• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

    To become a member, simply click the Register button at the top right.

Viagra may be useful against Alzheimer's dementia

Treeman

Senior Member
Messages
774
Location
York, England
"The impotence pill Viagra may be a useful treatment against Alzheimer's disease, say US researchers who have been studying its effects in the brain.

Tests in cells suggest the drug targets some of the proteins that accumulate in this type of dementia."

Viagra may be useful against Alzheimer's dementia - BBC News

As there are comments on blood vessel restrictions in ME/CFS, by chance can anyone inform if they have had an experience with viagra improving their ME/CFS health?
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,335
Location
Southern California
I saw an article about this this morning - it looks rather impressive. I am wondering if l-arginine and/or l-citrulline would have the same effect, without the side effects of viagra: L-arginine: Benefits, Dosage, Side Effects, and More (healthline.com)

Viagra "side" (actual) effects:

Side effects of Viagra include:
Side Effects of Viagra (Sildenafil Citrate), Warnings, Uses (rxlist.com)
 

YippeeKi YOW !!

Senior Member
Messages
16,047
Location
Second star to the right ...
I'm with @Mary ..... trading an unknown, unquantified improvement in ME for the well-catalogued side effects of Viagra seems like a somewhat dicey trade-off .... L-arginine seems like a safer way to go....

Still, it would be interesting if they could draw some connecting lines between Viagra as an off-label treatment for something as devastating as Alzheimer's and the etiology of that particular illness, and possibly our own as well ...
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,335
Location
Southern California
Still, it would be interesting if they could draw some connecting lines between Viagra as an off-label treatment for something as devastating as Alzheimer's and the etiology of that particular illness, and possibly our own as well ...
I agree! I didn't read the article about viagra carefully to see how it may reduce the incidence of Alzheimer's and thus whether arginine or citrulline would be a safer effective option.

Have you seen this thread: (1) Complete Symptom Relief and CFS Remission Since Starting Nitric Oxide Supplement | Phoenix Rising ME/CFS Forums He used an arginine/citrulline supplement with some other things added and had amazing results for several months as I recall, but then it stopped helping. It's a lengthy thread and I haven't looked at it for quite awhile so I can't remember exactly what happened.

However, it did get me to experiment with l-citrulline which gave me a really nice energy boost - unfortunately, it also raised my BP! It was supposed to lower it but I had a paradoxical response. Which was really unfortunate because the energy boost was so nice! But someone else might do really well with l-citrulline --
 

YippeeKi YOW !!

Senior Member
Messages
16,047
Location
Second star to the right ...
Have you seen this thread: (1) Complete Symptom Relief and CFS Remission Since Starting Nitric Oxide Supplement | Phoenix Rising ME/CFS Forums He used an arginine/citrulline supplement with some other things added and had amazing results for several months as I recall,
NO, I hadn't seen that .... I skimmed a few entries, will go back with better focus and read my way thru, in a sort of bouncing-ball kind of way ....

Thanks for posting it ....

I remember trying an NO booster or precursor, and for the life of me I cant remember what it was right now. It did not end well. I've been wary of anything that fiddles with NO, in either direction, ever since ....

I hate these kind of days ..... really dragged out, but not bad enough to call it PEM. More like PEM-ette, and memory and cog are just shot to shite .... which always leaves me wondering if something even worse is loitering just out of sight, like continued ongoing decline, desuetude, the end of life as I know it etc etc etc .....
unfortunately, it also raised my BP! It was supposed to lower it but I had a paradoxical response.
AHA!!!! I remember reading a post where you noted that effect. WHew ..... finally, a working brain cell ....

I understand the frustration of paradoxical effect. I have them to several things that would otherwise be really helpful in terms of QOL, and it just totally grinds my gears. It's such a huge disappointment, so you have my fully-committed commiseration @Mary ....

Thank you for posting both the above info and the Viagra stuff. Very helpful :woot::woot: :thumbsup: :hug::hug: ...
 

mitoMAN

Senior Member
Messages
625
Location
Germany/Austria
Would Cialis/Tadafil have the same effect?
It has a much longer half-life and is considered with less side effects to my understanding


From Dr Jay Goldstein in “Betrayal by the Brain”

Viagra: I don't have enough money to buy stock in anything, but buying Pfizer a few months ago would have been almost as good as buying Microsoft in 1985. This drug works by inhibiting type 5 phosphodiesterase, one of the six known enzymes to degrade cyclic GMP (as important as cyclic AMP, but maybe not covered in biology class). Type 5 is supposed to be specific for the corpus cavemosurn of the penis and probably the clitoris as well. It is not all that specific, though, at least in my patients, who frequently experience flushing and headache. When Viagra works in CFS/FMS, patients experience a reduction in all symptoms. One patient whom I have been treating for 10 years had not responded to one medication until she took Viagra, whereupon she felt almost normal. Nitroglycerin and hydralazine, which stimulate cyclic GMP by different mechanisms, had not helped her
 
Last edited:

mitoMAN

Senior Member
Messages
625
Location
Germany/Austria
Cialis / Tadalafil seems to share the angiogensis properties as well as neuropathy improvements.

Tadalafil, a long-acting type 5 phosphodiesterase isoenzyme inhibitor, improves neurological functional recovery in a rat model of embolic strok
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16959227/

Our data demonstrate that treatment of ischemic stroke with tadalafil improved functional recovery, which was associated with increases of brain cGMP levels and enhancement of angiogenesis and neurogenesis.

Tadalafil Promotes the Recovery of Peripheral Neuropathy in Type II Diabetic Mice
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4954704/

Compared with diabetic mice treated with saline, Tadalafil treatment significantly improved motor and sensory conduction velocities in the sciatic nerve and peripheral thermal sensitivity. Tadalafil treatment also markedly increased local blood flow and the density of FITC-dextran perfused vessels in the sciatic nerve concomitantly with increased intraepidermal nerve fiber density

Furthermore, tadalafil enhanced diabetes-reduced nerve growth factor (NGF) and platelet-derived growth factor-C (PDGF-C) protein levels in diabetic sciatic nerve tissue. The present study demonstrates that tadalafil increases regional blood flow in the sciatic nerve tissue, which may contribute to the improvement of peripheral nerve function and the amelioration of diabetic peripheral neuropathy.