[fatman]

What about Nicotine? Back in college and for a few years afterward, I used to put in a big fat dip (or chew) for all/late-nighters to help me buckle down, focus, and stay alert. I stopped for all the standard health reasons, but I find that caffeine is only about 2/3 as good.

[surement]

Using nicotine gum, you can avoid the typical health hazards of tobacco products. I personally found that caffeine wasn't comparable to nicotine, the former just keeps me awake, while the latter can keep me focused and motivated for several hours.

[thelogos]

Not a good idea. Nicotine gum is not too good for gingival health. Nicotine patch is consider the safest form of nicotine delivery. Also the most expensive. E-cigarette is a good 2nd option. Vape unflavored or menthol, because the health effects of flavorings are still out there. Vendors have mostly stopped using diacetyl in their flavorings. Diacetyl gives that vanilla aroma, but also responsible for popcorn lung. Still they're using acetoin which could convert to diacetyl in small amount uncertain conditions. There's also the issue of vegetable glycerin (used as a carrier) converting to acrolein under high heat. I think this is a non issue if you don't let your atomizer gunk up, which inhibits heat transfer from the coil.

I'm alarmed at the ubiquitous use of aldehydes in flavorings. Most of these have no solid research proving the safety.

If money is not an issue, I would use the patch everyday instead of e-cig.

Nicotine, I've found, is the only sustainable option in the long run. Methylphenidate, amphetamines, other dopaminergics, caffeine, modafinil, they all poop out eventually.

I'm also convinced that nicotine is the safest and most effective nootropics known at the moment until cortex gets around to releasing their ampakine. The structures of which are all under secret, so we self-experimenters can't even get it custom synthesized.

[venus]

> the health effects of flavorings are still out there

This is very true. I have been very concerned with "vapers" I know buying cheap juices from China - to me this is rolling the dice, almost as bad as smoking!

You will find that reputable juice mixers will generally make statements about their ingredients. My usual favourite (indigo vapours - I have no commercial interest, just a customer) for example explicitly state that they do not use any flavour containing diacetyl, acetyl propionyl or acetoin.

Flavours which may contain aldehyde elements are a concern, but what is much more my concern with e-cigs is the long-term effect of propolene glycol inhalation, and potentially significant formaldehyde levels potentially produced by the heating and/or oxidation of the base liquids. There's a decent amount of research ongoing in these areas.

Despite these issues I am reasonably confident that e-cigarettes are within a safety range I am comfortable with if (and only if) used with high-quality liquids.

[thelogos]

I wasn't even aware of the formaldehyde issue. Here I thought propylene glycol is much safer than vegetable glycerin because of the acrolein.

[venus]

Here is the study: http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2013/03/05/tobac...

Here is a (rather editorialised) summary: http://tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/new-study-of-...

The study found variations up to 20x in levels of formaldehyde contained in the vapour produced by some top e-cigarette products. At the low range, the levels are of little concern and barely above background. At the high range, they are of some concern. Unfortunately brands, etc are not broken down.

I have a strong suspicion that formaldehyde levels correlate with country of origin and/or quality of the liquids involved. If you stick to using PG sourced from countries with reliable certification systems I think it is OK.

[dwaltrip]

Interesting, I hadn't really hard about this before. Do you have any links to more info/additional resources?

[surement]

I've never heard that the gum is bad for gum health (heh). Do you know where I could find more information?

[corin_]

Is nicotine gum actually not a health risk? Tobacco held in the mouth (for example Scandinavian 'snus') certainly has serious effects with long-term use, albeit they aren't exactly the same as smoking cigarettes. Gum is generally sold for short term use, so not sure if it's actually better, or just not generally used for long enough to see the effects.

[thelogos]

The gum poses risk to the gingival tissues. It can cause gum recession. Not to mention it also taste terrible and hard to control delivery. Chewing it too fast can leave you woozy and nauseous.

The reason I prefer nicotine over other stimulants, it's oddly relaxing and motivating at the same time.

Caffeine either leaves me jittery or anxious or it doesn't work at all after 2 weeks. There is a ton of research out there proving the positive effects of nicotine.

[vidarh]

I've never smoked, and tried nicotine gum to experiment with the cognitive effects. I managed two pieces of gum because of the taste and delivery control before I threw the rest in the trash... Haven't gotten around to trying a patch..

[thelogos]

The patch stops working much faster while ecig's effect never seems to wear off.

I can only assume that it is because the patch maintains a constant level of nicotine in your bloodstream causing tolerance to develop faster and it is unable to spike the nicotine concentration unlike ecig when you can take a deep drag.

Ecig gives a totally different feeling than patch. You'll definitely feel it hit when you take a long deep drag.

[simonster]

My understanding is that nicotine itself is not particularly carcinogenic (there are some studies indicating slight increases in tumorigenesis in conjunction with specific carcinogens, and others indicating no increases), but there are a lot of other compounds in tobacco (including chewing tobacco) that are highly carcinogenic. To my knowledge there are no studies of the carcinogenic potential of long-term nicotine replacement therapy in humans.

[ohwaitamin]

Tobacco aside:

Nicotine has several metabolites. NNN, NNK and cotinine. The first two are carcinogenic, but the risk is negligible (but not absent) for smoking cessation therapy. The effects of cotinine appear to be slightly negative on brain health, but of course there are dietary and lifestyle factors which play into the cash value of all this.

Nicotine also appears to be slightly deleterious for kidney and heart health, so it's not entirely benign. It also has to be avoided with female oral contraceptives (greater risk with age) otherwise the risk of stroke increases fairly dramatically.

Do I use nicotine knowing these risks? Yes as a cognitive enhancer, but under the assumption that I'll cease before the age of 40 or upon financial success, while in good health and maintaining a fruit and vegetable rich diet.

[oldstrangers]

Maybe you find caffeine 2/3 as good because it's not as addictive as nicotine.

[Alex3917]

Nicotine isn't any more addictive than caffeine when you control for route of administration.

[endianswap]

Sure but GGP said he used chewing tobacco.

[driverdan]

Caffeine is highly addictive. It only takes a few days of use for signs of addiction to show. Cessation is just easier than nicotine.

[aestra]

> It only takes a few days of use for signs of addiction to show.

Eh... not for me. I can use caffeine for days and then not use it for days no problems at all. Of course probably because caffeine does absolutely nothing to me. I just like the hot beverage.