This is a work in progress, as my day becomes busier and busier it becomes harder to sit down and flesh the story out. I don't want to keep this private until then, as people need hope and a guiding light, but bear in mind that I will be updating it as the days go by.
Healing Journey Continued Part 3
It seemed like smokers were not catching it. What does nicotine do that stops covid from replicating? Smokers don't run as much, so maybe it's simply fewer deficiencies and stress that exercise or other diseases cause. This obviously has created a few theories about how to use nicotine to prevent or cure long covid.
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be working but rather is creating mixed results. A lot of long haulers think "screw it, I'll try anything at this point" and go for the nicotine patches. Nicotine does upregulate dopamine and neurotransmitters, so that can definitely help with feeling better, but the effect will be short-lived.
In fact, a lot of people in some of the long covid groups I'm in recount this exact scenario. Feeling good for 7 day, going off the patch and feeling terrible.
Niacin is still an important factor in my opinion and has a lot of benefits. I'll talk about it more later.
Nicotine patches theory
Nicotine patches are being used currently (2023) as a new long-haul healing strategy. Unfortunately, it is getting mixed results. Similarly, it makes sense that it is disrupting the acetylcholine neurotransmitter.
Nicotine and nicotinic acid, also known as niacin, share some similarities due to their chemical structures and biological activity.
