I've heard/read that they are excellent for energy/recovery from exercise, others say that they are a total scam and don't work at all. Any experiences?

All LifeWave patches contain the LifeWave technology. The materials in the patches consist of a patent pending blend of water, oxygen, amino acids and organics applied to a polyester fabric and sealed within a polymer shell. The active materials are applied to a substrate so as to form a nano-scale organic antenna. When properly assembled, we believe that these LifeWave antennas are capable of passively communicating with the user to instruct or initiate various metabolic responses in the user.

Nano-scale organic antennas...hmmm. Now where did I put my tinfoil hat...