Sildenafil on its effects on Fatigue, Cerebral Blood Flow in ME/CFS

[Springbok1988]

I recently started on daily tadalafil 5 mg to see if it helps any of my symptoms. Today is only my fifth day on it but I have seen mild improvement in some of my symptoms. My brain fog seems slightly better. I also have this strong oppressive feeling in my head that has improved some. I don’t know how to describe the feeling other than that. My head just feels more “open” now and I feel like I can relax a bit more.

I’ve had two side effects so far: headaches and eye pain. I read that this normally goes away after the first week.

I am moderately-severe to severe and haven’t seen any improvement in fatigue or other symptoms.

 

[Oliver3]

Thank you for thisq

 

[Remi]

I recently started on daily tadalafil 5 mg to see if it helps any of my symptoms. Today is only my fifth day on it but I have seen mild improvement in some of my symptoms. My brain fog seems slightly better. I also have this strong oppressive feeling in my head that has improved some. I don’t know how to describe the feeling other than that. My head just feels more “open” now and I feel like I can relax a bit more.

I’ve had two side effects so far: headaches and eye pain. I read that this normally goes away after the first week.

I am moderately-severe to severe and haven’t seen any improvement in fatigue or other symptoms.

How are you doing now? I have a sort of tension on my crown when I try to think. Severe brainfog, too.

 

[Springbok1988]

How are you doing now? I have a sort of tension on my crown when I try to think. Severe brainfog, too.

It’s still helping, which is surprising because most things that have helped have stopped working after a week or two. My insomnia initially improved and I got several days without using a sleeping medication for the first time in my adult life but my sleep has gradually worsened back to where it was before I started on it.

My head still feels more open and I still am able to relax a bit more than before. I might try sildenafil at some point but, until then, I plan on staying on this medication.

 

[Remi]

Thanks for sharing, I hope the improvements will last and last.

 

[kushami]

Some results were added to the clinical trials website, but there is no interpretation:
https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT00598585?tab=results#results-overview

I think it shows a reduction in fatigue scores, but I’m not sure.

I can’t find anything published in terms of a journal article under the names that were listed for the trial, or searching more generally.

 

[cfs since 1998]

Some results were added to the clinical trials website, but there is no interpretation:
https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT00598585?tab=results#results-overview

I think it shows a reduction in fatigue scores, but I’m not sure.

I can’t find anything published in terms of a journal article under the names that were listed for the trial, or searching more generally.

I asked the researcher and he said they were not able to recruit enough participants to get published in a peer reviewed journal.

 

[kushami]

@cfs since 1998 , thank you for adding that information. That must have been disappointing for the researchers.

I hope there will be some more studies along these lines.

 

[kushami]

I’m about to start on tadalafil (as soon as my parcel arrives!). I have cerebral hypoperfusion caused by abnormal vasoconstriction, so I am hoping it will help me.

I have tried various other vasodilators, but not this class of PDE5 inhibitors yet.

 

[sb4]

I have tried it recently.

My experience is that I got erections easier as expected and possibly felt a little calmer though it's hard to tell. Not too much else though. However I have only used it 3 times.

 

[Springbok1988]

Unfortunately, tadalafil doesn’t seem to be helping me anymore. I switched to sildenafil for two weeks but the side effects were too bad, even when splitting the pills. It made my vision turn blue and made me feel sick and disoriented.

 

[Woodyrob]

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1016/j.pharep.2019.01.005

Just googling Viagra and mitochondria brought up a massive amount of stuff that seems good. Cardio protective, neuro protective, oxidative stress inhibitor etc

I’ve taken Viagra (Sildenafil) daily for about 7 years. Yet I’ve still deteriorated from ME/CFS.

However Sildenafil is good for brain fog though. Well slightly. And it’s good for peripheral blood flow. But if upright you’ll need to wear compression tights and even a wide compression belt around the stomach. As dilating the blood vessels drops blood pressure. And people can experience worse Orthostatic Intolerance from it, especially on higher doses. Dose adjust for that if not wearing compression garments.

Also Drink a lot of fluids (and electrolytes) to maintain blood pressure

I keep the dose low to avoid developing glaucoma. About 10 to 15 mg 2 to 3 times a day. (Avoid the doses that start turning normal light blue)

There’s been a lot of good research into stroke patients and Head trauma for reestablishing blood flow (used after the acute dangerous stage for those patients after swelling has reduced)

It’s used in premature babies to dilate the tiny blood capillaries in their lungs. I’ve read this would help Long Covid patients who also have lung damage.

Sildenafil hasn’t helped me with air hunger though as that’s our mitochondria not fully extracting or utilising the oxygen it’s been supplied. Although some cases I imagine it might work for a hunger.

Also bodybuilders use Sildenafil to retrain the same muscle groups the following day which they previously couldn’t. You can get Sildenafil a lot cheaper now. As men’s health clinics sell a generic in bulk. It worts out about NZD1.90 a 100mg tablet. So broken into 10mg or even 20mg pieces its really cheap these days.

It’s no game changer for me, but slightly improves my brain fog.

Another thing it does is help reduce the thump of the heart so less aggressive heart beats. I read a study on that and its findings matched my experience.

I’d recommend it still but take low doses as I’ve tried higher doses but that made no difference.

Good luck to all

 

[Woodyrob]

Unfortunately, tadalafil doesn’t seem to be helping me anymore. I switched to sildenafil for two weeks but the side effects were too bad, even when splitting the pills. It made my vision turn blue and made me feel sick and disoriented.

Blue vision is a sign the dose it still too high. You could try even less again to see if that stops. I have between 10mg to 15mg. But even at 5mg it can gently open capillaries to increase blood flow.
So maybe try a fraction of what you were taking

 

[kushami]

I had two good days from tadalafil followed by a not-so-good day of side effects – feeling a bit faint and sick and legs aching.

I should have started with a lower dose but I was a bit confused as to whether the tablets could be split. I finally concluded that they can be. I will report back about the lower dose.

With my brain fog and poor executive function, I continue to make the mistake of starting things too high. I think I will put a sign in the kitchen saying “Halve the dose”.

I got my 20mg dose suggestion from a study in which it was used for Raynaud’s phenomenon.