Concentration is shot -- Would higher mg of Nicotine Help?

[EynaraWolf]

Ok, I have been vaping for about a month without anaologs.

Before I quit I was a two pack a day smoker of Newport Menthol Light 100s and theh moved on to roll-your-own at about 40-45 cigarettes per day. I am also a writer (no, not published yet.)

I used to be able to sit down and write 5,000-7,500 words per day. Now I am not able to do that. I just kind of stare at the blank page while the courser laughs blinks at me.

Now for what I vape.

I use a couple of KR808D-1 Manual Batteries and pass through. I use Vapor4life blank cartomizers and fill it with myfreedomsmokes Salem e-juice. I use 6mg when I am chain vaping. I use 12 mg when I have a vaping session (When I'd usually have a cigarette) and I use 18 mg when really stressed. So far that's been working for me and I haven't needed to smoke any analogs.

But I LOVE writing. I want to write, but my characters have stopped talking to me . My question is are they mad at me for quitting smoking, or would they be happy with a higher mg of nicotine?

(No, my characters don't really talk to me, that's just a little bit of writing humor )

 

[BenP]

Have you tried writing in the toilet?

Some say the best ideas have come to them while dealing with natures wonders

On a serious note, I cant see nicotine having that much of an effect on your writing ability.

 

[WomanOfHeart]

A temporary loss of concentration is normal when switching from analogs to vaping. Your body is going through some major adjustments right now and it will get better. I went through the same thing and I'm glad I didn't make the switch until after I finished my degree. Your concentration will return to normal, you just need to give it time. Increasing the nicotine level probably won't help, especially since the level your vaping now is keeping you off the analogs.

 

[yvilla]

I disagree with BenP and Woman. Lack of nicotine can indeed affect concentration (and memory) in some people, and I am one of them. I was not able to fully conquer my need to smoke (the nicotine withdrawal effects were too damaging for me) until I switched, over two years ago now, to 36 mg liquid (and in a powerful battery mod by the way).

 

[BenP]

I disagree with BenP and Woman. Lack of nicotine can indeed affect concentration (and memory) in some people, and I am one of them. I was not able to fully conquer my need to smoke (the nicotine withdrawal effects were too damaging for me) until I switched, over two years ago now, to 36 mg liquid (and in a powerful battery mod by the way).

I was a pretty light smoker, a pack of 20 lasting me two days normally. Might be why I Personally never had any of the above issues.

 

[WomanOfHeart]

Yvilla,
I stand corrected. Perhaps bumping the level up could help temporarily.

Symptoms When Quitting Smoking and Changing to E-Cigs

 

[yvilla]

I was a pretty light smoker, a pack of 20 lasting me two days normally. Might be why I Personally never had any of the above issues.

Two packs a day, and 44 years later, I was able to switch.

Seriously, some of the nicotine addiction research suggests that permanant changes in the brain may be related to some persons' inability to "quit smoking", ie, do without nicotine, especially in some who start smoking very early in life.

 

[EynaraWolf]

Thanks for the info! I'll have to think about how I want to handle this, mostly because I am still learning about all kinds of things I never though to look up before I started vaping.

I do have Adult ADD and -- after consulting with my husband -- apparently when I would get into my "writing zone" I would chain smoke. So I might just need to increase nicotine levels when I am writing and see if that helps.

 

[KirLog]

This is really interesting to me. While WomanOfHeart is absolutely right about the body going through changes being a possible cause of poor concentration, nicotine is also a stimulant that is known to increase concentration and even cognitive functions[especially visual and spacial reasoning].

At the same time, though, anyone who has ever chugged too much coffee has most likely experienced the same sort of "stuck-ness" that you described. At least in my own experience, it seems that too many stimulants can result in a sort of anxiety-induced paralysis, where your mind races but really doesn't go anywhere productive. I've never experienced this with nicotine, but I suppose it's possible.

My suggestion would be to try both extremes: try vaping more and/or higher MGs, and try vaping less and/or lower MGs. See if either improves your concentration, and if not, it's probably not the nicotine but rather what WomanOfHeart suggested. Please be careful, though! Too much nicotine can be dangerous!

I just looked up some articles on nicotine's effect on concentration, so these might be of use to you:
Harnessing Nicotine's Power to Aid Concentration, Attention [summary]
Effect of nicotine on brain activation during performance of a working memory task — PNAS [effects on memory]
I'll post more if I can find ones that don't require an account. Good luck!

 

[WomanOfHeart]

Eynara, if you're currently using 18mg you could feasibly bump to 24mg. I started out with 18mg and was still having cravings. I started using 24mg to take care of those and still vaped 18mg because I tend to chain vape, especially since I'm in front of a computer most of the time. Maybe using both levels could help you. I did go through some loss of concentration, but as my body adjusted it got better. It took a couple of weeks and during that time I went through what I half-jokingly called "the stupids" at work. It was like I suddenly couldn't remember how to do things that I know I'd done a million times and I second guessed myself almost constantly. I found myself referring back to documentation that I hadn't looked at in years just to make sure I wouldn't screw up anything. It was even taking me longer to write responses to clients on their tickets. It was frustrating and funny all at the same time.

 

[Sainted_S]

I'm there with you eynera, I haven't been able to write very much myself lately because of concentration, but it's better than it was before. These exercises might be able to get you back on track, because you only have to write for 5 minutes. Might help to break your block.

C.M. Mayo's D5MWE - the Daily 5 Minute Writing Exercise

You don't have to buy anything, the exercises are listed under the months on the page.

http://www.cmmayo.com/d5mwearchives.january.html

 

[EynaraWolf]

Thanks for all your great suggestions!

I am going to try vaping a little more with 18. I started out with 6 and moved up to 12--I lost my bout of the "stupids" with that move, so I'll see what happens with an 18 and hopefully I will regain my concentration. My concern is not getting rid of nicotine, just to find that nice spot where if I vape naturally, I'll get what I got from an analog. The worst that happens is I need to cut back or adjust a little more about what and how I vape. I am still looking for the "sweet" spot where I get optimal nicotine/th/puff's per day benefit.

This is truly a learning experience and I appreciate all thoughts, comments and links

I will be looking into those writing exercises. Though, usually, when I can concentrate properly, I get kind of OCDish when an idea takes hold, I usually don't come up for air until it's done. My last novel is stuck an 1/2 finished. It's starting to irritate me, so I just thought I'd ask all you wonderful people if more adjustments were needed to what I am currently doing, and it appears, I still have room to play in.

Thanks again. All comments have been very helpful.

(p.s. I don't get my idea on the toilet -- that's what the shower is for! )

 

[EynaraWolf]

Ok, so last night I vaped pretty heavily on my 18mg juice instead of the 12mg like I usually do and the characters came out to play. I didn't get any writing done because today was the official first day of school again, and I needed to be up to get school done with the kidos (I home/cyber school.) But the characters were trying to keep me awake, which, in my world is a good thing. I'll be busy for the next few days, but I am going to experiment about when and how to vape my 18mg to help open up my creativity. Don't mind needing a mix of strengths to put where I need to be, but I am finding cautious experimentation is key.

 

[JohnKing]

Thanks for the info! I'll have to think about how I want to handle this, mostly because I am still learning about all kinds of things I never though to look up before I started vaping.

I do have Adult ADD and -- after consulting with my husband -- apparently when I would get into my "writing zone" I would chain smoke. So I might just need to increase nicotine levels when I am writing and see if that helps.

I've read research that some smokers are really self-medicating, especially for ADD type things.

Quit Smoking And ADHD | ADD ADHD Blog.com

 

[EynaraWolf]

Okay, so after/during my test vaping session of 18mg last night I wrote 2,000 novel words. Concentration may or may not be 100%, but it is at a level I can live with and probably adjust too. Now I just have to catch up on my sleep because I stayed up when I shouldn't have, lol. But hey, I was writing. I haven't done that in almost a month, so I am good to go.

 

[KirLog]

Glad you seem to be finding the right balance! I wish you the best of luck.

@JohnKing I actually find that very plausible. But then again, almost anyone who puts a chemical in their body is self-medicating for something.

And LOL; I just read the part in the article you posted where the study found that "those who possessed hyperactivity and impulsivity" were less likely to quit. Really? They needed a study to tell them that impulsive people are more likely to give into cravings?? I realized that years ago> That's why I'm just switching to e-cigs instead of trying to quit again. It's a real good study though, I just found that line amusing.

 

[EynaraWolf]

I think I will ultimately end up vaping at 18mg, but I'd rather have some slow and stupid moments while I work this out as I'd rather not over dose myself if I can help it.

As for nicotine/brain research, there is some pretty interesting things out from it helping Alzheimer's patients and numerous other things. I am still collecting data because I am not sure anymore if quitting nicotine is beneficial for me. It will be interesting to see what kinds of research will be done in the next few decades on the subject.

 

[aprioristic]

My advice is to research nootropics. Nicotine is a cholinergic agonist. I'm not going to lead you down a possibly wrong path by telling you what I take, but these will probably get your brain moving way more than a smoke ever did.