I have developed ulcerative colitis, a disease of nonsmokers

[geeker]

I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis this week, through colonoscopy and biopsies.

Interestingly, this is a diesase of nonsmokers, or people who have recently quit smoking. Smokers do not suffer from UC. It is beacuse nicotine protects the bowel somehow (in theory, anyway)

This is the third time in my life I have had these symptoms. Both of the other times I had quit smoking. The first time was about 16 years ago, and the second time about 8 years ago. Both of these times I began smoking again, partly because of an assault of stress. My symptoms went away.

There have been some people with UC who have found symptom relief with nicotine patches. Of course, no doctor will recommend starting smoking to someone with UC.

I have been vaping whenever the urge strikes since September. Apparently I am not taking in enough nicotine. I am going to increase my nic intake (i've been using 12-24 mg)

All of this is shocking to me in its timing, and I don't believe the quitting smoking/UC symptom onset can be coincidence, since it is the third time.

[VapinDove]

Sorry to hear about that Geeker. I have heard of UC but what is it exactly? Are you in alot of pain?

I agree, up your nic intake a little at a time. You don't want to cause nic poisoning on top of what you already have. I just read a post by Cemetary Man here on the board last night about his experience at the Hospital ER from vaping too much. Scary stuff.

Who would think that quitting smoking would produce adverse side affects?

Keep us informed of your results.

[beckah54]

Sorry to hear that, Geeker. I hope you get some pain relief soon.

[Katmar]

I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis this week, through colonoscopy and biopsies.

Interestingly, this is a diesase of nonsmokers, or people who have recently quit smoking. Smokers do not suffer from UC. It is beacuse nicotine protects the bowel somehow (in theory, anyway)

This is the third time in my life I have had these symptoms. Both of the other times I had quit smoking. The first time was about 16 years ago, and the second time about 8 years ago. Both of these times I began smoking again, partly because of an assault of stress. My symptoms went away.

There have been some people with UC who have found symptom relief with nicotine patches. Of course, no doctor will recommend starting smoking to someone with UC.

I have been vaping whenever the urge strikes since September. Apparently I am not taking in enough nicotine. I am going to increase my nic intake (i've been using 12-24 mg)

All of this is shocking to me in its timing, and I don't believe the quitting smoking/UC symptom onset can be coincidence, since it is the third time.

Somewhere in these threads is one dealing with UC. I believe it is also in the Health section. People talked about how much nicotine they are using and how it is helping.
Good Luck to you. Hope you are well soon!!

[geeker]

Thanks for your well wishes. The symptoms are too unpleasant to mention on the boards. However, the point I was trying to make is that by vaping, I am not getting the amount of nicotine I though I was getting, indeed, I wonder if I am getting any at all, since the events are the same as when I quit smoking and was not replacing the nicotine.

[VapinDove]

:::hugs:::

[lorikay13]

Hi
The reason that quiting smoking and /or not smoking correlates with UC is that nicotine, or more specifically one of the components of nicotine is a powerful anti-inflammatory that seems to act strongly against nuerological inflammation. It is also being studied heavily for it's use in Alheimers and Parkinsons as well as RA...Rhuemaoid Arthritis. The patch is used because it is the most effective manner of delivery. Nicotine is unuaually good at being absorbed through the skin. Which btw is why it can be so dangerous. An equal amount spilled on the skin vs being eaten the skin spill will kill you faster. "Pure" nicotine dermal exposure will kill you in a matter of seconds. But so will exposure to the pure active ingredient of alot of drugs and compounds.

Abstract
Epidemiological evidence suggests that ulcerative colitis is a disease of nonsmokers, while Crohn's disease is a disease of smokers. The relative risk of developing ulcerative colitis is not only greater in nonsmokers, in addition there appears to be a rebound effect in smokers who quit, with the heaviest (ex-)smokers increasing their relative risk of the disease the most. This factor poses an ethical dilemma for health professionals giving advice on stopping smoking, which may thus have a serious detrimental effect on the health of some patients. Nicotine is believed to be the pharmacological ingredient of tobacco that is responsible for this beneficial effect and several clinical trials using nicotine have demonstrated it to be an effective therapeutic agent in the treatment of ulcerative colitis. Although the aetiology of ulcerative colitis is unclear, current research using nicotine-based products has produced some interesting clues, together with the possibility of some form of therapeutic treatment based on nicotine administration.


There is unfortunately no data about vaping and the anti-inflammatory properties of nicotine and the data that is out there about vaping in general and the amount of nicotine it supplies are wildly inconsistent. If Google these words you will find a great amount of recent and current studies being done on this topic:
nicotine + anti inflammatory (leave out the + sign)

Do not be afraid of your doctor. Print out these studies and take them to him/her and go ahead and get the patch. I am not a doctor so this is just my personal opinion. Hopefully your Dr will agree to at least support your decision and chart the course of your symptons in correlation to your use of the patch. More and more it looks like vaping is NOT going to be a reliable delivery system or even a safe one given that so many of the popular e-juice sellers out there are literally cooking raw tobacco at home and using the juice as a flavoring. Nice thought but there really are several carcinogens and powerfully harmful chemicals in tobacco. That is why Dekang has spent millions of dollars on their filtration and purification systems and that is the point of buying your juice from a totally transparent company that lists USP pharmaciuetcal grade nicotine as their source. Unfortunately this is going to be one of those situations that fits the cliche'...if it sounds too good to be true...it probably is. I'm sure all you homemade e-juice suppliers are going to be up in arms about someone saying this but the truth is we just don't know alot about what chemicals are harmful,in what form are they harmful, who are they harmful to,(IE plants ,animals,humans) etc? So if you want safety and good taste we might be out of luck. I do not intend to derail this thread and make it an argument about juice suppliers or nicotine safety in one form versus another. I just wanted to try and help this lady and give her clear consise information she can use.
I hope it helps

LK

18 years as a Licensed Pest Control Advisor and countless hours of personal research is what qualifies me to feel comforatable making these statements

[BradSmith]

I can't remember his name but there is a guy on this site who started using e-cigs for his syptoms. I have chrohn's and it's the opposite, smoking is bad for it. I wonder if snuff or snuss would help or is it one of the other 4,000 chemicals.

I still keep my food journal and have noticed that any changes in diet do take me a while to adjust too.

Good luck, I feel your pain.

[AmyB66]

I was going to mention the same guy. He's lurking somewhere on the new members section. He is going to try vaping in hopes of helping his symptoms. He's never smoked.

[geeker]

I think I found the fellow, and I replied to his post to ask how vaping was working for him.