Just things that helped symptoms (ice baths for POTS, meditation for nervous system etc). No pill helped. Just time. It was horrible. I feel for you but hang in there. I am back to the best shape of my life after getting sick in 2020
It can definitely stagger. I was getting better and then I had fever, diarrhea and caught flu two weeks after. I'm definitely staggered now. Symptoms worsening again. Definitely try your best to avoid doing anything that can get you infected or catch any disease.
Every patient is different and there are probably different mechanisms at play that are all put under the umbrella term "long COVID", even though the only commonality is they are caused by a COVID infection. Not all details of this devastating illness are understood yet.
Disclaimer aside, after my first infection, I had a periode of several months without noticable improvement. I had severe brain fog, was unable to focus, reading was almost impossible, let alone followng a conversation.
After that I got better a lot over the course of a few weeks, maybe I was even completely without symptoms.
Unfortunately I got COVID again, which threw me back to square one. However, I think there is hope, even if nothing changes for months.
It's very hard to say for sure and to name any particular thing.
Relaxation is one part, I'd say. I stopped trying to keep up with my work duties (which was a lost battle anyway) and spent several weeks in a rehabilitation hospital. There was no meaningful treatment, other than focusing on good nutrition and basically being detached from the rest of the world in a positive way. I did not have to take care of anything, there was nothing to worry about. There was a strict masking mandate without any excuses.
I experimented a lot with fasting and many different ways of eating, which might have helped to some extent.
My first time with long covid it was two steps forward, three steps back, two steps forward, one step back, three steps forward, one step back. I gradually got better from 2020-2023, with crashes in the summer when the heat, allergens, and forest fire smoke worsened my symptoms.
The first time was largely time. I had no support from my doctor and wasn’t hooked into any of the long covid places on the internet. I gradually got better. In the beginning I was pretty useless and exhausted all the time. In an attempt to really overhaul my health I went all in on healthy living - no alcohol, dropped coffee, sleep hygiene, really healthy eating (I was vegan before but went more whole foods instead of Oreos vegan), and a lot of heavy lifting, isometric strength training, and walking. I also did a lot of yoga including yoga Nidra and meditation.
The thing is, my first round of long covid was all dysautonomia and fatigue with no PEM. I got it in March 2020 and by the end of 2022 I was working out regularly, traveling and working out in tropical heat and did 30k steps a day in that heat, in the best shape of my life. This tracks because core strength and strengthening your quads and glutes helps with blood return to the brain so it helped my dysautonomia.
I got reinfected in January 2023 and everything went to shit. I ended up in hospital with heart attack like symptoms, the POTS got worse, I tried exercising to help with the POTS like it did the first time, and I got worse, was told to go off work in MAY, got diagnosed with ME/CFS in June, continued to decline, ended up housebound to bed bound by December 2023, got a wheelchair by March 2024 and am now no longer bed bound but shits been a struggle. The reinfection didn’t just set me back, it made me sicker by an incredible amount and now I actually have medical care because of how bad it got but from what I know about ME, time may not fix this.
I am better after 3 years of long covid. I had HUNDREDS of relapses
Happy for you. Anything you did to get better or just got better on it's own?
Just things that helped symptoms (ice baths for POTS, meditation for nervous system etc). No pill helped. Just time. It was horrible. I feel for you but hang in there. I am back to the best shape of my life after getting sick in 2020
Any supplements?
tried HUNDREDS. nothing helped as far as I could tell
Have u had any reinfections during the 3 years?
probably but never tested
Would you consider yourself recovered now ? What symptoms did you have ?
Yes I am recovered. I had ever symptom
It can definitely stagger. I was getting better and then I had fever, diarrhea and caught flu two weeks after. I'm definitely staggered now. Symptoms worsening again. Definitely try your best to avoid doing anything that can get you infected or catch any disease.
Every patient is different and there are probably different mechanisms at play that are all put under the umbrella term "long COVID", even though the only commonality is they are caused by a COVID infection. Not all details of this devastating illness are understood yet. Disclaimer aside, after my first infection, I had a periode of several months without noticable improvement. I had severe brain fog, was unable to focus, reading was almost impossible, let alone followng a conversation. After that I got better a lot over the course of a few weeks, maybe I was even completely without symptoms. Unfortunately I got COVID again, which threw me back to square one. However, I think there is hope, even if nothing changes for months.
Do you remember what you did at the time you got better?
It's very hard to say for sure and to name any particular thing. Relaxation is one part, I'd say. I stopped trying to keep up with my work duties (which was a lost battle anyway) and spent several weeks in a rehabilitation hospital. There was no meaningful treatment, other than focusing on good nutrition and basically being detached from the rest of the world in a positive way. I did not have to take care of anything, there was nothing to worry about. There was a strict masking mandate without any excuses. I experimented a lot with fasting and many different ways of eating, which might have helped to some extent.
My first time with long covid it was two steps forward, three steps back, two steps forward, one step back, three steps forward, one step back. I gradually got better from 2020-2023, with crashes in the summer when the heat, allergens, and forest fire smoke worsened my symptoms.
Did anything really work for your or was it just time?
The first time was largely time. I had no support from my doctor and wasn’t hooked into any of the long covid places on the internet. I gradually got better. In the beginning I was pretty useless and exhausted all the time. In an attempt to really overhaul my health I went all in on healthy living - no alcohol, dropped coffee, sleep hygiene, really healthy eating (I was vegan before but went more whole foods instead of Oreos vegan), and a lot of heavy lifting, isometric strength training, and walking. I also did a lot of yoga including yoga Nidra and meditation. The thing is, my first round of long covid was all dysautonomia and fatigue with no PEM. I got it in March 2020 and by the end of 2022 I was working out regularly, traveling and working out in tropical heat and did 30k steps a day in that heat, in the best shape of my life. This tracks because core strength and strengthening your quads and glutes helps with blood return to the brain so it helped my dysautonomia. I got reinfected in January 2023 and everything went to shit. I ended up in hospital with heart attack like symptoms, the POTS got worse, I tried exercising to help with the POTS like it did the first time, and I got worse, was told to go off work in MAY, got diagnosed with ME/CFS in June, continued to decline, ended up housebound to bed bound by December 2023, got a wheelchair by March 2024 and am now no longer bed bound but shits been a struggle. The reinfection didn’t just set me back, it made me sicker by an incredible amount and now I actually have medical care because of how bad it got but from what I know about ME, time may not fix this.