! We have walked side by side sister! OMG! Sue

 

[fribourg]

I remember I cut a lot on my smoking habit 3 months before I was diagnosed. From 30 35 cigs daily to about 5 - 7. This has been a 14 years habit for me, only 26 at the moment. It's strange how many similar stories I come by.

But smoking is not much of a strange thing for me. 6 months before being diagnosed with CD I've contacted some infection that has affected my right testicle, it because so imflamated the doctor proposed to remove it but I refused the surgery so I was put on some very powerful antibiotics intravenous. I was supposed to have them for 2 weeks at most but the infection was not going away and my testicle was swelling more as days passed. I had the dose increased a lot and remained on it for another 2 months. Eventually the testicle came back to normal state but immediately after I started to have light symptoms of irritable bowel or something similar, regular lower back pain which I thought were my kidneys. I was suspected of kidney infection. Long story short I've always wondered if my Chron's had been triggered by those antibiotics taken for longer, a lot longer than necessary. I was very young around 17 or so, and as far as I remember I was taking twice the maximum dose for an adult.

Just my thoughts.

 

[spingirl]

I know smoking is not good for you...but it certainly did calm me down...just like when I have a drink...I have no BM's...it's weird...no matter how big a flare...if I have a drink or two its like an off switch for me! I wish my doctors would let me try muscle relaxers or something...there has to be something to this.

 

[fribourg]

I know smoking is not good for you...but it certainly did calm me down...just like when I have a drink...I have no BM's...it's weird...no matter how big a flare...if I have a drink or two its like an off switch for me! I wish my doctors would let me try muscle relaxers or something...there has to be something to this.

It's good you can relax and ease symptoms having a drink or two, for me alcohol generally throws me into the worst flare ups, even one or two. May I know what exactly you drink?

 

[spingirl]

I like wine but it bothers my acid reflux...usually a white zinfindel...no special brand. I also will drink beer - like a Bud Light. My new drink is a Baybreeze which is cranberry with vodka and a splash of pineapple. I am only good for one or two then I am sleepy and I only do it once a week or every two weeks...if I go out to dinner...but I notice, for sure, I don't have any BM's even when I am in a bad flare. I just don't know why. I am not advocating drinking though...I know its not a good thing.

 

[MADiMarc]

Spingirl,
Same for me! Two mixed drinks & I'm good for three days.
Michele

 

[prettykitty]

I used to smoke -- just quit in January. My GI actually told me that smoking seems to help people with UC -- not that he would suggest anyone take up smoking, but he said that if I had UC, he wouldn't pester me so much... but I have Crohn's. So he pestered me a lot.

I haven't really noticed a difference with my poos since quitting. But I do feel better, in general.

 

[Miss Underestimated]

Aren't they blaming Accutane for Crohn's in some people? There are class action lawsuits over it.

Over a year ago, at the insistence of my PCP and my GI to quit smoking, I switched from regular cigarettes to e-cigarettes. My lipids and other blood tests are now excellent and my BP is getting back to normal, but my last colonoscopy showed ulcers in my colon. So, it's not the nicotine preventing colitis, IMO - I am getting plenty of nicotine with the e-cigs.

BTW, it is very easy to switch from regular cigs to e-cigs.

 

[sherry3535]

So i too was a smoker! I didnt smoke a ton....6-10 per day! well i quit smoking back 3 1/2 years ago, i started to excercise more because i didnt want to gain a ton of weight! Well instead i started to loose weight, and more and more, so finally i stopped the extra workouts! My bm's increased drasically, and then 9 months after i had quit smoking is when i ended up in the emergency room with a large perianal abscess that burst!! And so it all began for me!! However i still do not have an official diagnosis, just being treated for Crohn's! But i am having some major rectal problems still! i just wonder if quittig smoking triggered something??

 

[Grumbletum]

Another one here. Quit just after New Year 2010. 3 weeks later I had a horrible flu, then labyrinthitus so was dizzy for 4 months. Then in Sept started with the current bowel problems. I'd laugh at the irony of my worst year healthwise after quitting.... But it's not funny!

 

[Montrealer]

I cant say if my Crohns is better with or without cigarettes as for the past 6 years, i've had some nicotine in my blood at every moment. I use it to relax after running emergencies to the bathroom. I do smoke alot tho.

I did notice that one particular sort of ciggarettes gets my perianal fistulas very active. It is the Supperslims, they are about 2 millimeters in diameter. I stopped smoking those because my perianal absess would get very inflamed.