Nicotine?

[SnowDrifter]

I had one of those right-before-you-go-to-sleep ideas.

Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor, so perhaps it could help? Just wondering if anyone had tried patches or gum and if it seemed to help, hurt, or do nothing?

[Lemons2lemonade]

Though i would not recommend this to anyone. I have found that smoking helps me at least as far as energy and brain fog is concerned. When i quit for 6 months, i had less energy and more shortness of breath. Something to consider though, is that i think it taxes out the adrenals somehow.

[Angela]

i smoke (wish I didn't) have tried patches and the fake cigs that are smokeless but can't quit. I am one of those long time smokers, since age 17, my parents smoked etc. I feel perhaps maybe I get a little more dizzy after I go out for my morning cig but after that cigerettes don't make me feel bad thru out the day, and at work it actually forces me to get away from my desk and walk around a little outside. I feel like it doesn't make me better except calms some sort of dopamine release? not sure. really wish I could quit, i venture i'll die one way or another tho. plus my bf smokes so that makes it harder to quit.

[k&ajsmom]

Im the same as u angela...long time smoker...ive quit a few times and am trying to wean back now but its hard when everyone around u smokes. My first cigg in the am makes me black out a bit..feels like it drops my bp or maybe oxygen deprivation for amoment..yyet the rest of the day it helps calm me down. Im asthmatic from allergies so i know i have to quit but its a powerful addiction. I dont think it helps my hypotensive states at all which it really should since its a vasoconstrictor but im a walking contradiction anyways so? I have noticed afew times i think its triggered runs of pvcs. Another reason to quit.

[bebe127]

I'm like Angela and k&ajsmom, long time smoker with hubby that smokes too. Sometimes I think they do make me feel a bit yucky, so I've cut back a lot. Have my morning few and then don't usually have too many during day, then when hubby comes home, I have a few more. I smoke much less now though than I did. I don't really feel that they make a difference one way or the other. I do want/need to quit, but it's hard with having another smoker in the house. We don't smoke indoors either. I had an acupuncturitst that was using acupuncture on himself to help him to stop smoking. He said he had done some research and found that in small doses (don't really know what that means exactly) nicotine can be theraputic. I am not condoning smoking, as I think it is a nasty habit and wish that I could quit.

[SnowDrifter]

I guess I should say this: I'm not a smoker, never have been. But I am aware of nicotine's effect of raising blood pressure.

But from what it sounds like: it can help, but isn't worth the addiction risk?

[Dizzysillyak]

Hi, I'm a non smoker too and I'm interested in trying this. Out of curiosity I tried 1 cigarette in December 2012 and noticed an improvement in my cognitive abilities. Or at least thought I could think better ... lol ... It was late in the day tho and I was already exhausted.

The coughing stopped me from trying it again. However, I'd like to try either the gum, patch or "chew" or "snuff" sometime to see it it would help. Have you considered which source of nicotine you'd like to try ?

It took me awhile to figure out that I needed to google nicotine benefits and not just nicotine. It seems everyone is trying to stop this habit.

http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/drugs-alcohol/nicotine-health-benefits.htm

I didn't google dysautonomia and nicotine yet.

[ramakentesh]

Jay Goldstein used nicotine patches for oi back in the 90s

[Dizzysillyak]

http://forums.dinet.org/index.php?/topic/15794-nicotine/

This has come up here before. It looks like it's worth a try. I priced nicotine gum (lozengers maybe ?), tonight and 30 - 2 mg was

on $12 at Walgreens. I saw that one cig has 1 mg of nicotine so I wanted to start with the lowest dose I could find.

I may try the patches instead tho. I saw someone in the thread above was cutting them up.

I googled Goldstein but couldn't find enough info on his use of nicotine. Prohealth has an article on his "standard" practice tho.

tc ... d

ETA .. Hmmm, it seems that smoking it may provide more benefit ?

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/06/nicotine

More nicotine surprises followed. In 2000, Stanford researchers who set out to prove that nicotine damages blood vessels found just the opposite: it prompts the growth of new blood vessels. "It may be the reason smokers' cancers are so aggressive, says Dr. Scott Harkonen, CEO of drugmaker CoMentis. "But it also raises the question: where would you want to promote new blood-vessel growth?"

[SeattleRain]

I quit in 2009. I feel like I would keel over and die if I smoked a cigarette right now. I find it amazing that anyone with debilitating POTS could continue that habit. That'd be the first thing I stopped doing. Not because of the nicotine but because of the plant combustion and all of the toxins they pack into them.

I've read about non-smokers that use nicotine patches to help with lucid dreaming (causes extremely vivid dreams, apparently). That'd be really interesting to see someone with POTS have a positive result with nicotine supplementation.

[ramakentesh]

I smoked a cigar once when POTs was behaving and it gave me POTS.

[Angela]

hey....was that cigar when your baby was born lol? cigars are a lot heavier than cigs heavier smoke and different ingredients.

Snowdrifter, I do think that smoking can deprive your brain of oxygen......I havn't done any research on the nicotine patch or nic. gums. That being said, I wouldn't advocate taking up smoking as it is not a cure for me. Only saying that it is calming for me, perhaps because my body is addicted to the chemicals in it so it turns into somewhat of a med for me.

I guess I look at it two ways, lotsa people with pots are/have been on meds that can cause damage long term to organs or are dangerous to come off. everyone knows the long term effects of smoking are not healthy so why start now?

but I would think trying the nic gum isn't going to kill you, see if it helps maybe if you are curious.

[Dizzysillyak]

Anyone else trying this ? I bought a pack of organic cigs and have tried 4 so far. These are affecting how I feel but I'm still working on how to define the feelings I get. I read that these increase

dopamine and serotonin. If so, one cig isn't enough to significantly elevate my mood. But I read that cigs only contain 1 mg of nicotine.

So far, I've only tried these when I was tired / sleepy and they don't wake me up like caffeine. My thinking feels clearer but I haven't had the chance to do a pmttt yet.

The downside is the smell, inconvenience, and the smoke is drying out my sinuses too much. I'm not planning on buying a second pack. I'l try the patch next.

Fwiw, for those who don't understand why someone would try this .. I've been totally disabled for 23 years now and tried diet and supplements for the last 8 years. The diet, supplements, mast cell meds and klonopin help me tremendously with other symptoms but not oi.

I'm tired of waiting for a "cure" and tried the holistic route / trying to rebuild my body for 8 years. So now I've decided that I'm no longer letting my oi run my life and am I'm experimenting with a variety of things.

Anyone ?

[Natops]

I'm with you SeattleRain. I smoked and chewed for 15 years. Finally quit. Could not imagine doing it again. I think I would pass out. Thats not to say I don't crave it like crazy. Been clean of it for 1-2 years and I would love to take a puff. I chewed nic gum for like 3 years (small amounts - like three 2mg a day). I'm wondering if that had something to do with my acute illness. You are only suppose to chew that stuff for a few months.

[targs66]

I've often wondered about the benefits of nicotine for those of us with unrelenting OI! I agree that smoking is too dangerous a "delivery" system, but wondered if the patch or nicotine gum would provide the benefits with fewer of the damaging side effects. It's not something I've tried, but it's an interesting topic...

[ShakeyTheOwl]

Just a random thought here.

If interested, it would seem the "e-cig" may be best way to deliver the nictotine??

(it's vapor, so not tobaccco form of ingesting nitcotine)

Have seen these at the gas stations, one "e-cig" apparently is equivalent to two packs of tobacco leaf cigerattes.

Also, the dose of nicotine can be controlled via the "e-cig" (low to high nictotine)

Have a few friends that have had great success in quitting with these, and they stated how you can "smoke" it anywhere, no smell, no smoke, etc.

[SnowDrifter]

Long term: It only seemed like it helped sometimes. And only if I had low blood pressure (diastolic would go up by ~5 points for me)

I haven't noticed it helped enough to be worth pursuing. So I've just been sticking to salty foods lol.

It's not like it hurts anything to try though. They are 10 bucks at a gas station and harmless in my opinion.

For what it's worth: I tried it it for a month, then when I decided it wasn't doing anything I stopped without feeling the need to go back and do it

Edited May 20, 2013 by corina

[corina]

Please be aware of the fact that these cigarettes are intended to help people stop smoking. I wouldn't recommend people trying them and would definately not call them harmless. There is a warning that says they shouldn't be used by people with increased risk on heart and vascular diseases, hypertension, diabetics, pregnant and/or breast feeding women and when meds against asthma and deprssion are being used.

[NMPotsie]

I regularly use both nicotine gum and, more recently, the e-vapor "cigarette", to help bring up bp when it drops. I have one or the other at the ready after any blood draw because I faint if they take more than three vials or so. Both work for me, but the gum tends to make me nauseous, while the vaporizer doesn't have any GI side effects. While I agree that they're not harmless, my doctor has no issue with my using one or the other to stabilize bp on occasion, so long as they don't become habit.

When bp is high for me, nicotine makes it increase markedly.

[diabeticgonewild]

This sounds like a really bad idea in general, considering how addictive nicotine is. Plus, nicotine will give you yellow teeth!

Acetylcholine has been implicated as a potential medication for the disease I have and although nicotine is an acetylcholine agonist, it has very little therapeutic potential, considering the short duration of action.

Anyone who considers nicotine (who does not have a nicotine addiction) as a treatment needs to consider other therapeutic options.

There is a new drug (at least for the US) for orthostatic hypotension coming out, which will likely eventually be used for POTS. The drug is called L-DOPS. It is supposed to be approved by the FDA by the end of summer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L-DOPS

The drug is considered to be psychoactive and was even being considered (I don't know now if this is the case) for treatment of ADHD.

[ShakeyTheOwl]

DiabeticGoneWild

Thank you for the reminder on this L-DOPS.

Had come across studies in Japan with it's success as well heard of folks in AU who did clinical trials state great results, one even mentioned she felt she went into complete remission during the trial. (she had OH)

Last time I looked into clinical trials of L-DOPS in USA, they were all completed.

(Doesn't Canada have this, but call it a different name?)

[Dizzysillyak]

L-DOPS is a prodrug of norepinephrine and epinephrine used to increase the concentrations of these neurotransmitters in the body and brain.^[1] It is metabolized by aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AAAD), also known as DOPA decarboxylase (DDC). Patients with NOH have depleted levels of norepinephrine and epinephrine which leads to decreased blood pressure or hypotension upon orthostatic challenge.^[5]

L-DOPS works by increasing the levels of norepinephrine and epinephrine in the peripheral nervous system (PNS), which induces tachycardia or increased heart rate and hypertension or increased blood pressure, thus enabling the body to maintain blood flow upon and while standing.

For those of us with oh and pots I don't think we can take a drug that causes more tachycardia. I wonder why they think this drug is a good idea for those who only having problems when standing.

I'm confused by all the negative comments about trying nicotene when most drugs come with strong warnings and discussing those seems to accepted here. FWIW, I'm taking an addictive drug, Klonopin, for a myoclonus / seizures and plan on staying on it. Sometimes, you just have to accept the good with the bad.

thanks for the reply, nm,

I'm going to watch what nicotene do to my bp more carefully.

FWIW, I read that there may be some chemicals in the e cigs that we may not want in our bodies. But I'm not sure how old that info was and if it applies to all e cigs.

The nicotene gum I found had a chemical, phenyl ?, in it that's not good for people with seizures. I tried taking Singulair with that chemical in it and my seizure threshold was reduced. I wound up needing Klonopin during the day to stop me from jerking.

I'll be trying the patch next. tx ... D

[cupcakemomma5]

I guess I am just as curious on this subject. I was a long time smoker and finally broke the habit in January 2012. Then diagnosed with POTS in Aug 2012. Come to find out that I was misdiagnosed for years but me smoking hid my actual symptoms. I had quit in the past and became quite ill, and doctors said it was anxiety and depression. Surprise! POTS along...lol

I am more tempted than ever to try it, however it was so hard to break the routine the second time around.....I just don't know, definitely more research needed on this topic.

[SnowDrifter]

I guess I am just as curious on this subject. I was a long time smoker and finally broke the habit in January 2012. Then diagnosed with POTS in Aug 2012. Come to find out that I was misdiagnosed for years but me smoking hid my actual symptoms. I had quit in the past and became quite ill, and doctors said it was anxiety and depression. Surprise! POTS along...lol

I am more tempted than ever to try it, however it was so hard to break the routine the second time around.....I just don't know, definitely more research needed on this topic.

For me: I'd rather live with having to buy some ecigs/gum/patches and deal with those consequences than have to live with pots. While it's not perfect, at least you can function.

But that's just me. If you have issues with it the last thing I would suggest is to start something and get yourself hooked again

[icesktr189]

Smoking was a miracle cure for me. Nothing other than an SSRI helped my POTS, but I would go as far as to say that smoking made me about 90 percent better. I did have to smoke a lot though (1 every couple hours). My POTS went nuts when I quit, and I have been terrible since. I don't advocate it, but for some of us, it works wonders. Because it is a vasoconstrictor and raised my bp, my heart didn't work as hard, so I didn't get tachycardia.