775
Old treatment just dropped.
(lemmy.world)
The children yearn for the ~~mines~~ nicotine
It is true, it seems, that Nicotine treats ADHD. There is at least one study that showed nicotine patches (18h and 24h ones) provide a mild to moderate relief for ADHD in people that do not use nicotine otherwise (e.g. nonsmokers). So, it doesn't just treat the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal.
Cigarette smoke is known to contain a clinically significant amount of MAO inhibiters that are not nicotine. MAO inhibiters are regularly used to treat depression and anxiety, and theoretically could treat ADHD since MAOI's generally prevent breakdown of dopamine. There is some nuance here.*
- For example, there are different types of MAO (monoamine oxidase - an enzyme that breaks down monoamines. Dopamine is an example of a monoamine), like MAO-A vs MAO-B, which break down different monoamines, and MAOI's (MAO Inhibitors) differ on whether they inhibit A, B or both. Furthermore, there are reversible vs irreversible MAOI.
I also understand that nicotine is a cholinergic. Cholinergic compounds play an important role in memory, attention, and motivation, as well as some critical muscular function. Nicotine is actually beneficial in this regard, aside from its negatives.
This is super interesting. Can you link the sources? I'd be interested in knowing if this MAO deal is exclusive to cigarettes or is also present in the ecologically superior and marginally healthier pipe tobacco
Nicotine is also supposedly helpful for schizophrenia in some way... Might be the same thing (MAO related)
Huh. So thats why I just stared at the screen all week feeling bad but once I bought a vape I got the entire thing done in one evening.
Thanks to my wife I've come to learn that I probably have ADHD. I never would have realized it on my own, but it's so obvious when someone points it out. If she has an extra cup of coffee she is buzzing and shaking for hours, whereas its basically a sedative to me. I can drink a whole pot and still pass out on the couch for a mid day nap lol.
I'm not sure that this is universal. I've been diagnosed with ADHD, and ADHD drugs do help me focus. But I'm super sensitive to caffeine, too. If I have even a can of soda at night, I can't fall asleep.
I decided I didn't need my ADHD meds anymore when I was in my late teens. Spent most of my 20s smoking about a pack a day and drinking 6 or 7 cups of coffee. I quit smoking in my late 20s, struggled until my early 30s, then started taking my medicine again and realized I was an idiot.
I was diagnosed with ADHD after I quit smoking and my symptoms went crazy a couple of years ago. Took meds for a while, and now my doctor's taken me off them while we sort out some potential heart concerns. The meds helped a lot and now I'm back to bad symptoms and chaos brain. This is the first time I've missed cigarettes since I quit; it's crazy how much they helped.
Oof, that's brutal. Are you cleared for physical activity? Working out is the only thing that helps me with my symptoms besides meds (and even then, they work better together than alone).
I am. Actually, that's part of the concern. I've been fairly sedentary the last several years and my cardio is garbage. I bought a new bike last month and have been trying to get out for rides, but the weather has had other ideas. I don't really enjoy exercise for its own sake, so I'm also looking into some sort of prepaid fitness classes to keep me accountable.
Yeah, that's tough. I wouldn't presume to give you advice on working out, but from personal experience, I would at least advise finding something you like before you blow a lot of money on it. I wasted a lot of money on group cycling before I realized I hated that.
Thanks. I've tried enough things to have a pretty good idea of what I will and won't like. I love biking - I used to be in a mountain bike racing league - so I know that one will be a win once the weather gets better. The hard part now is getting past the executive dysfunction and actually signing up for some things.
Yeah, the cruel joke of ADHD is that you need executive functioning to do the stuff that makes it better, like remembering to take a pill at the same time every day or managing your time time well enough to go to the gym. I was only able to start exercising when I got a job with a gym in the building, and I still forgot my gym clothes a bunch or times in the first month.
Oh. So these are medicinal cigarettes I'm smoking?
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.
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Depending on your type of ADHD, you can use stimulants, but for some it will make it worse.
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Ah, yes. that explains why i still crave cigarettes after quitting 10 years ago.
I received my strongest encouragement to never smoke when my high school history teacher said he hasn't smoked in fifteen years but will see someone smoking and think to himself: damn that looks tasty
Can patches do the same?
good question. I don't have cravings for patches, i do to a lesser extent to the nicotine inhalers. It's the smell, taste, and feel of a real cigarette that is so fundametally linked to "this is good!" in my brain.
Not a smoker (cigarettes at least), but I think there is something subconscious about the ritual and the action of taking a drag, exhaling, and then getting the nicotine hit immediately after. Your brain connects the two actions.
My theory, which there's no evidence, is that we ignore the effects of modern society, and that people are very anxious. And sometimes we're too caught up in our own ass to recognize anxious behavior, but some people get overwhelmed. I feel a lot of people are in a constant state of fight or flight and with things like the fear of missing out or the constant push and pull of this meaning of life, making a peasant's wage without even a peasant's day off creates very scatter-brained, anxious, citizens. Cigarettes are stimulants. People do drugs because they're sad. People normalize this sadness because what else is there? I mean, imagine losing your job and being really good at it, but then some subservient cock sucker is getting promoted. And you sit there and expected to internalize this. I mean, you ain't no rocket scientist, but you can fucking do basic algebra, and the numbers don't fucking add up. Not only that. You learn that the metrics aren't even taken in account, certain variables. So it's just like lower the bar we're doing great. I also think the emotional trauma that people experience can manifest itself. As it repeats itself over and over again, the brain chemistry changes. It is a self-fulfilling fucking prophecy. is the by-product of a world with exponential gains is the by-product of a world with exponential gains but no improvement at the bottom. Mass shooters are the byproduct of socioeconomics. Stop calling people incells. They're fucking mad, angry, confused, and poor. Men are suffering. Women are suffering. Families are suffering. And memes, they don't do enough. There is no war but the class war. https://www.theviolenceproject.org/
My theory, which there’s no evidence
You can just stop reading right there.
So your link is to a great org, doing good work, but I was secretly hoping it was a link to a “violence project” detailing a plan for a violent class war … :( I think I need to relax
France trading ADHD for Ennui
I get hypomania from intense stimulants like Vyvanse but atomoxetin, which I'm on right now, doesn't work as well even at the highest dosages. Sooooo I heavily self medicate with nicotine, it's good that it also feels amazing
Just don't smoke actual cigarettes, guys. I guess everything tobacco is bad (I'd argue for snuff though), but cigarettes really are that much worse than everything else
Why take the atomoxetin if it doesn't work and nicotine does?
Snuff fucks up your mouth. Scroll down to cancer and dental:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/quit-smoking/in-depth/chewing-tobacco/art-20047428
That's moist snuff, taken orally, not dry snuff, which is taken nasally. It's a common misunderstanding about snuff brought on by the US government's refusal to update their terminology... In 2025 snuff means only dry nasal, while most people refer to "moist snuff" as snus or chaw :)
The atomoxetin does work, it's just not as strong and as consistent as necessary. I have gotten the go ahead to use Ritalin at low doses in particularly low functioning days (along with atomoxetin), but last time I tried it made me dangerously hypomanic. So I take some espresso shots and pinches of snuff throughout the day, or maybe a Zyn, which I recognize the risks of using, but it's only occasional
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I get hypomania from intense stimulants like Vyvanse but atomoxetin
Atomoxetine isn't a stimulant.
Reading comprehension
Why not nicotine gum? Or the patches?
(Asking as someone who grew up around smokers, dippers, and chawers - and now I'm incredibly grossed out by tobacco spit)
Pricing and availability are both better for the real stuff where I live. Also, I'm not trying to quit, I actually enjoy the flavor and the buzz, so I'm not really trying to sub.
I've never dipped, it seems interesting but I also can't get past the spitting thing, grosses me out
I vape tobacco, seems healthier 👍
"treats"
Self-medicating is a thing. People will use an imperfect drug if it helps to alleviate their symptoms.
Tbf he said symptoms, not cause.
"Temporary alleviates" then. It also has a mild, though short-lived, antipsychotic effect, which is thought to be the reason people suffering from schizophrenia tend to be chain smokers at a higher rate than the general population.
Can confirm, had a schizophrenic roommate for a little over a year and I always made sure he had his smokes. Just made things easier for both of us.
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this post was submitted on 20 May 2025
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