Let's be honest: hitting 40 came with a few unwelcome additions, and one of the biggest was a creeping sense of fatigue. I found myself reaching for coffee more often, feeling mentally slower by mid-afternoon, and recovery after a workout felt like it took days, not hours. I started researching everything under the sun, determined to find a way to get back some of that energy, trying to look like I slept, I remembered from my twenties. That's when I stumbled upon NAD+.

Before you tune out because it sounds too scientific, hear me out. NAD+ stands for Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide, but you just need to know what it does. I started thinking of it as the ultimate internal fuel source. NAD+ is critical for converting the food we eat into actual usable energy. It's the spark plug in your body's engine. If your levels are low, your energy production slows down, and that's exactly where that sluggish feeling comes from. It also powers the enzymes that go around fixing DNA damage and keeping cells resilient against stress. Think of it as the tiny maintenance crew that prevents wear and tear!

That’s when it hit me, as we age, our natural NAD+ levels take a serious dive. It's a key reason why everything seems to slow down. I wasn't suddenly lazier; my body simply wasn't fuelling itself as efficiently as it used to in my twenties. I investigated NAD+ supplements. But they all came in the form of capsules, and after dealing with "pill fatigue" for years, I just couldn't commit to adding another one to my morning routine. I was also sceptical, remembering my research on how much of a pill survives the stomach acid and liver to be useful.

My solution? I decided to try NAD+ patches. This was a complete game changer for me, there was no swallowing, no timing around meals and no concern over digestion. I simply peeled a patch, stuck it on a clean area of skin and forgot about it.

Have I noticed a difference? I have been using them for about 5 weeks now, I feel sharper with no midday slumps, and I don’t feel that I need to go to bed at 4pm each day. I have noticed a more sustained energy throughout the week, not a jolt of caffeine but a feeling of just being charged up. If you feel that you are struggling with that creeping fatigue in your 40’s or at any age, sick of adding another pill, capsule or powder to the already large stack, I recommend looking into adding a patch into your routine. For me, it was a no brainer, simpler yet effective. I finally feel like myself again, supporting my body and not disguising symptoms with temporary fixes.