Anyone else get Ulcerative Colitis after switching to vaping?

[cdnreturner]

I've loved my e-cigs since first discovering them nearly 2 years ago. 4 weeks ago after a colonoscopy I found out I had either Chron's Disease or Ulcerative Colitis. Today was my first medical follow-up after the colonoscopy and it turns out it is Ulcerative Colitis (UC).

So here is the deal. I've been on the Web for hours tonight only to discover there is a link between giving up smoking and UC and there are a lot of non-smokers that have started smoking as a way of managing their UC.

So my biggest beef.....cost of drugs to manage UC is $225 a month. Cost of my smoking habit: $120 a month. I don't have a drug plan. Another 7 years before I qualify under Ontario Benefit Plan. And, of course, I'm not exactly happy about pumping myself with all these drugs. I was told this would be a rest of my life scenario. Also found out my Dad (non-smoker) was diagnosed at the same age I am now and had to take these drugs the rest of his life. My income is so little now that I doubt I will have to pay any tax at the end of this year so the tax right-off advantage isn't much help. Fortunately, I own my home outright which is why I manage.

I also have to say that in contrast to a lot of people here that as much as I love my ecigs I can't say I've particularly felt much healthier......what I do like is getting rid of the smoking smell around me and not being caught out when a client shows up at my door and I've been in the garage having a smoke!!!

I'm assuming anyone who went back to smoking due to UC is probably no longer on this forum but just in case I'm curious to hear from anyone else that was put in a similar dilemma.

 

[Smile n' shine]

Sorry to hear that cdnreturner

There is some type of link between UC sufferers and the smoking UC sufferers. I think it may come down to the nicotine.
Smoking is a bad idea and not the lesser of two evils in this case.

Spend some time reading about natural treatments for UC and maybe the nic in your vape could be bumped up?
I haven't read all the studies, so don't take my word about the increased nic, but maybe there is info online about it.

The steroids and whatnot medication are very hard on the system, maybe you will have better luck
controlling symptoms through diet etc. There may also be a health plan such as Trillium available for you, if you go the medication route.

I hope you can find more solutions to feeling healthy than smoking. There must be UC groups online you can connect with to learn of
better alternatives than meds and tobacco.

Wishing you wellness.

 

[cags]

I've read a little about this on the forum. do a search and/or check the health section

Health, Safety and E-Smoking

hopefully you will find some helpful info

 

[oplholik]

I got UC after using e-cigs for 7 months. This was in May of 2012, and I'm still fighting it. Currently I'm taking a steroid, and another medication which helps me feel pretty good, and be able to function at about 70% of normal. I think my doctor is going to be trying something else when I see him next at the end of this month. I've heard that some go back to smoking 3-5 cigs a day to help manage the UC, but having smoked for 55 yrs., and having a moderate case of copd, I don't consider that an option.
I hope you have a better time of it, and quite possibly you will.

 

[martinc]

I seriously doubt that getting back to analogs would cure you,never heard that smoking cured anything anyways!

Those afflications are mapped in our genes,it takes very little to bring them up and in your case,it looks like it was stop smoking but it doesnt mean vaping started it (its what I gather from what you named your thread) but stop smoking did.

Good luck

 

[Smile n' shine]

I can't agree more with Martinc's point. It's not vaping, it's the quitting and lack of cigarette ingredients.
Nicotine has been pinpointed, you may want to look at the quantity of nicotine used by people with UC.
Possibly vaping would be an alternative to smoking for symptom control?

 

[oplholik]

I was vaping 18mg when my UC kicked in, so not sure what strength would help. I vape 10-12mg now, and if I went back to 18, it would knock me on my ..... But everyone is different, what might work for you, may not do anything for me.

 

[torozzgrl]

Read a book called "wheat belly". My brother had UC for 30 yrs (never a smoker). It is complete gone after giving up wheat and wheat products.

 

[oplholik]

In my post above, I got the time line wrong. I started vaping at 18mg, and was working my way down to 0mg. After vaping at 4mg for a bit is when the UC hit me.

 

[noanaforme]

Great discussion. IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) which includes Crohn's Disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) have been studied for years and the current thinking is the smoking analogs is protective for those with UC (but of course are harmful to just about every organ in the body), and damaging to those with CD.
As a person with long standing CD, I know that I benefited by stopping analogs (April 9) and would not even consider going back to them ever. There have been research studies done using nicotine replacement therapy for the treatment of UC symptoms, however, the results were poor and perhaps this was due to the nicotine level in the replacement therapy and/or the mode of delivery?
Having worked for many years in an international known IBD Research Center, I would think that doing trials with both UC and CD participants would provide a lot of information on the effectiveness of e-cigarettes in the relief of symptoms. I am very interested to hear about the experiences of others with IBD switching to e-cigarettes (privacy respected for PMs okay) and perhaps it will generate enough interest to conduct a research trial.
Thanks (PS UC is completely cured by the removal of the colon but this is a serious step but perhaps a life saving one where needed)

 

[cdnreturner]

Thanks to everyone that has replied. I didn't mean to say that vaping caused my UC. Looking back I worded that incorrectly. I just thought it was so ironical that I quit smoking only to find out that that may have caused IBD symptons to surface. Looking further back I think I've been living with this since my early 20's (I went to a doctor at that time and was told that I had a possible ulcer, then moved to the UK for 25 years and never thought anymore about it until now) but because I was a smoker I'm now assuming I was unknowingly controlling it. It was looking at UC forums where I found out the link between smoking and UC.

It's interesting about the nicotine because I've assumed that because I've been using e-cigs all along the problem was not lack of nicotine but lack of something else in analogs so now I'm trying to remember back over my progression with ecigs over the last 2 years.

This time last year I was down to 4mg when I had my first symptons of IBD (bleeding only). At the time I was dealing with my Dad's final stages of cancer and I thought it was stress and didn't go to see a doctor. I was back and forth to Toronto a couple of times a week and also trying to keep my own customers happy. The stress got to me so much I went back on analogs although I hated every one of them. August 1st I went on holiday for a week to the States and got myself back onto e-cigs with 16 mg (as I knew I wouldn't buy American analogs!!!). Probably somewhere towards Xmas I eased myself back down to 12 mg. After XMAS I decided to start taking those raspberry ketones that Dr. OZ recommended (and someone on here recommended too) and a few days later I started bleeding heavily so I put it down to the raspberry ketones and immediately stopped but did go and see my doctor. Over the last month I've eased myself back down to 8 mg. I've been really hoping to get rid of the nicotine altogether in case one day these things either get banned or crazily taxed.

Anyway I don't really know where I'm going with this now, but this thread may be of use to someone else out there. I'd be willing to help out in any study if anyone wants to contact me.

 

[martinc]

yeah,its crazy that quitting something can have adverse effects on health...there is something else that I`ve quit myself 15 years ago that triggered all kind of skin problems....make you go hummmm......

 

[CityLights]

Another auto-immune inflammatory disease with some ex smokers is Rheumatoid Arthritis - RA.

When I smoked analogs and cut back to 6 or less smokes a day my RA went Nuts! I couldn't walk or stand without assistance. My Rhumatologist at the time said he's heard this before with some patients and said it may be better to smoke a few cigs a day and have a better quality of life than be a ex-smoker. Thing is tho, I've always hared the smell of cigs.

Now when I found and switched to ecigs I got off cigarettes without the disabling RA flair ups I had when trying to just quit cigarettes. When I've cut back my ecig Nicotine below 18mg I start to get bad arthritis again.

IBS or Arthritis, there seems to be some benefits for some with auto-immune inflammatory diseases

Does smoking help protect the joints?
Does smoking help protect the joints? - CNN.com

NICOTINE BENEFITS - Alzheimer's and Parkinson's
FORCES International - Archive

 

[VIPOD]

Smoked cigarettes for 22 years, diagnosed with Crohn's in 2005, had IBS for probably 10 years prior to that. I had anywhere from 8-10 attacks per year that required a medication called prednisone (nasty all purpose synthetic corticosteroid drug that is particularly effective as an immunosuppressant) for 8 weeks at a time.

Started ecigs late in 2009...every year since ecigs my attacks have been cut in half. My requirement for prednisone is perhaps 1 or 2 per year now.

Do I still have Crohn's? Yes

Do I have fewer attacks since ecigs? 80% fewer since 2009

Do I think ecigs helped? Yes, and in my overall health. Why? the combustion of an analog and how it increase the nervous system (genetic predisposition + nerves = attacks for me! )

Did I change my dietary habits? No, but did loose weight because I'm way more active again.

What does my gastroenterologist say? No clue what to say...this disease is an enigma. He neither supports or disapproves of ecigs, but supports the notion that analogs and their combustibility have adverse affects to my system.

Conclusion......ecigs are not the cause of my Crohn's desease, but they may have alleviated the attacks.

Good luck, and God Bless.

 

[BadLar]

My wife has UC, the last time we quit smoking - about 2 years ago, she had a flareup that required hospitalization, for the last 2 months she is now down to 1 or 2 analogs a day, the rest of the time vaping 20 mg, so far so good, we are keeping our fingers crossed.

 

[DebbieNY]

I developed ulcerated colitis early this year. I immediately attributed it to taking Celebrex for a month after having knee surgery. I had stopped smoking cigarettes the day of my surgery, because I knew that there was no way that I was going to get down the stairs to go outside and smoke. My husband (who has been living in FL for the past couple of years, because he can't find work in NYC) hates cigarettes with a passion that I have never seen. He came back for about a month and a half to care for me, so I vaped less than I would have smoked, because I would have had to do it in front of him and he thought I was stupid for not stopping completely. It was shortly after he returned to FL that I was diagnosed with UC.

I am on a drug twice a day that contains mesalazine (brand name “Lialda”) that does seem to help some, but it doesn’t completely alleviate my symptoms. While I was doing some research to see what else I can do, I came across articles suggesting that the addition of nicotine to mesalazine therapy has shown to relieve symptoms better than either alone. It seems the disease is more prevalent in non-smokers, particularly ex-smokers. Who knew? Below is a link to one of the articles that I read (unfortunately the medscape.com site will not let me link to the other article without registering for an account):

Nicotine treatment for ulcerative colitis

Unfortunately, I’ve been steadily reducing my nicotine levels and am now at the lowest dosage (6mg, so that I can be free of it), but according to each article I read, the beneficial dosage for UC is 15mg. I certainly don’t want to use the patch again, as they gave me nightmares and skin rashes (not to mention that they and the gum are very freakin' expensive!), so I am now thinking that I need to go back up to a higher dosage of nicotine. I have since ordered a few of the juices I like in 24mg to mix 50-50 with the 6mg to get 15mg. I will adjust higher (18mg) or lower (12mg) depending on how I feel. I do still have some 18mg & 12mg juices that I'm not in love with to fall back on, if I need to. My husband will just have to suck it up, while he watches me vape, damn it!

If any of you have suggestions on what to or what not to eat/drink to further reduce UC symptoms, please do let me know. No one that I know has this disease, so it's up to me to find out via trial and error... I'd like to reduce the number of errors, if possible.

Many thanks,
Debbie

 

[cdnreturner]

Hi Debbie,

I'm the one who originally started this thread. I got a surprise to see more comments on here since I started it. I'm fortunate in that I'm guessing I have a very mild case of UC since I've never been hospitalized and it has never stopped me from doing things. I think, for me, I just haven't been feeling quite right and have been feeling demoralized. I have my own business from home sewing and even the passion for that was lost over the last 2 years. I wasn't taking my drugs (due to the cost) until about 6 weeks ago when I finally got to see the GI again. Meanwhile I was reading and trying all sorts of self-help stuff that really got me nowhere.

Anyway, 6 weeks ago he put me on 4 Salofalk a day (has mesalzine) instead of the 8 originally prescribed and the Salofalk suppository nightly. I saw him again on Thursday and am now off the suppositories. I can manage the $100 a month it's costing me now. I have been feeling so much better and back loving my work again, and pleased to say after a very low-income year it's gone mad and I'm fully functioning meeting Christmas demand.

Looking back I'm not sure the higher nicotine mg in the juice really did me any good. It may have stopped the bleeding related to the colon inflammation but I'm pretty sure I was still feeling extremely demoralized and sluggish. Like you I'm currently down to vaping 6mg and have mixed up bottles at 4 mg ready for moving down a notch in the next few weeks. After 4 mg I'm not sure if I'll go straight to no nic or 2mg.....can't help thinking 2 mg isn't worth it....might as well be no nic!!!!

All the best to you.

Cathie

 

[DKM2]

I don’t have UC, but I do take some natural supplements to try and prevent such things,
but I have read they may help UC. I take kiwifruit extract and fish oil.
real kiwi works well too, but was twice as expensive for every day.
A couple kiwi next time you shop can’t hurt, their good anyways!
Anyways a few more search items for you, decide if it may help you.

 

[Hdivr]

I've been diagnosed with both UC and RA......... never knew I had UC until I quit smoking cigarettes. Free and clean for over a year and then.....BAM!!!!! Got all the tests. Took all the medications. Didn't stop the symptoms at all. Then one day, I'm watching HOUSE, MD and they have an episode where the doc tosses the man a pack of cigs as a prescription. I began wondering. My UC only showed up after detoxifying for over a year.....mmhhh...... So I started smoking again (Marlboro Reds 1 pack a day). Within 5 days, every symptom was gone. A year later, started on ecigs and since I vape 24 mg, I've never had another flareup in over 2 years!!!!

Vaping for me is much cheaper than having to take 6 pills a day for the rest of my life (which didn't even work).