Positives

• One ME/CFS patient reported that pycnogenol (pine bark extract) had “the largest and most obvious immediate impact” of anything she had tried, describing a “fizzing” sensation that spread from her stomach throughout her body over about half an hour, followed by several hours of feeling “really really good” Phoenix Rising.
  
  
• A user combining pycnogenol with quercetin for pollen allergies described it as a “pretty good anti-oxidant” but reported it did not do much for her non-allergic ME/CFS symptoms Phoenix Rising.
  
  

Negatives

• A third patient reported that pycnogenol caused insomnia even when taken first thing in the morning, while grape seed extract (a chemically similar proanthocyanidin source) did not affect her sleep at all Phoenix Rising.
  
  
• A user developed a severe acne breakout on her face — “the likes of which I’ve never seen since I was a teenager” — after about two weeks on pycnogenol, with her skin clearing within a week of stopping it Phoenix Rising.
  
  

Hurdles & Side Effects

• Pine bark extract is an extract from the Maritime French Pine bark that forum members note increases healthy nitric oxide availability; this makes it relevant to ME/CFS and POTS hypotheses involving endothelial dysfunction, but also explains the insomnia side effect some users experience Phoenix Rising.