If you’ve recovered from Long Covid: what helped?

[WeAreThePigs]

Desperate for my mum to get better

She is utterly miserable

thanks

I caught covid at the beginning of the outbreak whilst working in a nursing home. Suffered weird symptoms for a long time after, and nothing really helped, just time. I had distorted taste for 2 years, so had to force myself to eat healthy dinners to get nutrients even though everything tasted horrible. Taste came back gradually and slowly the last thing to finally taste normal again was chocolate, which was my favourite food prior to covid. I had sensitivity to smells for about a year, nose like a bloodhound , could even smell pollen throughout the first summer which was awful, like tasting perfume all the time through my nose. Also would randomly smell smoke or hot garbage smells that were not actually there, so that was fun. I had brain fog for a year, couldn’t concentrate on anything. And the fatigue was something else, accompanied by migraines, sensitivity to light and pain behind my eyes. Straight after I had covid my vision also suddenly became blurry. Optician said he had seen lots of people with deteriorating vision right after having covid.

The only thing that helps is time and getting plenty of rest and sleep.

weirdly none of my colleagues suffered these symptoms. So it’s kind of a lonely place. But not everyone recovers straight away.

I'll ask DD for a list of what she takes. Magnesium is definitely one of the important ones.

@isitfridayyet22 - it is awful isn't it and I still get pangs of it (the nausea) out of nowhere. However, when it was at its worse, I found that it helped to have consistent meals and not get too hungry or too full. I also found a hot water bottle helped too. I hope you feel better soon.

@WeAreThePigs here is the reply from my DD re supplements:

Complex quercetin for glucose balance and anti oxydant (the complex one also has vitamin c in it)
Probiotic
Iron for lightheadedness and eye pain
Omega 3
Magnesium + b6
Vitamin b3 (also know as niacin) 100mg daily
Turmeric for inflamation
Vitamin d and zinc I take if I haven't been outside enough or haven't eaten right

The ones that are most prevelent in long covid recommendations are quercetin and niacin, they seem to make it onto every list.

The other ones are what
work for me, other recommendations from long haulers include:
Selenium
Methylfolate
Ubiquinol
Methyltetrahydrofolate

I hope that helps you or someone else.

It took me a year to recover. I was one of the first people to be referred to a long covid clinic and she was brilliant.
I was told to drink two litres of water a day, the more viscous your blood is, the easier it is for your body to pump it.
I also took a rehydration packet every morning
i took digestive enzymes and a probiotic.
I avoided sugar, alcohol and caffeine.
The big one for me was NOT to push myself at all. I had to stay well within my parameters. It was infuriating as I was so active before.
It was slow, sow progress with many dips but I did get better in the end

@Frenchfancy
thanks so much, I’m really grateful your daughter took the time to write this list

@junebirthdaygirl
thanks - osteopath booked 🙏

I read Long Covid is similar to Fibromaylia and chronic fatigue and they may be the same and there's some evidence that the Herpes virus that causes cold sores, not the genital one may be implicated. There's been some clinical studies on a combined tablet containing an antiviral and anti inflammatory pain killer that seems to have been successful. It's thought it can be reactivated in the nervous system in times of stress or illness. Apparently 67% of the population have been previously infected.

www.biospace.com/article/releases/virios-therapeutics-announces-dosing-of-first-patient-in-imc-2-long-covid-treatment-trial/

@Crayfishforyou

thanks - GP didn’t seem to know anything about LC Clinics so I’ll start following your tips. How long did it take to recover please?

My Dad had Covid in July, and had horrendous brain fog. His GP couldn't have been less interested if they tried, and we were so worried about him. In the end, Dad collapsed and has been in hospital since with a much more serious condition that the Covid somehow ended up masking.

If your Mum has had bloods, that's reassuring but don't let your GP be dismissive in terms of the brain fog if it continues.

No, she had a brain scan so we know she’s ok in that way and her brain dog isn’t as bad as it was - mobility and fatigue are the worst issues at the moment

I have long covid I cannot walk more than 8 steps because my legs feel so heavy and my heart racing when walking.

Feeling dizzy and whoozy if I stand for more than a few seconds.
So tired all the time.
This has been going on since March and no improvement.
Yesterday I actually broke down I am seriously so low with it.

I am considering hiring a wheelchair so I can actually leave the house
Wishing you all a recovery xx

I’ve heard that acliclovir can help with covid

I’m wondering if it would also help with long covid? It’s an antiviral normally used for cold sores and herpes? Anybody else heard this?

Your mum might also be experiencing depression as part of this. If she was previously very active and this is inhibiting her life it would not surprise me that she’s struggling to come to terms with it. Is there any peer group locally or online that she could share with safely or counselling to help?

There’s nothing where I am, (quite rural) we are thinking about setting up our own group actually 😂

and yes we are looking at counsellors now too

How is your dad now, Badger?

I’m finding swimming in the sea helpful. It seems to wake up my body & give me energy. Obviously not easily available to everyone but other cold water swimming may help. I’m far from recovered though. Am willing to try anything at this point!

@WeAreThePigs very poorly, sadly - his symptoms turned out to be liver cancer. It's all been a huge shock, and could easily have been detected by bloods if he'd had them done. They were only too happy to diagnose long covid without much in terms of evidence.

Gosh that’s awful, and yes, so detectable with a range of bloods. I hope he is comfortable and that you’re being supported x

Vitamin D - 4000 iUs a day
Stopped all forms of exercise / didn't even walk anywhere / became sedentary
Low carbohydrate diet
No alcohol
Intermittent fasting, increasing to longer fasts (36-42 hours twice a week)

It took about 9-10 months until I felt 99.9% again. My main symptoms were fatigue, heart palpitations/fast heartbeat, shortness of breath and chest pains.

I didn't have smell issues, although I got those with a subsequent infection. But strangely, that was - and is still, after a year - the only "long" Covid issue this time around.

I just threw everything at it - so I have no idea what may have helped / what was placebo / what was a waste of time, so none of the below can be seen as a recommendation, just all the things I tried.

lots of vitamins (no doubt way too many) including vitamins c and d (the 2000 super strength dosage), Metatone tonic, Quercetin (already mentioned), the co-q-10 (already mentioned upthread), folic acid.

Also I went to a Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy chamber - I think it helped - hopefully you have one near you - the one I visited was run by our local MS society, which has opened it up to long Covid suffers (and they also have sports injury people attending) - much cheaper than a private clinic, and extremely friendly too.

Oh, and a probiotic for your gut - the one I took was yourgut+ and their seems to be a lot of info on the web for that one with respect to long Covid

That's interesting. I had covid six months ago and had 2 months flat out, 2 months not doing much and 2 months of sort of OK but with issues, now I have terrible joint pains, can't regulate my body temperature and of course the exhaustion.

My other issue is cold sores, at one point I had five across my top lip and some up my nose. I've always been prone to cold sores if I wasn't well so this has been sort of expected for me but it is miserable. The worst thing for me in the joint pain and pain killers aren't touching it. I had a load of blood tests last week and should get my results later this week.

I also feel quite depressed, weepy at times, but then I think if you are feeling rotten and in pain why wouldn't you be depressed?

I think one of my problems is I am my husbands carer so I can't always rest as much as I might like.

How many times did you go and how many sessions? By a massive stroke of luck I just found out there’s one right near my house which I had no idea about

I had COVID in December 2020 before vaccination and each vaccination really helped. Feels like time in the sun also helped. However I had COVID again this July and not feeling full strength again yet so following this thread for tips!

That’s interesting the vaccinations really helped. What symptoms specifically?

did you feel that difference straight away?

my mum is due her booster soon so hopefully that will be a benefit