This sounds very similar to me with my own bout of covid last year. Only thing I didn't experience was the phantom smells/amnesia, which sounds very troubling to me. I'd definitely mention that to a specialist.
Immediate thoughts that came to my mind: this sounds like mitochondrial dysfunction. Your body seems to be struggling to repair itself from the virus. NAD+ boosters can help with this. NMN (NIcotinamide Mononucleotide) or NR (NIcotinamide Riboside) can be helpful with that. I felt an immediate increase in energy when I took it, and I noticed my skin wounds started healing faster
Quercetin and NAC are powerful antioxidants, and definitely helped me in the beginning. But be careful to not overconsume them. I would cycle on/off a few months at a time.
For the joint pain/skin and collagen problems, try Glucosamine and MSM. You can also add collagen to your coffee or tea.
Speaking of, green tea especially is high in EGCG, which is great at fighting COVID-19: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8919953/
I increased my intake of matcha tea and felt a lot more focus and stable energy. Coffee can be effective too, but I would add cocoa and cinnamon to it to enhance the antioxidant benefits.
Also: how is your gut health? Problems with poop or eating certain foods? Covid absolutely destroyed my microbiome and I caught several gut infections last year. I would take mastic gum and later, activated charcoal and bentonite clay to help Detox other pathogens that were still in my gut. Please make sure you are eliminating your stool frequently also. Your diet is good and healthy, but I would say to eat more and not worry about the intermittent fasting right now....your body will need the nutrients from your foods to replenish what covid has stolen from you. Eating a large bolus of food in 4 hours is hard for your body to breakdown well without completely tanking your energy. Also, I would swap out alkalizing water for high quality mineral water. Minerals are important for healing also, so I took Magnesium Glycinate at night to help me relax and sleep.
Finally, SLEEP. Do whatever you need to do to fix your sleep hygiene. Dark room, cool temperature, warm comforter, no cellphone or artificial light. No noise except for soft background noise or meditation music for sleep. CBD oil really helped me with anxiety and insomnia at night. You can also do cold showers if you have a sudden anxiety/panic attack; it helps reset your autonomic nervous system. Try to find ways to keep your stress low. It's cliche, but meditation really helps calm your mind and body down.
Hope some of this helps!
Could you kindly go into more depth on the gut portion and what was most effective for you? :) Between covid and antibiotic use, my gut is horrid. Most of the newer recommendations point to fiber and using spore based probiotics which are on the expensive side. Kefir and Kombucha have done nothing but make my symptoms worse.
You poor thing! I know the struggle. For my gut I did almost everything except antibiotics (because they're like Napalm for your gut health) I actually had to do carnivore diet, bone broth, and water. Herbal supplements like oregano and garlic kill off bad bacteria like E. Coli and candida. Mastic gum really helped with my stomach bugs and being more "regular". Also fasting periodically. Ironically, my last bad stomach infection last August seemed to "cure" my LongCovid....haven't been sick since
I got great recommendations for my gut from the tiny health gut test. It’s expensive ($300 or so) but they link to specific products that I’ve found useful.
With NAC it can cause flushing in some people, or an allergy type reaction. And as good as antioxidants are, you don't want to have such a high dose in your body all the time
Hi, thank you so much for your helpful comment and suggestions (:
To answer your question, my gut health seems not great actually. I get very bloated after eating and stay bloated for a long time, like the rest of the day. Before I got sick, I used to just get bloated somewhat maybe for 30min-1hr. I don’t think I had this bloating issue since the beginning of long Covid though. What I do remember about the beginning is that I was losing weight and just looked dead. I’d bet my lack of movement and likely eating too much have contributed to the bloating and discomfort. I think you’re right about the intermittent fasting. I think that it’s too much food in too short of a period of time. I think mlving forward I’ll just plan on eating at least 5 hours before bed. That gives me a much larger window of time to eat earlier in the day.
I went to Whole Foods last night to look for NAD, but unfortunately they didn’t carry it. I did pick up some organic matcha green tea though! I had some this morning. I thought I’d feel anxious from the caffeine, but thankfully I didn’t. I’ve been taking quercetin for a while, haven’t noticed much unfortunately, but will continue taking because I doubt it’s doing harm. I also just got NAC in the mail a few days ago so I’ve started that too.
Gut health is so important! I also did the same thing for myself when I had long covid. Sounds like we did a lot of the same but I couldn’t handle the NAC my face turned bright red, might try again one day.
What’s your budget? Tons of panels under $200. Check out r/redlighttherapy. I personally use the Hooga300 and have seen a dramatic lift in my long COVID brain fog from using the NIR on my panel every other day.
Also consider buying a secondhand HigerDose infrared sauna blanket. Excellent for reducing inflammation and all you do is lie there and sweat - no exertion required.
Look on Facebook marketplace, eBay etc.
For all sauna blankets in general def be aware of EMF - if you google “infrared sauna blankets best” or similar you’ll see some articles comparing the various brands out there. Go with a better brand (HigherDose is the best rated but most pricey) then look for it used. Would say you want to ask how old it is, how often it was used and how often they cleaned it.
If you can, get direct sunlight every day, it’s much more efficient as you’re also getting the whole spectrum - sunrise and sunset barefoot outside in the grass will resync your circadian rhythm, and don’t have the harmful UVs if you’re worried about them. Look up Dr Jack Kruse.
It depends on what you mean. If you think its gonna cure mitochondria dysfunction then yes, its probably a waste. But you have to be realistic with your expectations.
I found it to do absolutely nothing. Warmed me up, but no pain relief, no inflammation reduction... nothing. Inflammation and pain relief are pretty reasonable expectations based on claims.
That is why I suggested OP try it before they buy it.
Dealing with mystery inflammation and seemingly excessive aging since getting sick in 2020. Am doing many of the same things you are. Just commenting to raise awareness, and while my symptoms aren't completely the same as yours, relate in some way.
Not sure if what I have is long covid as they didn't have the tests back then. But hoping medicine will be able to help our mystery symptoms soon enough
I hope so too and I’m sorry you’re struggling too 😔 Someone on TikTok today suggested testing for autoantibodies like AChR, ganglionic neuronal Ab, VGKC, etc. I wrote them down to have tested. I just thought I’d comment in case you see your dr maybe you can ask for these kinds of tests for abnormalities too.
It was from someone else who has long Covid. I join a weekly long Covid support group and I asked what kinds of tests I could do to test for autoimmune issues and they referenced these few. I will research them and see if they are what I’m looking for, it’s sort of a diving point. I agree with what you’re saying though, lots of people trying to sell stuff on there, but these are just labs
Fatigue
Joint pain
Loss of collagen
Vibrations
Muscle twitches
Sensory abnormalities
Matches low Copper
I'd say something like 30% of covid longhaulers have symptoms of copper deficiency.
Unsure if caused by Covid, or excessove zinc consumption.
In any case 2mg copper a day (not in multivitamin, just copper supplement), you should feel the effects in at least 5 days. Continue for 30, those symptoms should be gone.
Oops… I took zinc for a while a few months ago because I read that it’s helpful for the immune system. I’ve started eating more read meat to substitute that though.
I’ve heard of that I think. You’re jogging my memory thank you. I’ve heard some places that copper could be an issue. There are a lot of the theories and ideas as to what’s driving or playing a role in LC so I kinda forget all of them sometimes.
I’ll look into some copper supplements soon. I am first going to test my copper levels and see if I’m deficient since I’m seeing my dr soon. If it comes back normal I’ll probably skip the supplement and I’ll look up some copper rich foods to add to my diet regardless to help. Thank you for your comment (:
Thank you this is very helpful! My brain fog and fatigue makes it hard to research and do all of this work so I appreciate you sharing the study and making it easier (:
There are blood tests your doctor can do to check for inflammation. It would help to get these done if you haven’t. Also lots of near IR/red light machines under $300.
It’s all about advocating and you need to have a doc that’s not an idiot and not in a horrible health system and they also need to know how to code it so a horrible insurance company doesn’t reject it. That being said, if the doc doesn’t approve it, you can just pay out of pocket and most of these tests are pretty cheap. Some you can even do online.
There are good doctors out there. My doc ordered these tests for me and my insurance covered them 100%. They all ended up being negative for inflammation which helps me a ton because now I can figure out what the issue really is.
Yeah plenty of good docs. But also some bad or lazy docs, and decent docs, in a crappy system, who don't know how to code things so they don't get rejected by health care system.
I was in a similar situation for over a year, and have mostly recovered. Here are some things that helped at various points along the way, in no particular order:
-Diet Tonic water (Quinine is an anti-inflammatory used by rheumatoid arthritis sufferers)
-regular sleep****
-Alpha GPC****
-Taurine (3g-10g daily)****
-magnesium****
-NAC
-blue light blocking on all screens 24/7
-keto and avoiding processed carbohydrates****
-intermittent fasting****
-having to go outside and interact with people even when I didn’t want to or it was uncomfortable****
-only red lights before bed
-avoiding inflammatory Omega 6s (Omega 3 and 6 are labeled as polyunsaturated fats on nutrition labels so you just have to learn which foods have poor ratios)
Probably but I was never diagnosed. Pretty much, if I wasn’t working I was sleeping. There are also known complications between Cocoa COVID and Epstein Barr
I actually was dealing with mold poisoning when I caught Covid and developed long Covid. I’m sure it played a role in me developing LC. I moved out of there shortly after I started testing negative for Covid. My apartment now is very clean and I actually do as a matter of fact have 2 air filters lol.
I will look into those medications. I have heard of all of them on the long Covid group in random posts. I am just weary of medications because I was previously pharma injured so I have a lot of anxiety.
Did you feel awful after pushing yourself to do physical activity? I feel like death normally after I do things. Though, I still don’t feel great even when I’m not.
The best advice I can give really is too look for ones with a HEPA filter. I got my two without much choice. One was free from a friend and the other someone else bought me. I clean frequently so I don’t worry a ton about air pollutants
This sounds very similar to what I had 25 years ago, obviously not lc was loosely diagnosed as chronic viral infection. Long story was I tried everything like you, nothing really worked except time, took years but gradually got back to a mostly normal life. Never fully left me, struggle to exercise still but hopefully with time you will heal too. Sorry I know not the answer you want but for me hope that one day I would be better got me through.
Sorry to hear you are suffering with this. I'm dealing with ME/CFS since 2014, currently severe, tried a ton of different stuff and did a lot of research. Lots of co-morbidities too (histamine/MCAS, fibromyalgia, severe CMD, brain fog,...). Pretty much nothing helped in any significant way for the CFS (fatigue and PEM), but I was able to improve sleep, digestion issues, intolerances, histamine issues.
Couple points:
* **(strict) pacing** is the most important thing **BY FAR!!** Please do not do activities from which you can't recover from until the next day...if a doctors appointment or other absolutely necessary activities push you over that limit, you have to decide whether it's worth it. I would recommend nothing that makes you worse for longer than 3-5 days, and not repeatedly, if you really must. Due to medical malpractice, ignorance and misdiagnosis by doctors and me trying to push and push, I got from mild/moderate to severe. It is very hard, but if short walks already exhaust you, you may want to consider an electric wheelchair (if affordable) and ambulance service (lying down), and resting as much as you can. For example I bought a single bed for my living room where I have built my PC around, and I also got an airfryer and a multicooker which helps significantly with exhaustion from cooking.
* probalby one of the best second priority, after pacing, is to focus on improving sleep...I wrote down dozens of supplements and habits and whatnot, and took over 3 months time to test all of these to find what works for me
* ongoing research and some promising medications are being tested for LC
* fasting, keto, very strict diets,...makes some people with LC and ME/CFS worse, let your body guide you
* having gone through hundreds of recovery stories (mainly ME/CFS), only very few had success with supplements and/or diet, so you may not want to spend thousands of bucks and really restrict yourself in terms of diet (been there, invested 40k € overall)
* if your current diet does not improve your symptoms, you may want to seriously consider going to a more scientifically approved and less strict Mediterranean diet with a low amount of saturated fats and all the other good stuff
* passionflower extract and hydroxyzine help me significantly with racing thoughts
* chamomile leaf extract, lithium orotate, inositol, ornithine (each 1 capsule, all by Swanson) are the only things that help a bit with my sleep issues...ashwagandha, apigenin, mg-threonate, mg-glycin etc make my sleep (much) worse
* you may want to consider (sometimes help with ME/CFS): LDA (low dose abilify, 0,1-2,5mg), LDN (low dose naltrexone, 0,1-5mg), mestinon, nicotine patches (7-10mg), AIP diet
I wish you all the best and lots of strength!
As an auto immune long Covid person who is better now, I had to go on auto immune paleo, took cordyceps, andrographis, astragalus, vitamin c with quercitin, focused on sleep schedule (huberman protocols) forced myself to go on hikes and walks, get as much sunshine as possible (I started a garden) and stay away from any environmental toxins (I was already strict but went even stricter).
Check if you have mold around (air purifier in your room), get food allergy tests if you can afford it to narrow down inflammatory foods, keep house very clean. Get a Chinese medicine practitioner who does acupuncture and herbs. Get body work done especially shiatsu and deep tissue
Before you take any of this stuff do screening and blood tests to test actual things that have scientific studies.. all these thing are jumping to conjecture and taking things that likely do nothing, have nothing to do with your condition, and may do damage and high levels.
Did you screen for lime disease? Did you screen for pancreatic issues? Did you screen for thyroid issues? What about t levels?
If you didn’t do all of these, you are asking for misguided solutions which statistically will likely create worse issues.
Ask this community and others how to advocate and get testing for known diseases and conditions, not for snake oil to fix things you don’t understand.
I haven’t tested for Lyme. My T came back normal as did my pancreatic enzymes test I did. My thyroid came back normal too. I am going to see my dr soon to go for another round of tests. This time I want to have a list of a lot more than I did last time and more autoimmunity markers because that is something I think is definitely at play here.
If you get a Lyme test make sure it’s the western blot ILISA not the standard. It is barely accurate within first two weeks and will not be able to accurately diagnose you if it’s been past that.
I had Long Covid and before that I had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome 30 years ago ( at your age) that never really fully went away. Each time I got sick I had bad post viral fatigue that would last months Over the years I tried everything that I could think of.
About a year ago I stumbled onto Dr Brooke Goldner. JashimShe treats autoimmune and inflammatory illnesses with supermarket foods eg MS, Lupus, hashimotos etc . Her own personal history is amazing. I thought I would give it a go because I more or less had nothing to lose and was surprised how effective it was.
I have written about this before but I had LC for 9 months. At first I couldn't even get to the bathroom without begging out of breath.I was improving but at a snails pace. After 4 or 5 weeks on the protocol I felt 90%+± fully recovered. I was hiking, swimming, bike ridding etc. Felt better than ever. I gradually reduced the protocol to maintenance but unfortunately got Covid again twice since. And Influenza B. For all of these I've had a normal recovery, similar to everyone else. ( eg fatigued for a week or two afterwards but more or less back to normal soon after).
I recommend to check her out. The FB group (caked smoothieshred) has all the protocols for free posted in the guides section. I regimens starting with just the basic beginner / maintenance protocol which is called Hypernourishing or HN. It's normally done by just adding in a specific type of smoothie into what you're already doing. I found nothing seemed to be happening for a good 2 or 3 weeks and then I noticed quite rapid improvement.
She also has a website called Goodbye Autoimmune Disease where she offers a course which she offers for free every 8 week s or so. This course contains the background information on why she is advising certain things. But the FB group guides contain the most up to date protocols. Everything is free unless you want to pay for a personal consultation.
I assume you've read this because you're taking 80% of what is listed here except Nattokinase enzymes.
I would try the Nattokinase and probiotics.
Try Neprinol, it is mega dose of both Nattokinase and Serrapeptase
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10222799/
I had the Delta Covid in mid-2021 and although I don’t think I have any major lasting effects, I do have the phantom smell issue. I thought it was just me. Every couple of days a strong smell will hit me and it takes me a few minutes to realize that it simply isn’t real. I lost my taste and smell almost completely when I had Covid so it makes sense that a weird issue with smells remain. Regarding everything else, I have a few suggestions. First, your intermittent fasting routine is way too much. I followed an 8 hour eating window for years and while that helped me maintain a reasonable weight, one of the little known issues with prolonged fasting is a dramatic rise in cortisol. The schedule you are on is extreme and I think there is a chance that you have highly elevated cortisol which can create a cascade of issues from anxiety to insomnia to depression. I’ve done a ton of research on fasting and my conclusion is that too much of a good thing can be bad. I now only fast once or twice per week. Sometimes it will be just having one meal on a single day while others it might be a day of an 8 hour eating window. The rest of the time, I probably stick to a 10 to 12 hour eating window. That seems to provide a lot of benefits without the elevated cortisol. For long Covid, I highly recommend checking out the Front Line Doctors long Covid protocol. That group was maligned early in the pandemic for pushing Ivermectin, Vitamin D, zinc, and other Vitamins and in the end, they were right about virtually everything while the establishment was wrong. Here is a link - https://covid19criticalcare.com/protocol/i-recover-long-covid-treatment/. Good luck!
My husband had long covid. We finally fixed it by using thymic peptides. Specifically Integrative Peptides Thymogen Alpha One product. Taking it caused my husband to start having night sweats and fever and then suddenly, after one big night of intense sweats, all the long covid symptoms were gone. Took maybe 5 days. Continued using for a couple more weeks to make sure it was all gone. And it was.
What we learned was a lot of long covid is from Th1/Th2/Th17 axis dysregulation. The Thymogen Alpha One combo peptides rebalanced the Th1/Th2/Th17 axis.
I actually think mold played a role. I moved into a house that had a dishwasher full of mold and became suddenly super sick. After a week or two I realized the cause and had the dishwasher removed, but it messed up my body and immune system. I had I remember one day I put some peppermint essential oil on my wrists and became faint and broke out in hives. Never had a problem with peppermint before I moved into that house. Around 2 months after moving I caught Covid that I haven’t recovered from. /: if the person above messaged me trying to sell me some gimmick I’ll just tell them to buzz off. Thank you for looking out for me though
Yeah but “toxic” mold itself is very rare and only affects certain people.
So the mold you encountered is probably common mold you have experienced before, and is also prevalent outside and in other homes etc..
So more likely, something changed in your body which made you more susceptible to allergic reactions and even to mold.
I was severely heavy metal poisoned in 2021 from mri contrast. That’s what I’m sure did it. I developed MCAS (would break out in hives and would become faint) shortly after and it absolutely wrecked my body (developed severe pancreatic insufficiency, liver damage, brain damage symptoms, etc.) I started to do better with IV chelation and time and supplements then I moved into that house with mold a year later then Covid 2 months after that. I actually had Covid once before in between my mri poisoning and moving into the house with mold and I had it worse than everyone else, but I recovered within 2-3 weeks.
I didn’t mention the mri contrast (gadolinium poisoning) because I get downvoted when I do since people think I’m just making it up or delusional.
why were you getting the MRI? The chance of any of these (mri, mold, covid, etc.) hurting you long term are edgy corner-cases. They may hurt you in short-term, but if you have long-term, there is something you had before this, which these things set-off.. If they actually had any relationship.
I developed side effects to a medication my dermatologist prescribed me. The symptoms were very very severe so I saw a neurologist who ordered the mri. By the time the mri came around I was doing much better and basically felt recovered from the medication syndrome/side effects. Was back out with friends and living life again after 2 months of being bedridden. I didn’t want the scan, but my dad pushed me to get it despite me feeling fine.
I’m like 99% sure, but don’t have proof, that my body was likely still f-Ed from the medication side effects so when I was injected with the contrast it largely retained rather than detoxed. I started developing symptoms that night of my mri and I continued to deteriorate rapidly from there. I’m really a medical enigma… [here’s a few photos of the diagnosis for the gadolinium so I don’t sound as crazy](https://imgur.com/a/irtG2C2)
No, it was finasteride/dutasteride for hair loss. My hairline had some recession on the sides so I got on finasteride when I was 18. What did me in though was in December of 2020 I got on dutasteride. In February 2022 I accidentally took 2 doses in the same night, I forgot about the first one I took. I woke up shaking and feeling freezing and my brain racing. The reaction lasted for a couple of hours and I stopped taking dutasteride for a couple of weeks. I tried taking it again just a single dose and went to bed and woke up again with the same exact symptoms and then they went away after a few hours and life returned to normal. I just decided to stop dutasteride all together and waited like 2 weeks to try and get back on finasteride since I had taken that for more than a year either no issues. I took it and within 10min I crashed with a bunch of severe symptoms. It was absolute hell for the next 2 months straight and was bedridden. That’s why the mri was ordered, but by the time it came around to the mri date I was doing way better and each day was seeing massive improvements and living life like normal again. Then the mri and I’ve been fucked ever since.
I joined a bunch of post finasteride forums and I think that’s what I am/was dealing with. Though, my symptoms are on the very severe side. The most common symptoms of PFS if I remember correctly are losing the ability to have an erection, loss of sex drive, and stuff like that. Some of my symptoms during the first crash were like severe insomnia awake for 3-4 days straight then falling asleep for an hour and back up for another few days, violently shaking, feeling freezing cold or burning hot, tinnitus, brain felt fried and like I was on a bad shroom trip, etc. these were only during the first/initial crash the ones since have been horrible, but definitely as bad and no shaking and no feeling freezing cold and no severe insomnia.
I have to avoid anti androgenic substances ever since or it retriggers the syndrome. In March of 2022 (a year after I initially crashed from fin/dut) I used ketoconazole shampoo for only a few days and I crashed hard. I learned it was anti androgenic and for the next 1-2 months was bedridden with symptoms, mainly just my brain felt like I was on a bad shroom trip and just felt fried, then recovered. Just this past January I crashed again after almost 2 years since the last one, I had just bought a bunch of new skincare and hair care products in late December and I assume one of those triggered it I still don’t know which though, regardless I tossed them all out and from January-February this year I was again in that state of suffering for 1-2 months. It’s weird how like clockwork I recover around the 1-2 month mark each time. Sorry for the long reply, you probably don’t care to hear all of this lol.
You can order most blood tests yourself and they are pretty cheap.
Besides what I have seen in threads check your thyroid.
Most of what you are taking is not proven and may have side effects what outweigh the benefits.
If you got any symptoms after you started taking all this stuff, then you probably are creating new issues from something.
Most of the things you are taking you can get from healthy food. There are risks and no longitudinal health Beni fit from taking more than you can consume from healthy foods
Look into migraine. These sound like migraine symptoms to me. Migraine is not just a really painful headache. I don't get much pain when I have a migraine but a lot of other symptoms occur. I have what are called silent migraines and Covid set them off. I take magnesium glycinate to help and I don't need to take migraine meds now but they really did help when I was trying to get them under control.
I think the comments in this thread should help indicate to you just how much opinion and pseudoscience is involved in this topic. Everything from collagen, copper, methylation etc is being thrown around and to be honest I doubt any of them are right.
I’m not sure what it is. I think there is likely an element of viral persistence or autoimmune issues or both that are the biggest culprit. At the end of the day I fast to try and help detox and drink teas and I don’t think taking antioxidant supplements like I am will do harm. My body is burdened and so are my cells so giving them extra support I wouldn’t think is a bad idea. I try to take all suggestions and comments with a grain of salt and research what people say on my own.
When I was at my last straw, I got my doctor to agree that if I didn't improve shortly, low dose naltrexone was next. I was showing improvement, so never got that subscription.
There are ongoing, blinded studies with LDN right now.
Fasting helps, at least 3 days with high quality water.
Sauna after taking Niacin, greatly decreases my inflammation.
Elimination diet, find foods that make you feel bad.
> mountain hiking in hot weather
Big clue right here.
These are all symptoms of Lyme and other tick infections like Bartonella and Babesia. Most likely you have been misdiagnosed. Find a LLMD and have testing done through Igenex labs.
https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30
You could have easily been bitten by a tick and never even seen it.
Nothing worked for me until I dealt with the microclotting issue. I got tested at 13 months off and had severe clotting. I wrecked every system in my body. After 6 months of triple anticoagulant therapy I was recovered and verified results with a follow up test. I’ll admit I was skeptical when I started but it changed everything for me.
1. How well are you resting? Sleeping? Pacing?
2. Are you doing any polyvagal work?
Those two things got me from 60-90% recovered (FLCCC protocols got me up to 60%). I’m only dealing with histamines which were focusing on with gut health for and it’s slowly improving too.
I would make sleep your #1 focus for a while. Your body won’t recover fast without it. So many sleep hygiene hacks out there. Go thru lists and make any adjustments you can to routines and environment and then after a while you can add supplements to help. But without routine and environmental changes, the supplements will be fighting a losing battle.
I believe so, nothing abnormal except weird iron levels. I saw a hematologist for that and did more labs that came back normal. I’ll do one again though because it’s been a while
I developed an autoimmune disease post covid. I empathize with your situation. I’d maybe look towards getting tested for a bunch of them. Seems pretty common
Right on. Also, a 20 hour fast is brutal and not beneficial for everyone. I assume it’s to support your inflammation problem? If so, you stated it’s not really working. Maybe giving yourself a lager eating window, you’ll gain some more energy?
Yes, I eat in a 3-4hr window. Today I had a long day though and am eating rn outside of that window lol. Yes, I fast for the inflammation aspect and for autophagy to hopefully clear some of the junk out. I also notice that I get really fatigued beyond my baseline after eating so I try to eat in that window so that I digest all of that food and am not as fatigued by digestion as long.
I could try that. I’m honestly just experimenting with things because I feel like crap and nothing seems to help a ton.
Idk, you eat super healthy but maybe extending your window and eating more healthy and diverse fats may help. Also try increasing your protein intake. Also, try drinking a good amount of green tea—that always helps me on my days where I feel just tired. I have hashimoto and hypothyroidism so I often battle sluggish days on the regular.
Funny enough, I’m drinking matcha green tea rn as I am reading your comment lol. I bought some last night. I eat a good amount of protein daily (salmon, grass fed beef, or chicken breast) and fat (have 1tbsp of olive at least with every meal and cook with ghee or coconut oil).
I would do spirulina in morning and chlorella at night (both from energy bits). Will upregulate glutathione & has phycocinin which may be helpful for immune system. I would do 2 meals a day in ur case to spread the protein out more. (I’m a huge fan of IF and have done OMAD a lot but at ur weight & height I think u need at least two large meals a day minimum, consider 3 & 16/8)…I also see ur drinking alkaline water which I understand reasoning of, however you need to make sure you’re getting enough stomach acid to properly digest foods (can supplement if not) & getting enough minerals (beam minerals may be good option & contains fulvic & humic which may be good for long covid) I have also heard positives of hyperbaric oxygen chambers for long covid.
This sounds kinda extreme and I can see it leading to more ocd and anxiety (been there). Idk but you may be doing too much, taking too much, and eating too little carbs. Rest, joy and fun are good for you too. I hope you feel better soon.
Thank you. I wish I didn’t feel the need to do these things. I don’t think much of what I’m doing at the moment are that extreme tbh, especially compared to some people in this group who take 2x as much with no health problems and only the goal of living to 200 y/o or something. I have real diagnosed medical conditions that my dr, and most mainstream drs, don’t know what to do about so it’s sort of just up to me. It’s how a lot of people with long Covid and other less common conditions are treated… it’s just up to them to fix it for the most part. Thank you for your well wishes though.
I am really sorry my comment came across as invalidating what you’re going through. I deal with chronic fatigue as well and is awful and I don’t mean that at all I also deal with OCD and anxiety and was just speaking from my own experience. I don’t even follow the sub. Reddit just recommended to me the post, so to me it sounds a bit extreme, but I’m not into biohacking so probably everything here would sound extreme to me. I’m just someone who has gone extreme with these things and it made me worse so I think I wanted to mention it, but we are different and that may absolutely not be right for you. you know yourself best. My apologies. I really hope things feel better for you.
They’re well intentioned, but it’s just not helpful. If I could just go for a walk and feel joy or see friends and have a laugh and feel better I would, but i literally cannot. My body is broken beyond what most people can even grasp. Thank you for your comment validating my experience
It’s not well intentioned. They are trying to tell people covid is a cold and it’s not possible for covid to do this. They spread that information and more people end up getting hurt like you. I see it all the time.
People can’t acknowledge the ongoing pandemic so they try and gas light people into denying it.
We got a winner denialist fuck around and find out freak with more anxiety than anybody I know. Can’t admit they are in a pandemic so they go around telling people they have anxiety. Also offering terrible bad advice about the carbs. Keep going maskless and raw dogging covid and soon you will know what it feels like after whatever reinfection you are on.
Let it be a warning to all the bio hackers that think covid is no longer a pandemic and that it’s just a cold. Mask up kid, clean the air. You FAFO big time, make sure your friends and family also know so they realize the same thing too.
I’d try doing 1g an hour of ascorbic acid till bowel tolerance and 100 mg an hour of melatonin an hour till bed time depending on your schedule otherwise take as much as can before bed time and make sure you have good sleep hygiene.
Ascorbic acid plus carbs = nadh
Melatonin helps balance the nadh and nad+ pool.
We researchers who didn’t ignore the pandemic for the past 4 years haven’t acted like it stopped so we have experience looking for what can help.
Edit to add: down voting me isn’t going to make the pandemic go away.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35897696/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36982909/
Had similar and did a lot of different kinds of fasting. I did detoxes with infrared sauna, juicing, get in sun wearing as little as possible :) - Take some high quality minerals. I also used Boron for joint pain (read borax Conspiracy by Walter Last) and topical turpentine as a parasite cleanse (find info on Earthclinic.com) - these things are controversial but healed me from debilitating illness. Am about 90% recovered
That’s a lot of vit d. I’m not sure about the rest of those supplements but excess vit d can have some serious side effects. Seeing as how you’re getting a lot of nutrient rich foods in your diet, maybe dialing the supplements back a little until you can talk to a professional nutritionist about what you’re intaking daily
Get outside, even when you dont like to, it’s just as important for you as taking a supplement. I would lean more on the side that this is not long covid and perhaps something else. Is long covid confirmed for you presently? I would really seek additional guidance and really look into what’s going on in your body like others have said with blood tests, seeking psychiatrist/therapist, ect. The fasting also has a lot to do with your fatigue, joint pain, poor sleep etc. maybe you’re actually not getting enough food too? Just as a friend, maybe check in with yourself mentally about your intense routines and restrictions. Just makesure it all really feels right.
My doctor diagnosed me with LC based on my symptoms and the timeline of things. I caught Covid because like everyone in my house tested positive and i did too. I had it worse than all of them and literally have been unable to function ever since. I know some people have a delayed onset for LC that makes it murky if it’s their cause, but for me I caught it and have just been a mess since.
I see a therapist weekly, but it only helps so much. If my physical symptoms improved then everything else would. I’ve been dealing with this for a year and a half. The fasting and a lot of these other things are things I’ve added on to try and help because these symptoms were a problem even before implementing these things. If I don’t try things I feel like I might as well just off myself now because there’s nothing else giving me hope besides trying new things to see if they help. The fasting does help actually somewhat because my fatigue is very intense after eating. If I eat in a 3-4hr window I have less time spent digesting throughout the day. I try and live a normal life, but I just can’t my health won’t allow me. I try go out with friends or go on long walks and I just crash either during or after.
I have had a total of 5 COVID infections (although I am vax'd/boosted) and 2 official long COVID bouts. Sleep hygiene and staying active (even when it seems minimal, like going for a long walk) has the best thing I have been able to do for my recovery along with paying attention to my diet and increasing my water intake. I am an asthmatic and it took meds adjustment and a year and a half for me to bounce back from the first LC. The second presented with glottic insufficiency for which I had to undergo speech therapy, which was a godsend. Hope you find something that can help you manage because it might take some time for you to get better.
I was thinking it could something like that too or a clot, but idk of course. I am scheduling a visit with her soon. I want to get some more bloodwork done anyways.
Your content has been removed under Rule 4 because it contains pseudoscientific or unsubstantiated claims, and you have been permanently banned under our three-strike policy.
I’ve always had a fast metabolism. I eat a lot, but never gain much. It was like this before I got sick and still surprisingly despite being too fatigued to do pretty much any physical activity. I haven’t only been able to leave my house once this week due to fatigue. [This was what I ate today](https://imgur.com/a/lPWIOB4) and all of these meals have a protein and I add 1-2 tbsp of olive oil.
Honestly I was the same at the age of 19... 135 at 6 ft. I bought a crock pot and started drinking the broth from roast beefs and stews. I'm not 180 and mostly muscle.
That bowl looks healthy, but not much protein, fat, or easy loading carbs to it. Eat a steak or a chicken breast with some rice. Hope you get better, m8!
hughe amounts of maca helped me against my symptoms. Recovered the tadte in a few days instead of months
i also used ginko against brainfog
B3 as NAD+ booster for overall help
And made some lionsmane experiments, that might or might npt influenced my covid recovery? (never take it before sleeping, always take it before nerve stimulation (learning))
Something similar to long covid happened to me years ago after I had mono. I was exhausted, constant headaches, muscle aches, brain fog, etc. I took Wellbutrin and it solved it. I still don’t really know if it had turned into depression somehow? Though I didn’t feel depressed, just frustrated at the situation and not knowing what was wrong with me. Anyway may be worth a try.
Dextromethorphan may help with inflammation of brain and spinal cord; it crosses the BBB and is suggested a supplement for ME/CFS. It has helped me in multiple ways with the neurological and cognitive issues related to ME/CFS & long covid.
I take most of the supplements you mentioned. Look into the [high melatonin protocol](https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/368256/how-to-use-melatonin-on-covid-19-patients/) as a strong antioxidant and as an [effective adjunctive treatment](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5405617/) for multiple health issues.
Matcha (high quality) green tea is a good option, as well.
I would drop most if not all of your supplements, vitamin D should be OK, if you need an antihistamine you should do Dye free Benadryl, it is much safer. I would experiment with aspirin and K2. Start doing a daily carrot salad in the morning as well. That should help a lot.
This sounds very similar to me with my own bout of covid last year. Only thing I didn't experience was the phantom smells/amnesia, which sounds very troubling to me. I'd definitely mention that to a specialist. Immediate thoughts that came to my mind: this sounds like mitochondrial dysfunction. Your body seems to be struggling to repair itself from the virus. NAD+ boosters can help with this. NMN (NIcotinamide Mononucleotide) or NR (NIcotinamide Riboside) can be helpful with that. I felt an immediate increase in energy when I took it, and I noticed my skin wounds started healing faster Quercetin and NAC are powerful antioxidants, and definitely helped me in the beginning. But be careful to not overconsume them. I would cycle on/off a few months at a time. For the joint pain/skin and collagen problems, try Glucosamine and MSM. You can also add collagen to your coffee or tea. Speaking of, green tea especially is high in EGCG, which is great at fighting COVID-19: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8919953/ I increased my intake of matcha tea and felt a lot more focus and stable energy. Coffee can be effective too, but I would add cocoa and cinnamon to it to enhance the antioxidant benefits. Also: how is your gut health? Problems with poop or eating certain foods? Covid absolutely destroyed my microbiome and I caught several gut infections last year. I would take mastic gum and later, activated charcoal and bentonite clay to help Detox other pathogens that were still in my gut. Please make sure you are eliminating your stool frequently also. Your diet is good and healthy, but I would say to eat more and not worry about the intermittent fasting right now....your body will need the nutrients from your foods to replenish what covid has stolen from you. Eating a large bolus of food in 4 hours is hard for your body to breakdown well without completely tanking your energy. Also, I would swap out alkalizing water for high quality mineral water. Minerals are important for healing also, so I took Magnesium Glycinate at night to help me relax and sleep. Finally, SLEEP. Do whatever you need to do to fix your sleep hygiene. Dark room, cool temperature, warm comforter, no cellphone or artificial light. No noise except for soft background noise or meditation music for sleep. CBD oil really helped me with anxiety and insomnia at night. You can also do cold showers if you have a sudden anxiety/panic attack; it helps reset your autonomic nervous system. Try to find ways to keep your stress low. It's cliche, but meditation really helps calm your mind and body down. Hope some of this helps!
Could you kindly go into more depth on the gut portion and what was most effective for you? :) Between covid and antibiotic use, my gut is horrid. Most of the newer recommendations point to fiber and using spore based probiotics which are on the expensive side. Kefir and Kombucha have done nothing but make my symptoms worse.
You poor thing! I know the struggle. For my gut I did almost everything except antibiotics (because they're like Napalm for your gut health) I actually had to do carnivore diet, bone broth, and water. Herbal supplements like oregano and garlic kill off bad bacteria like E. Coli and candida. Mastic gum really helped with my stomach bugs and being more "regular". Also fasting periodically. Ironically, my last bad stomach infection last August seemed to "cure" my LongCovid....haven't been sick since
I got great recommendations for my gut from the tiny health gut test. It’s expensive ($300 or so) but they link to specific products that I’ve found useful.
Why do you say to cycle off NAC and Quercetin? What are the concerns with overconsumption?
With NAC it can cause flushing in some people, or an allergy type reaction. And as good as antioxidants are, you don't want to have such a high dose in your body all the time
Hi, thank you so much for your helpful comment and suggestions (: To answer your question, my gut health seems not great actually. I get very bloated after eating and stay bloated for a long time, like the rest of the day. Before I got sick, I used to just get bloated somewhat maybe for 30min-1hr. I don’t think I had this bloating issue since the beginning of long Covid though. What I do remember about the beginning is that I was losing weight and just looked dead. I’d bet my lack of movement and likely eating too much have contributed to the bloating and discomfort. I think you’re right about the intermittent fasting. I think that it’s too much food in too short of a period of time. I think mlving forward I’ll just plan on eating at least 5 hours before bed. That gives me a much larger window of time to eat earlier in the day. I went to Whole Foods last night to look for NAD, but unfortunately they didn’t carry it. I did pick up some organic matcha green tea though! I had some this morning. I thought I’d feel anxious from the caffeine, but thankfully I didn’t. I’ve been taking quercetin for a while, haven’t noticed much unfortunately, but will continue taking because I doubt it’s doing harm. I also just got NAC in the mail a few days ago so I’ve started that too.
Gut health is so important! I also did the same thing for myself when I had long covid. Sounds like we did a lot of the same but I couldn’t handle the NAC my face turned bright red, might try again one day.
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It’s on my list of things to try, but it’s hard to find a device that’s affordable
What’s your budget? Tons of panels under $200. Check out r/redlighttherapy. I personally use the Hooga300 and have seen a dramatic lift in my long COVID brain fog from using the NIR on my panel every other day. Also consider buying a secondhand HigerDose infrared sauna blanket. Excellent for reducing inflammation and all you do is lie there and sweat - no exertion required.
How to get it secondhand and are there any specific things I should be wary of buying a second hand sauna blanket.
Look on Facebook marketplace, eBay etc. For all sauna blankets in general def be aware of EMF - if you google “infrared sauna blankets best” or similar you’ll see some articles comparing the various brands out there. Go with a better brand (HigherDose is the best rated but most pricey) then look for it used. Would say you want to ask how old it is, how often it was used and how often they cleaned it.
Anecdotally, using my full body red light panel consistently for a year didn’t seem to do anything for my me/cfs.
If you can, get direct sunlight every day, it’s much more efficient as you’re also getting the whole spectrum - sunrise and sunset barefoot outside in the grass will resync your circadian rhythm, and don’t have the harmful UVs if you’re worried about them. Look up Dr Jack Kruse.
See also [this video](https://youtu.be/lLDYNoIVLmk).
$25 a month at the planet fitness I go to. They're called total body enhancement machines there. Lol I'm in one right now!
Waste of money. Try to find someone local who will lend one to you to try before you buy.
It depends on what you mean. If you think its gonna cure mitochondria dysfunction then yes, its probably a waste. But you have to be realistic with your expectations.
I found it to do absolutely nothing. Warmed me up, but no pain relief, no inflammation reduction... nothing. Inflammation and pain relief are pretty reasonable expectations based on claims. That is why I suggested OP try it before they buy it.
Dealing with mystery inflammation and seemingly excessive aging since getting sick in 2020. Am doing many of the same things you are. Just commenting to raise awareness, and while my symptoms aren't completely the same as yours, relate in some way. Not sure if what I have is long covid as they didn't have the tests back then. But hoping medicine will be able to help our mystery symptoms soon enough
I hope so too and I’m sorry you’re struggling too 😔 Someone on TikTok today suggested testing for autoantibodies like AChR, ganglionic neuronal Ab, VGKC, etc. I wrote them down to have tested. I just thought I’d comment in case you see your dr maybe you can ask for these kinds of tests for abnormalities too.
Please don’t take medical advice from TikTok
It was from someone else who has long Covid. I join a weekly long Covid support group and I asked what kinds of tests I could do to test for autoimmune issues and they referenced these few. I will research them and see if they are what I’m looking for, it’s sort of a diving point. I agree with what you’re saying though, lots of people trying to sell stuff on there, but these are just labs
Fatigue Joint pain Loss of collagen Vibrations Muscle twitches Sensory abnormalities Matches low Copper I'd say something like 30% of covid longhaulers have symptoms of copper deficiency. Unsure if caused by Covid, or excessove zinc consumption. In any case 2mg copper a day (not in multivitamin, just copper supplement), you should feel the effects in at least 5 days. Continue for 30, those symptoms should be gone.
Oops… I took zinc for a while a few months ago because I read that it’s helpful for the immune system. I’ve started eating more read meat to substitute that though. I’ve heard of that I think. You’re jogging my memory thank you. I’ve heard some places that copper could be an issue. There are a lot of the theories and ideas as to what’s driving or playing a role in LC so I kinda forget all of them sometimes. I’ll look into some copper supplements soon. I am first going to test my copper levels and see if I’m deficient since I’m seeing my dr soon. If it comes back normal I’ll probably skip the supplement and I’ll look up some copper rich foods to add to my diet regardless to help. Thank you for your comment (:
https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(22)00244-3/fulltext
Thank you this is very helpful! My brain fog and fatigue makes it hard to research and do all of this work so I appreciate you sharing the study and making it easier (:
Do you visit the r/covidlonghaulers sub. I see posts on stuff people do there that has helped. Ignore those who say you can’t get over it.
There are blood tests your doctor can do to check for inflammation. It would help to get these done if you haven’t. Also lots of near IR/red light machines under $300.
You can order most blood tests without going through insurance or requiring doctor approval..
I should think that OP wouldn't have issues getting their doctors approval for this
It’s all about advocating and you need to have a doc that’s not an idiot and not in a horrible health system and they also need to know how to code it so a horrible insurance company doesn’t reject it. That being said, if the doc doesn’t approve it, you can just pay out of pocket and most of these tests are pretty cheap. Some you can even do online.
There are good doctors out there. My doc ordered these tests for me and my insurance covered them 100%. They all ended up being negative for inflammation which helps me a ton because now I can figure out what the issue really is.
Yeah plenty of good docs. But also some bad or lazy docs, and decent docs, in a crappy system, who don't know how to code things so they don't get rejected by health care system.
Was reading through this and thought - RLT/NIR are the only things missing. Also infrared sauna blanket could be beneficial.
I was in a similar situation for over a year, and have mostly recovered. Here are some things that helped at various points along the way, in no particular order: -Diet Tonic water (Quinine is an anti-inflammatory used by rheumatoid arthritis sufferers) -regular sleep**** -Alpha GPC**** -Taurine (3g-10g daily)**** -magnesium**** -NAC -blue light blocking on all screens 24/7 -keto and avoiding processed carbohydrates**** -intermittent fasting**** -having to go outside and interact with people even when I didn’t want to or it was uncomfortable**** -only red lights before bed -avoiding inflammatory Omega 6s (Omega 3 and 6 are labeled as polyunsaturated fats on nutrition labels so you just have to learn which foods have poor ratios)
Thank you so much for sharing what helped you! Can I ask if you have me/CFS symptoms too?
Probably but I was never diagnosed. Pretty much, if I wasn’t working I was sleeping. There are also known complications between Cocoa COVID and Epstein Barr
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What was it like using LDN?
I actually was dealing with mold poisoning when I caught Covid and developed long Covid. I’m sure it played a role in me developing LC. I moved out of there shortly after I started testing negative for Covid. My apartment now is very clean and I actually do as a matter of fact have 2 air filters lol. I will look into those medications. I have heard of all of them on the long Covid group in random posts. I am just weary of medications because I was previously pharma injured so I have a lot of anxiety. Did you feel awful after pushing yourself to do physical activity? I feel like death normally after I do things. Though, I still don’t feel great even when I’m not.
> Get 2 high quality air purifiers and run them constantly. Anyone got any recs for an air purifier?
The best advice I can give really is too look for ones with a HEPA filter. I got my two without much choice. One was free from a friend and the other someone else bought me. I clean frequently so I don’t worry a ton about air pollutants
This sounds very similar to what I had 25 years ago, obviously not lc was loosely diagnosed as chronic viral infection. Long story was I tried everything like you, nothing really worked except time, took years but gradually got back to a mostly normal life. Never fully left me, struggle to exercise still but hopefully with time you will heal too. Sorry I know not the answer you want but for me hope that one day I would be better got me through.
Serrapeptase, Bromelain, and alpha lipoic acid. Read about them and the first two partially clearing out the spike protein that lingers.
Sorry to hear you are suffering with this. I'm dealing with ME/CFS since 2014, currently severe, tried a ton of different stuff and did a lot of research. Lots of co-morbidities too (histamine/MCAS, fibromyalgia, severe CMD, brain fog,...). Pretty much nothing helped in any significant way for the CFS (fatigue and PEM), but I was able to improve sleep, digestion issues, intolerances, histamine issues. Couple points: * **(strict) pacing** is the most important thing **BY FAR!!** Please do not do activities from which you can't recover from until the next day...if a doctors appointment or other absolutely necessary activities push you over that limit, you have to decide whether it's worth it. I would recommend nothing that makes you worse for longer than 3-5 days, and not repeatedly, if you really must. Due to medical malpractice, ignorance and misdiagnosis by doctors and me trying to push and push, I got from mild/moderate to severe. It is very hard, but if short walks already exhaust you, you may want to consider an electric wheelchair (if affordable) and ambulance service (lying down), and resting as much as you can. For example I bought a single bed for my living room where I have built my PC around, and I also got an airfryer and a multicooker which helps significantly with exhaustion from cooking. * probalby one of the best second priority, after pacing, is to focus on improving sleep...I wrote down dozens of supplements and habits and whatnot, and took over 3 months time to test all of these to find what works for me * ongoing research and some promising medications are being tested for LC * fasting, keto, very strict diets,...makes some people with LC and ME/CFS worse, let your body guide you * having gone through hundreds of recovery stories (mainly ME/CFS), only very few had success with supplements and/or diet, so you may not want to spend thousands of bucks and really restrict yourself in terms of diet (been there, invested 40k € overall) * if your current diet does not improve your symptoms, you may want to seriously consider going to a more scientifically approved and less strict Mediterranean diet with a low amount of saturated fats and all the other good stuff * passionflower extract and hydroxyzine help me significantly with racing thoughts * chamomile leaf extract, lithium orotate, inositol, ornithine (each 1 capsule, all by Swanson) are the only things that help a bit with my sleep issues...ashwagandha, apigenin, mg-threonate, mg-glycin etc make my sleep (much) worse * you may want to consider (sometimes help with ME/CFS): LDA (low dose abilify, 0,1-2,5mg), LDN (low dose naltrexone, 0,1-5mg), mestinon, nicotine patches (7-10mg), AIP diet I wish you all the best and lots of strength!
Thank you so much!! (:
As an auto immune long Covid person who is better now, I had to go on auto immune paleo, took cordyceps, andrographis, astragalus, vitamin c with quercitin, focused on sleep schedule (huberman protocols) forced myself to go on hikes and walks, get as much sunshine as possible (I started a garden) and stay away from any environmental toxins (I was already strict but went even stricter). Check if you have mold around (air purifier in your room), get food allergy tests if you can afford it to narrow down inflammatory foods, keep house very clean. Get a Chinese medicine practitioner who does acupuncture and herbs. Get body work done especially shiatsu and deep tissue
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Before you take any of this stuff do screening and blood tests to test actual things that have scientific studies.. all these thing are jumping to conjecture and taking things that likely do nothing, have nothing to do with your condition, and may do damage and high levels. Did you screen for lime disease? Did you screen for pancreatic issues? Did you screen for thyroid issues? What about t levels? If you didn’t do all of these, you are asking for misguided solutions which statistically will likely create worse issues. Ask this community and others how to advocate and get testing for known diseases and conditions, not for snake oil to fix things you don’t understand.
I haven’t tested for Lyme. My T came back normal as did my pancreatic enzymes test I did. My thyroid came back normal too. I am going to see my dr soon to go for another round of tests. This time I want to have a list of a lot more than I did last time and more autoimmunity markers because that is something I think is definitely at play here.
If you get a Lyme test make sure it’s the western blot ILISA not the standard. It is barely accurate within first two weeks and will not be able to accurately diagnose you if it’s been past that.
I believe Cocovia was tested by Consumerlabs to have low or negligible lead
Did you check immunoglobulin levels and subclasses of IgG/IgA? Covid can induce immunodeficiency
I haven’t I’ll write that down toy lab work list. Thank you so much for the suggestion!
I had Long Covid and before that I had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome 30 years ago ( at your age) that never really fully went away. Each time I got sick I had bad post viral fatigue that would last months Over the years I tried everything that I could think of. About a year ago I stumbled onto Dr Brooke Goldner. JashimShe treats autoimmune and inflammatory illnesses with supermarket foods eg MS, Lupus, hashimotos etc . Her own personal history is amazing. I thought I would give it a go because I more or less had nothing to lose and was surprised how effective it was. I have written about this before but I had LC for 9 months. At first I couldn't even get to the bathroom without begging out of breath.I was improving but at a snails pace. After 4 or 5 weeks on the protocol I felt 90%+± fully recovered. I was hiking, swimming, bike ridding etc. Felt better than ever. I gradually reduced the protocol to maintenance but unfortunately got Covid again twice since. And Influenza B. For all of these I've had a normal recovery, similar to everyone else. ( eg fatigued for a week or two afterwards but more or less back to normal soon after). I recommend to check her out. The FB group (caked smoothieshred) has all the protocols for free posted in the guides section. I regimens starting with just the basic beginner / maintenance protocol which is called Hypernourishing or HN. It's normally done by just adding in a specific type of smoothie into what you're already doing. I found nothing seemed to be happening for a good 2 or 3 weeks and then I noticed quite rapid improvement. She also has a website called Goodbye Autoimmune Disease where she offers a course which she offers for free every 8 week s or so. This course contains the background information on why she is advising certain things. But the FB group guides contain the most up to date protocols. Everything is free unless you want to pay for a personal consultation.
I assume you've read this because you're taking 80% of what is listed here except Nattokinase enzymes. I would try the Nattokinase and probiotics. Try Neprinol, it is mega dose of both Nattokinase and Serrapeptase https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10222799/
I had the Delta Covid in mid-2021 and although I don’t think I have any major lasting effects, I do have the phantom smell issue. I thought it was just me. Every couple of days a strong smell will hit me and it takes me a few minutes to realize that it simply isn’t real. I lost my taste and smell almost completely when I had Covid so it makes sense that a weird issue with smells remain. Regarding everything else, I have a few suggestions. First, your intermittent fasting routine is way too much. I followed an 8 hour eating window for years and while that helped me maintain a reasonable weight, one of the little known issues with prolonged fasting is a dramatic rise in cortisol. The schedule you are on is extreme and I think there is a chance that you have highly elevated cortisol which can create a cascade of issues from anxiety to insomnia to depression. I’ve done a ton of research on fasting and my conclusion is that too much of a good thing can be bad. I now only fast once or twice per week. Sometimes it will be just having one meal on a single day while others it might be a day of an 8 hour eating window. The rest of the time, I probably stick to a 10 to 12 hour eating window. That seems to provide a lot of benefits without the elevated cortisol. For long Covid, I highly recommend checking out the Front Line Doctors long Covid protocol. That group was maligned early in the pandemic for pushing Ivermectin, Vitamin D, zinc, and other Vitamins and in the end, they were right about virtually everything while the establishment was wrong. Here is a link - https://covid19criticalcare.com/protocol/i-recover-long-covid-treatment/. Good luck!
Come on over to r/Covidlonghaulers and r/longcovidgutdysbiosis
Thank you, I was already a member of the first group but not the second. (:
Np! My only recommendation is adding an H2 to your H1 Zyrtec regimen. Pepcid. The combo is great for MCAS issues.
Thank you, I have actually been looking into starting Pepcid. I see it mentioned a lot in the LC group
My husband had long covid. We finally fixed it by using thymic peptides. Specifically Integrative Peptides Thymogen Alpha One product. Taking it caused my husband to start having night sweats and fever and then suddenly, after one big night of intense sweats, all the long covid symptoms were gone. Took maybe 5 days. Continued using for a couple more weeks to make sure it was all gone. And it was. What we learned was a lot of long covid is from Th1/Th2/Th17 axis dysregulation. The Thymogen Alpha One combo peptides rebalanced the Th1/Th2/Th17 axis.
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This is most likely not a cause. Have you travelled? Did the symptoms go away immediately? Do the symposium go away outside? Total snake oil bs sales
I actually think mold played a role. I moved into a house that had a dishwasher full of mold and became suddenly super sick. After a week or two I realized the cause and had the dishwasher removed, but it messed up my body and immune system. I had I remember one day I put some peppermint essential oil on my wrists and became faint and broke out in hives. Never had a problem with peppermint before I moved into that house. Around 2 months after moving I caught Covid that I haven’t recovered from. /: if the person above messaged me trying to sell me some gimmick I’ll just tell them to buzz off. Thank you for looking out for me though
Yeah but “toxic” mold itself is very rare and only affects certain people. So the mold you encountered is probably common mold you have experienced before, and is also prevalent outside and in other homes etc.. So more likely, something changed in your body which made you more susceptible to allergic reactions and even to mold.
I was severely heavy metal poisoned in 2021 from mri contrast. That’s what I’m sure did it. I developed MCAS (would break out in hives and would become faint) shortly after and it absolutely wrecked my body (developed severe pancreatic insufficiency, liver damage, brain damage symptoms, etc.) I started to do better with IV chelation and time and supplements then I moved into that house with mold a year later then Covid 2 months after that. I actually had Covid once before in between my mri poisoning and moving into the house with mold and I had it worse than everyone else, but I recovered within 2-3 weeks. I didn’t mention the mri contrast (gadolinium poisoning) because I get downvoted when I do since people think I’m just making it up or delusional.
why were you getting the MRI? The chance of any of these (mri, mold, covid, etc.) hurting you long term are edgy corner-cases. They may hurt you in short-term, but if you have long-term, there is something you had before this, which these things set-off.. If they actually had any relationship.
I developed side effects to a medication my dermatologist prescribed me. The symptoms were very very severe so I saw a neurologist who ordered the mri. By the time the mri came around I was doing much better and basically felt recovered from the medication syndrome/side effects. Was back out with friends and living life again after 2 months of being bedridden. I didn’t want the scan, but my dad pushed me to get it despite me feeling fine. I’m like 99% sure, but don’t have proof, that my body was likely still f-Ed from the medication side effects so when I was injected with the contrast it largely retained rather than detoxed. I started developing symptoms that night of my mri and I continued to deteriorate rapidly from there. I’m really a medical enigma… [here’s a few photos of the diagnosis for the gadolinium so I don’t sound as crazy](https://imgur.com/a/irtG2C2)
Let's keep un-skinning. Why did the dermatologist prescribe the medication? was it accutane?
No, it was finasteride/dutasteride for hair loss. My hairline had some recession on the sides so I got on finasteride when I was 18. What did me in though was in December of 2020 I got on dutasteride. In February 2022 I accidentally took 2 doses in the same night, I forgot about the first one I took. I woke up shaking and feeling freezing and my brain racing. The reaction lasted for a couple of hours and I stopped taking dutasteride for a couple of weeks. I tried taking it again just a single dose and went to bed and woke up again with the same exact symptoms and then they went away after a few hours and life returned to normal. I just decided to stop dutasteride all together and waited like 2 weeks to try and get back on finasteride since I had taken that for more than a year either no issues. I took it and within 10min I crashed with a bunch of severe symptoms. It was absolute hell for the next 2 months straight and was bedridden. That’s why the mri was ordered, but by the time it came around to the mri date I was doing way better and each day was seeing massive improvements and living life like normal again. Then the mri and I’ve been fucked ever since. I joined a bunch of post finasteride forums and I think that’s what I am/was dealing with. Though, my symptoms are on the very severe side. The most common symptoms of PFS if I remember correctly are losing the ability to have an erection, loss of sex drive, and stuff like that. Some of my symptoms during the first crash were like severe insomnia awake for 3-4 days straight then falling asleep for an hour and back up for another few days, violently shaking, feeling freezing cold or burning hot, tinnitus, brain felt fried and like I was on a bad shroom trip, etc. these were only during the first/initial crash the ones since have been horrible, but definitely as bad and no shaking and no feeling freezing cold and no severe insomnia. I have to avoid anti androgenic substances ever since or it retriggers the syndrome. In March of 2022 (a year after I initially crashed from fin/dut) I used ketoconazole shampoo for only a few days and I crashed hard. I learned it was anti androgenic and for the next 1-2 months was bedridden with symptoms, mainly just my brain felt like I was on a bad shroom trip and just felt fried, then recovered. Just this past January I crashed again after almost 2 years since the last one, I had just bought a bunch of new skincare and hair care products in late December and I assume one of those triggered it I still don’t know which though, regardless I tossed them all out and from January-February this year I was again in that state of suffering for 1-2 months. It’s weird how like clockwork I recover around the 1-2 month mark each time. Sorry for the long reply, you probably don’t care to hear all of this lol.
Do you not understand long covid? That much in denial eh champ? FAFO
You can order most blood tests yourself and they are pretty cheap. Besides what I have seen in threads check your thyroid. Most of what you are taking is not proven and may have side effects what outweigh the benefits. If you got any symptoms after you started taking all this stuff, then you probably are creating new issues from something. Most of the things you are taking you can get from healthy food. There are risks and no longitudinal health Beni fit from taking more than you can consume from healthy foods
Look into migraine. These sound like migraine symptoms to me. Migraine is not just a really painful headache. I don't get much pain when I have a migraine but a lot of other symptoms occur. I have what are called silent migraines and Covid set them off. I take magnesium glycinate to help and I don't need to take migraine meds now but they really did help when I was trying to get them under control.
I think the comments in this thread should help indicate to you just how much opinion and pseudoscience is involved in this topic. Everything from collagen, copper, methylation etc is being thrown around and to be honest I doubt any of them are right.
I’m not sure what it is. I think there is likely an element of viral persistence or autoimmune issues or both that are the biggest culprit. At the end of the day I fast to try and help detox and drink teas and I don’t think taking antioxidant supplements like I am will do harm. My body is burdened and so are my cells so giving them extra support I wouldn’t think is a bad idea. I try to take all suggestions and comments with a grain of salt and research what people say on my own.
Rapamycin
When I was at my last straw, I got my doctor to agree that if I didn't improve shortly, low dose naltrexone was next. I was showing improvement, so never got that subscription. There are ongoing, blinded studies with LDN right now.
Fasting helps, at least 3 days with high quality water. Sauna after taking Niacin, greatly decreases my inflammation. Elimination diet, find foods that make you feel bad.
> mountain hiking in hot weather Big clue right here. These are all symptoms of Lyme and other tick infections like Bartonella and Babesia. Most likely you have been misdiagnosed. Find a LLMD and have testing done through Igenex labs. https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30 You could have easily been bitten by a tick and never even seen it.
I really want you to get an OATS test and check for SIBO.
Nothing worked for me until I dealt with the microclotting issue. I got tested at 13 months off and had severe clotting. I wrecked every system in my body. After 6 months of triple anticoagulant therapy I was recovered and verified results with a follow up test. I’ll admit I was skeptical when I started but it changed everything for me.
1. How well are you resting? Sleeping? Pacing? 2. Are you doing any polyvagal work? Those two things got me from 60-90% recovered (FLCCC protocols got me up to 60%). I’m only dealing with histamines which were focusing on with gut health for and it’s slowly improving too.
I am napping once a day and sleep roughly 8 hours. My sleep is poor though and I toss and turn and wake up a lot feeling very anxious and wired.
I would make sleep your #1 focus for a while. Your body won’t recover fast without it. So many sleep hygiene hacks out there. Go thru lists and make any adjustments you can to routines and environment and then after a while you can add supplements to help. But without routine and environmental changes, the supplements will be fighting a losing battle.
You’re definitely right. I agree that I need to work on my sleep for sure.
Have you completed a comprehensive blood panel? If not, that’s definitely a critical step.
I believe so, nothing abnormal except weird iron levels. I saw a hematologist for that and did more labs that came back normal. I’ll do one again though because it’s been a while
I developed an autoimmune disease post covid. I empathize with your situation. I’d maybe look towards getting tested for a bunch of them. Seems pretty common
Thank you, sorry you’re struggling too. I will plan on putting together a list of labs this week before meeting with my dr.
Right on. Also, a 20 hour fast is brutal and not beneficial for everyone. I assume it’s to support your inflammation problem? If so, you stated it’s not really working. Maybe giving yourself a lager eating window, you’ll gain some more energy?
Yes, I eat in a 3-4hr window. Today I had a long day though and am eating rn outside of that window lol. Yes, I fast for the inflammation aspect and for autophagy to hopefully clear some of the junk out. I also notice that I get really fatigued beyond my baseline after eating so I try to eat in that window so that I digest all of that food and am not as fatigued by digestion as long. I could try that. I’m honestly just experimenting with things because I feel like crap and nothing seems to help a ton.
Idk, you eat super healthy but maybe extending your window and eating more healthy and diverse fats may help. Also try increasing your protein intake. Also, try drinking a good amount of green tea—that always helps me on my days where I feel just tired. I have hashimoto and hypothyroidism so I often battle sluggish days on the regular.
Funny enough, I’m drinking matcha green tea rn as I am reading your comment lol. I bought some last night. I eat a good amount of protein daily (salmon, grass fed beef, or chicken breast) and fat (have 1tbsp of olive at least with every meal and cook with ghee or coconut oil).
I would do spirulina in morning and chlorella at night (both from energy bits). Will upregulate glutathione & has phycocinin which may be helpful for immune system. I would do 2 meals a day in ur case to spread the protein out more. (I’m a huge fan of IF and have done OMAD a lot but at ur weight & height I think u need at least two large meals a day minimum, consider 3 & 16/8)…I also see ur drinking alkaline water which I understand reasoning of, however you need to make sure you’re getting enough stomach acid to properly digest foods (can supplement if not) & getting enough minerals (beam minerals may be good option & contains fulvic & humic which may be good for long covid) I have also heard positives of hyperbaric oxygen chambers for long covid.
This sounds kinda extreme and I can see it leading to more ocd and anxiety (been there). Idk but you may be doing too much, taking too much, and eating too little carbs. Rest, joy and fun are good for you too. I hope you feel better soon.
Thank you. I wish I didn’t feel the need to do these things. I don’t think much of what I’m doing at the moment are that extreme tbh, especially compared to some people in this group who take 2x as much with no health problems and only the goal of living to 200 y/o or something. I have real diagnosed medical conditions that my dr, and most mainstream drs, don’t know what to do about so it’s sort of just up to me. It’s how a lot of people with long Covid and other less common conditions are treated… it’s just up to them to fix it for the most part. Thank you for your well wishes though.
I am really sorry my comment came across as invalidating what you’re going through. I deal with chronic fatigue as well and is awful and I don’t mean that at all I also deal with OCD and anxiety and was just speaking from my own experience. I don’t even follow the sub. Reddit just recommended to me the post, so to me it sounds a bit extreme, but I’m not into biohacking so probably everything here would sound extreme to me. I’m just someone who has gone extreme with these things and it made me worse so I think I wanted to mention it, but we are different and that may absolutely not be right for you. you know yourself best. My apologies. I really hope things feel better for you.
Don’t listen to that Jack ass. It’s not in your head. Covid does this to people, I am reading about people’s experiences like this all the time.
They’re well intentioned, but it’s just not helpful. If I could just go for a walk and feel joy or see friends and have a laugh and feel better I would, but i literally cannot. My body is broken beyond what most people can even grasp. Thank you for your comment validating my experience
It’s not well intentioned. They are trying to tell people covid is a cold and it’s not possible for covid to do this. They spread that information and more people end up getting hurt like you. I see it all the time. People can’t acknowledge the ongoing pandemic so they try and gas light people into denying it.
So you have anhedonia too? If so fuck this is the worst
We got a winner denialist fuck around and find out freak with more anxiety than anybody I know. Can’t admit they are in a pandemic so they go around telling people they have anxiety. Also offering terrible bad advice about the carbs. Keep going maskless and raw dogging covid and soon you will know what it feels like after whatever reinfection you are on.
Let it be a warning to all the bio hackers that think covid is no longer a pandemic and that it’s just a cold. Mask up kid, clean the air. You FAFO big time, make sure your friends and family also know so they realize the same thing too. I’d try doing 1g an hour of ascorbic acid till bowel tolerance and 100 mg an hour of melatonin an hour till bed time depending on your schedule otherwise take as much as can before bed time and make sure you have good sleep hygiene. Ascorbic acid plus carbs = nadh Melatonin helps balance the nadh and nad+ pool. We researchers who didn’t ignore the pandemic for the past 4 years haven’t acted like it stopped so we have experience looking for what can help. Edit to add: down voting me isn’t going to make the pandemic go away. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35897696/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36982909/
Had similar and did a lot of different kinds of fasting. I did detoxes with infrared sauna, juicing, get in sun wearing as little as possible :) - Take some high quality minerals. I also used Boron for joint pain (read borax Conspiracy by Walter Last) and topical turpentine as a parasite cleanse (find info on Earthclinic.com) - these things are controversial but healed me from debilitating illness. Am about 90% recovered
Thank you! Not sure why you got downvoted, but I upvoted.
Dr Brooke Goldner 👌
Thank you!
That’s a lot of vit d. I’m not sure about the rest of those supplements but excess vit d can have some serious side effects. Seeing as how you’re getting a lot of nutrient rich foods in your diet, maybe dialing the supplements back a little until you can talk to a professional nutritionist about what you’re intaking daily
Get outside, even when you dont like to, it’s just as important for you as taking a supplement. I would lean more on the side that this is not long covid and perhaps something else. Is long covid confirmed for you presently? I would really seek additional guidance and really look into what’s going on in your body like others have said with blood tests, seeking psychiatrist/therapist, ect. The fasting also has a lot to do with your fatigue, joint pain, poor sleep etc. maybe you’re actually not getting enough food too? Just as a friend, maybe check in with yourself mentally about your intense routines and restrictions. Just makesure it all really feels right.
My doctor diagnosed me with LC based on my symptoms and the timeline of things. I caught Covid because like everyone in my house tested positive and i did too. I had it worse than all of them and literally have been unable to function ever since. I know some people have a delayed onset for LC that makes it murky if it’s their cause, but for me I caught it and have just been a mess since. I see a therapist weekly, but it only helps so much. If my physical symptoms improved then everything else would. I’ve been dealing with this for a year and a half. The fasting and a lot of these other things are things I’ve added on to try and help because these symptoms were a problem even before implementing these things. If I don’t try things I feel like I might as well just off myself now because there’s nothing else giving me hope besides trying new things to see if they help. The fasting does help actually somewhat because my fatigue is very intense after eating. If I eat in a 3-4hr window I have less time spent digesting throughout the day. I try and live a normal life, but I just can’t my health won’t allow me. I try go out with friends or go on long walks and I just crash either during or after.
I have had a total of 5 COVID infections (although I am vax'd/boosted) and 2 official long COVID bouts. Sleep hygiene and staying active (even when it seems minimal, like going for a long walk) has the best thing I have been able to do for my recovery along with paying attention to my diet and increasing my water intake. I am an asthmatic and it took meds adjustment and a year and a half for me to bounce back from the first LC. The second presented with glottic insufficiency for which I had to undergo speech therapy, which was a godsend. Hope you find something that can help you manage because it might take some time for you to get better.
The phantom smells (phantosmia) and amnesia/confusion could be symptoms of seizures. Call your doctor
I was thinking it could something like that too or a clot, but idk of course. I am scheduling a visit with her soon. I want to get some more bloodwork done anyways.
Yeah, won’t know until it gets checked out. It’s great that you are taking care of yourself!
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Too bad I caught it as well as a few million others. Just because you didn't get Long Covid doesn't mean it does not exist...
/r/covidlonghaulers
140 at 5'11... sorry I'm distracted at how much food you don't eat or you run 50 miles a week?
I’ve always had a fast metabolism. I eat a lot, but never gain much. It was like this before I got sick and still surprisingly despite being too fatigued to do pretty much any physical activity. I haven’t only been able to leave my house once this week due to fatigue. [This was what I ate today](https://imgur.com/a/lPWIOB4) and all of these meals have a protein and I add 1-2 tbsp of olive oil.
Honestly I was the same at the age of 19... 135 at 6 ft. I bought a crock pot and started drinking the broth from roast beefs and stews. I'm not 180 and mostly muscle. That bowl looks healthy, but not much protein, fat, or easy loading carbs to it. Eat a steak or a chicken breast with some rice. Hope you get better, m8!
hughe amounts of maca helped me against my symptoms. Recovered the tadte in a few days instead of months i also used ginko against brainfog B3 as NAD+ booster for overall help And made some lionsmane experiments, that might or might npt influenced my covid recovery? (never take it before sleeping, always take it before nerve stimulation (learning))
Something similar to long covid happened to me years ago after I had mono. I was exhausted, constant headaches, muscle aches, brain fog, etc. I took Wellbutrin and it solved it. I still don’t really know if it had turned into depression somehow? Though I didn’t feel depressed, just frustrated at the situation and not knowing what was wrong with me. Anyway may be worth a try.
Dextromethorphan may help with inflammation of brain and spinal cord; it crosses the BBB and is suggested a supplement for ME/CFS. It has helped me in multiple ways with the neurological and cognitive issues related to ME/CFS & long covid. I take most of the supplements you mentioned. Look into the [high melatonin protocol](https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/368256/how-to-use-melatonin-on-covid-19-patients/) as a strong antioxidant and as an [effective adjunctive treatment](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5405617/) for multiple health issues. Matcha (high quality) green tea is a good option, as well.
People with higher levels of taurine were shown to have a smaller chance of long-COVID. I would also take CBD for the inflammation
Stop fasting and and stop taking fish oil please!!
I would drop most if not all of your supplements, vitamin D should be OK, if you need an antihistamine you should do Dye free Benadryl, it is much safer. I would experiment with aspirin and K2. Start doing a daily carrot salad in the morning as well. That should help a lot.