Long Hauler Bear

Today's CDC webinar was really enlightening. You can  watch a replay and download the slide deck  from the CDC website. The webinar is broken into 3 sections: Introduction : a review of what many of us already know. Pulmonology : things get interesting with the first guest presenter. Her talk includes a case study, treatments, physical rehabilitation and more. (Segment starts around 10min25sec and Slide 21 in the deck.) Neurology : for me, this talk was simply fascinating. The presenter discusses what they're seeing in the Yale Post Covid Center, and talks about the overlap of Long Covid with POTS, dysautonomia and small fiber neuropathy. It was also such a relief to hear someone articulate all the things I've been experiencing myself. Stick with her talk through the audio issues -- it's compelling. (Segment starts around 27min35sec and Slide 33 in the deck.) There are no cures presented here. But they do talk about treatments, patterns they're seeing, and other ins...

The NAD+ stack  may help your body rebuild energy creation at the cellular level. I took this for about 6 months and found it yielded a small improvement in energy. It's not a cure. It doesn't work for everyone, and you probably shouldn't take it daily for the long term. Perhaps the most important part is Nicotinic acid (which is one particular kind of Niacin. There are other types of Niacin available -- from what I can tell, Nicotinic acid is the best one for Long Haulers.) This guy named Gez  explains the NAD+ stack well. What Gez takes: • Nicotinic acid: Start at a low dose (10-20mg) and work up • Selenium: 100mcg / day • Zinc gluconate: 15-30mg / day • Quercetin: 500mg 3x / day • Vitamin C: 500-1000mg 3x / day • Vitamin D: 3-5000iu / day What I take (same list but slightly different doses): • Nicotinic acid: I gradually worked my way up to 500 mg per day • Selenium: (I don't take this one because I'm sensitive to it) • Zinc gluconate 50mg / day...

POTS and related syndromes This post is under construction. I'll update it soon. The POTS 5 day challenge POTS is a heterogeneous group of disorders sharing similar characteristics as a consequence of abnormal autonomic nervous system response to assuming upright posture. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/articles/PMC3361090/ light-headedness and other autonomic disorders after COVID-19 infection POTS-like syndromes: Hypocapnic cerebral hypoperfusion (HYCH) Orthostatic Cerebral Hypoperfusion Syndrome (OCHOS)  disability is considerable and equivalent to that found in congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.8 graduated exercise programs PoTS can be misdiagnosed for a number of reasons. Patients may repeatedly present with a multitude of symptoms (Table 1), often without obvious clinical findings: typical ‘heart-sink’ patients. Although severely incapacitated, they often appear well. Patients may not recognise the significance of symptoms or be reluctan...

A year after getting Covid, I noticed that my Apple Watch was estimating VO2 Max. It's listed in the Apple Health app as a metric called "Cardio Fitness." In retrospect it was interesting to see that my Cardio Fitness levels took a big dive in August 2020 - right around the time that my symptoms began to spiral. My goal is to get my VO2 Max back to normal levels.

Welcome to my blog. I am not a doctor, but over the last year I've learned a heck of a lot about this virus. I've read many scientific studies and there's been some fascinating discoveries. So I'm working to curate information that I hope will benefit people recovering from Covid. It's all a work in progress. As I rebuild my own health I hope to add more content and keep it updated with new science that comes out. My posts will also draw from personal experiences throughout my own Covid journey. Over time I hope to add more detail, make things clearer and provide additional links to trusted sources wherever possible. That all may take some time, but I think it's off to a good start already. (I had a little help, too.) Questions are welcome. I want to make things clear and easy to understand for everyone, so feedback is welcome, too. The coming months may be confusing. I don't know everything, but I'm good at curating. I'm hoping to be a clear, sensi...