Nicotine Patch Stories Long Covid

Nicotine Patches (NP) Experiences from the Web


- Huge Improvement -



* Suzanne LeBrun *

My son is almost 2 weeks in on the Quit Smoking nicotine patches. He’s had LC for almost 3 years. Chronic fatigue, insomnia, constant headache, anxiety, temperature regulation issues, light sensitivity, PEM, gut issues, sore throat, brain fog.

Gut, sore throat, and PEM had improved some right before patching.

Started at 1.75mg, then 3.5mg and 7.0mg.
After 2 days of 7.0 he went back to 3.5. Too much lethargy on 7.0.

He’s back at college this week. First day back he deep cleaned his room/bathroom. He’s been feeling really good! Tuesday night he had an IM basketball game with triple OT. NO PEM!!!!! He didn’t complain that he was out of shape (although he is). He said today he signed up for a weekend trip of skiing for his PE class!

He has done nothing even close to this in 3 years. He’s going to sit tight at 3.5mg for the immediate future. Sure wish we tried this years ago.







* Diane Kochie Sison * 90% +

Fantastic news! I have been using the nicotine patches for about six months and they have helped me tremendously as well. Wishing you continued healing and much success.






* Clare Burgess * 100%

I am 100% better! Thanks to nicotine patches and carnivore diet.
Covid March 2020
I’d say I’m pretty much back to pre covid just way less fit and menopausal






* Hanne Couderé * 99% +

I consider myself healed (apart from some minor things). My energy levels are more or less back as they were pre Covid. I even can run again! I started the nicotine patches when I was 10 months ill (quiet severe, could not sit straight, could barely walk), wore the nicotine patches for 7 months, but afterwards the herxing continued for 10 more months. It was brutal. But it worked and I have my life back.





* Misha Griffis * 90% +

I had moderate to severe Long Covid for about 10 weeks. My long Covid symptoms developed during the couple months prior to that, but they were at their worst for a little over two months (mostly bed bound) before I tried the patches.

I did 7 mg for three weeks. I noticed the biggest improvement by day 10. I came off them for about a week with little to no side effects. I now do 3.5 mg daily as a preventative. So far, one illness has gone through my family (I don’t believe it was Covid) and I didn’t get sick for the first time.

It has been seven weeks since I started the nicotine patches and on some days, I feel better than I did pre-Long Covid . 🙌
-End-





* Nic Vagedes * 90% +

I've had long covid for over 2 years and the nicotine patches have been immeasurable. Those along with drinking tons of water, using the sauna 4-7 times a week, eating a clean diet, drinking vitamin c, taking lots of vitamins and supplements, and resting as much as needed and exercising as much as I could. I also started doing a 1 to 1 mixture of cbd and thc oil every night. Hopefully it's legal where you live! Knock on wood I have been feeling so much better. So there's hope my friend !! 🙂
I literally do as high of mg patch as I can get my grubby hands on as well. I've done 21 mg regularly and Even go higher sometimes.




* Barbie Waters Sherman * 80%

I'm 80% better and my quality of life is so much better. However I can only work part time. And I still crash occasionally but I no longer feel like I'm going to die when I finish taking a bath or simply walking to the other room. I'm able to drive again, rarely have problems with neuropathy or sound sensitivity.

I've been nicotine patching a little over a year and if I stop the symptoms start coming back. About three days off the patch and I start tripping etc.




* Jade Davis * 90% +

Day 1 and 2 almost all my symptoms have gone away.



Kat Clark 90%

I would say I hit the high 90's after about 6 mos. I still have flares and I still get covid about twice a year so I go backwards. I will stay on these patches forever if it continues to help with all the nastiest covid brings...brain fog, derealization, pain, memory loss. I'm so much better SO MUCH thanks to the nicotine patches. Nothing else I've tried has been this effective and in the almost 5 years now of LC and trying so many things and spending so much $$$ on useless remedies I'll stick with the nicotine patches's.



Katie Gironda 99% +

It’s only been a week for me and my symptoms are gone from the nicotine patch. I also do other things for inflammation though.




Lynn Muscat

Time for what I hope to be an inspiring update!

After hearing about the patch as treatment for long covid from a physio and receiving zero help from our GP for a prescription for LDN, using the experiences and recommendations from this group, I started my partner on the nicotine patch 1 month ago. We followed the Dr recommended protocol to a T!
(3.5mg for 3 days (full time), full patch for 10 days, 3 days 3.5mg, rest to assess baseline).

He experienced all the symptoms that were described in the documents in this group; i.e. bit of a rush in first couple days (stimulant), a couple crash days where he would sleep, felt the virus flare up in his body within 10 day period). He is now on day 5 of being off the patch and he feels "normal". We are both absolutely blown away!!! He has been suffering for over a year with LC syptoms (brain fog, inflammation including flare ups of old injuries, blurred vision, unrestful sleep, chronic fatigue, muscle aches.) I know it's still early days in terms of his recovery but we are hopeful we are out of a very dark tunnel, thanks to this group! He will continue to take antihistamines and if necessary, treat crashes with a patch but so far so good!
Hoping this helps someone else with a glimmer of hope for a healthier future!





Tammy Harris 60%

Started nicotine patches on Jan 3rd 2025 (20 days ago). Most of my symptoms are 60% better. I have RA those pains are still here 🙃 but so, so thankful for the progress and earnestly pray it continues to work.

3.5 mg. I take it off at night, as it is difficult to fall asleep. I am finding, not much improvement in physical strength. I can do light weight chores that I couldn’t before.

Still difficult to stay focused, but now at least I have the mental energy to try. I haven’t had any negative from this dose.

I most absolutely have found it necessary to remind myself to pace, as stress or even a little much physical exertion, or skimping on my sleep, makes me feel ill again.

Wondering if I should go up. Like, I am elated with this progress, I don’t want to mess it up w changing doses.





Charlotte Condé

Now gone up to 7mg and I will reiterate what I have mentioned beforehand. I have had many problems from covid and LC and way too many to mention. Most have subsided or gone since being on the patch. Going off the patch for a break brings back all the severe joint pain. I now put the patch near the worst joint that hurts.

IT WORKS…

Shoulders now basically non existent, now it’s the Left knee to attack.
No pain whatsoever after 2 days of patch.
Next is Right Knee then whatever hip has the worst pain. I will go around with the nicotine patches forever if necessary if I feel this good. And NO, it’s not mind over matter or a placebo effect because after far too many years of pain with LC, no painkillers ever worked …






Suzy Strempke Hanson

I’m not sure if I have long covid because prior to covid I had a post viral syndrome from having gotten mono really bad at 18, however I did notice my symptoms slowly get worse in the years since the covid outbreak so it’s reasonable to think I had some affects from covid.

The fatigue and exhaustion I felt on a daily basis was awful.

When I started the nicotine patches I didn’t really feel like it was doing anything to be honest. I maybe felt a little pep in my step with the patch on, but it was hard to tell. I absolutely didn’t feel any improvement with the break.
Because I felt a smidge of an improvement with the patch on I just wore the patch for weeks after the first break. Then I took it off for a break and didn’t expect much. Had some things going on so I forgot to put it back on after 5 days and about a week and a half into the break after wearing the patch for like a month, I started feeling SO much better. My baseline has improved significantly and I feel more like my old self back when I was younger before my exhaustion & fatigue got so bad.
I feel more get up and go when I wake up, I’m not thinking about laying down constantly, I can walk for longer periods of time without feeling like I’m going to pass out. I’m not thinking about how awful I feel every second of the day when I’m trying to live life.
It’s been truly amazing!

So, I wanted to share my experience for those who have maybe done a couple of rounds and feel like they’re not seeing any benefits to encourage you to stick with it. Maybe just keep the patch on uninterrupted for a few weeks and then take a break for a few weeks and see what happens!














Annie Farinosi

Further update, 18th March
I’ve now gone to 1/3 of a 14mg patch. I wear this continuously not taking it off to sleep. As nicotine releases dopamine, and it’s a continuous slow release I do not believe it impacts my sleep. I had a few days last week where I forgot to put it on, and these were exceptionally low energy days. I believe the patches are helping me, my heart rate is not spiking as high, but still spikes to 120 with minimal exertion at times. I do go into the hyperbaric oxygen chamber most days, I do time restricted eating (12-20 hours), and I’m taking resveratrol a few days a week.
Update (late feb)- I’ve gone to quarter patch today (3.5mg). Last few days I’ve flared again. Wondering if I overdid it when I felt better? BUT a good day is a win. Also had acupuncture yesterday due to pain, particularly in neck and hips. TCP is also going to make up some Chinese herbs for pain, inflammation and fatigue. Maybe I’m doing too much but the western medical model has nothing on offer. Not using my compound at the moment.


I have had a win today, I was able to do Pilates on a reformer for the first time since getting Covid just after Christmas.


My Covid infection manifested systemically, with very high temperatures, extreme headache, and muscle aches/joint pains where I wasn’t able to walk. Day four of Covid, I had tachycardia on minimal exertion up to 140 bpm. I had a visit to the emergency department and testing which included an echocardiogram, 24 hour, ECG, monitoring, bloods, x-rays, and regular ECG. The response from the cardiologist was this was probably due to Covid and would eventually resolve. On ECG I had an incomplete right bundle branch block, which is apparently insignificant, but new for me.
I am only a couple of months post COVID, so the diagnosis of long Covid won’t be made for another month.
My extremely fit and healthy 18 yo son had long Covid last year for eight months. His manifested as fatigue, depression, and continual illnesses one on top of the other. We were suggested to try hyperbaric oxygen treatment, plus a compounded formula from a local chemist with a particular interest in Covid and long Covid. Thankfully, he is now better.
I decided not to wait for a diagnosis. I have done my own extensive research, and have some like-minded health professionals in my corner. For the past month I have been doing either time restricted eating or intermittent fasting. I get my information around fasting from Jason Fung, in particular, his book, the Obesity Code. I do not however need to lose weight. My TRE is usually fasting for 16 to 18 hours and then eating low carb healthy fats for the 8 to 6 hours. I’ve done a couple of intermittent fasting of 24 to 36 hours. I also have HBOT daily. I take resveratrol two days a week, usually the weekend.
The other treatment I introduced a week and a half ago is nicotine patches. The research shows that Covid attaches itself to the nicotine receptors in the body. By using patches, the nicotine theoretically should displace the Covid virus/spike. I bought 14 mg patches and cut them into 1/8. I change this every 24 hours. It is an exceptionally small dose, I will see how I go and whether I increase it.
Today is the first day I have felt half human since getting Covid. I know it’s not been that long, but I am usually a very high energy person, I am a health professional and need to keep working.
This is obviously my journey, my findings and I choose to do this, I am not suggesting this for others, however, I am just sharing my journey.
I hope there are not too many typos, or additional words, I use the voice function on my phone as I find typing exhausting 🤣








Teri Christman 99% +

My Nicotine Patch (Possible) Cure

Long Covid Onset: Aug 2020

Symptoms: profound fatigue, PEM, SOB, muscle aches, insomnia, brain fog, sore throat, nausea, Histamine Intolerance , stomach aches, elevated heart rate, headaches,
I have been mostly house bound for the majority of the duration. I was averaging 5 1/2 hours of sleep a night or less. I had to keep my steps under 3000 a day or I would relapse. I also had to keep my heart rate under about 110 or I would relapse, this could mean just going up a few steps.

The theory:
Nicotine attaches to the same nAChr sites as Covid. Nicotine is 30 times more attracted to the site so it knocks the covid off the receptor back into your bloodstream where your immune system can locate it and fight it. This protocol is designed to permanently remove the viral debris from your body. The theory is this is going to make you feel bad. If you feel bad, it’s working. If you don’t feel bad, you need to step up to a higher dose. You need 24/7 continual release for this to work, otherwise, the Covid has an opportunity to reattach to the site.

The nicotine experiment:
I started nicotine April 14. I started at 7 mg with 24 hour continual release patches. Immediately, I felt increased energy. About 24 hours later, I experienced the first flare. This felt like a bad flu. Bad bodyaches, headache, nausea, profoundly tired. Basically me whining in bed while taking liberal amounts of Alka-Seltzer cold medicine. The flares generally last about 48 hours. After a flare, once I felt good at a level, I would stay on it about a week. I would usually plan my flares for the weekend. So Monday through Thursday, I would stay at a level, Friday I would step up to the next level and usually Saturday and Sunday I would feel really awful. Generally speaking, I think I did two weeks at 7, one week at 14, one week at 18.5, one week at 21, one week of 7, one week of 10.5, one week of 14, one week of 18.5, one week of 21, one week at 7 and now I am on 3.5 for two weeks. The 21 mg patches I used came pre-cut in half so I was able to experiment more with dosage after I received those. Since 21 was as high as I wanted to go then I went back down to 7 for a week and went back up again. This was a really aggressive protocol and the flares made me very sick. It was like getting mini bouts of Covid every weekend. I just kept in my mind that it was curing me to get through it.
Nicotine side effects: From the nicotine, expect to have sleep disturbances, which will level out after a couple weeks. I experienced extremely insane disturbing dreams. That lasted for probably a month. Starting about the end of the second week. I began experiencing deep profound asleep and woke feeling very rested. My average sleep went from 5 1/2 hours a night to 7 1/2 hours average. I continue to have deep restful healing sleep.

The nicotine apparently relaxes the opening that keeps stomach acid in your gut, so I had quite a bit of bad heartburn. There were many nights that I had to sleep sitting up. This intensifies with increased dosage and ebbs when I lower my dose.
Sometime during the second or third week, I could feel my energy production system kicking back in. It felt like it had been very rusty and not used in a long time, and when it started up, it was not working very well, and I would wildly swing between no energy, way too much energy and feeling good. This leveled out within the next couple weeks and now I feel good consistent energy production. My body feels like it’s working again.

I am now about 11 weeks in. I am at a maintenance dose of 3.5 mg for two weeks. Then I plan on stepping up again from 7 to 21 to see if I have any more flares. My flare reactions have been decreasing in intensity and I am feeling near the end of this. However, the process is pretty brutal, I’m not going to lie and I felt my body needed a break for a couple weeks before getting back to it.
In addition to the nicotine, I also supplemented with Zeolite, twice a day. First thing when I wake up and right before bed. Maybe a teaspoon. The theory is this helps clears the viral debris. It definitely helped with my heartburn. I did not do any other supplements while I was on this because I did not want to do too many things at once.

Results:
While it is too early to say, for certain, I am feeling, perhaps that I am cured. I have a profound feeling of wellness in my body. I no longer can feel the virus in me, which I used to be able to. All of my symptoms are gone. I am running up against a lot of deconditioning. So sometimes it is confusing why I am feeling bad. I am experiencing a lot of muscle fatigue because my body has not been used very much in the past 2 1/2 years. But I no longer feel like my cells are empty and void of energy. My body feels strong, healthy and vibrating with energy. I have been on an over 3 mile hike, I have been working 8-10 hour days without repercussions. I am averaging 10 to 15,000 steps a day. Obviously, I’m still tired and sore but the rest I take now feels very healing instead of desperate. I can eat pretty much whatever I want now whereas I had to have a very limited diet before which is super exciting! I feel like I have about six months to a year of my body healing ahead of me. Getting back in shape and letting my organs etc. heal. But I no longer feel like they are being actively damaged.I continue to get deep, restful sleep, and wake feeling refreshed. I’m continuing to get about 7 1/2 hours average at night.
While it is difficult to judge what “normal“ feels like, I think I feel normal. I still have a lot of PTSD and I am terrified it’s all going to come raging back in a few weeks. I am braced for that to happen, but I am really feeling hopeful. I have never felt like this before and I have tried a lot of things.
Things I’ve tried: fasting, up to five days, intermittent fasting, hyperbaric oxygen chamber, B12 shots, Low Histamine Diet , low-dose naltrexone, supplements too numerous to go into, ivermectin, the schoch protocol, breathing exercises, red light therapy

Update: I have been off the nicotine patches for several months now and I'm still feeling cured. I ended up doing 13 weeks total. I'm still dealing with a massive amount of deconditioning but slowly improving every day! It feels pretty crazy that a few weeks of wearing nicotine patches could cure me after all of the things that I've tried. I still have quite a bit of PTSD and fear that I could relapse any day but I'm starting to feel more and more comfortable with the idea that maybe I am finally better for good! I really encourage everyone to try this!






Elliot Friedman

Started the nicotine patch. Currently on day 3. Initial application of the patch resulted in some dizziness the first hour or so. I decided to keep half the side covered for a few hours before opening the other side so administered 3.5 at a time but all 7mg over 24 hours. Last night I gave myself an hour between patches and started getting a headache which is still a little with me this morning. Not sure if dehydration or patch related.
My main lingering symptoms have been heart rate/strong pulse particularly around exercise or food and itching which I take certizine for. Noticing some slight improvement in heart symptoms. I ate a meal with rice(big trigger) last night and didn’t have a strong reaction. The itching likewise so far isn’t so bad and I haven’t taken certizine for 2-3 days now where usually it would be rather aggrivating.
Will keep you all posted


Elliot Friedman

Update end of day 9 on nicotine patches. I’m kinda shocked. The pounding in my chest that I get from light exercise or stairs or eating has dropped significantly. Was able to do 50 pushups instead of the usual thirty and with no need to sit and take a few deep breaths after doing so while feeling my heart jump out of my throat. I could just go right into walking around the house after. Did a lot of dancing tonight at a wedding. Took it easy so as not to tax my heart or anything too much, but worked up a sweat and also had no issue. Eating big meals which is usually a severe trigger for increased heart rate and heart pumping and just haven’t really been having it. Gonna try to take it easy, but glad to see those improvements. Itchiness is still with me though.







Michele Stone Finicle

Nicotine Experiment Day 7: Best day yet!! Energy was at 100% my pre-Covid self. Brain feels very clear. I am alert, active, and articulate again. No nicotine nightmare side effect last night. Woo hoo! Very little in the form of verx or autophagy today. Just some mild joint pain in my elbows, otherwise a 100% symptom free day for the first time in 3 years 1 month and 13 days. Sigh of relief.
Next step: I will stop with the nicotine patch since this is the conclusion of day 7 and monitor symptoms until day 30. In the original study, the four participants continued to have symptoms abate during this time. We will see if it sticks. Fingers crossed. If it doesn't I will try the longer/higher dose trial.
If nothing else, I know I am still in there and that is worth fighting for. After all this time, I thought I may not be. Even if symptoms come back, that one gift means everything to me.







Charlotte Hultquist

A couple months ago, I tried 2 weeks of nicotine patch at 7mg and had a massive improvement in cognitive and PEM recovery. But the last few days of it was having terrible GI cramps and diarrhea. I thought I was sick but those stopped immediately when I stopped the patch. Yesterday for the holiday I wore a patch for just the day, and was up with the same GI cramps, pain, diarrhea. Just after one day! Took that patch off at bedtime too.
I know the patch can cause you to feel awful due to healing but no one lists only GI symptoms in that. They talk about flu like and fatigue issues. I feel wonderful and strong but terrible digestion on it.
Anyone else???






Lisa Waldegrave

I am on my 3rd week of the Nicotine patch. I did 3.5 mg for the 1st week and felt pretty good.
2nd week I did 7.0 mg and am getting alot of inflammatory pain, fatigue, brain tired I am now in my 3rd week total (2nd week on 7.0 mg) and it wipes me out.
I feel good on the 3.5 mg (1/2 patch) but too much immune response on the 7.0 mg.
Is this how we are supposed to feel when clearing out the virus or am I over stimulating at 7.0 mg?
Any feedback or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thx.







Barry Walton

I finished my 7 days nicotine patch trial a couple weeks ago. I don't think it helped me.
While on the patch I had some improvement in vision, but I also felt sick to my stomach in the hours after putting the patch on. I was able to steady out by eating a bunch of salt (chicken noodle with crackers usually.)
My symptoms are all neurological besides fatigue.
I wore the patch 24 hrs/day. It didn't give me any vivid dreams but I think it lowered (worsened) my sleep score which uses HRV.
I'll update later if some unforeseen significant improvement happens.




Connor McFarlane

Hi everyone, I have been giving the nicotine patches a go for 9 days now. 7mg/24h for one week, now 10mg/24h for the park two days.
I felt a noticeable impact straight away in terms of improving my mood and not feeling like a vacant shell with no emotions. My numerous other brain fog symptoms continued to improve over the first six days to the point I felt most like myself since before lc.
But, on the evening of the 6 day my Brain fog returned with a vengeance. Confusion, word finding issues, tunnel vision and zero concentration. I thought I might need to up the dose and used a patch and one folded in half to make 10mg/24h. Over the course of the day the brain fog lifted again and I felt great - even slept well which is rare. This improvement remained over the next day until last night, when my brain fog worsened as well as a night of constant adrenaline, delirium and zero sleep.

I don’t know what to make of it all. Why did the patches help for a bit and then seemingly stop?
I’m desperate not to give up as the improvement that I felt was the most I’ve gotten from any treatment. Would love to hear if anyone has had a similar experience on the patches.
Love to everyone 🫂














Cure by Teri Christman Feb 2024

I’m seeing a lot of fear, confusion and misconception regarding using nicotine patches to cure
Long Covid. I would like to share my experience and my self-experiments with nicotine. My
experiences have led to me what I think is the optimum protocol. I know a lot of you are looking
for extremely detailed information about this so here we go. It’s going to be long.
Long Covid Onset: Aug 2020
Symptoms: Profound fatigue. This was my worst symptom. Insane debilitating fatigue, like I
really have to think about it if I'm going to walk up and down the stairs. It felt like my cells were
empty and that there was no energy in them whatsoever. PEM, SOB, muscle aches, particularly
really bad leg pain Insomnia, I was lucky to get 5 1/2 hours sleep a night. Brain fog, my brain
hurt after any mental activity. I could not remember words, really had trouble concentrating. It
was scary! Sore throat, nonstop sore throat for three years. Low pulse ox (usually 90). Nausea,
Histamine Intolerance , stomach aches. I felt like I always had a stomach ache and I had a
severely limited diet that I could tolerate. Elevated heart rate. Headaches,dizziness, anxiety,
feeling like I was hung over all the time. I typically felt like I had just stepped off of several hours
on the teacup pride after an insane night of drinking. Numb arms and hands. This was pretty
much all of my symptoms.

- Tom’s comment: Teri had a Long Covid Score of about 70 with 30 common patient
reported symptoms. This is worse than average (55) for women.
I was mostly house bound for the majority of the duration. I was averaging 5 1/2 hours of sleep
a night or less. Usually less! I was exhausted but couldn't sleep. I had to keep my steps WELL
under 2000 a day or I would relapse. I also had to keep my heart rate under about 110 or I
would relapse, this could mean just going up a few steps. Basically, my life came to a grinding
halt. I was unable to work, and barely able to perform basic household tasks most of these
almost three years. I was well into desperation mode and honestly trying this didn’t seem that
scary to me. Let’s just say it’s not the craziest thing I’ve tried.

I am working under the theory that our body contains active reservoirs of Covid. They have
found active virus in bodies of the deceased months and months and months after initial
infection. The theory further states that the spike proteins have attached at nAChR sites, settling
in and mucking things up. Once attached, our immune system can no longer locate the virus
and so it just lingers in our body ravaging it. Nicotine apparently attaches to the same receptor
sites as Covid. Nicotine is 30 times more attracted to the site so it knocks the covid off the
receptor back into your bloodstream where your immune system can locate it and fight it. This
protocol is designed to permanently remove the viral debris from your body. The theory is this is
going to make you feel bad. If you feel bad, it’s working. My experience has matched exactly the
outcome you would expect if this all holds true. I really don’t want to debate it. The reality is, we
don’t know very much. And won’t for years. There is no “proof” of this working. All I know is I feel
cured. And if you’re going to go with this protocol, you may as well accept this theory and act
accordingly. And no, I do not believe that autophagy, increased dopamine, or increased
stimulation could account for clearing literally every one of my symptoms.
- Tom’s comment: Research indicates that while there is persistent viral infection in a
variety of cell types and tissues, the levels of spike protein in the blood are very low,
often undetectable. My theory on how nicotine may be beneficial is that it is a strong
inducer of autophagy. High-levels of nicotine are poisonous. It stresses our
mitochondria and likely has many effects within our body and cells.
Here is a link to a video that explains the process really well. This is for a “novel“ drug that
apparently does a similar thing. Because you know there is no money to be made in nicotine
patches and pharmacies are going to come up with some slight variation, so they can patent it
and jack up the price. This one actually looks less effective than nicotine, because nicotine
apparently knocks off existing connections, and this one seems to just prevent new ones.
(blocking viral infection via the nuclear ACE2 pathway)


- Tom’s comment: ACE2 and Neurophilin1 are the main cell surface receptors that the
SARS-CoV-2 virus needs to enter and infect cells. Acetylcholine receptors (AchR) are
not needed to infect cells.

I am about 13 weeks into the treatment. I started April 11th. I went at it very aggressively. I think
I feel 100% although having a grasp of what normal feels like is a little strange. I am able to eat
what I want, and do pretty much whatever I want. I am working part time as a medical aid, which
is a fairly physical job. But I have a massive amount of deconditioning from almost 3 years
housebound. I feel like I have at least six months of building up my muscles and stamina ahead.
Covid felt like an evil presence in my body. I could feel it. I felt dirty. It felt like my energy
production had shut down, and my cells felt empty and completely void of energy. This felt like
an exorcism. My body feels clean. My energy production is up and running full capacity. My
body is literally vibrating with energy. I am constantly amazed that healthy people seem to have
an endless well of energy. I had been making do with maybe a teaspoon for the last almost 3
years. I have a profound feeling of health in my body. I cannot overstate how different I feel. It
feels like a miracle, and it is quite laughable that nicotine is responsible.
The nicotine patch is not a fun process. Through experimentation I have managed to make it
less brutal. But be prepared it’s going to suck. If you want it to work, you can’t say it’s making
me feel bad and give up. You have to stick with it. Because the only way to get rid of the virus is
for your immune system to kick it’s butt. And we all know fighting a virus feels awful. You should
order today ma'am thank you I'm not gonna use this if you want taste kind of like Chick-fil-A you
think But you can manage the process so that it is controlled, orderly and a bit less harsh.

I personally only supplemented with Zeolite.
Zeolite Powder | 0.55 Pound 250g...


About a teaspoon twice a day, first thing in the morning and before bed. This is really important!
It really helps with the nausea! Update: I have since discovered you can safely take much more
of this. I would recommend two or 3 teaspoons twice a day now! I also do a multi vitamin mix
that I had already been taking for a while. I would not add any additional untested supplements
into the mix at this time. It is really important to be able to listen closely to your body and if you
do not know how a supplement is going to affect you that is going to interfere with the process. If
there’s something that you want to add with the nicotine, I would add it in first for a couple
weeks before starting the nicotine, so you know how it’s going to make you feel.
So to start you will need a box of 7 mg patches and 21 mg patches The 21 mg patches I bought
came pre-divided in half so it is super easy to get a 5.25/10.5 dosage. These are the ones I
used.
Quit Smoking Patches (30...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C3R27FZV?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Stop Aid Patches, Helping Quit Patch, Step 3, 30 Patches, 7mg Delivered Over 24 Hours, Easy
and Effective Anti-Stickers, Best Product to Help Stop (Step 3)https://a.co/d/288KPkZ
Both of these brands are perfectly safe to cut, making dosing much easier!
Start with half of a 7 mg patch. They say not to cut them in half but I experimented with the
particular ones I used and cutting them in half was fine. If you don’t want to cut them you can
cut off half of the plastic backing of a patch and then stick it on with a Band-Aid. Then the
second day you can peel off the second half of the backing and use a Band-Aid again. This is
an equivalent of about three cigarettes over a 24 hour period. So it’s not a ton of nicotine. If
you’re really hesitant you could even go with a fourth of a patch. Anyway, pick your starting
amount. And wear the patches 24/7. A new patch every 24 hours.
As to placement, anywhere on your arms or legs is fine. Avoid near your heart. I found my inner
forearm up pretty close to my wrist was the best place because I like to take baths and this
place doesn’t get very wet. Plus, I like to keep an eye on it because I had several days where it
fell off. I mostly stuck with this placement, alternating arms every day.
You’re likely to immediately feel pretty good. This is from the stimulating and anti-inflammatory
effects of the nicotine. Enjoy it! But what you’re looking for is when you start feeling bad. This is
when the magic starts happening. What does feeling bad mean?
First of all, there’s a couple of effects from nicotine that aren’t actually part of the healing
process and just need to be tolerated. Expect to have sleep disturbances, which will level out
after a couple weeks. I experienced extremely insane dreams. Sometimes nightmares and
sometimes really awesome dreams. But very intense. That lasted for probably a month. You
may have some insomnia. Stick with it because eventually you will start experiencing deep
profoundly restful sleep. Starting about the end of the second week my average sleep went from
5 1/2 hours a night to 7 1/2 hours average. For me this alone made it worthwhile. I continue to
have deep restful sleep which is such a joy!
The nicotine also apparently relaxes the opening that keeps stomach acid in your gut, so you
will have heartburn and nausea. There were many nights that I had to sleep sitting up. This
intensifies with increased dosage and ebbs with lower doses. Again, this is not the bad you’re
looking for. This is just something you have to tolerate through the process. Yes it sucks.
Watching your diet, not eating before bed, Maalox, Prilosec, etc help manage it. But sleeping
propped up with pillows is the best.
So what is the bad? What you’re looking for is the feeling of being off. The feeling that
something is wrong. The feeling that would make you say I think I’m coming down with some
thing. At some point you’re going to go from feeling good to worse. This might manifest as
headaches, bodyaches, swollen joints, increased anxiety, elevated heart rate, sore throat,
crankiness, whininess. To me, it kind of feels like my body goes into a stage of high alert. When
you feel like this, it’s time to take your patch off. The better you get at identifying this feeling, the
less harsh your flare will be. The thing is you need the flare. But you want it to be manageable.
After you take the patch off prepare to feel bad. Up to 48 hours. For me this felt like a bad flu. It
looked like me curled up in bed being super whiny. You are going to be less functional than
usual. Prepare for headaches, bodyaches, a feeling of restlessness, unable to get comfortable,
chills and fever. Just feeling bad. Like a little mini bout of Covid. Epson salt baths and
Alka-Seltzer plus cold medicine help! It is super easy when this is happening to think, omg, I
have made myself worse. Have faith. It’s part of the process and will go away in a couple days.
- Tom’s comment: This sounds like a viral herx, what I call a verx. Many autophagy
inducers incuding fasting can trigger an increased antiviral immune response that leads
to a transient (one or two day) flare-up of symptoms.
After you recover, when you’re ready, it is time to put on another 3.5 mg patch. Now, when
you’re ready, needs to be a matter of days, not weeks or months. You don’t want to give the
virus a chance to replicate or reattach. You need to stick with this and stay on top of it slowly
chipping away at it steadily.
- Tom’s comment: This periodic triggering of a flare-up or verx is very similar to my
“Autophagy Protocol”. Teri’s use of Nicotine may be a bit more aggressive, than my one
or two consecutive days per week approach.
When you start the 3.5 mg patches again, you’re probably going to feel good for a few days and
then feel bad. For me flares usually start within 24 to 48 hours. Again, identifying the beginning
of the flare is key and removing the patch asap to minimize how bad you feel. Keep repeating
this process until you get to the point where you only feel good at 3.5 mg. At some point you’ll
get to a place where you just feel good, have extra energy and don’t experience any flares.
Now it’s time to step up to half of a half of a 21 mg patch or 5.25 mg. Wait to see if you flare. For
me it usually happens in 24 to 48 hours. Now when you get to feeling bad at this level, you have
two options. You can just remove the patch until the flare subsides or you can go back down to
3.5 mg to ride it out. I prefer going down a dose just because I like to keep nicotine in my
system to ensure the virus can’t reattach. But I think either way is fine. Maybe just one is faster.
So wear the 3.5 patch until you feel a flare begin. When you feel the flare begin, you’re going to
remove the patch to lessen the flare. When you feel better, go back to 3.5 (and again remove
during flare) as many times as it takes to not have a reaction of that level anymore. Then step
up to 5.25 (¼ of a 21. The brand I was using already has them perforated in half so just half of
one of the halves). When you feel the flare change to a 3.5 patch until it is through. Then back
up to 5.25 (3.5 during flares) until you stop having flares at that level. Then step up to 7. Go
back down to a 5.25 patch during flares, and so on. Obviously you could just stay at the level
that’s making you sick to ride out the flare. That’s what I did the first time through and it just
makes you feel a lot worse. It’s a lot easier to get through it if you step down at least one dose
during the flare period. If the flares are really bad, I would just remove patches all together
during the flare period. Obviously, this may prolong your process because it gives the virus a
chance to reattach. You could also ride out flares always at 3.5. You need to listen to your body
and adjust to how it is responding. You want to experience the flare but hopefully it’s not
horrible.
Then just keep replicating this process over and over. When you feel consistently good at 5.25
step up to 7. Then 10.5 mg ( ½ of a 21), 14 ( 2 7s), 18.5 (1 7 plus ½ of a 21), 21. 21 was as high
as I wanted to go. At that point I went back down to 7 and started back up. The thing is the
dosage doesn’t matter, inducing flares does. If you’re inducing flares at 3.5. Stick with that.
What you’re aiming for is the lowest dose that induces a flare. If you need a higher dose to
induce flares, that’s OK too. A few months on nicotine is not going to be the end of the world.
Studies have shown prolonged use of nicotine patches is absolutely safe, and the maximum
safe dosage of nicotine is well above anything you’ll get from a single patch. And nicotine
patches are not addictive. Nicotine is not tobacco. Nicotine is not cigarettes. Nicotine is
medicine.
So basically, you just keep repeating this process until you don’t get flares anymore which to me
means the virus has gone. Now I’m going to acknowledge that it is not easy to keep making
yourself feel sick over and over and over. At some point you might start wondering why you are
torturing yourself. Particularly when we’ve been already feeling bad for so long. It’s really hard
but if you stick with it within a month, you should feel much better and within two months you
should feel substantially better. You have to have faith in the process but know that the process
sucks. I just kept firmly in the front of my mind that every minute I felt bad was some more virus
getting eliminated from my body.
- Tom’s comment: I agree with Teri that no flares means no more virus. At least when they
are triggered in a periodic manner that Teri and I both recommend. I am working on a
Medical Hypothesis paper that will elaborate on the viral herx or “verx” and all the
implications for those with Long Covid.
Now you have to use your best judgment. If you start having scary symptoms, obviously you
should stop. But keeping in mind, you are supposed to feel bad. Don’t stop just because you
feel bad. Because then it won’t work. If you are just enjoying the perks of nicotine stimulation,
don’t expect to get better. And I could say consult your doctor but you and I both know that we
know way more about this than your doctor does and they would just be guessing too. This is all
new, and nobody knows anything about it. This is just me based on experimenting with my own
body and making recommendations. Obviously I’m not a medical professional. But it is common
sense that eliminating a virus from your body is going to make you feel sick. That’s how it works.
So I would say as long as your symptoms are in the flu like range, all is well. Listening to your
body is key. But I also think this involves pushing your body. I seriously can’t stress enough that
the process working as it is supposed to is scary. You will feel doubt. You probably will want to
give up. But I think it works. Pay attention to your body and use your best judgment. If you need
to take a break, go on a low maintenance dose for a while until you feel up to it again. You may
end up having to do the protocol for longer, but I think it’s fine to set your own pace and do it on
your terms.
I planned my flares for the weekends. So I would do a lower dose Monday through Thursday.
Friday I would step up to the next dose and I would feel bad Saturday and Sunday. And yes, it
sucks feeling bad every weekend but again, cured. But I felt substantially better than usual the
other five days. And if you think about being sick for 16 days to feel good most days, it seems
absolutely worth it. You have to keep in your mind that this is eliminating the virus from your
body. Hopefully permanently.
Just to be clear this isn't exactly how I did it. This is just how I would do it if I were to start over. I
started at 7 mg and kept the same level patches on through the flares. It was very harsh. I
wouldn't recommend it. Although I did have great results so I don't know. On my way up to 21
the first time I just stayed at the same level each step. The next time I went up I stepped down
one step each time which was not as bad. Still awful. But not as awful or quite as long. So we'll
just use your best judgment!
I am at week 13 and still not done flaring. I don’t know how this ends. I recently completed one
week at 3.5 and one week with nothing and felt great both weeks. But to me if I’m still having
flares, I am not done yet. I’m starting at the beginning and stepping up again. I wish I was a few
months out so I could tell you how this ends but I am feeling so good I did not want to wait.
Because I want you to feel good too. I don’t want to cram this down your throat, but it is so
exciting after almost 3 years to be feeling healthy again. Yes this process is scary and pretty
sucky, but so worth it! Have faith, stick with it and don’t give up.
I am very interested, if other people have success doing this method. If you attempt it, let me
know how it’s going! And know, I wish you the best of luck!
Update. So I have been on a maintenance dose of 3.5 mg. I accidentally re-ordered the wrong
patches and got the 21 mg so I thought oh well I can do the 5.25 mg no problems. Well, I
accidentally pushed myself into a flare when I wasn’t expecting it. So here I am feeling pretty
bad on a day that I have a lot of things planned and immediately back in the mindset of I’ve
screwed it up and now I’m worse. It’s so hard not to feel this way. I just want you to know it’s
normal to feel like you’re doing it wrong. It’s so scary and we all have so much PTSD from all of
the things that we’ve tried that have failed us. All the hope that we’ve held onto only to be
crushed. It’s OK to be scared and nervous and really confused. But my experience with this has
shown me that I’m going to feel better within 48 hours. I just have to hang onto that and I’m
going to feel even better than I did before this flare. I actually got super emotional when I started
feeling better. The better I felt the more upset I got, because I was getting a taste of real life
again and terrified it was going to go away. But so far it hasn’t. Hang on. Lean on each other
and hang on. It’s been really tough for me because I’m kind of in front of the pack and I didn’t
have even a single soul that I could talk to about this. But now you have me! It’s scary, but you
can do it!
Update: I am now 17 weeks in. I have been off the patches for a little over a week. I had been
on a maintenance dose of 3.5 mg and every time I tried to stop it felt like I was getting a cold.
Turns out I may have become slightly addicted to nicotine because it seems I was having the
symptoms of the smokers flu. I finally had a few days I could set aside to feeling bad and it was
about four days of sore throat headache and being kind of cranky. Now I am feeling great and
have not relapsed in any areas at all. I am still dealing with a massive amount of de
conditioning. It is very difficult to temper my newfound energy and enthusiasm with my poor out
of shape body. But I am able to live my life again and it is absolutely amazing! It has been crazy
to go from housebound to feeling absolutely fine in just a few short months! My body still needs
time to heal but I am starting to feel really hopeful that Long Covid is behind me.
Another update: I have now been off the patches for a couple of months. And I still feel great. I
mean great with a grain of salt. I have massive deconditioning that I'm still dealing with but I am
completely functional again, can still eat pretty much whatever I want, I'm able to work. I'm just
really out of shape. But I'll take it! I feel permanently cured at this time but I am completely
willing to go back on the patches if I ever need to no problem. I actually did not get to a point
where I stopped flaring but the flares were much less and I was just sick of it so I did a 3.5 dose
for several weeks and continued to feel good and then I took the patches off and continued to
feel good so I considered myself done. I'm feeling really optimistic and I hope I can encourage
as many people as possible to do this. Because I know the hell that was Long Covid and even
though this process was completely miserable it was well worth it to get to how I feel now. I feel
like I have my life back. That is a beautiful thing! I can't encourage you enough to try this and I
wish you the best of luck!









Long Stories:


Angela Anderson

These Nicotine patches have been a miracle for both me and my husband.

I can pinpoint the day my memory went kaput. It was the second day I contracted my first round of Covid. It felt like someone went in my brain and shut it off and from that day forward I was living my life looking through a lense. Almost like I was astral projecting into my life. After that, my body started breaking down. I had tons of symptoms including debilitating fatigue, memory loss, concentration issues, malabsorption and vitamin deficiencies, drug sensitivity(suddenly couldn’t take generic drugs), pots, severe anxiety, random neuropathy, every time I tried to speak I would say a word that didn’t match, joint pain, body pain, depersonalization, eye issues, ear issues, etc. Not one of my doctors mentioned long covid. I saw so many doctors who treated each individual symptom but didn’t look at the whole picture. Every test I had came back normal. It didn’t help that I was also going through menopause and had thyroid issues. Every doctor kept saying it was menopause, or my thyroid, or it was all in my head. I was beginning to think I was crazy and the depression, and self doubt wrecked me. My husband had many of the same issues. I was literally on my last leg. In The span of 18 months I was a shell of my former self and I was not holding it together.


I’ve always believed that the universe will send you signs if you’re open to them. Long covid came up on my fyp page of TikTok and after watching the videos I found the Reddit groups and then this group. After reading the experiences I purchased patches for me and my husband that day and we started the patch protocol. I didn’t have anything to lose.

We are into our third week of the patches and it has been a complete game changer. Within 30 minutes of putting on the patch I felt the brain fog lift. Over the past two weeks my husband and I have both had major improvements in our symptoms. We have had the “die off” period. 24 hours after putting on the patch we had the pseudo Covid. My lymph nodes swelled up. My sinuses have been working overtime but are improving with each passing day. We’ve both seen our brain fog lift, the fatigue and soreness dissipate, my neuropathy has diminished, my body soreness and muscle aches have diminished and I feel like I’m present in my life for the first time in a long while. The biggest change for both of us has been feeling rested, like our bodies are finally sleeping. I’ve been up every day at 5am with no alarm since being on the patch. I’ve felt completely rested when I wake up instead of chronically tired all day. We haven’t had any weird dreams.


We are taking some of the recommended supplements in addition to the patch. We both take adhd meds, thyroid meds, and I take estrogen for menopause. We patch continuously with no breaks. We’ve gone from 3.5 to 7 to 14 and have hit a sweet spot with 14. We plan to do this for a month then take a break, assess where we are and then restart if symptoms return.
We’ve both had the vaccine and the booster. I’ve had Covid twice and my husband has had Covid at least 3 times.

I know the patch doesn’t work for everyone and I really wish it did. The medical community needs to be educated more on long covid so we can get help sooner. Doctors need to start treating the whole person instead of just the individual symptoms. This disease is debilitating and I’m humbled every time I read your stories.

If you’re on the fence with starting the protocol, don’t. be. What do you have to lose other than a few $$$?? Don’t be afraid to experiment with the dose, remember everyone is different. Supplements are helpful, especially if you have other underlying issues. They can provide support to help with the healing process. Most importantly remember you know your body best, listen to it. Trust your gut. Doctors are not always the most knowledgeable when it comes to long covid.
I would rather be on a patch the rest of my life, and take a bunch of supplements. rather than deal with long covid symptoms.

Will continue to report updates after we have our rest week.
Again thank you to this group. You guys are awesome. 🤩




Jani St James


SUPER LONG POST


My before vs now story.

I was super active, have been a fairly accomplished person in athletics and my careers (Real Estate-40yrs, and entertainment 25yrs now), generally fit, worked 25hours a day, zero health issues or concerns. Have broken a bunch of bones in my 55 years if life. That's it in a nutshell.
The day I 'felt' sick from covid I was at a performance. Towards the end, my arms and legs stopped doing what my brain was telling them to do. I had an impossible time packing up and getting myself home. Got home and went to bed. 3 days later my wife woke me up and took me to test. Around 45 days later I was good. In June i was in a position where I either had to be vaccinated, or miss the birth of our daughter. That first shot made my covid symptoms all come back, and they never left. From then on it was a steady progression of brain issues, 24hr head to toe pain, which was very EXTRA in areas that I had prior body damage (thoracic and cervical) plus my right flank area has had a slow, strong burn the whole time. Like a red hot grill coal just under my last rib. When I flare, that pain always comes back.

Anyway, by jan/feb ending my 2nd year, I had around 60 symptoms. I started cbd around then, which eventually became delta 8,9, then regular weed. I have not been able to perform my day job effectively since the beginning. I had windows of terrible days, and windows of pretty functional days, but really, I could play my drums, but needed a little weed to mask the pain. I was awake and semi participant in my family's life, and for work, maybe 5 hours, if I was working that day. My electronic function degraded pretty extremely at that time. Motor skills, communication, balance. Everything that we all have when we crash super hard. It just didn't stop at that point. I had a lot of wasting by then, which was actually a blessing, because my acute covid turned me into a blimp. My gi issues were limited. I didn't puke once, or have a fever that I was aware of, during acute covid. But if I ate anything, it basically just liquified dripped right out of my butt immediately. First 2 yrs. Taste and smell were dulled, but I didn't know it until the patches. I felt like puking most of the first 2 years, from adrenaline dumps. That was gone until this August or sep when we caught that version of covid (which was very mild for me, but very hard for my wife). Now the adrenaline thing is happening again, and my gi activity is no longer regular after that covid. My executive function, personality, ability to problem solve or manage emotions all left day 1 of covid. Came back for bit in between covid #1 and shot #1 but otherwise has been absent the whole time. The front, right quarter of my head has also felt like it was a room that someone just boarded up and walked away from. Like my brain there was off. Reflecting back on it now, the first night I had issues w my legs was definitely the same as it is now when I don't manage myself appropriately. Exact. It was like I was out having a spirited drive on a beautiful, scenic mountaintop road in an awesome minivan (chicks dig em!). Perfect temperatures, clear, sunny day , full tank of gas. Just cruising, happily, along! As soon as I pointed the car down the hill towards the first sharp curve, the engine dies, at which point, most everything stops working in the car. If I was strong at that moment, I might luck out and be able to very slowly steer and brake, avoiding a major crash, but left stranded and nonfunctional for a while (brakes and steering are managed with electronics in cars these days, so, it's sometimes not possible to prevent a huge crash if they fail) If i was weak at the time, the van would shut off and I'd be hauling ass down to a 90 turn, facing a sheer rock wall and crash so hard and voilently that death would be a gift. It hits so hard it knocks the personality right out of you! Instead of dying, we just get to enjoy all of the pain, dementia, derealization, dire hopelessness, and other fun things, trapped and unfixable, in a crumpled up, impossible to recognize, ball of car. Forever.

That is how I felt 2 years ago. My wife absolutely believed I was dying, and I was OK with that idea because of the crazy psych symptoms that we get from this.

I was in bed and happened upon Dr groysmans long covid group, by the grace of God, waiting to kick the bucket somehow, and read a post relating to nicotine. That lead me to find out more about it. I feel like it wasn't a necessarily positive post even. I think it was one by a well known Dr, but because it was a small group, or not double blind, or whatever words the "evidence snobs" declared it all nonsense. I feel like, even then, people generally still felt like this was a pulmonary thing, instead of electronic.

Anyway, I used Google, which only had "nicotine is bad" posts, and zero information about it in a positive light. I did find 1 (one) research paper that really pushed me towards saving my own life ultimately. That paper, I couldn't find now to save my life (again;). That paper had nothing to do with covid, and had a couple hundred thousand participants that smoked. It was about making, and had been around a while. I understood that it was observed when covid hit, by someone with common sense, that the people in that study had lower incidence of severe acute covid. That was a big audience to observe such a thing in randomly. I've never been a brainiac. I have common sense and used to have exceptional problem solving aptitude though.

At that time, there were not ANY treatments that fixed or reduced any of our symptoms even a little bit, other than the random person who was "cured" dripping candlewax in their navel, or cold plunging, hbot, acupuncture, meditation, or any of the other mostly inconsistent solutions at that time.
Patches were 19 bucks and shipped to my door from Amazon.
Best 19 buck I've spent in my life.

It took several days for me to have one on 24hrs. They fell off. I couldn't problem solve easily, so it took probably 4 days of a random few minutes or hour here and there. Then I tried bandages, gaffer tape... it's laugh out loud funny thinking about how stupid I am when I'm crashing, now.
Anyways, once I found waterproof band aids, life changed. 7 days after that, I woke up with no pain, creaks, brain issues.. nothing. I was even hungry. I could smell stuff I hadn't. It was a miracle. It's really not. It's just Science and anatomy. Even in whether people, nicotine does help stuff, and is necessary for us. Too much is bad, and getting it via tobacco is worse.
So that was when I was reborn. I mowed my yard that day, which made me collapse, of course; )
BUT....

I just recovered and went back to feeling great in around a half hour!! Can you imagine?? I knew it was the right thing, even though the whole world 💩 on the whole idea.

I finished 30 straight days on 7mg and stopped cold. I took ZERO medication nor any supplements, other than my usual 20mg melatonin and 1 unisom (the doxylamine version)a month before, during or after, because I did not want to cloud any changes, if there were any. I did try 30 days of adding a benadryl at a different time also (did nothing noteworthy).


I probably was not familiar with pacing yet, so just went and did whatever. I tried to do real estate, but literally would just fall apart from being in my office. That's been the hardest thing to lose(I lost a bandmate who died from ALS 18mo after an asymptomatic covid infection, and only rarely saw him or communicated with him because of my condition-this is a close second. I feel so much guilt, and miss him)because I work with my parents, and this has been a huge letdown to them. Plus, the financial loss to my wife, cats, and our babies...

I was catching every bug my kids brought home from daycare right after. Somehow I learned to pay attention when stuff happened that made lc symptoms come back, experimented w patches, and now have a pretty consistent plan, which has been so much better for my family.

The ups are great and much more common than not, now. The downs are way less down than 2 years ago. Between day 1 post patch, I have had 2 terrible weeks, but have increased quality of life constantly.
Two things I did after patches that I could not have done prior include pacing, and a whole forced positive disposition. Those two things really make a difference for me. I blocked Monday entirely off to do absolutely zero. I blocked tues-fri off til noon, but get up at 6a to get kids up and off to school. I work most nights during most of the year, and most all fri,sat and sunday days and nights as a drummer. No exercise or doing stuff beyond my regular stuff. I did it one time, also caught covid, and looked like I had advanced Parkinsons, with a heaping side of dementia for 7 or 8 days. So, no more exercise. That's still very limiting, even though I act normal and look normal again. My limbs feel like they're controlled by a faucet that gets suddenly shut off if I do any extra anything physically. Even on great days. So I don't think that's going away.
My personality came back around June or July 2024. 3.5yrs in, and 1.5yrs after first patch. I have kept my personality since, but still have only brief moments of random executive function, which still are nowhere close to before.

I am very learning-challenged now, compared to pre covid.

It took me 3 years to learn 8 notes on a bass... memory, word recall, and all the other executive functions are still bad, but I can do what I do in life. I feel like I'm using around half of the brain that I formerly could. All of my actual symptoms are very passive, usually easily managed with a patch or two. I've lear.ed to accept it and do what I can on the day.
I still have the same pacing schedule, but rarely use the time to sleep anymore. Initially I needed the sleep to let my physical body and immune system recover a little from 2yrs of punishment.
I consider the holidays this year to be a good test of baseline for me.
I have a 3 and 6yr old, with a working wife. So it was daddy daycare from Turkey day til now, included my bandmate dying from ALS, and an anniversary cruise that really beat me up. I was a mess the night before the cruise, and was having difficulty walking by day 2. Mail was being sent from brain to leg, but the mailbox wasn't opening. There was an acupuncturist on the ship, mercifully. Even though I'm still more skeptical than not on it, she did get me walking, and I was grateful. That was a real, rude, awakening for me. I feel like it's almost ironic that I can't function as a regular grown up , doing simple business things, yet can smash a drumset for 8 hours a day, on loud stages, in front of hundreds of people every day, yet walking the length of a medium size cruise ship a few times literally crippled me. So now I'm selling all my sh$t because when I can't play drums, I'm done being able to work forever, or until there a fix for our stuff.


Perspective.

I have won countless National and Regional championships, was a Pro Level national top 2 and 3 on motorcycles, won a whole bunch of 6 and 12 hour mountain bike races, state champ... I was really designed to crush souls if I was on two wheels. Or racing anything really.

My neighborhood is a perfectly flat, 1 mile, paved oval. Babies can run the whe thing effortlessly. It's that flat. I rode my bike around one time 3 or 4 months ago. Had to stop halfway to rest, even though I was barely moving fast enough for the gyroscopic effect to happen. It took 3 weeks for all that pain to go away. Right after then, my friend died, then holidays, then cruise. No pacing during ALL of that, and I have only been crazy and incapable of functioning for 2 days.

If I let it happen, I'll be back in bed. I have great respect for the power to instantly erase me that lc has. I also tend to feel like I can survive a flair now, and I do recover very fast still.
I do patch as needed. I did one 24hr day while this cruise crazy thing happened, then just sucked it up and had the most fun with my wife we've had since having kids.

I tend to really hid my symptoms and concerns from her. I guess that's me trying to not look like a sissy to her. It's a HUGE burden on her. The least I can do, which is really actually the literal MOST I can do, is be grateful and happy around her and the kids. So that's what I'm working on now. Being smiley, sell anything I can convert to money, preparing for more days that my fingers and feet don't work...

While my outlook, amd overall condition is better every day, I have for months been having more and more muscle cramping. It's really progressing. Was just in one leg, then both legs and a hand, now all limbs tighten up and cramp during performances, with lots of messaging interruption, which really, negatively, affects my ability to play drums. Then it happens anytime I'm horizontal.
And that kind of brings us to now.

I do feel a little like the last acute covid, minor as it was, restarted my lc cycle. I've never been one to take supplements or medication regularly. I don't want to take stuff. Even patches. So I really use them only if its bad.

I'm way better off than most everyone who hasn't done these, or got LDN from a dr. These have easier to manage side effects, and were cheap.

I don't care what the nicotine is doing. I care about the result. If I don't feel better, or more functional, it doesn't work, and I don't need it. I do take vitamins when I'm around sick people. C, d and Claritin most commonly. I also chew one aspirin if I'm really feeling sluggish. That's really it.

Sorry for the bad grammar and spelling. I have no brain 😉








- Medium Improvement -

Shelagh Young Howard

Hard to remember what I used to be like, and there is of course some deconditioning. But it didn't last sadly. Now I go up and down - 50-70%.








Weight Loss:


Maxime Bouchard

I was not overweight but have lost nearly 20 lbs over a year on 3.5 mg patch. Not sure it’s a good thing but nicotine suppresses appetite.
At least people have stopped telling me my problem is menopause cause one would be gaining weight with that.




Neuropathy:

Angie Bacak Douglas

I started using nicotine patches for muscle and joint pain with the unexpected relief from heel pain that’s either plantar fasciitis or neuropathy. It was day 2 I got out of bed and was able to walk.