Nicotine temporarily relieving all my issues…why?

[aquila2009]

I have been struggling to regain my energy and health after a few years of bad decisions. After 30 years of the standard American not caring about my weight, I went extremely low calorie and high intensity exercise and then after losing 30 lbs went vegan. I crashed hard. In my recovery I made several mistakes.… I went low carb, I did fasting, I always skipped breakfast and just had tons of black coffee.

I obviously wrecked my metabolism. Ray Peats stuff is a godsend. I’m doing so much better now. I’m still recovering though… my body temp is still low, still a little overweight and still sometimes have low energy symptoms.

Today I had pretty bad brain fog, difficulty concentrating, no energy to workout. I also have what feels like a gum infection causing sinus pressure and making that side of my neck sore, that I can’t get rid of.

I tried something new today… nicotine. Within seconds my brain fog cleared and I could focus. Even better, the sinus inflammation disappeared within 10 minutes and my sinuses drained. Why did that work so well and how can I return to normal and feel this good without nicotine?

 

[kaydeegee]

I have been struggling to regain my energy and health after a few years of bad decisions. After 30 years of the standard American not caring about my weight, I went extremely low calorie and high intensity exercise and then after losing 30 lbs went vegan. I crashed hard. In my recovery I made several mistakes.… I went low carb, I did fasting, I always skipped breakfast and just had tons of black coffee.

I obviously wrecked my metabolism. Ray Peats stuff is a godsend. I’m doing so much better now. I’m still recovering though… my body temp is still low, still a little overweight and still sometimes have low energy symptoms.

Today I had pretty bad brain fog, difficulty concentrating, no energy to workout. I also have what feels like a gum infection causing sinus pressure and making that side of my neck sore, that I can’t get rid of.

I tried something new today… nicotine. Within seconds my brain fog cleared and I could focus. Even better, the sinus inflammation disappeared within 10 minutes and my sinuses drained. Why did that work so well and how can I return to normal and feel this good without nicotine?

I am a complete layman, but on I've seen reports that people who smoke typically have better-than-expected COVID-19 outcomes (ex: here). The hypothesis for this I saw from a now-suspended Twitter account had something to do with Niacin levels in nicotine being protective. Perhaps you're experiencing something along those lines -- a B3 increase soothing your system? Just a thought!

 

[PeskyPeater]

IF understand the neurology correctly, nicotine increases GABA release the calming neurotransmitter and this reduces the overactivity of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal ssytem and CNS. Then it inhibits GABA to induce dopamine release and lowering serotonergic tone

 

[Ignoramus]

Yeah, I had the same response. I quit recently after a year of daily use bc I was getting some sides (brainfog), and have started taking a high dose of b3 instead, which seems to be similarly dopaminergic. I do miss it sometimes though. I think I'll only use it when I need to really focus on something important for a couple of days. It is very addictive, obviously. I think it also interferes with my deep sleep, and I developed wrinkles around my eyes after heavy use.

 

[redsun]

I have been struggling to regain my energy and health after a few years of bad decisions. After 30 years of the standard American not caring about my weight, I went extremely low calorie and high intensity exercise and then after losing 30 lbs went vegan. I crashed hard. In my recovery I made several mistakes.… I went low carb, I did fasting, I always skipped breakfast and just had tons of black coffee.

I obviously wrecked my metabolism. Ray Peats stuff is a godsend. I’m doing so much better now. I’m still recovering though… my body temp is still low, still a little overweight and still sometimes have low energy symptoms.

Today I had pretty bad brain fog, difficulty concentrating, no energy to workout. I also have what feels like a gum infection causing sinus pressure and making that side of my neck sore, that I can’t get rid of.

I tried something new today… nicotine. Within seconds my brain fog cleared and I could focus. Even better, the sinus inflammation disappeared within 10 minutes and my sinuses drained. Why did that work so well and how can I return to normal and feel this good without nicotine?

Nicotine works on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors mainly. Acetylcholine receptors are vital for optimal cognitive function and indirectly increases other neurotransmitters like dopamine, norepinephrine, glutamate, gaba.

You probably have multiple deficiencies and in general may lack choline (due to massive weight loss stressing the liver with fat and vegan diet which has very little choline). Vegan diet also lacks a lot of important nutrients either due to them not being present in vegan foods or not being bioavailable... Protein, zinc, iron, calcium, retinol, cholesterol, choline.

Intense exercise also can increase choline requirements and B-vitamin requirements. Acetylcholine is required for muscular contractions, so when it is low you are going to have literally no energy to workout because you cant make contractions effectively. This of course affects normal energy as well because you use your muscles all the time not just to workout. Its also vital for memory, concentration, thinking (literally), and overall is necessary for optimal cognition because of its own functions but also indirectly affecting other neurotransmitters through its actions when it binds to its receptors.

You probably see much cognitive improvement if your diet is more animal based, especially foods rich in choline (eggs, muscle meat, seafood, organs). These foods are also rich in a lot of nutrients you miss out on a vegan diet. Fasting on black coffee is just more nutrient deprivation and does not help your case. You need to feed properly and feed regularly so you don't nicotine for your brain to function. You may look into taking zinc as well (or start eating oysters regularly) which is important for immunity. Many neurotransmitters rely on zinc either directly or indirectly for optimal function. Zinc especially helps reduce the inhibitory influence of serotonin on brain function.

I think if you eat oysters regularly this will help you regain a lot of minerals you likely are low on due to food deprivation and veganism. Oysters are rich in the vital trace minerals zinc, copper, iron, selenium and a decent source of vitamins and choline.

 

[PeskyPeater]

Estrogen is very good at hijacking the HPA axis and suppressing thyroid function. So I would concentrate on suppressing estrogen, to restore the functionality of hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis.

 

[Gustav3Y]

Have you used a nicotine patch? Or what form of nicotine?

 

[golder]

Estrogen is very good at hijacking the HPA axis and suppressing thyroid function. So I would concentrate on suppressing estrogen, to restore the functionality of hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis.

Thanks for your comment - would nicotine help in this regard?

 

[aquila2009]

Have you used a nicotine patch? Or what form of nicotine?

Snuff…basically tobacco. Never smoked before.

 

[aquila2009]

Estrogen is very good at hijacking the HPA axis and suppressing thyroid function. So I would concentrate on suppressing estrogen, to restore the functionality of hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis.

Would you recommend anything specially to do that, or just follow ray peat principles in general.

 

[aquila2009]

Nicotine works on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors mainly. Acetylcholine receptors are vital for optimal cognitive function and indirectly increases other neurotransmitters like dopamine, norepinephrine, glutamate, gaba.

You probably have multiple deficiencies and in general may lack choline (due to massive weight loss stressing the liver with fat and vegan diet which has very little choline). Vegan diet also lacks a lot of important nutrients either due to them not being present in vegan foods or not being bioavailable... Protein, zinc, iron, calcium, retinol, cholesterol, choline.

Intense exercise also can increase choline requirements and B-vitamin requirements. Acetylcholine is required for muscular contractions, so when it is low you are going to have literally no energy to workout because you cant make contractions effectively. This of course affects normal energy as well because you use your muscles all the time not just to workout. Its also vital for memory, concentration, thinking (literally), and overall is necessary for optimal cognition because of its own functions but also indirectly affecting other neurotransmitters through its actions when it binds to its receptors.

You probably see much cognitive improvement if your diet is more animal based, especially foods rich in choline (eggs, muscle meat, seafood, organs). These foods are also rich in a lot of nutrients you miss out on a vegan diet. Fasting on black coffee is just more nutrient deprivation and does not help your case. You need to feed properly and feed regularly so you don't nicotine for your brain to function. You may look into taking zinc as well (or start eating oysters regularly) which is important for immunity. Many neurotransmitters rely on zinc either directly or indirectly for optimal function. Zinc especially helps reduce the inhibitory influence of serotonin on brain function.

I think if you eat oysters regularly this will help you regain a lot of minerals you likely are low on due to food deprivation and veganism. Oysters are rich in the vital trace minerals zinc, copper, iron, selenium and a decent source of vitamins and choline.

Thanks for you comment. I haven’t heard of choline before.

 

[aquila2009]

Yeah, I had the same response. I quit recently after a year of daily use bc I was getting some sides (brainfog), and have started taking a high dose of b3 instead, which seems to be similarly dopaminergic. I do miss it sometimes though. I think I'll only use it when I need to really focus on something important for a couple of days. It is very addictive, obviously. I think it also interferes with my deep sleep, and I developed wrinkles around my eyes after heavy use.

When you say high dose b3, how high?

 

[Jam]

I think that the kind of boost OP is describing with nicotine usually indicates poor thyroid status. When good thyroid function is re-established, most of those effects from nicotine administration vanish, as one is already in such a state by default, and one can easily stop and start on a whim without experiencing any withdrawals whatsoever. Been there, done that. In fact, it is currently the state I am in now -- I can go for days without any snus and not really notice the difference. It does continue to exert some grounding/relaxing effects, probably due interactions with GABA, and does continue to boost dopamine a bit, although mine is already high to where I don't really notice it much. But I'm really only in it for the taste and psychological aspects of it at this stage.