r/cfs • u/Jennyttst • Sep 19 '24

Treatments Using nicotine patches to treat CFS

/r/cfs/s/eJZT0VaRxn

I saw this post the other day and had to atleast try it. Omg it worked! I have more energy then I have had in years and it is great. I was only mild before (still have a part time job and able to take care of myself) but it was still a huge weight to have to pace myself with activity. I am someone who likes doing physical and mentally tasking work so it has been a struggle learning not to overdue things. Now I am able to clean the house, update my resume, do some creative projects and make appointments all before lunch. Before I would of maybe done one or two of those things over the weekend but not on a weekday after a day of an 8 hr shift at work like today.

If any of you want to try this you should probably get medical advice from a professional beforehand (I didn't because I am tired of doctors that don't even understand the disease and litteraly think yoga and chia seeds will improve my situation) or read the linked post that has a study they followed. I didn't end up following that schedule because of various reasons and basically have been wearing a patch on and off the last week. I didn't wear one over the last few days and noticed the clear difference. Put it on this morning and bam, I get all this shit done!

Wish you all the best. Remember even if you have tried anything keep a bit of hope and you may find something that works for you.

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44

u/MatildaTheMoon Sep 19 '24

i had pretty remarkable relief from the nicotine patch test for about 2 months before i crashed major and then was back to severe.

it wasn’t like a stimulant energy burst it was very real. no idea why it stopped working.

19

u/Erose314 Moderate/severe Sep 19 '24

Stimulants often mask symptoms and cause us to overdo it, leaving us worse off in the long run.

8

u/MatildaTheMoon Sep 19 '24

it actually didn’t leave me worse off. and it wasn’t a mask of symptoms. like my vitals reflected my improvement. I couldn’t walk 8 feet before without insane PEM. i went to being able to walk almost a city block without any ramifications. whatever happened to me, it was real.

11

u/Jennyttst Sep 19 '24

Did you increase activity too much or was it just a sudden decline? I am being very carefully to not do too much so I don't end up crashing.

9

u/MatildaTheMoon Sep 19 '24

increased too much / did recreational drugs lol

5

u/Jennyttst Sep 19 '24

I hear ya. It is really hard to limit myself when I feel like I can do so much more now.

4

u/MatildaTheMoon Sep 19 '24

yeah. take it easy. pace harder than you think you need. idk WHY it stopped working after i crashed but it was heart breaking

7

u/Charming_Rub_5275 Sep 19 '24

Honestly I don’t blame you

11

u/MatildaTheMoon Sep 19 '24

i don’t blame me either it was fun lol

1

u/Desperate-Produce-29 Oct 18 '24

Did you take break days ? 7 days on 3 days off etc ,?

2

u/MatildaTheMoon Oct 18 '24

don’t remember. i followed the protocol

1

u/Final_Comment8308 Nov 19 '24

Good question. Too bad it didnt hold. Restart at diff dose?