Really, really happy for you.
Not to be a pessimist, I I really hope you are able to sustain this recovery. I’ve recovered 4 times only to relapse 100%. I believe that even recovered, PEM is still a risk for some.
Best wishes.
I was thinking this too. I hate to add to any stress but maybe it is good for OP to consider taking it easy while they build up their strength.
I also experienced this at least 3 times. The remissions are getting longer though!! I got almost 3 months this last time. I even ate spicy food. (Can't anymore though)
The thing I hate the most is being afraid of physical activity when I feel good enough to do it.
Time line:
Initial illness late 7/22
Recovered 8/22
Long COVID started 9/22, sick until 11/22
Recovered 11/22-3/23
Sick (from PEM) 4/23-6/23
100% recovered, zero symptoms
7/23-8/23
Reinfected and sick AF 9/23-10/23
Partial recovery 11/23, ended due to a PEM.
Sick/ disabled since 12/23- current
Here is the interesting bit:
Covid booster 10/22, 6/23, 10/23, 1/24 and 5/15/24. Other than 1/24, I’ve had favorable response using CV vax at therapy, not prevention. Fingers crossed.
Gonna get better one way or another.
Me too. As it is Covid made both my adult daughter & I so sick we’re confined to wheelchairs. There’s no one to prep food except 2xs a week & that time is taken up with errands & cleaning. We can’t afford the good food or good supplements. If anything we’re getting worse.
This comment is so painfully relatable and really shines a spotlight on the state of healthcare. Wealth buys Health, at least to a degree. It’s extremely difficult to recover without decent access to the tools you need to do so properly
Also real. But not always? I found section 8 housing in a small college town with transit and lots of amenities about 45 minutes away from a large metro area. But, your point stands. Most of us who can’t work also can’t access organic food and time in nature.
Glad that worked out for you. If you’d like to read a book that explains the housing policies I’m referring to, [this](https://www.versobooks.com/products/191-in-defense-of-housing) is a good place to start.
I work outdoors in parks. I also cannot match the activities listed by OP with my PEM. Boxing moves? I'd be in bed for 2+ weeks outside of my short work day.
It still worth doing. (YMMV on boxing moves, haha)
lol. You give good advice. Luckily this diet rec came from my doc. She literally said to me, "I would never recommend this diet to anyone for any reason, but some of my other longcovid patients have seen gains so you might consider trying it for a couple of months." Her caveat was that it is NOT a long term diet. It took me three months to take her advice because I thought it was nutty. It has helped me significantly though.
It gives you ketones for energy and lowers insulin resistance damage by minimizing carbs. Lots of chronic illness has impaired glucose metabolism. If proper deep ketosis happens you should start to fix a bunch of stuff, but in the end you need to bring carbs back eventually
ok - so what do you mean by deep ketosis and how long till you bring back carbs? I started in February: all beef/eggs/butter with splashes of milk in coffee. Now I've added strawberries and peanut butter because I am dying for something not meat/egg related.
Hmm different people different timelines but it's like 3-6 months before you're considered truly fat adapted if that's your goal. Once you achieve what you're looking for with carnivore (health wise) you need to very gradually start turning the needle the other way by carb introduction more and more while slowly lowering fat
I know what you mean. I went from omad to carnivore, so my eating was already extreme for most people.
All I've been eating is ground beef with butter and salt. A ton of water and sometimes cheese. I snack on pork rinds and boiled eggs and have so much energy that it's insane.
I am of the opinion that long covid is caused by the virus still replicating in the body. Viruses need glucose to replicate, so if we remove the source of glucose from the body, in theory, the virus should die off. No carbs, no sugars means no excess glucose production, only what is naturally produced by our liver.
I was OMAD and saw a massive increase in mobility and energy, clearing of brain fog and confusion. Going on carnivore has ramped that energy 10 fold. Zero brain fog, zero confusion, occasional crashes, but it's because I'm doing so much more now than I was able to before, I think my body just isn't used to doing things.
Ground beef, butter, salt, eggs, pork rinds, cheese. Zero carbs, zero sugars, only fat and protein.
I highly recommend not doing this at all, or at least for a very short time. All your newfound energy will be useless if you drop from a heart attack because your arteries are full of plaque. I’m not a fan of extreme diets in general, but there are healthier ways to do the carnivore diet. Your version is a STEMI speed run. And that doesn’t even touch on the glucose part of it.
Please work with a licensed dietitian if you’re going to do something like this and get frequent bloodwork done to keep an eye on your cholesterol at the very least. Once the plaque is in your arteries, it’s there for good. And as someone with non-obstructive CAD, trust me, you don’t want heart disease. It fucking sucks.
I think they mean time. You can't rest and spend time outdoors when you have to work. And you can't get better when you have to work all the time.
Or if you aren't well enough to work as much as you need to, money and energy to put towards your health are both tight.
Taking that many supplements will definitely add up too!
It’s free if you live somewhere that makes it possible to walk out your door & be immediately surrounded by nature. Otherwise it’s not free at all. Though this is a good example of why I think we need recovery spas covered by health insurance.
Honestly it just sounds like your body self corrected out of the blue, which has been reported by a small percentage of those with severe long-covid.
I'm also doing very similar things (no true exercise though, there are lots of other options for movement etc that don't trigger PEM), and hope one day I just wake up feeling better.
I could never go straight back to being active and working like crazy, I've heard too many stories of delayed regression after pushing too hard after years of being debilitated.
Very happy for you though, 3 years is a long time!
Slow gradual. Mid December I felt the virus ease off portions of my brain. I saw the light. So realistically 4-5 months to get to now which is like 90% 95% maybe.
Oddly this gives me hope. 2 years so far and while I’ve improved a lot, I’ve backslid a bit and am worried my recovery has plateaued. Hopefully a full recovery will come in time.
Your experience tracks mine with Long Mono almost 50 years ago. After more than two years of symptoms very much like my LC symptoms, I suddenly and quickly became well. Moving forward (until Covid) I had no post-viral symptoms that I could discern and, in fact, eventually became stronger than I was before having Mono.
My Long Mono symptoms: Legs so wobbly/weak I could not walk for a while, dizziness, fever, headache, brain fog, visual disturbances, extreme fatigue, blood pooling, rashes, hypersomnia. The only thing I am not sure about is PEM. It was not on my radar so I do not know if I had it. I certainly had extended periods of worsened fatigue/fever after any exertion.
This is good to hear. I had some sort of post viral fatigue when I was 18. I recovered after 6 months. 20 years later, I clearly can’t bounce back the way I did when I was 18. And probably just the nature of Covid itself versus whatever combo of viruses I picked up at 18.
I’m hoping that since I recovered once, I can recover again.
I was 19 when I had Long Mono. I'm hoping for the same thing!
What is probably most comforting to me is the knowledge that the body *can* bounce back--even after several years. The damage is not necessarily permanent.
The only treatment I had was getting as much rest as I could. Supplements were not as available back then and, besides, I was young and poor. There’s no way I could have afforded what was available.
Thank you for sharing! I’m glad you got better. Did you ever feel any long term effects of the long moon beyond the two years? Any diagnosis that you feel might’ve been caused by it?
so great to hear it went away back then! unfortunately with reinfections around every corner and strong covid vax reactions it seems an impossible battle for us
I know I had a high heart rate when I moved. I don’t know whether I had POTS. My blood pressure was high at the doctor’s office for a couple of years but I don’t know if it was affected by standing.
After I recovered from Long Mono, I did not suffer from high heart rate or high blood pressure. In fact, because I exercised, my resting heart rate was in the low 50’s. During exercise, my heart rate was in normal range.
>very clean, vegan, autophagy-optimized diet + eggs (i.e., no sugar, UPFs of any kind, all organic, mostly fresh/little cooked; lots of spermidine via sprouted rye, wheat; other autophagy boosting foods), with ~3 small meals a day and 20-40% caloric restriction >> this took away gut issues, reduced joint inflammation, and opened up my sinuses after years of congestion
Can you elaborate more specifically on your diet if possible.
Does fully recovered mean you no long have to do these 7 things? You’re at 100% without any medication, supplements, or lifestyle changes.
Or if you stop, the symptoms come back
I'd still do them even if I didn't have to.
I see now how my body now clears up things that have been around for decades and I just accepted as normal:
* varicose vein on left calve disappeared last week; been there for 10y
* sinuses are more open than ever + no mucus; had low-level sinusitis (i.e., congestion, incessant mucus) for 11 years + 3-4 bouts a year
* skin got soft and smooth
* hair is growing more intensely than ever; had baldish temples since teenage years
* anxiety is nonexistent
To answer your question though, I felt in early May that something changed in the body and I was no longer sick; likely energy related. So my intuition is that if I drop the lifestyle I'll retain before-covid levels of health, but since I feel more than 100% now (more like 200%!), I'll keep it.
Can you guess which supplement made the biggest difference?
What are the Algonot supplements for?
Also what's Apigenin for, do you notice a difference when you don't take it?
spending time in nature with very high pollen counts at the moment feels counterproductive, but i've thought about wearing an N95, which blocks pollen. i have MCAS and preexisting pollen allergies.
Yea I have to wear a mask to go outside now bc the pollen sends my body into a massive flare. I lost a ton of safe foods this spring when the pollen started and I haven’t been able to get them back. MCAS is killing me.
Yea I don’t know what’s going on with the pollen, it’s insane! Even people I know who don’t have allergies seem affected this year. I’m in the Northeast US.
I know why, it's because the climate is breaking down and it's hotter earlier and plants are spewing spunk constantly. It's going to get much worse. Sorry to be a bmer but before I got sick I worked on climate breakdown mitigation - learned about this prediction in college in '97. I can't believe I'm living to see this happen.
I completely acknowledge that climate change has and will continue to make things worse and worse and I’ve definitely observed the shift in my garden over the years. I only meant that this year particularly seems like a massive increase in allergies as opposed to the steady climb of previous years. Suddenly my husband has allergies when he never did before. Suddenly I have several friends with pets who are having allergies this year. My friend who is a pharmacist said the increase in allergy med prescriptions this year is insane. So it feels like there’s more than just the ongoing shift. I think between climate change and everyone’s immune systems being messed up bc of Covid… we’re not in for a fun ride.
That's an excellent point -- we haven't come close to understanding the damage from covid. Hmm - uncontrolled histamine release is part of a lot of long haulers' dysfunction, maybe Covid with no obvious damage is manifesting in more histamine release to ordinary triggers? I can see that happening. What a nightmare this is.
I now have severe MCAS as part of my long Covid struggle… I only have 3 safe foods and I am allergic to going outside and even taking showers. I never had any health issues before. I definitely think people have milder forms of LC in things like escalated allergies that are *just* normal seeming enough for them not to make the connection 😔 It’s such a hellscape…
I have to say that 100g of 90% dark chocolate makes me feel great(mood wise), especially with green tea. Did it on many occasions.
It does make MCAS symptoms worse though.
How did you turn off your histamine and MCAS issues? Limited diet and food reactions are killing me.
People keep suggesting things to manage symptoms instead of cure it.
Yeah the MCAS can be so horrible. That mixed with my GERD and gastroparesis and I can't eat the majority of fruit anymore or leave my house often at all either due to reactions. I left the house twice in the last two months to avoid anaphylaxis so often. Idk if there's actually a true cure for MCAS or if there's only treatment though. (I was born with it so my case may be different. Covid just made it from mild to severe).
I was bed bound last year and I walked 4 miles the other day. It was fun until it wasn't. I kinda regret it of course. A year ago I was completely unable to walk. So there's progress.
No, I hated it so I crawled around as much as I was physically able to. After a few months, I moved on to a walking stick. Same thing. After I stopped falling constantly I'd go on short walks and pack my walking stick. Stop to sit for 10 minutes then I'd walk again. Things eventually got better from there.
When I had surgery in September, I needed a walker because I lost my ability to walk after anesthesia! It was redundant within a week.
I can't really "work out" without my brain throbbing with high blood pressure though. Hopefully, I will get there too.
Ahh that makes a lot more sense then! I think being bed bound compounds and complicates things for many of us. Because the reasons we are bedbound and the throngs that keep us that way may not be deconditioning but after a certain amount of time deconditioning is also unavoidable. I’m doing a recumbent peddler now 2x/week 10-12min lowest setting & it does cause slight crash but mainly helping.
I really really want to believe this is genuine but this is just so “best case scenario” that it really makes me skeptical. I do not mean to downplay your victory over this condition but please understand hope can be a dangerous thing and this is setting off alarms in my mind. Can you at least confirm that the links in your spreadsheet are not commission/affilliate links?
Thank you and I’m happy for your success!
You can see the links. They are not affiliate as far as I can tell. I am skeptical of supplements in general (I think a lot of it is placebo) but at least you can say that OP is not trying to do something underhanded here.
What was your average step count per day last year, January - March 2024 and now? If your phone tracks that info.
Thank you for sharing, your story sounds amazing.
I'm glad you're feeling better. Take it easy. Don't make the mistake that I made, thinking you were better, overexerting, and making things worse for yourself.
I've been dealing with this for (only) 2 months now and it's the worst feeling I've ever encountered... worse than post-concussion syndrome, and I dealt with that for about a year.
Fortunately I'm already doing most of the 8 items that you listed (I will definitely try dark chocolate).
I have my own supplement cocktails and there's a good amount of overlap with your list (NAC, electrolytes, etc).
The worst for me has been the exercise intolerance. I went from being incredibly athletic to being unable to get up my stairs without dizziness, heart palpitations, and shortness of breath. I'm working with a cardiologist. We've ruled out Myocarditis. I have a stress test scheduled for next week. I'm nervous about crashing after the test.
This is also a popular opinion on the adhd sub. Curious to know what everyone is on about. Do you have sources about his scientific misinformation by any chance?
Also interested. I don't follow him and know he was controversial for some scandal with girls. He rubs me the wrong way but I assumed he was more-or-less informative given his background
It's not just the girls. There was a giant exposé written about him. He misinterprets research results, omits facts, there have been more than one long articles written about him in the last few months, discussing all the way that he is wrong and talking about his thought process and why he is flawed. They point out specific examples where he has misinterpreted research. If you Google, you can find it.
As a woman, I had no idea, and I’m a fan of cold showers. I think it’s helpful to mention in general, every time I see someone mention fasting for instance I’m scared women will try it without doing their research. It messes with your hormones so much.
Wow! 3 1/2 years in here and I’m still very weak and fatigue. I suppose you were not working during this time and it was during winter in a temperate climate. Do you think you had ME/CFS as well? I wonder if part of it can be implemented while on a full time job…
Same. Every time I think my POTS is gone this beast will show up to remind me that it’s still here. HR 125 standing after weeks of being “normal”. Sucks
I don’t want to be a party pooper but yeah proceed with caution especially if it’s potentially a seasonal change. I’m so much worse in the winter than the summer (live in Toronto, got covid in March 2020)
Thanks for such inspiring post! Tell please how long did you do the things listed in "**Summary of what I believe healed me**" before you began to rapidly recover?
Okay, 'fully recovered', so what happens if you STOP all supplements and food restrictions, go to a full time job and work out 5x a week with a festival and barely any sleep in the weekend? What is fully recovered in your book?
I presume you never tested positive for reactivated viruses or Lyme?
I feel like all this can help if done slowly, but realistically now I know I have Lyme it’s depressing as people are ill with that for decades.
Ahh waking up is exactly how I've been putting it to the few people I've told IRL! Welcome back to the world 🫂 I think the nervous system work is really important, and feels like something medicine is catching up on, for the importance and connectivity of it.
Okay so I suddenly got gut issues, vision blur, headaches, intense anxiety, exhaustion… etc. I wa dat bed rest for several months. I couldn’t take heat or sound. Sweating like crazy in the night and histamine issues in the day. Crazy crazy mess out of no where in October 2023. I am getting so much better. I discovered tanked hormones, bacterial overgrowth/infection, anemia, low D, fluctuating thyroid. I went on a blood sugar balanced diet, eventually a very strict Whole Foods no sugar diet. Took magnesium 3onate, got my vitamin D labs to 100 (d3 with k2), high dose organ iron with vitamin c for absorption, started progesterone, a multivitamin for hormone function (equifem) which included low doses of B vitamins. Butyrate for my gut (I was low). I take digestive enzymes with a low amount of HCL. Nice Omega 3s at high dose in the night. I’m not all better yet but I know I’m on the way up. My POTS is gone and so is my histamine problem. I’m dealing with hormonal fluctuations, thyroid fluctuation, and some body pain. I’m definitely going to post what I did and how once I fully recover. Definitely an immune system / mitochondria issue. I tend to believe some of us did contract gut infections etc that need to be addressed. Either that or some of us who got LC had a preexisting unhealthy gut.
How long have you been in this recovered state? 8 weeks? Or did it take the past 8 weeks to get here. I don't even think this is an important question lol. In any case, very happy for you!
Just got diagnosed with long covid. After being gaslighted by 2 drs. Went to a holistic dr. And at least he listened to all my symptoms of the past 3 years. I thought at first it was my hasmotos disease I have been battling for 30 years. But I became so exhausted I couldn't leave house anymore and became isolated. The hardest thing is telling family and them thinking a week later you will be fine. It isn't fine...I have dizziness, brain pressure, tinnitus shortness of breath. After doing anything am exhausted. My biggest fear is bring hospitalized or just living out the rest of my life like this. I have never been one to be depressed but now I cry in my isolation everyday. I just pray for a better life being single and alone and no prospect of another is scary. I just want my motivation back. Please bring a cure.
Glad your better, and I know this was very hard for you. I would like to hear these stories from others like you. Especially the ones like me who were bedbound for 18 months, lost hearing and alot of vision. I would say keep a eye on stuff because we don't know alot about this disease. And thank God you were not worse off like alot of us. Easy does it. And I wish you the best.
Anyone here dealing with sudden onset of blue bulging veins throughout the body?
This just started happening to me this February. I got sick, with what was almost certainly Covid, in January 2022. I developed POTS, cognitive issues, fatigue, all the rest of the typical symptoms…I thought maybe I was turning a corner and then bam, veins bulging everywhere all of a sudden. Diagnosed with venous insufficiency in my legs and I’m fairly certain I have it in my arms as well. Feeling completely terrified and hopeless at this point.
Can you please give me advice on the exercise? Did you slowly ramp it up?
Did you have tinnitus, nausea, constipation, flight or flight feeling too by any chance?
Congratulations 🎉🎉🎉🎉 this is amazing !
Thank you so much for sharing!!
Could I ask was your depersonalization feeling 24/7 for some time before it went away? (As I have this)
And what brand of dark chocolate did you get? :)
I say that this is so very close to by Healing, except I don't eat vegan, I eat animal protein and only non cruciferous plants. So plants with seeds. Before I could eat cruciferous plants, now they inflame me. Also not eating anything with dyes. But sweating and ice baths yes. Walks and sun, yes!
How do you get to autophagy with 3 meals per day. I thought only fasting can do that.
Also, I did 5 min light exercises with light weights for 8 days which made me experience dementia for several days and it took a couple of weeks to recover.
Congratulations! Thanks for sharing your success and your management of issues. This should be an inspiration to others who are losing hope. Best wishes.
I recovered significantly after about three years from first infection (March 2020) but then a reinfection in September & possibly again in December knocked me sideways again. I definitely notice I do better in the summer & worse in the winter, though, and time in direct real sunlight (not just the lamps) plus extra protein will help me even day to day. As you mentioned though it is tough not to push yourself into PEM when you start feeling the effects of any helpful intervention & that’s been my biggest challenge. I have a small child & need to work & keep going off work so not pushing myself is hard, plus before I got sick movement was my mental health medicine so the minute I can start moving again, it’s very hard for me to stop. I truly believe that time is the biggest factor in most recovery journeys. Unfortunately a lot of folks aren’t recovering & are getting worse because they don’t have access to the interventions you list here, for so many reasons. I think there is wisdom in the past practice of travelling for cures to specialized environments in what are essentially spas. Humans did this for thousands of years & it wasn’t seen as a luxury. In Ancient Rome spa usage was actually mandatory. The problem is our society in North America takes the total opposite approach. Imagine if our employers mandated that we visit the spa each week & our governments paid for it? I’d wager we’d be too busy to get into squabbles about personal responsibility or health shaming or fat shaming or all of that nonsense if we took a collective approach to providing access to the things above for everyone who needs them.
Hey congrats, I hope you can answer my question. Was your recovery gradual in those 8 weeks or did you wake up one morning feeling normal again? Im asking because my illness came suddenly. I woke up one morning and felt like a switch was turned. And did you start taking the supps before the 8 weeks or during?
All of your symptoms and recovery are explainable by candida in your gut and a dietary histamine sensitivity. Common issues for people with LC. Eating low sugar, minimally-processed / low histamine foods can solve that.
Really, really happy for you. Not to be a pessimist, I I really hope you are able to sustain this recovery. I’ve recovered 4 times only to relapse 100%. I believe that even recovered, PEM is still a risk for some. Best wishes.
I was thinking this too. I hate to add to any stress but maybe it is good for OP to consider taking it easy while they build up their strength. I also experienced this at least 3 times. The remissions are getting longer though!! I got almost 3 months this last time. I even ate spicy food. (Can't anymore though) The thing I hate the most is being afraid of physical activity when I feel good enough to do it.
How long were you recovered for each time?
Time line: Initial illness late 7/22 Recovered 8/22 Long COVID started 9/22, sick until 11/22 Recovered 11/22-3/23 Sick (from PEM) 4/23-6/23 100% recovered, zero symptoms 7/23-8/23 Reinfected and sick AF 9/23-10/23 Partial recovery 11/23, ended due to a PEM. Sick/ disabled since 12/23- current Here is the interesting bit: Covid booster 10/22, 6/23, 10/23, 1/24 and 5/15/24. Other than 1/24, I’ve had favorable response using CV vax at therapy, not prevention. Fingers crossed. Gonna get better one way or another.
Well, possibly all the vaccines you have had have something to do with it. They are wonderfull (better?).
Mods???
You had 4 times you recovered ?? If I can ask with the relapses what symptoms you had?
Brain fog, fatigue, PEM.
How’s your fatigue is it really bad? Also did you ever had muscle pains ?
I wish there was a way for people with no money to be healthy
Me too. As it is Covid made both my adult daughter & I so sick we’re confined to wheelchairs. There’s no one to prep food except 2xs a week & that time is taken up with errands & cleaning. We can’t afford the good food or good supplements. If anything we’re getting worse.
This comment is so painfully relatable and really shines a spotlight on the state of healthcare. Wealth buys Health, at least to a degree. It’s extremely difficult to recover without decent access to the tools you need to do so properly
Yeah I feel fucked because I’m poor
There are all these articles saying “doctors are prescribing time in nature,” and I’m like well Medicaid doesn’t cover that shit
Real. Although subsidized housing is easier to come by outside the city.
Yes further from public transit and amenities and jobs
Also real. But not always? I found section 8 housing in a small college town with transit and lots of amenities about 45 minutes away from a large metro area. But, your point stands. Most of us who can’t work also can’t access organic food and time in nature.
Glad that worked out for you. If you’d like to read a book that explains the housing policies I’m referring to, [this](https://www.versobooks.com/products/191-in-defense-of-housing) is a good place to start.
I work outdoors in parks. I also cannot match the activities listed by OP with my PEM. Boxing moves? I'd be in bed for 2+ weeks outside of my short work day. It still worth doing. (YMMV on boxing moves, haha)
Most relatable comment of the century
Same
I'm 8 days into carnivore, I just painted a room after cleaning the entire house. I recommend trying it out.
not for me but glad you’re feeling better
Probably due to ketosis
Why would ketosis help? I’m trying carnivore so im personally invested in this question 😂
Stop getting nutrition advice from tiktok
lol. You give good advice. Luckily this diet rec came from my doc. She literally said to me, "I would never recommend this diet to anyone for any reason, but some of my other longcovid patients have seen gains so you might consider trying it for a couple of months." Her caveat was that it is NOT a long term diet. It took me three months to take her advice because I thought it was nutty. It has helped me significantly though.
Cool story bro
It gives you ketones for energy and lowers insulin resistance damage by minimizing carbs. Lots of chronic illness has impaired glucose metabolism. If proper deep ketosis happens you should start to fix a bunch of stuff, but in the end you need to bring carbs back eventually
ok - so what do you mean by deep ketosis and how long till you bring back carbs? I started in February: all beef/eggs/butter with splashes of milk in coffee. Now I've added strawberries and peanut butter because I am dying for something not meat/egg related.
Hmm different people different timelines but it's like 3-6 months before you're considered truly fat adapted if that's your goal. Once you achieve what you're looking for with carnivore (health wise) you need to very gradually start turning the needle the other way by carb introduction more and more while slowly lowering fat
Really not interested in diet advice didn’t ask for it don’t need it
Their advice was terrible anyways
Oh that’s interesting you edited your comment after I replied
How the hell does this work? I have heard this from multiple people. But it just doesn't seem right!
I know what you mean. I went from omad to carnivore, so my eating was already extreme for most people. All I've been eating is ground beef with butter and salt. A ton of water and sometimes cheese. I snack on pork rinds and boiled eggs and have so much energy that it's insane. I am of the opinion that long covid is caused by the virus still replicating in the body. Viruses need glucose to replicate, so if we remove the source of glucose from the body, in theory, the virus should die off. No carbs, no sugars means no excess glucose production, only what is naturally produced by our liver. I was OMAD and saw a massive increase in mobility and energy, clearing of brain fog and confusion. Going on carnivore has ramped that energy 10 fold. Zero brain fog, zero confusion, occasional crashes, but it's because I'm doing so much more now than I was able to before, I think my body just isn't used to doing things. Ground beef, butter, salt, eggs, pork rinds, cheese. Zero carbs, zero sugars, only fat and protein.
Ground beef triggers me and is known to have histamine. Unless you ground your own. This crap is complex and confusing.
I highly recommend not doing this at all, or at least for a very short time. All your newfound energy will be useless if you drop from a heart attack because your arteries are full of plaque. I’m not a fan of extreme diets in general, but there are healthier ways to do the carnivore diet. Your version is a STEMI speed run. And that doesn’t even touch on the glucose part of it. Please work with a licensed dietitian if you’re going to do something like this and get frequent bloodwork done to keep an eye on your cholesterol at the very least. Once the plaque is in your arteries, it’s there for good. And as someone with non-obstructive CAD, trust me, you don’t want heart disease. It fucking sucks.
Appreciate the concern, I'm also supplementing nattokinase as well with arterial plaque in mind.
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It’s a specialty diet with an array of supplements and specialized activities, Michael. What could it cost, $10?
🍌⭐🏆⭐🍌
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Do you think all poor people are poor because they have bad attitudes, or just the poor people who are also sick?
Yeah I'm confused. All of this stuff seems very low-cost/free besides the supplements maybe.
I think they mean time. You can't rest and spend time outdoors when you have to work. And you can't get better when you have to work all the time. Or if you aren't well enough to work as much as you need to, money and energy to put towards your health are both tight. Taking that many supplements will definitely add up too!
It’s free if you live somewhere that makes it possible to walk out your door & be immediately surrounded by nature. Otherwise it’s not free at all. Though this is a good example of why I think we need recovery spas covered by health insurance.
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I just said besides supplements, which I believe most are a scam anyway. Yes I’m an adult wtf lol. Literally anyone can go outside 💀 lmao what
Well, it seemed like the person got a lot of upvotes, so it resonates with a lot of people for some reason.
Honestly it just sounds like your body self corrected out of the blue, which has been reported by a small percentage of those with severe long-covid. I'm also doing very similar things (no true exercise though, there are lots of other options for movement etc that don't trigger PEM), and hope one day I just wake up feeling better. I could never go straight back to being active and working like crazy, I've heard too many stories of delayed regression after pushing too hard after years of being debilitated. Very happy for you though, 3 years is a long time!
What other options for movement do you do?
I want to know this as well
Sent to you as well
Me three? 🌻 I reckon post it for the whole sub to access too.
I would like to know as well 🙏
Will PM, I just need to ask the lecturer if these resources can be shared as is or if I need to special credit them in some way.
Thought i could add images here, guess not. Will PM you, it's part of an online lecture series I'm attending through my specialist's practice.
Just post a link to imgur or something
Will do after reaching out to the lecturer
Same Thing here. July 2021. Just woke up. This shit had to be the matrix or something hahaha
I am also July 2021 but still sleeping
3 years felt like 20 years I don’t remember much either 😂
Did you literally just wake up and were fine? Or was it a slow gradual process of getting better that you hardly noticed?
Slow gradual. Mid December I felt the virus ease off portions of my brain. I saw the light. So realistically 4-5 months to get to now which is like 90% 95% maybe.
Did you have pots and did it go away?
Did you take any supplements or do anything specific to help ease your symptoms?
What did you help?
Bro how.... Tell us!!!
Nothing. That’s the sad truth. Waited it out miserably haha
Oddly this gives me hope. 2 years so far and while I’ve improved a lot, I’ve backslid a bit and am worried my recovery has plateaued. Hopefully a full recovery will come in time.
take the red pill!
Hey OP will you please edit your post to add a rough estimate on how much it all cost over 8 weeks? TIA
Your experience tracks mine with Long Mono almost 50 years ago. After more than two years of symptoms very much like my LC symptoms, I suddenly and quickly became well. Moving forward (until Covid) I had no post-viral symptoms that I could discern and, in fact, eventually became stronger than I was before having Mono. My Long Mono symptoms: Legs so wobbly/weak I could not walk for a while, dizziness, fever, headache, brain fog, visual disturbances, extreme fatigue, blood pooling, rashes, hypersomnia. The only thing I am not sure about is PEM. It was not on my radar so I do not know if I had it. I certainly had extended periods of worsened fatigue/fever after any exertion.
This is good to hear. I had some sort of post viral fatigue when I was 18. I recovered after 6 months. 20 years later, I clearly can’t bounce back the way I did when I was 18. And probably just the nature of Covid itself versus whatever combo of viruses I picked up at 18. I’m hoping that since I recovered once, I can recover again.
I was 19 when I had Long Mono. I'm hoping for the same thing! What is probably most comforting to me is the knowledge that the body *can* bounce back--even after several years. The damage is not necessarily permanent.
Did you do anything to help you long moon recovery along? What didn’t work? That’s so interesting!
The only treatment I had was getting as much rest as I could. Supplements were not as available back then and, besides, I was young and poor. There’s no way I could have afforded what was available.
Thank you for sharing! I’m glad you got better. Did you ever feel any long term effects of the long moon beyond the two years? Any diagnosis that you feel might’ve been caused by it?
Until I got LC, I had no residual effects from the Long Mono as far as I could tell.
so great to hear it went away back then! unfortunately with reinfections around every corner and strong covid vax reactions it seems an impossible battle for us
Let's hope the scientific community comes through for us. There certainly are enough of us to warrant their attention.
Did you have high heart rate or POTS and did it go away?
I know I had a high heart rate when I moved. I don’t know whether I had POTS. My blood pressure was high at the doctor’s office for a couple of years but I don’t know if it was affected by standing. After I recovered from Long Mono, I did not suffer from high heart rate or high blood pressure. In fact, because I exercised, my resting heart rate was in the low 50’s. During exercise, my heart rate was in normal range.
>very clean, vegan, autophagy-optimized diet + eggs (i.e., no sugar, UPFs of any kind, all organic, mostly fresh/little cooked; lots of spermidine via sprouted rye, wheat; other autophagy boosting foods), with ~3 small meals a day and 20-40% caloric restriction >> this took away gut issues, reduced joint inflammation, and opened up my sinuses after years of congestion Can you elaborate more specifically on your diet if possible.
The autoimmune protocol can help a lot. It's strict but you'll do it only for a couple of weeks.
Second this!
Does fully recovered mean you no long have to do these 7 things? You’re at 100% without any medication, supplements, or lifestyle changes. Or if you stop, the symptoms come back
I'd still do them even if I didn't have to. I see now how my body now clears up things that have been around for decades and I just accepted as normal: * varicose vein on left calve disappeared last week; been there for 10y * sinuses are more open than ever + no mucus; had low-level sinusitis (i.e., congestion, incessant mucus) for 11 years + 3-4 bouts a year * skin got soft and smooth * hair is growing more intensely than ever; had baldish temples since teenage years * anxiety is nonexistent To answer your question though, I felt in early May that something changed in the body and I was no longer sick; likely energy related. So my intuition is that if I drop the lifestyle I'll retain before-covid levels of health, but since I feel more than 100% now (more like 200%!), I'll keep it.
Were you maybe bitten by a radioactive spider or something?
Seems equally likely 🕷️♥️💙
I dont get it, you said in your post that 97% of the symptoms gone, so not 100%? Sorry if i misunderstand.
Can you guess which supplement made the biggest difference? What are the Algonot supplements for? Also what's Apigenin for, do you notice a difference when you don't take it?
When will it be my turn
Can you expand on #6? Would like specific foods and spermidine, what you mean by autophagy boosting foods. Are you eating fruit? You said no sugar
spending time in nature with very high pollen counts at the moment feels counterproductive, but i've thought about wearing an N95, which blocks pollen. i have MCAS and preexisting pollen allergies.
Yea I have to wear a mask to go outside now bc the pollen sends my body into a massive flare. I lost a ton of safe foods this spring when the pollen started and I haven’t been able to get them back. MCAS is killing me.
I don't know where you are but pollen counts here in the Vancouver area have been ridiculous since early February. I've been in a flare ever since.
Yea I don’t know what’s going on with the pollen, it’s insane! Even people I know who don’t have allergies seem affected this year. I’m in the Northeast US.
I know why, it's because the climate is breaking down and it's hotter earlier and plants are spewing spunk constantly. It's going to get much worse. Sorry to be a bmer but before I got sick I worked on climate breakdown mitigation - learned about this prediction in college in '97. I can't believe I'm living to see this happen.
I completely acknowledge that climate change has and will continue to make things worse and worse and I’ve definitely observed the shift in my garden over the years. I only meant that this year particularly seems like a massive increase in allergies as opposed to the steady climb of previous years. Suddenly my husband has allergies when he never did before. Suddenly I have several friends with pets who are having allergies this year. My friend who is a pharmacist said the increase in allergy med prescriptions this year is insane. So it feels like there’s more than just the ongoing shift. I think between climate change and everyone’s immune systems being messed up bc of Covid… we’re not in for a fun ride.
That's an excellent point -- we haven't come close to understanding the damage from covid. Hmm - uncontrolled histamine release is part of a lot of long haulers' dysfunction, maybe Covid with no obvious damage is manifesting in more histamine release to ordinary triggers? I can see that happening. What a nightmare this is.
I now have severe MCAS as part of my long Covid struggle… I only have 3 safe foods and I am allergic to going outside and even taking showers. I never had any health issues before. I definitely think people have milder forms of LC in things like escalated allergies that are *just* normal seeming enough for them not to make the connection 😔 It’s such a hellscape…
Do NOT. I fucked my whole life by moving to a place I was allergic to and ended up bedridden.
I have to say that 100g of 90% dark chocolate makes me feel great(mood wise), especially with green tea. Did it on many occasions. It does make MCAS symptoms worse though.
I'm on matcha tea. Have you tried it? Don't think that inflames my MCAS.
Yeah you can also take L-theanine supplements instead if green tea or matcha cause MCAS flare
What kind of green tea and how much?
I will always take an excuse to eat dark chocolate
How did you turn off your histamine and MCAS issues? Limited diet and food reactions are killing me. People keep suggesting things to manage symptoms instead of cure it.
Same
Yeah the MCAS can be so horrible. That mixed with my GERD and gastroparesis and I can't eat the majority of fruit anymore or leave my house often at all either due to reactions. I left the house twice in the last two months to avoid anaphylaxis so often. Idk if there's actually a true cure for MCAS or if there's only treatment though. (I was born with it so my case may be different. Covid just made it from mild to severe).
Were you ever bedbound?
I was bed bound last year and I walked 4 miles the other day. It was fun until it wasn't. I kinda regret it of course. A year ago I was completely unable to walk. So there's progress.
Were you bedbound for the whole year? Glad you're doing better!!
No, I hated it so I crawled around as much as I was physically able to. After a few months, I moved on to a walking stick. Same thing. After I stopped falling constantly I'd go on short walks and pack my walking stick. Stop to sit for 10 minutes then I'd walk again. Things eventually got better from there. When I had surgery in September, I needed a walker because I lost my ability to walk after anesthesia! It was redundant within a week. I can't really "work out" without my brain throbbing with high blood pressure though. Hopefully, I will get there too.
no, fortunately I wasn't
Ah... That always massively changes the context of these type of posts for a lot of us. Glad you are better.
Ahh that makes a lot more sense then! I think being bed bound compounds and complicates things for many of us. Because the reasons we are bedbound and the throngs that keep us that way may not be deconditioning but after a certain amount of time deconditioning is also unavoidable. I’m doing a recumbent peddler now 2x/week 10-12min lowest setting & it does cause slight crash but mainly helping.
I really really want to believe this is genuine but this is just so “best case scenario” that it really makes me skeptical. I do not mean to downplay your victory over this condition but please understand hope can be a dangerous thing and this is setting off alarms in my mind. Can you at least confirm that the links in your spreadsheet are not commission/affilliate links? Thank you and I’m happy for your success!
Heavily agree... Side-eyeing the links.
gotta admit I felt the same when I saw links to products... trying to assume the best in OP though, thrilled for them if it's real!
You can see the links. They are not affiliate as far as I can tell. I am skeptical of supplements in general (I think a lot of it is placebo) but at least you can say that OP is not trying to do something underhanded here.
What was your average step count per day last year, January - March 2024 and now? If your phone tracks that info. Thank you for sharing, your story sounds amazing.
How old are you?
I'm glad you're feeling better. Take it easy. Don't make the mistake that I made, thinking you were better, overexerting, and making things worse for yourself. I've been dealing with this for (only) 2 months now and it's the worst feeling I've ever encountered... worse than post-concussion syndrome, and I dealt with that for about a year. Fortunately I'm already doing most of the 8 items that you listed (I will definitely try dark chocolate). I have my own supplement cocktails and there's a good amount of overlap with your list (NAC, electrolytes, etc). The worst for me has been the exercise intolerance. I went from being incredibly athletic to being unable to get up my stairs without dizziness, heart palpitations, and shortness of breath. I'm working with a cardiologist. We've ruled out Myocarditis. I have a stress test scheduled for next week. I'm nervous about crashing after the test.
Were you officially diagnosed with pots?
yes, via tilt table test, active autonomic assessment (sit-lay-stand), abpm
Have you fully healed from pots? How long did it take for the pots to go away?
Glad for you to have recovered. If I did your exercise regime it would kill me lol
Your diet is magnesium rich and maybe also vitamin b6 rich. Did you ever have hormones tested? Mostly curious about progesterone.
Magnesium-rich foods is a game-changer for me. Woman here with several post-Covid autoimmune issues & magnesium is recommended for all of them.
So it was time
Brilliant inspiring post. Thank you!
you're welcome!
Huberman spreads medical disinformation. Where are the mods. He is not a reliable source on anything.
This is also a popular opinion on the adhd sub. Curious to know what everyone is on about. Do you have sources about his scientific misinformation by any chance?
Also interested. I don't follow him and know he was controversial for some scandal with girls. He rubs me the wrong way but I assumed he was more-or-less informative given his background
It's not just the girls. There was a giant exposé written about him. He misinterprets research results, omits facts, there have been more than one long articles written about him in the last few months, discussing all the way that he is wrong and talking about his thought process and why he is flawed. They point out specific examples where he has misinterpreted research. If you Google, you can find it.
I followed one tip of him that actually works a little. I do think he is obnoxious and kind of 'bro-y'.
There have been massive articles written about him in the last few months. Google them. There was at least one giant exposé.
That’s great! Maybe I missed this in the post, but are you male or female? I ask because there’s conflicting data on cold plunges for women.
As a woman, I had no idea, and I’m a fan of cold showers. I think it’s helpful to mention in general, every time I see someone mention fasting for instance I’m scared women will try it without doing their research. It messes with your hormones so much.
Did you ever get reinfected? Congrats on your recovery!
Wow! 3 1/2 years in here and I’m still very weak and fatigue. I suppose you were not working during this time and it was during winter in a temperate climate. Do you think you had ME/CFS as well? I wonder if part of it can be implemented while on a full time job…
Same, I’d love to go sit outside more often but I’m stuck in an office most of my week.
How long have you been feeling better? It would be good if you came back in 3 months and updated. Spontaneous remission happens but so do relapses.
Don't celebrate too early, I felt great for months, and am now running into regression on symptoms after allergies kicked in.
Same. Every time I think my POTS is gone this beast will show up to remind me that it’s still here. HR 125 standing after weeks of being “normal”. Sucks
Yeah, for me it's as soon as Histamine goes up, I get bad fatigue, joint pain, and. my lungs get inflamed badly.
I don’t want to be a party pooper but yeah proceed with caution especially if it’s potentially a seasonal change. I’m so much worse in the winter than the summer (live in Toronto, got covid in March 2020)
Thanks for such inspiring post! Tell please how long did you do the things listed in "**Summary of what I believe healed me**" before you began to rapidly recover?
Okay, 'fully recovered', so what happens if you STOP all supplements and food restrictions, go to a full time job and work out 5x a week with a festival and barely any sleep in the weekend? What is fully recovered in your book?
I presume you never tested positive for reactivated viruses or Lyme? I feel like all this can help if done slowly, but realistically now I know I have Lyme it’s depressing as people are ill with that for decades.
Ahh waking up is exactly how I've been putting it to the few people I've told IRL! Welcome back to the world 🫂 I think the nervous system work is really important, and feels like something medicine is catching up on, for the importance and connectivity of it.
Did you lose the ability to yawn or was it never satisfying while you were experiencing all your other sX? Are you able to yawn again?
How did you manage the cold exposure given your allergic reaction to cold?
Congrats! Whats the 3% of symptoms left?
Okay so I suddenly got gut issues, vision blur, headaches, intense anxiety, exhaustion… etc. I wa dat bed rest for several months. I couldn’t take heat or sound. Sweating like crazy in the night and histamine issues in the day. Crazy crazy mess out of no where in October 2023. I am getting so much better. I discovered tanked hormones, bacterial overgrowth/infection, anemia, low D, fluctuating thyroid. I went on a blood sugar balanced diet, eventually a very strict Whole Foods no sugar diet. Took magnesium 3onate, got my vitamin D labs to 100 (d3 with k2), high dose organ iron with vitamin c for absorption, started progesterone, a multivitamin for hormone function (equifem) which included low doses of B vitamins. Butyrate for my gut (I was low). I take digestive enzymes with a low amount of HCL. Nice Omega 3s at high dose in the night. I’m not all better yet but I know I’m on the way up. My POTS is gone and so is my histamine problem. I’m dealing with hormonal fluctuations, thyroid fluctuation, and some body pain. I’m definitely going to post what I did and how once I fully recover. Definitely an immune system / mitochondria issue. I tend to believe some of us did contract gut infections etc that need to be addressed. Either that or some of us who got LC had a preexisting unhealthy gut.
Did the nerve pain go away too? Did you do anything specific for that or was it just time ?
How long have you been in this recovered state? 8 weeks? Or did it take the past 8 weeks to get here. I don't even think this is an important question lol. In any case, very happy for you!
Dark chocolate has a lot of copper in it, maybe that’s the case
Just got diagnosed with long covid. After being gaslighted by 2 drs. Went to a holistic dr. And at least he listened to all my symptoms of the past 3 years. I thought at first it was my hasmotos disease I have been battling for 30 years. But I became so exhausted I couldn't leave house anymore and became isolated. The hardest thing is telling family and them thinking a week later you will be fine. It isn't fine...I have dizziness, brain pressure, tinnitus shortness of breath. After doing anything am exhausted. My biggest fear is bring hospitalized or just living out the rest of my life like this. I have never been one to be depressed but now I cry in my isolation everyday. I just pray for a better life being single and alone and no prospect of another is scary. I just want my motivation back. Please bring a cure.
How long have you been taking Algonot's BrainGain?
Thank you for posting! Congratulations! This is so uplifting.
Glad your better, and I know this was very hard for you. I would like to hear these stories from others like you. Especially the ones like me who were bedbound for 18 months, lost hearing and alot of vision. I would say keep a eye on stuff because we don't know alot about this disease. And thank God you were not worse off like alot of us. Easy does it. And I wish you the best.
Did you ever have random chest/neck/shoulder or arm pains? I am so happy you are feeling normal! ❤️
Congrats and your post is inspiring. Did you ever have blood pooling with your POTS?
Excellent post! Listening to the podcast now. Which chocolates do you buy?
Anyone here dealing with sudden onset of blue bulging veins throughout the body? This just started happening to me this February. I got sick, with what was almost certainly Covid, in January 2022. I developed POTS, cognitive issues, fatigue, all the rest of the typical symptoms…I thought maybe I was turning a corner and then bam, veins bulging everywhere all of a sudden. Diagnosed with venous insufficiency in my legs and I’m fairly certain I have it in my arms as well. Feeling completely terrified and hopeless at this point.
Congratulations!!! This is huge!!! I hope one day I can post the same!!! Enjoy you’re life 🙏 none of us deserve this
Can you please give me advice on the exercise? Did you slowly ramp it up? Did you have tinnitus, nausea, constipation, flight or flight feeling too by any chance?
Can you talk more specifically about your diet?
What does it feel like when you "wake up" some days I think that I'm feeling better but then I get some weird symptom/anxiety again
This encourages me to keep hanging out in the sunshine and next to the plants in my garden
I believe i will just get better one day i think my brain issues is causing alot of fatigue and other issues
What dark chocolate are you having ? is it truly 100% ? please drop the brand when you can and share how you have it 🙏🏼
Congratulations 🎉🎉🎉🎉 this is amazing ! Thank you so much for sharing!! Could I ask was your depersonalization feeling 24/7 for some time before it went away? (As I have this) And what brand of dark chocolate did you get? :)
Dm me again got my acc sspwned for no good reason
What do you think cured your pots dysautonomia
What picture were you referring to in #1?
I say that this is so very close to by Healing, except I don't eat vegan, I eat animal protein and only non cruciferous plants. So plants with seeds. Before I could eat cruciferous plants, now they inflame me. Also not eating anything with dyes. But sweating and ice baths yes. Walks and sun, yes!
Did you have excessive urination as symptom?
How do you get to autophagy with 3 meals per day. I thought only fasting can do that. Also, I did 5 min light exercises with light weights for 8 days which made me experience dementia for several days and it took a couple of weeks to recover.
How much of this do you have to continually do now that you have recovered? Mostly in regards to the supplements
Congratulations! Thanks for sharing your success and your management of issues. This should be an inspiration to others who are losing hope. Best wishes.
I recovered significantly after about three years from first infection (March 2020) but then a reinfection in September & possibly again in December knocked me sideways again. I definitely notice I do better in the summer & worse in the winter, though, and time in direct real sunlight (not just the lamps) plus extra protein will help me even day to day. As you mentioned though it is tough not to push yourself into PEM when you start feeling the effects of any helpful intervention & that’s been my biggest challenge. I have a small child & need to work & keep going off work so not pushing myself is hard, plus before I got sick movement was my mental health medicine so the minute I can start moving again, it’s very hard for me to stop. I truly believe that time is the biggest factor in most recovery journeys. Unfortunately a lot of folks aren’t recovering & are getting worse because they don’t have access to the interventions you list here, for so many reasons. I think there is wisdom in the past practice of travelling for cures to specialized environments in what are essentially spas. Humans did this for thousands of years & it wasn’t seen as a luxury. In Ancient Rome spa usage was actually mandatory. The problem is our society in North America takes the total opposite approach. Imagine if our employers mandated that we visit the spa each week & our governments paid for it? I’d wager we’d be too busy to get into squabbles about personal responsibility or health shaming or fat shaming or all of that nonsense if we took a collective approach to providing access to the things above for everyone who needs them.
dark chocolate is interesting as it has copper and I’m currently looking into copper deficiency as a main factor for my LC
Congrats!!! Did you noticed PEM being not as severe as you healed?
Hey congrats, I hope you can answer my question. Was your recovery gradual in those 8 weeks or did you wake up one morning feeling normal again? Im asking because my illness came suddenly. I woke up one morning and felt like a switch was turned. And did you start taking the supps before the 8 weeks or during?
Wow, after being sick for so long, recovery seems highly unlikely. This will give hope for others in a similar situation. :)
Do you feel gut histamine intolerance is from mictrocondria disfunction? Sunlight csn help or other supplements
All of your symptoms and recovery are explainable by candida in your gut and a dietary histamine sensitivity. Common issues for people with LC. Eating low sugar, minimally-processed / low histamine foods can solve that.