I'm an ex-smoker who has recently started to use nicotine again (in the form of a 7mg patch, possibly moving up to 14mg) to help with focus and concentration as I write my dissertation. My specific question is this: can nicotine be taken in combination with a choline source (e.g., high choline lecithin) without problems? Or should smokers or other nicotine users avoid choline supplementation? I'm very curious to hear from those who have taken choline supplements either while on the patch (for prolonged periods of time) or while smoking.
Here's some background to my question. Prior to starting the patch, I went to my doctor to see what she recommended for focus and concentration. I didn't officially qualify for a diagnosis of ADHD, but I was told that I had "symptoms of ADHD", and I then began a three month period in which I tried Concerta, Adderall, Vyvance, and finally Provigil. The amphetamine-based stimulants worked really well for 4-5 days and then gave me an unbearable spacey/brain-foggy feeling I've never experienced before in my life. If I persist in taking the stimulants through the spacey brain fog, they end up making me feel sick. At one point I was sick for a whole day after taking only 2.5mg of Adderall IR. I've come to suspect that I'm one of the 6-10% of Caucasians who are so-called 'poor metabolizes' of 2D6 substrates, of which amphetamine-based stimulants are one. (If anyone else has had a similar experience with the stimulants, I'd also be interested in hearing about that.) My doctor then gave me Provigil, which at first didn't seem to have an effect at all, and then, at a higher dose (300mg/day), caused some serious anxiety. It's possible that I increased the dose too quickly or didn't give it enough time to work; nonetheless, it wasn't a good experience. So, after my experiments with these medicines, I decided to go back to what had worked for me in the past: nicotine.
But in the process of learning about the substances that I was taking, I also learned about the wide array of nutrients and supplements that can help with focus and concentration. For the past two months, I've been taking a standard multivitamin, a low-dose multi-mineral, and fish oil (1200mg EPA, 600mg DHA) everyday. On top of that, I've recently started to take high choline lecithin (840mg phosphatidylcholine/day) because, according to what I've read, lecithin has a number of health benefits and can help with focus and concentration. For this same reason I'm also interested in other choline sources (e.g., Alpha GPC) but don't know if these can be taken with nicotine or not. I should add that I'm a 30-year-old male in generally good health.
I've tried to do my homework by searching through the forums, but the topic of nicotine and choline rarely comes up. Any experiences or advice would be appreciated.