You're viewing a single thread.
This may be a joke but nicotine treats symptoms of adhd
Is this for real? It would make sense why my adhd feels like it is getting worse as I age. I quit speed, then smoking, then caffeinated drinks.
Edit: yes, thank you all for adhdsplaining stimulants to me. I know about speed and caffeine. I was simply asking about nicotine.
Nicotine is a mild simulant, yes. All of those things are frequently used by people to "self-medicate", but the downsides are obviously pretty steep.
And most self medication options are pretty bad at the medicating part.
I was under the impression nicotine was on a similar risk profile to caffeine. Are you referring to the tobacco plant in general?
this is my impression as well regarding nicotine. however, i have noticed people are not interested in examining that and continue to conflate nicotine with cigarettes (high risk) and vaping (misconstrued risk).
i also believe many view a nicotine addiction through a sort of moral lens they don't apply so readily to caffeine.
It's generational trauma regarding smoking. The last couple generations were pretty moved by the discoveries regarding smoking and now overreact. Attitude is much more rational in gen z
Nicotine in pretty much any amount is cardiotoxic, caffeine (in moderate amounts) is pretty much neutral afaik. They both may or may not be carcinogens depending on the study. Thats pretty much it I think
I vape. It is helpful. I've quit a couple times,and it's correlated with suicidal thoughts. (I hesitate to claim it is casual, but definitely correlated.)
Stimulants help with ADHD symptoms. Adderall is chemically similar to speed.
Why do you suspect the link is connected to your ADHD? Could the suicidal thoughts not just stem from nicotine withdrawal?
To widen the anecdotal data set, I have ADHD and have been using nicotine since I was 16 (29 now). I quit for ~8 months a few years back by making my own vape juice and tapering my nicotine dose down over a period of several months. I never experienced withdrawal symptoms, but my mental health tanked on lower doses and it got even worse when I was completely off nicotine. I was way more irritable, impatient, scatterbrained, and depressed. It was not fun
I'm talking about suicidal thoughts at least a month up to several months after not having any nicotine, so it seems unlikely to be withdrawal symptoms.
Stimulants help with ADD symptoms, this is simply a fact.
Yes. All stimulants treat the symptoms of ADHD. You were self-medicating that whole time, although your results were way worse than you would get with a controlled dosage of a time-release stimulant like Adderall. If you don't want to go back to stimulants, even under a medical setting, regular exercise will help regulate your symptoms (I personally like 30 to 40 minutes of cardio 3 to 4 times a week).
I knew the caffeine and speed was self medicating. But I did not realize about the nicotine.
I hike 8-9km a day over about 2 hours.
Yeah, nicotine too. Pretty much any stimulant. ADHD is thought to be caused by low dopamine, and exercise is thought to alleviate symptoms by producing dopamine. I know doctors reccomend strength training and aerobic exercises like running or swimming, but I don't know how hiking stacks up. If it's strenuous enough that you feel tired by the end, I'm sure it's helping.
Anyway, everyone's different. For me, if I don't run at least a 5K 3 times a week, my symptoms are terrible, but strength training doesn't seem to help much.
Depending on your type of ADHD, you can use stimulants, but for some it will make it worse.
Do you drink any coffees or teas? I don’t really touch caffeinated sodas these days, but I believe coffee and tea with caffeine are great since the caffeine is a stimulant which can help with focusing. The most important thing is consuming caffeine in moderation and at the right time, I believe. Drinking coffee only really helps in the first hour or so of waking up for instance or before a twenty minute nap.
I feel that Healthline does a pretty decent job of weighing the pros and cons.
No. I on occasion drink iced tea, but that is like one a month at the most. I used to drink chai daily, but switched to a variety that uses chicory instead of black tea.