Why does smoking make you want to go to the bathroom?

white88enochianwhite88enochian Regular
edited August 2011 in Spurious Generalities
A Straight Dope Classic from Cecil's Storehouse of Human Knowledge
Why does smoking make you want to go to the bathroom?
April 18, 1986

Dear Cecil:

What is it about smoking a cigarette that will sometimes send me to the bathroom for a number two?

— C.B.M., Washington

Cecil replies:

During my foolish youth this is the kind of question I would kiss off with some totally uncalled-for if hilarious remark. Now that I am mature, however, I know that behind many seemingly inane queries there lie deep scientific truths. It is even so in the present case. The reason smoking makes you feel like heading for the john is that your body has been specially programmed to respond to the products of the R.J. Reynolds company. No fooling. Your guts are crammed with "nicotinic receptors," which are part of the parasympathetic nervous system, which controls your digestion, among other things. When you use tobacco, these receptors are stimulated and your innards commence to churning. If you were pretty full already, you may well feel the need to visit the john.

Some people become dependent on this odd phenomenon. Cecil has heard of a case involving an old coot who used to spend every waking moment with a chaw of tobacco between cheek and gum. One time he had to go into the hospital for prostate surgery. While he was stretched out in the recovery room, a nurse noticed that his abdomen was swelling up. The attending physicians feared that they had pierced his intestine during the operation and infected him. But then another doctor strolled in and remarked, "Hey, that's the first time I've ever seen old Charlie without his wad." Remembering the nicotinic receptors, the physicians immediately guessed that old Charlie had become so accustomed to tobacco that his intestines wouldn't work without it. His abdomen was swelling because his bowels were filling up with air like a balloon, an event known as an ileus. They promptly sent out for a family-size can of Red Man and administered a double dose. (I presume they woke Charlie up first.) The swelling soon subsided. Another triumph for modern pharmaceutical technology, and a damn good reason to think twice about abandoning your bad habits.

— Cecil Adams
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/571/why-does-smoking-make-you-want-to-go-to-the-bathroom

This happens alot.I thought i had formed a habit since the bathroom was usualy the first place id smoke in the morning and id smoke every time i was in the bathroom.

The most recent occurrence was at taco bell. I went outside to smoke my pipe (had to use the bathroom a small bit)
before i was finished i had to run into the bathroom before i shit my self.

Have any of you experienced this odd effect of tobacco

Comments

  • MaxstatsMaxstats Regular
    edited August 2011
    It never fails to get me every morning. I wake up, get my kids up and dressed then I sit down and light up a cigar and bam, time to take a shit.
  • buddhabuddha Regular
    edited August 2011
    Yup, strong cup of coffee and a smoke does it everytime.

    Interesting OP though.
  • LSA KingLSA King Regular
    edited August 2011
    buddha wrote: »
    Yup, strong cup of coffee and a smoke does it everytime.

    Interesting OP though.


    Yup, both are diuretics IIRC. Sometimes just smoking does it or coffee, but when you add them together I get blowing shit out my ass early in the morning, worst way to start the day but the only way to start it when you're a hardcore faggot.
  • MaxstatsMaxstats Regular
    edited August 2011
    LSA King wrote: »
    Yup, both are diuretics IIRC. Sometimes just smoking does it or coffee, but when you add them together I get blowing shit out my ass early in the morning, worst way to start the day but the only way to start it when you're a hardcore faggot.

    Same here. A smoke and a cup of coffee with me in the morning = I ain't driving anywhere for the next 2 hours or else I'll be pulling over somewhere to shit in the woods.

    But I have a touchy stomach to begin with. I keep toilet paper in the trunk at all times just in case...
  • Darth BeaverDarth Beaver Meine Ehre heißt Treue
    edited August 2011
    If I eat regular I shit.
  • DfgDfg Admin
    edited August 2011
    Thanks for the thread. My mum eats tobacco. Yeah, I know OMG Dfg mums eat tobacco. Actually both my parents are hooked on PAN. They have been chewing it for years and it's a hard habit to let go. I have tried everything with them but nothing worked. My mum needs to get her tobacco to take a dump. I have pointed out that you don't need to use it but thanks to OP I pretty much know the reason why.

    You see she chews tobacco and she has been doing this for almost 30+ years and I am pretty confident after reading this thread that it would be a bad idea to stop her. I have been saying her to stop taking it but now I feel I should find a better alternative.
  • edited August 2011
    Looool I thought u needed to shit because your body's natural defense against nicotine, caffeine and coke overdose is to shunt blood to your bowels.
  • 1357913579 Death Cog Machine
    edited August 2011
    I've always been told that tobacco was a mild laxative. Odd this thread should pop up, I've been looking for a cig all day so I could take a shit just to test this, and sure enough I clogged my toilet.
Sign In or Register to comment.