Help for Long COVID Logo

Reviews

Patients Say

Positives

  • One patient with dysautonomia noticed a “clear reduction in quad and thigh pain” after using mestinon for a few months, which significantly improved their ability to engage in daily activities and exercise Reddit.

  • A patient with muscle weakness due to Long COVID found that their symptoms “disappeared” while taking mestinon, with symptoms returning when the medication was paused Reddit.

  • A patient with ME/CFS and orthostatic intolerance reported that after two months on mestinon, they were able to “leave the house” again after being housebound for nine months Health Rising.

  • In another report, a patient with fibromyalgia and CFS in New Zealand experienced “more hours of useful time” and improved alertness and brain function while taking mestinon, as well as relief from constipation Health Rising.

  • A long-term ME/CFS patient was able to resume running, gym workouts, and cross-country skiing without experiencing post-exertional malaise after starting mestinon, and also noted improved sleep and normalized heart rate Health Rising.

Negatives

  • One patient tried mestinon for several days without any noticeable benefits, only experiencing "unpleasant side effects" and no improvement in their main symptoms Reddit.

  • In another report, a patient noted that taking mestinon at a dose of 180mg for five months resulted only in diarrhea, without any other benefits Reddit.

Hurdles & Side Effects

  • A patient experienced muscle spasms and eyelid twitching when increasing their mestinon dose too quickly Health Rising.

  • One person reported muscle twitching, cramps, and IBS symptoms such as abdominal pain and diarrhea as side effects of mestinon Health Rising.

Was this summary accurate?

Tell us how this treatment affected you

Patient reviews are the engine that keeps this page helpful. Whether you improved tremendously, got worse, or landed somewhere in between, your story helps someone with similar conditions make a more intelligent decision.

Add review

posted Anonymously

@anonymous

LC remission after one 30mg dose

Chronic Illnesses: Long COVID Dysautonomia POTS ME/CFS Vaccine Injury
Symptoms Treated: Tachycardia - Major improvement - 1-3 months Brain Fog - Major improvement - 1-3 months Chronic Fatigue - Major improvement - 1-3 months Pem (Post Exertional Malaise) - Major improvement - 1-3 months Blood Pooling - Major improvement - 1-3 months
Side Effects Experienced: Insomnia - 1-7 days Headache - <24 hours Anxiety - <24 hours Sweating - <24 hours Tingling Extremities - <24 hours

My doctor intended me to trial this with 2 goals, if the medicine was tolerated: 1. manage hyper-POTS, 2. Increase gastric motility. Original plan was to slowly titrate up from 30mg nightly and take a slow approach to find optimal dosing, potentially as high as 60mg multiple times a day. I took a 30mg dose night one, then tried a 15mg dose the second night, then stopped because I no longer had many long COVID issues, no more POTS, and no CFS/ME w PEM even while off the drug. This drug is short term and fast acting (4-6 hours active.) The medication was NOT tolerable but my first day put me in remission for POTS (I am now below the diagnostic threshold on a table tilt test) and my previously moderate to severe CFS/ME w PEM is fully in remission. I still have serious motility slowness but is no longer severe and a constant cause of pain and sleep disruption. I have my old baseline of energy that I haven't had in 4 years since COVID. I also had reactivated mono from COVID that is now in remission. I have other diagnoses that COVID caused for me, and still have to manage those, but no longer consider myself as a long COVID sufferer. I have started limited exercising/walking daily and functioning mostly normally in my day to day again (2 months back to a "normal" life as of end of May 2026 without relapse). I have more improvements than I am able to list below as entire clusters of problems have resolved for me. Waiting to discuss the medical opinion of why this happened with my doctor in a few months.

Details

  • Dosage 30mg
  • Source EDS Clinic
  • Last used <6mo ago
  • Times used 2-10 times
  • Insurance covered Yes
  • Cost per month $1-$99
Djeber G

Djeber G

@guest

No improvement, no side effects.

Chronic Illnesses: Dysautonomia POTS
Symptoms Treated: Dysautonomia - Moderate improvement - 1+ year

I tried Mestinon 60 mg/day after getting medical advice and reading some testimonials from the long Covid community. The medication is relatively safe and inexpensive, so it felt worth trying. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice any improvement, but at least there were no side effects.

Details

  • Dosage 60 mg
  • Source Médical prescription
  • Last used <6mo ago
  • Times used 11-50 times
  • Insurance covered No
  • Cost per month $1-$99
juul

juul

@juul

side effects

Chronic Illnesses: Long COVID
Symptoms Treated: Dysautonomia - Moderate improvement
Side Effects Experienced: Fatigue

My hrv improved while I was on it but it was too short of an experience to have other positive effects. I experienced too many side effects so had to stop. Just felt way more tired more malaise and leg cramps

Details

  • Dosage 60mg
  • Source Stichting cardiozorg
  • Last used 1+ years ago
  • Times used 2-10 times
  • Insurance covered Yes
  • Cost per month Free
Peach

Peach

@Peach [verified user]

Profound improvement of dysautonomia with tolerable side effects

Chronic Illnesses: Long COVID
Symptoms Treated: Dysautonomia - Major improvement
Side Effects Experienced: Bronchial Secretions

It significantly improved my tachycardia, lightheade­dness upon standing up, hypoglycemia, and cold/heat intolerance. It also really helped my MCAS. It does cause significant bronchial secretions so I always feel like I'm coming down with a chest cold, but I've managed to tune it out.

Details

  • Dosage 120mg/d
  • Last used <6mo ago
  • Insurance covered Yes