Re: Nicotine?

[Guest guest]

Nicotine has a lot of negative effects, including addiction from what I

understand. There is some question whether it causes cancer. I would think

that an SSRI would be better for a person to be healthy than nicotine all

around.

Nicotine?

My son (25 years) has anxiety and a form of OCD called Body Dysmorphic Disorder

(he imagines he looks horrible to people - even though he is nice looking - kind

of like anorexoria). He doesn't share a lot of medical information with me these

days, but I did find out he is taking a low dose of nicotine along with a low

dose of a SSNRI. It has really helped him. I did find some information on the

web that Nicotine has been shown to be effective for anxiety and OCD in small

group studies, but is a new therapy and not fully studied. I was thinking of

trying it for my younger son who is 16 (you can get it behind the counter at

drug stores). He is currently doing very well with both a SSRI and an excellent

therapist. As an aside, the right therapist makes a huge difference (someone

specifically trained and good at OCD ERP therapy). I chewed some Nicotine gum to

try it and it does make me feel calmer although a little nauseous. From what I

read, you have to be careful not to take too much as it can have bad side

effects - such as increased anxiety (its weird that way). It has the added

benefit of suppressing appetite which might help with his increased appetite

from his SSRI. It also has been shown to help with ADHD which he has a mild case

of. It does not have most of the bad effects of tobacco, nor is it addictive in

its pure form. My hope is to eventually reduce his SSRI as he is getting better

control of his OCD and replace with nicotine.I was thinking - my grandfather and

uncles self medicated their anxiety with chain smoking and alcohol. Has anyone

tried nicotine for their kids? Just wondering....any thoughts?