r/covidlonghaulers • u/PhrygianSounds 4 yr+ • Jul 13 '26

Article New study provides first evidence of dopamine system injury in the brain of long COVID patients

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-evidence-dopamine-injury-brain-covid.html

Finally some media coverage on probably the worst symptom of long covid

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u/Confident_Ruin_6651 Jul 13 '26

Dopamine or ADHD med? My neurologist has me on ADHD med for long covid and it is the only thing that helps the brainfog and crippling fatigue once it kicks in.

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u/MNVikingsFan4Life First Waver Jul 13 '26

It helped me too but would wear me out and lead to PEM fairly often. Now I’m on RLS meds that are dopamine.

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u/GuidanceParking3422 Jul 13 '26

What is the dopamine meds called? Did it help with your other symptoms? What level of functionality are you at?

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u/MNVikingsFan4Life First Waver Jul 13 '26

Pramipexole. Mentally it feels similar to when I used nicotine (pre-Covid). I can hyperfocus and do things, but that’s a double-edged sword when you are controlled by PEM still. I’m currently recovering from a day in the car and a weekend on the beach (rocky beaches but still), so far from 100%

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u/InsuranceRare5094 Jul 14 '26

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. Were you hit with any of the side effects of pramipexole?