# Cigarettes and constipation. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 28, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarettes-and-constipation/620194 "2012-04-28T00:35:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stelios](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Stelios](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stelios)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarettes-and-constipation/620194/1 "2012-04-28T00:35:37Z")
My dad once told me that cigarettes help with constipation. Now, my Google-fu is weak, so I’ve not been able to confirm this myself, so I turn to the indefatigable Teeming Millions. What’s the Straight Dope on cigarettes and constipation? Cheers. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarettes-and-constipation/620194/2 "2012-04-28T00:41:23Z")
All I can give is anecdote but when I smoked, that first one in the morning had that effect. 4 or 5 drags in and it took effect. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarettes-and-constipation/620194/3 "2012-04-28T00:43:44Z")
Many smokers (myself included) will tell you that smoking a cigarette will make you (for lack of a nicer way to say it) have to go. Whether it will relieve actual constipation, I don’t know, but it will get things moving. It’ll change “meh, I can take care of later” to “Ya know, I should probably do this now”. And on preview, I’ll agree with zoid, it only takes a few puffs. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarettes-and-constipation/620194/4 "2012-04-28T00:45:41Z")
To be more precise, [quitting smoking can cause constipation](http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/withdrawal1.htm)while your body [adjusts to the nicotine withdrawal](http://calorielab.com/news/2010/11/16/constipation-nicotine/). ---
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarettes-and-constipation/620194/5 "2012-04-28T00:47:37Z")
Also Aunty Dotle but yea… morning routine for me is to get up and start coffee. While brewing I go have my first smoke and wham-bam-thank-ye-ma’am I have a rather urgent need. Generally speaking, it doesn’t do that as severely all day although I am a more than once a day type guy. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarettes-and-constipation/620194/6 "2012-04-28T00:52:57Z")
30+ years ago, a young, hard-living columnist named Cecil Adams wrote an entire article on this very subject, but doubtless it’s findings have been lost to the ravages of time. If only there was some way to retrieve such arcane lost knowledge for our modern edification… ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarettes-and-constipation/620194/7 "2012-04-28T10:01:39Z")
It works for the same reason cigarettes help keep you thin: Nicotine is a stimulant, and stimulants make your bodily processes _go_. On the other hand, if you get into heroin they’ll be cleaning you out with an apple corer (as per Burroughs). Coffee (caffeine) does the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarettes-and-constipation/620194/8 "2012-04-28T11:28:17Z")
I gave up smoking over a year ago. I noticed absolutely no effect on my bowels. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarettes-and-constipation/620194/9 "2012-04-28T14:23:46Z")
Possibly relevant: [Why does smoking make you want to go to the bathroom? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/571/why-does-smoking-make-you-want-to-go-to-the-bathroom)