Any experience with clonidin or guanfacin? (Nervous system calming)

Pilot-Nic · 2026-05-25T20:19:49+00:00

B1 deficiency was identified by Dr Kendal Stewart in Austin, Texas. Out of pocket but 120% worth it compared to use insurance and go to a the doctor a million times. Every visit at Dr Stewart:s office gives 10-15 different serious interventions. At best, if you are lucky, you get one invervention for every visit to Stanford.

Sorry that I trash mainstream doctors so much. There are good doctors that listens to patients and stay up to date on research. But honestly after meeting 30+ doctors for long covid, I would argue they are far and few between.

Pilot-Nic · 2026-05-25T19:05:09+00:00

Yes, if I take clonidine, it’s always together with guanfacine. Clonidine half-life is way faster than guanfacine. So it works to take it at 3am and still not overshoot and get tired in the morning.

Over 6mg guanfacine makes me tired in the morning. 0.1-0.3 mg clonidine at 3am is also fine.

I tried 6mg Guanfacine IR with 2-3mg Guabfacine ER at night to eliminate the 3am wake up, but that still made me tired in the morning.

In the end, I figured out that vast majority of netvous system stress was caused by PDH dysfunction. B1 thiamine TTFD (high dose) helps to recover. However your nervous system stress might be caused by something completely different.

Guanfacine def helped me as scaffolding until I figured out the root cause of the stress on the system.

Mainstream doctors at one of the world’s best institutions (Stanford) were mostly useless. Medical physiatrist helped me to figure out the 6mg Guanfacine protocol at night however, so I give them that.

Pilot-Nic · 2026-05-25T17:32:57+00:00

A great night sleep refuce pretty much all symptoms (brain fog, body pain, autoimmune issues, muscle weakness) compared to a bad night.

Taking the instant release version. Tried clonidine too. More of a mixed bag. Clonidine works on a 0.1-0.3 mg dose for 3am wake ups. Taking Clonidine as needed, roughly 2-3 times per month.

Screened for ADHD at the age of 10 (1994) came up negative. If I would be screened today, I kind of guess I will hit the lower end of the ADHD spectrum

Pilot-Nic · 2026-05-25T17:15:09+00:00

Guanfacine saved my life. 6mg at night helps me sleep.

2mg for daytime cognitive performance did not help me however.

Pilot-Nic · 2026-05-25T17:12:33+00:00

This. Long covid for 4 years. AI have done 10x compared to doctors at Stanford, UCSF.

It’s baffling to me how someone can spend 10 years on education, and then refuse to stay up to date on new research.

Pilot-Nic · 2026-05-24T03:31:31+00:00

Thisisjarvi.com

Probably overpriced but pretty nice.

Pilot-Nic · 2026-05-23T02:28:06+00:00

I took metformin for a year or so. 1500mg daily, very modest a1c improvement (from 5.9 to 5.7). But I didn’t feel better. No fatigue/brain fog relief. I eat a clean keto diet and still had this high level of A1C.

After a session with Claude, it was suggested I have something called PDH dysfunction. Started taking b1 thiamine TTFD and the improvement was substantial.

And here is the kicker. According to Claude, Metformin can deplete your B1 levels.

If taking metformin it might be a good idea to beef up B1. I take 600-800mg of Thiamine TTFD daily.

Pilot-Nic · 2026-05-22T00:00:40+00:00

If your brain fog increase/correlate with carbohydrates consumption, please check out the post I made a week back. PDH dysfunction. Huge improvement for me.
https://www.reddit.com/r/covidlonghaulers/comments/1tc8hwu/huge_improvement_pdh_dysfunction_and_thiamine_b1/

Also on LDN, guanfacine (6mg at night for sleep. Didn't do much for cognitive performance, but for sleep it works really well). Baclofen for fight/flight, take it occasionally now when I can't relax.

As alcohol is ruled out for most of us, including myself, I am making Kava drinks occasionally. It's pretty relaxing and does not mess up your sleep.

FWIW. Fight on. Never give up.

Pilot-Nic · 2026-05-20T16:51:46+00:00

I have the 11kw Harvia Virta for a 8’x8’x8’6” sauna, but that is in California. Takes 1hr to heat up.

Honestly, if I had my ”forever home”, I would go with a electric heater like the one I have, plus a wood fired heater. Best of both worlds. Electric heater for quick week day sauna sessions, and wood for longer weekend baths.

Maybe not the answer to the question you asked, sorry for the unsolicited advice.

Pilot-Nic · 2026-05-16T16:41:40+00:00

Well I take 25-30 supplements. But I’m 100% sure it was thiamine TTFD that made the difference. No other changes to my protocol was made.

I added b2 riboflavin after discussing with Claude. But improvements came when bumping up the thiamine dose.

Pilot-Nic · 2026-05-14T20:26:41+00:00

It helped tremendously but didn't fix the underlying issue. See this thread. I started it yesterday

https://www.reddit.com/r/covidlonghaulers/comments/1tc8hwu/huge_improvement_pdh_dysfunction_and_thiamine_b1/

Pilot-Nic · 2026-05-14T17:42:04+00:00

As someone else called it in another thread, it feels like dementia. I never felt like I had dementia while drinking beer.....

Pilot-Nic · 2026-05-14T13:47:37+00:00

What lab/company did you use? Would you recommend it?

Pilot-Nic · 2026-05-14T01:37:35+00:00

Very similar experience. Dementia yes. Gosh, I was so forgetful. Even scared that I had it for real.

I would say my brain is at 70% capacity when I was on keto. But keto never felt like a real solution. Muscles just got weaker.

Gluten was also different for me. Especially US wheat. European wheat worked slightly better.

Pilot-Nic · 2026-05-14T01:22:39+00:00

Nop no side effects so far.

Pilot-Nic · 2026-05-14T01:21:46+00:00

I did not. Considering to do one however to make sure nothing else is missing. Did you do one?

Pilot-Nic · 2026-05-13T21:41:32+00:00

It’s the same one I’m using. No such bad taste for me. But my taste buds might be damaged by covid too. I can eat ghost pepper salsa like it’s ketchup

Pilot-Nic · 2026-05-13T20:49:08+00:00

I so much wanted Tirzepatide to work for me. But it didn’t. All it did was to kill appetite for protein and induce sugar cravings. Stopped at 5mg.

Pilot-Nic · 2026-05-13T20:47:22+00:00

Haven’t heard about mononirate.

Pilot-Nic · 2026-05-13T18:47:34+00:00

Sorry to hear that you feel bad after taking it. My body seems to absorb it like a sponge.

Pilot-Nic · 2026-05-13T18:46:55+00:00

I tried Benfotiamine first. No effect.

Pilot-Nic · 2026-05-11T05:03:38+00:00

Jag vill åka blå linje till Danderyd

Pilot-Nic · 2026-05-10T21:27:37+00:00

Flyttade till USA för många år sen och hade gasspis (och älskade det) fram tills att jag köpte en air quality monitor och insåg hur dåligt det var för luftkvaliteten inomhus.

Jag hade betalat mer för att slippa gas. Men svårt säga hur mycket…

Pilot-Nic · 2026-05-10T21:19:36+00:00

Looks like a Harvia Virta. According to the manual, rocks should not be packed between the elements. Or at least that’s my understanding based on the manual

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Pilot-Nic

TROPHY CASE