Autoimmune diseases and electronic cigarettes.

[RoseB]

Been wanting to do a thread about this for a while. Oh where do I start? I've got crohn's disease. Have been in an awful flare for about a month now. Ended up in the hospital tonight bah. Anyways when I try quitting all nicotine my guts just can't take it. My e cig has been wonderful even the crappy ones. With a weak immune system I always spent the winters with lung infections ect. Since there really hasn't been much in the way of studdies on e cigs I want to please hear from other folks who have autoimmune diseases. Has vapor been better on you since going to e cigs?

[mitsuhashi]

Argh, sorry, I'm not so knowledgeable about these things.

But do you know about the antiseptic properties of PG? I've read somewhere a few months ago that scientists in the U.S. did a long-term study on the health effects of inhaling PG vapors on some orphanage, I think it was. This was back in WWI or WWII. The control group of kids breathed in regular air, while the test subjects were secretly bombarded with PG vapor. Some time passed, and they found that hardly any of the kids who were inhaling PG were getting the flu, while the control group of kids were getting it all the time.

I guess nobody knows the true effects of our e-cig vapors as a mix between water, PG, VG, nic, and flavors, but speaking for myself, I've not noticed any increase or decrease in sickness (I don't have autoimmune diseases, though). I've gotten the flu just once over the past year that I've been a regular vaper, which isn't too far from the rate I got them as a smoker. At least that's the rate I've been catching it after quitting teaching. Those cute buggers used to give me tons of germs, lol.

[RoseB]

Kids the cutest of all vermin. Have two my self, and boy do they bring on the cooties. Had some massive throat issues before I started vaping. Really just gross tonsils. Swollen and painful. It seemed like vaping dried it out. It still hurt but the swelling is gone and now the pain is gone. Not sure if it was the vapor or the lack of tobacco.

[Puccini914]

Hi, I've got a couple AI diseases. I've got Lupus, RA, Sjogren's Syndrome, and Fibro. I don't know much about Crohn's other then the immune system attacks the intestines and causes inflammation. With mine, it attacks my joints and with both of ours it causes fatigue and general feeling like crap most of the time. Quitting analogs is the best thing we can do. I can't tell you how many times I've had Bronchitis and asthmatic bronchitis. I've been off analogs completely for 6 days now and my lungs and nose are cleaning house. Everythings coming up. I think the vaping is great! I feel a bit better already. I seem to have a bit more energy already. My plan is to gradually reduce the nicotine in my juice until I reach 5-0 nicotine. The nicotine can interfere with certain medicines, like plaquenil. Our meds will work better and it will improve our conditions greatly to get off analogs ANY way we can. Tapering off nicotine can come once we're comfortably off analogs. For now, I'm vaping like crazy at 24mg, fighting the desire to have an analog, but everytime I take a drag of my DH's, it tastes like an ashtray. Way Gross!! This will pass and I'll get to the point when I won't want one anymore. Then I can start tapering down the nicotine. It's seems so easy, but we shall see. I don't see it being harmful to anyone with AI disease and my doctor didn't have a problem with it. Good luck to you.

[RoseB]

Wow Puccini you hit the lotto of no fun. For years the doctors kept telling me I had fibromyalgia. It turned out to be my hyper mobile joints not feeling so hot with age. Not smoking has brought the pain levels down. My e cigarette was a godsend. Lastnight in the er the doctors let me use it, and I used the hell out of it. Smoking was a coping mechanism for me (also addiction). Instead of smoking 2-3 packs a day in a bad flare just trying to get throught the pain. With vaping I don't feel nearly as gross, but still crohn's is gross lol. For the record I did try quitting the vaping cold turkey just to see what it was like. Wasn't to bad other than my guts coming to a grinding halt. Keep plugging along after a while you'll be glad you did.

[Puccini914]

Thanks Rose! It's the craziest thing about smoking and pain. We know that smoking (analogs) is the worst thing for our illness, but when the pain kicks in, all I want to do is sit and smoke. Thank you for e-cigs. I can vape all day and not feel worse. It's been 7 days totally off analogs, I'm flaring, but I'm sticking to vaping and all is well. I'm so sorry for your Crohns, that must be awful. I also have gastoparesis, which is some kind of paralization of the stomach, so sometime I just can't eat very much. I simpply can't imafine what you must go through. Bless you, I hope you feel better soon.

[SinisterRaccoon]

Rose, I can relate to your pains. Have had UC for 10 yrs now, and its actually the reason I started smoking, for the nicotine. That first week of analogs way back when was better than any med out there. Not wanting to keep smoking, I stumbled on the alternative of vaping. While some of the improvements to daily feelings may be psychological, the world of vaping has been a nice addition to my daily regimen I also like the fact that some of the things that just don't agree with me in the "real" world, CAN be enjoyed by means of vape, such as coffee

[RoseB]

Sinister Raccooon 10 years with UC sorry you have that. It is no fun at all. I hear you on the food thing. Last month I thought it might be nice to eat popcorn.....ugh it was a stupid thing to do I read about the nicotine thing going with UC patients, and that docs give them nicotine patches sometimes. Even if the person never smoked or chewed. If you find a good popcorn juice please let me know

[chad]

Anyways when I try quitting all nicotine my guts just can't take it.

I've read and heard many times that nicotine is bad for Crohn's and helpful for Ulcerative Colitis. I don't have either (I have IBS which is a functional disorder unlike Crohn's and UC which are IBDs) so I can't confirm any of this. Maybe the nicotine in e-cigs is contributing to your flare-up?

http://ibdcrohns.about.com/cs/ibdfaqs/a/smokingguts.htm
Smoking and inflammatory bowel disease: a met... [Mayo Clin Proc. 2006] - PubMed - NCBI

[patsfan1130]

I was diagnosed with lupus 4 years ago. I generally have 2 or 3 serious flares per year. I've been off butts for 1 week today and feel better than I have in years! I take plaquenil 2x per day as well as 2mg of medrol every other day. Ive not experienced any ill effects what so ever from vaping. And I've been vaping like a champ all week!

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