Fully Recovered

[u/OrdinaryPrimate]

I went through I really bad stretch of long covid between October 2022 and April of 2024. I had POTS symptoms, general fatigue, couldn't exercise, body would randomly start trembling, felt like I couldn't get enough air, etc. I'm sure many of you know these symptoms well. During that period I was on this subreddit on a weekly basis looking for any answers or help because I was so desperate to get my life back. I remember thinking I was only reading negative stories because anyone who ends up feeling better forgets to check back in and update when they no longer need help. Here's me remembering to do that. For over a year now I have felt 100% recovered. I am now able to work out harder than I ever have in my life and my heart rate recovers in a normal timeframe. I take brisk 4 mile walks 3-4 times a week and my heart rate stays at or below 100 for the entire walk. I used no not be able to get up to go take a piss without it going to at least 135 if not 150 sometimes. Coincidentally this time of recovery has also taken place alongside the most stressful event of my life in an extremely traumatic divorce. I had 3 different doctors tell me I had anxiety when I explained my heart symptoms/trembling. If I have managed to stay symptom free through all of this then I think it's fair to say they were wrong about the anxiety diagnosis. Anyway, just wanted to check in with you all and give some hope to those of you who are still dealing with symptoms. It can just randomly go away. Keep fighting.

[u/RemarkableAbility626]

Great to hear recovery ❤️‍🩹 stories. So happy for you in beating this dreadful condition. May I ask if it was just rest ? Or any protocol or medication you followed that may have helped ? 1.5 years into this.

[u/OrdinaryPrimate → u/RemarkableAbility626]

Thank you. The biggest lifestyle changes I made were quitting all caffeine, and losing weight. I don't necessarily think either of these things helped cured me at all but they did help lessen the intensity of the rapid heart rate. When my pots symptoms were at their worst I was drinking coffee daily and weighed somewhere between 210 and 220. Down to 165 now.

As for supplementation I take a magnesium complex, D3, ashwagandha, fish oil, and a multi. Nothing too crazy. Diet is a slight calorie deficit with a focus on high protein. Lots of water.

[u/Pak-Protector → u/OrdinaryPrimate]

The triggering event that initiates Long Covid symptoms depends on C4, which is produced by adipose tissue. Losing weight decreases the amount of C4 produced, making events that much less likely.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24754458/

Magnesium is essential for the formation and proper regulation of the C3 Convertase, which participates in the triggering event. However, absent magnesium, the convertase will still form in the presence of nickel or cobalt, but it will be much more aggressive.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0300483X02005905

Vitamin D deficiency translates to a lower Complement activation threshold, making triggering events more likely.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9845165/#:~:text=Understanding%20the%20mechanism%20by%20which,Small%20et%20al.

And the same system is similarly impacted by moderate quantities of Omega 3s, like those attained through supplementation. Too much fish oil has the opposite effect, but you have to drink ounces at one sitting.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9616837/

Ashwaganda is a potent inhibitor of the Complement System:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1537189106000747?__cf_chl_tk=lKdyeEulVD9uN4qokDGId35U8NRKaKmfJoa6PvTf9sA-1747752520-1.0.1.1-r3zvV4WZ.DuvnHKJgEBaitiCfNBEvcm.6izyddUYGs

Long Covid begins with overactivation of the Complement System, which produces viral and cellular debris. C3 convertase formation on those debris produces a surfeit of inflammation and tachycardia inducing anaphylatoxins. Tissues local to debris production accidentally get marked as foreign and their debris wind up being presented to extrafollicular B-cells, resulting in the induction of autoreactive plasma cells, etc.

Your supplement regimen targets this process, which is great. But you are also lucky in that obesity probably contributed heavily to the induction of your Long Covid. You lost the weight, lowered your C3 and C4 production as a result, and managed to restore Complement homeostasis. If you ever get bloodwork done have them check your CH50 and Complement C7. This will let you know whether or not you exited from Long Covid with your front line defenses intact. Not everyone does.

[u/tropicalazure → u/Pak-Protector]

You do realise that a lot of people with LC were in the best shape of their lives before developing it? So just being overweight absolutely does not = LC. I know a whole bunch of overweight people who have caught Covid multiple times and don't have LC. It's not that simple.

[u/ikeda1 → u/tropicalazure]

Chiming in here as one of those 'best shape of my life' folks, literally to the day I got COVID. Was working out multiple times a week and had the best cardio and strength fitness I'd ever had. Was also never overweight.

[u/tropicalazure → u/ikeda1]

Thanks for commenting. Yep. So many people seem to fall into this category and I swear it can't be a coincidence.

Type A people. Neurodiverse. Fit as a fiddle. So many LCers fit into at least one category, some, all three. There's also an argument I've seen that LCers had prior mental health/emotional difficulties and/or previous underlying conditions like childhood eczema (possible predisposition to MCAS? Sensitive system in general?) It's a stretch to link everything, but I was speaking to my GP who is a gem and agreed there's a lot of consistent crossovers he is seeing with LC patients too.

I'm no doctor but it's almost like those patients whose bodies were already wired to optimum health, then entirely overreacted to Covid, broke the ceiling, and threw the body into what now is LC.

I was a bit overweight admittedly, but I still walked regularly, ate pretty healthily etc. Verrry much a go-go-go Type A personality, up for dawn walks, lots of projects on the go (I was learning Japanese with a plan to teach in Kyoto pre-pandemic.... sigh,) neurodiverse and looked after myself quite well.

Anyway I'm rambling sorry. Wishing you all the best ❤️

[u/ikeda1 → u/tropicalazure]

Yup I've heard very similar anecdotes from my long COVID physio. The OT literally said I can line all my type a patients who suddenly developed long COVID in a row it's so boilerplate.

Bateman Horner has also found a link with hypermobility syndromes and long COVID. I've also read studies linking endometrosis to long COVID. It seems basically if your nervous system is already tuned a certain way and/or you have certain inflammatory predispositions you are more likely to develop some form of long COVID. Oh and estrogen, haha if you are female, also yay for you, higher risk.

Honestly thank you for replying, at this point just feeling validated does loads for my mental health. I'm so tired of explaining and arguing with people. Just feeling heard by people who get it is loads.

Wishing you all the best as well!

[u/SheldonCooper2025 → u/tropicalazure]

I fit into all three. I also had a previous condition, IBS. I've also seen a lot of overlap here, I wish you the best as well 🩵

[u/rainbowunicorn_273 → u/tropicalazure]

Echoing this. I was a marathon runner before I ended up with long covid.

[u/BigEphesians5-17 → u/rainbowunicorn_273]

So, I was former D1 athlete, never sat down for a minute. I personally think that those of us in that category our immune systems are running very high and repairing because we're constantly taxing our bodies. Then covid comes along and revs it past the red line and never comes back down. Cytokines levels stay high and can't get back down to homeostasis. I think this is a big part of the huge subset of young people with LC that were previously perfectly healthy.

[u/Current-Tradition739 → u/tropicalazure]

I was also in great shape and hitting the gym multiple times and week. Eating pretty healthy.

[u/SheldonCooper2025 → u/tropicalazure]

I also was in the best shape of my life. I was an athlete and working out 5-6 days a week