Nicotine Normalizes Brain Activity Deficits That Are Key to Schizophrenia
Tangential self experimentation anecdote:<p>I was intrigued by reports that nicotine can improve cognition in otherwise healthy people so I read through as many studies&#x2F;articles I could find online. After deciding that I&#x27;d done enough research I took the plunge and began self experimenting with 2mg gum. I took it daily throughout the day at regular-ish intervals for around 2-3 months.<p>The affects I experienced were as follows:<p>* it had a positive impact on my focus<p>* it provided a boost to my wakefulness if I had a bad night&#x27;s sleep<p>* my brain felt like it would &quot;tighten up&quot; while I was taking it<p>* my body felt like it was experiencing higher blood pressure<p>Short term I was happy with the results.<p>I am a fit and healthy, non-smoking, cognitively normal (afaik) middle aged male.<p>After almost 3 months of taking nicotine gum I developed a cyst in one of my retinas brought on by &quot;high pressure damage to the blood vessels&quot;.<p>When I measured my blood pressure, my base pressure had increased by ~10% (as compared to pre-experiment, measured over several days). The real problem would happen if I was under stress, my BP would spike to dangerous levels when it never had done before. I also felt that I would get stressed more easily.<p>My blood pressure took a few weeks to drop back to normal. I didn&#x27;t have any withdrawal symptoms save for the sensation of chewing gum.<p>I won&#x27;t be repeating this experiment.<p>Sharing this story in case you&#x27;re considering long term usage, whether for medical or experimental purposes.<p>Medical literature seems to support this experience (although supposedly the effect is smaller in women, sorry couldn&#x27;t find the source for this particular point):<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&#x2F;pubmed&#x2F;12356338" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&#x2F;pubmed&#x2F;12356338</a><p>edit: spelling