I’ve had long covid for a couple of years now. It’s a really difficult disease, in part because different people react very differently, and there may even be multiple mechanisms so it’s not exactly a single disease.
What has really helped me has been wearing a nicotine patch occasionally. I was never a smoker, but I came across this very small study [1] and thought it was worth a go because a) I was getting desperate and b) nicotine in such low doses is not that risky (7mg patch, worn for 2 weeks).
I know there’s counter-studies suggesting nicotine doesn’t help with resistance. My experience is anecdotal, but I saw rapid improvement in cognition and fatigue level (particularly post-exercise). My guess is that for some people the particular mechanism behind their long covid is one that this can help with, but not for everyone.
What has really helped me has been wearing a nicotine patch occasionally. I was never a smoker, but I came across this very small study [1] and thought it was worth a go because a) I was getting desperate and b) nicotine in such low doses is not that risky (7mg patch, worn for 2 weeks).
I know there’s counter-studies suggesting nicotine doesn’t help with resistance. My experience is anecdotal, but I saw rapid improvement in cognition and fatigue level (particularly post-exercise). My guess is that for some people the particular mechanism behind their long covid is one that this can help with, but not for everyone.
[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36650574/