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The Molecular Basis of Long Covid Brain Fog
41–50 of 53 posts
Re: The Molecular Basis of Long Covid Brain Fog
#42The biggest impact I've made on my brain fog (post COVID) is using nicotine. Even 2mg a day makes a big difference for me.
What do you do for managing dependency / tolerance?
Every person has their own body. For me:
I've never smoked cigarettes, but decided to try Nicorette gum as an alternative to a second cup of coffee (if I drink after 12:00, I wont go to sleep on time).
I've been using it for 8+ years now and have found a sustainable dosage that doesn't give me withdrawal/depenency. I've never had an issue with tolerance.
I buy a big box of 4mg gum and go through around half to one piece a day. I discovered consuming 2+ pieces (+8mg) led to withdrawal symptoms (empathetic lightbulb moment for me for smokers who want to quit!)
Regarding dependency, I don't take any when Im traveling/on vacation, and have never felt the need to use it then.
Any desire comes from wanting to continue the alertness once the caffeine starts to wear off.
Re: The Molecular Basis of Long Covid Brain Fog
#43The headline overstates the findings. The researchers aren't saying that this is the underlying basis of COVID brain fog. They hypothesized that AMPA receptors might be involved. They compared Long COVID patients to controls and found a difference. This doesn't mean that AMPA receptors are the root cause of post-COVD brain fog, nor does it necessarily mean that drugs modulating AMPA receptors could reverse it. It onl…
It does imply AMPA antagonists or NAMs might be of interest to people with this problem, though. I wonder if high-dose L-theanine might be of interest; most of the -ampanel family antagonists are liable to abuse and a little sketchy regarding side effects and *NQX family aren't usable outside lab settings, so limited other options. Memantine might help but itself has anecdotal reports of inducing brain fog. I'd also…
> It does imply AMPA antagonists or NAMs might be of interest to people with this problem, though
It does not necessarily.
For example, if the increased AMPA density is a counter-regulatory response to reduced baseline AMPA activation, further antagonizing the receptor system would worsen rather than improve the situation.
Re: The Molecular Basis of Long Covid Brain Fog
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
What do you do for managing dependency / tolerance?
Every person has their own body. For me: I've never smoked cigarettes, but decided to try Nicorette gum as an alternative to a second cup of coffee (if I drink after 12:00, I wont go to sleep on time). I've been using it for 8+ years now and have found a sustainable dosage that doesn't give me withdrawal/depenency. I've never had an issue with tolerance. I buy a big box of 4mg gum and go through around half to one pi…
> Regarding dependency, I don't take any when Im traveling/on vacation, and have never felt the need to use it then.
> Any desire comes from wanting to continue the alertness once the caffeine starts to wear off.
Anecdotally, this sounds a lot like two of my friends (married couple) who used similar amounts of nicotine gum years ago.
For years they said the same thing: That they didn't go into withdrawals on vacation and that they weren't addicted to the gum, they just wanted to feel awake.
Their experience changed when they decided to quit for a while. As they discovered, actually quitting for an extended period of time was a lot harder than they thought it would be.
They were very much in the "I can quit whenever I want" mindset because they could skip it on vacations, but as they discovered their cravings were intense when they tried to go without the gum during their normal weekly routine.
They finally tapered down with the lower doses and splitting gum over a long period of time.
Re: The Molecular Basis of Long Covid Brain Fog
#45The headline overstates the findings. The researchers aren't saying that this is the underlying basis of COVID brain fog. They hypothesized that AMPA receptors might be involved. They compared Long COVID patients to controls and found a difference. This doesn't mean that AMPA receptors are the root cause of post-COVD brain fog, nor does it necessarily mean that drugs modulating AMPA receptors could reverse it. It onl…
Sounds like the authors ought to have titled it: "Uncovering a Molecular correlation to Long COVID Brain Fog" Which can still be extremely useful, for targeting further investigation.
To be fair, the real authors of the paper had a much more accurate title: "Systemic increase of AMPA receptors associated with cognitive impairment of Long COVID"
It's the university PR team that exaggerated, as usual.
Re: The Molecular Basis of Long Covid Brain Fog
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
It sounds like you’re reading too much into it. It doesn’t say root cause, or drug target. It doesn’t say reverse or cure. It quite specifically doesn’t say “ the basis”. The word basis doesn’t have to refer to one root cause. It could be something foundational, but there can be many elements of a foundation. It certainly isn’t the entire structure. I’d argue it’s quite tame as academic press releases go.
> It quite specifically doesn’t say “the basis” The headline quite specifically does say: "Uncovering the Molecular Basis of Long COVID Brain Fog" The article also implies that AMPA drugs could address COVID brain fog: > For example, drugs that suppress AMPAR activity could be a viable approach to mitigate brain fog. This was one of the points I was trying to counter. It also claims to have "resolved key uncertaintie…
It does not say “the basis.” It is concerning you don’t understand the discrepancy there.
You are welcome to your opinion about what is key, but reading comprehension does not seem to be your strong suit.
Re: The Molecular Basis of Long Covid Brain Fog
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sounds like the authors ought to have titled it: "Uncovering a Molecular correlation to Long COVID Brain Fog" Which can still be extremely useful, for targeting further investigation.
To be fair, the real authors of the paper had a much more accurate title: "Systemic increase of AMPA receptors associated with cognitive impairment of Long COVID" It's the university PR team that exaggerated, as usual.
Re: The Molecular Basis of Long Covid Brain Fog
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
It does imply AMPA antagonists or NAMs might be of interest to people with this problem, though. I wonder if high-dose L-theanine might be of interest; most of the -ampanel family antagonists are liable to abuse and a little sketchy regarding side effects and *NQX family aren't usable outside lab settings, so limited other options. Memantine might help but itself has anecdotal reports of inducing brain fog. I'd also…
> It does imply AMPA antagonists or NAMs might be of interest to people with this problem, though It does not necessarily. For example, if the increased AMPA density is a counter-regulatory response to reduced baseline AMPA activation, further antagonizing the receptor system would worsen rather than improve the situation.
Possible, which is why I said "might be" and brought up that memantine seems to contribute positively to brain fog.
Re: The Molecular Basis of Long Covid Brain Fog
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
Mine has never recovered. I have to drink decaf now! I feel a small amount of relief that I'm not alone.
Slow Bloom's Decaf is the best I've tried, and I really like like Savorista's Swiss Water Ethiopian too. Both can yield a passable pourover. You can also find some good decaf black tea. Jones Coffee Roasters in Pasadena stocks some, and I'll see it online occasionally.
Related - I've been very impressed with Perc Coffee's instant decaf. Of course you can tell it is instant but it's not unpleasant at all.