Nicotine patch experiment

[maddietod]

Is anyone else involved in this n=1 experiment: https://twitter.com/TheNicotineTest? I've just ordered the patches and would love to chat.

 

[Osaca]

It was discussed in a post 2 weeks ago https://forums.phoenixrising.me/threads/nicotine.90072/#post-2434322. Maybe you can find some people over there (@BrightCandle , @Andryr , @Dude and probably many more tried the patches).

 

[maddietod]

Thanks! I've just posted there.

 

[maddietod]

I'm on day 3 of a 3.5mg dose, and I'll have to take the patch off at night. My normal 3 wakings per night shifted to 5 or more. The patch increases daytime alertness and stamina, but now my brain is fried from the poor sleep.

 

[godlovesatrier]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-wZoQ0W8UmNcFlz705EBAGI43WwhfqIep_-S8rzaC9o/edit - 8 year ME patient in remission after maybe a month + of intermittent 7mg patching.

 

[Oliver3]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-wZoQ0W8UmNcFlz705EBAGI43WwhfqIep_-S8rzaC9o/edit - 8 year ME patient in remission after maybe a month + of intermittent 7mg patching.

I'm very confused...nicotine is helping with my stamina and reduction in pots. I actually feel calm. I mean really calm!!!! WTF.
I've read about the long term effects on bone health and organ damage but the difference is it's making my life bearable.
The PTSD feelings have lessened significantly. . I sleep better.
I know it increases cardiovascular issues. Is it worth the poison?

 

[Springbok1988]

I started using 7 mg nicotine patches a couple of months ago and it gave me some relief to some of my symptoms. I haven’t felt relaxed in years but nicotine gave me several days of relaxation. It helped a little bit with brain fog, slight increase in energy, and increased my mood a bit. The effects ended up fading after a few rounds of 7 days on and 7 days off. It ended up making me feel worse when I put a patch on so I’ve decided to take a break from it for now and return to it at some point in the future. Hopefully I’ll be able to get a benefit from it again at some point.

All this to say, if I continued getting the benefits that I was when I first started, I would gladly continue using it even if there is a risk of long term effects. The long term effects of “living” like I am now are probably worse than anything nicotine would do to me.

 

[godlovesatrier]

I believe it's due to it's effects on dopamine as to why you feel good. You can also try low dose amisilpride or abilify.

 

[Springbok1988]

I believe it's due to it's effects on dopamine as to why you feel good. You can also try low dose amisilpride or abilify.

Nicotine initiates dopamine release but also serotonin and gaba. All three combined are probably what is helping me because abilify and Emsam (MAO-B inhibitor which boosts dopamine) didn’t have the same effect. I just wish we could figure out why helpful meds and supplements often stop working after a while.

 

[godlovesatrier]

Yeah with me it's viral reactivation. Most of the treatments here that have helped cause me to have a bad viral reactivation. Which generally totally ruins my sleep as well.

I was taking low dose amisilpride and definitely felt the dopamine boosting effects. I ended up feeling how I felt pre COVID. But the side effects weren't very pleasant.

Yep I've had a few stop working but on the whole I've been very lucky. Haven't changed much of what I've taken for three years. Mostly because it works tho.

 

[Oliver3]

I started using 7 mg nicotine patches a couple of months ago and it gave me some relief to some of my symptoms. I haven’t felt relaxed in years but nicotine gave me several days of relaxation. It helped a little bit with brain fog, slight increase in energy, and increased my mood a bit. The effects ended up fading after a few rounds of 7 days on and 7 days off. It ended up making me feel worse when I put a patch on so I’ve decided to take a break from it for now and return to it at some point in the future. Hopefully I’ll be able to get a benefit from it again at some point.

All this to say, if I continued getting the benefits that I was when I first started, I would gladly continue using it even if there is a risk of long term effects. The long term effects of “living” like I am now are probably worse than anything nicotine would do to me.

Well I've just had my first warning...five days of feeling something approaching normal then bam utter exhaustion....I guess I need to learn to pace with it. Like you've said it may not work long term...I've read that autistic people ( of which we may be a phenotype branch of) need upregulation of nicotine receptors.
Dopamine the obvious other thing. But what's amazing, it works my body work better all round...until it doesnt

 

[Oliver3]

Nicotine initiates dopamine release but also serotonin and gaba. All three combined are probably what is helping me because abilify and Emsam (MAO-B inhibitor which boosts dopamine) didn’t have the same effect. I just wish we could figure out why helpful meds and supplements often stop working after a while.

I felt like me again. Life felt simple. I was still only say at 80 percent of myself but I recognized my old self.
I'm gonna have to cycle this stuff best I can to see if it stops habituation.
I've just bought a new supplement which escapes the name of me now , it's a form of Chinese Moss, so I'm hoping I get some natural relief

 

[godlovesatrier]

The thing is it's another stimulant. Stimulants almost always worse ME eventually. Which is why I worry that long covid patients going into remission on ant stimulant will eventually crash.

For me I took Siberian ginseng for 3 years - if also increases dopamine. It's also a blood thinner. It was only when the side effects became a bit too much that I stopped and I think personally it doesn't worsen you but it does help you initially. But it catches up to you eventually if you're suffering from whatever we're all suffering from.

So yeah go easy. In my case nicotine patches caused a full ebv reactivation. All my ent nerves became inflamed and I got all the symptoms all over again. It just felt super stimulating for me really.

 

[Oliver3]

Thanks for the concern and hard won advice.
It felt stimulating at first but then extremely calming . As good as diaezepam.
I'm going to try and use it like diaezepam, as a when in need pick me up...I don't need the day I've had today again.
I'm sick of this shit!!!

 

[godlovesatrier]

How long have you had LC? 2 months for me now. Had pulsatile tinnitus again last night but only for 30 mins.

 

[Wayne]

How long have you had LC? 2 months for me now. Had pulsatile tinnitus again last night but only for 30 mins.

Hi @godlovesatrier -- Do you believe the pulsatile tinnitus is from having COVID?

I had long COVID for a year following infection about two years ago. The most LC persistent symptom was chronic vertigo being worse than normal. Whether or not it's a coincidence, this last symptom dissipated within a month of me starting to take methylene blue.

I had had chronic vertigo for years prior to getting COVID-19, which fluctuated but overall was moderate+. About 2-3 weeks after I thought I'd recovered from COVID-19, I began experiencing severe bouts of vertigo, which left me vomiting, and unable to get out of bed for long periods of time.

Fortunately, I received some acupuncture needles shortly after, and began doing self-acupuncture again, something I'd not done for over a year. Almost miraculously, my vertigo immediately improved, so that it no longer took me 10 minutes just to get out of bed.

After doing this for a few days, the vertigo was much improved, so I slacked off on doing the daily acupuncture. It didn't take long for it to come back, and fairly significantly. I of course went back to the acupuncture, and it again immediately stabilized.

But it still wasn't back to baseline, what it was before COVID. Then I started taking methylene blue, and the vertigo (and last remnants of long COVID) was essentially gone within a month. So, just a couple of ideas for you to think about from my own experience.

Also, I ran across a testimonial by a man who struggled with long COVID-19 for several months. Like me, one of his worst symptoms was Orthostatic Intolerance, or Vertigo. He said after he took a single dose of Ivermectin, his vertigo disappeared within 6 hours. So it does seem possible to completely upend a lengthy COVID-19 recovery if you can find just the right thing that will work for your body. -- Best...

 

[heapsreal]

I had problems with nicotine patches, really hard to lite


Sorry I couldn't resist that line.

 

[Oliver3]

Are you sure you're not suffering from a severe case of dadjokeitis. Terrible disease!

 

[godlovesatrier]

I read that nicotine disconnects covid virus from ace2 in the brain - did anyone else read that and what do you think?

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36739463/

I think the article here is a bit less dramatic, more like it could help. But I would assume cytokine storms are worse in smokers, so not sure if that stacks up. Of course if it were just nicotine alone, then maybe that would be protective.

 

[cfs since 1998]

I did not find nicotine patches too helpful. It did give me a slight mood and even a very slight energy boost but also made my hands and feet feel more numb. Intermittent caffeine works better for me.