Acceptance of low-dose nicotine -- slow to arrive


Nicotine is much more than just a "stimulant."
Credit: Garey Rademaker, you can see his interview on our YouTube page.

Low-dose nicotine is much more than just a stimulant

I knew that it would take a while for people to accept low-dose nicotine as a treatment for Long Covid, MECFS, fibromyalgia, etc... but I have been surprised that it would take years. I personally needed to do a lot of research before trying the treatment; however, the large number of people who see clinically significant results has been ignored or mistaken for a stimulant that just gives "fake energy."

There are decades of scientific publications that explain how low-dose nicotine patches benefit us through multiple pathways. And if prompted correctly, AI is now "mostly" able to distinguish between the benefits of low-dose patching and the downsides of smoking. AI even cites our research.

I am happy to see that various LC (long-COVID) experts are including low-dose nicotine patches in their list of possible treatments.

The Patient-Led Research Collaborative and rthm have published a list of treatments that show promise and benefit for LC. This guide is a great resource to bring to your doctor when asking about treatment options since it comes from reputable groups and includes research to back each suggestion.

Likewise, Dr A (Dr Paul Anderson) ....publishes good review articles, with citations, that are a good overview of the disease and all the possible "spikeopethies" that can lead to problems. This video explains what is in the review article. The video is cued up to start at the "treatment" section. The previous 37 minutes cover the range of problems. He starts the treatment section of the video with nicotine patches, but his review article omits them for some reason.

We have also seen an increase in clinicians who are recommending low-dose nicotine patches to their patients. Almost always, this is because a patient has told them about the benefits they see. Don't be afraid to mention it to your clinician, as they might pass the information on to other patients!

Here are a few interviews I did with clinicians who include low-dose nicotine patches in their treatment plan.


Note: Nicotine is one of the first things they try because the response is good from a wide range of patients, and it is quicker and safer than most other options, which may need expensive/imperfect testing.

Dr Evan Hirsch: Interview video

Dr Anna Sattah: Interview video

And our most recent patient interview with Erica Kravit. She is a nurse practitioner who has had a rough ride with LC and seen lots of benefits from low-nicotine patches.


All links can be found in our linktree:


linktr.ee/thenicotinetest

Thanks for reading,


Troy Roach

"Take care of yourself, and if you can, someone else too." 
-- Stephen Dubner, host of the Freakonomics Radio podcast


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