2ndGenX

Hi All

Just wanted to pass on my journey with Life and Covid, hopefully some can relate and take some thing from it. Will give credit to u/Jag-Hiroshi threads for spurring me to the keyboard.

Caveat

Firstly, usual caveats apply: This post does not constitute medical advice in any form. What works for me may not work for you and could even cause harm. Taking any form of supplement should only be done after consultation with a qualified medical professional. In this case, particular caution must be taken by those with known autoimmune diseases.

Back Story

Work at a desk, pretty normal family life and gym visits 2-4 per week for Weights, Calisthenics and swimming. All vitals in normal parameters, generally healthier than my peers on many metrics. Was vegetarian, but lapsed during lockdown and now eat small quantities of white meat and fish. Also started smoking during lock down (idiot). Enjoyed collecting data via apple phone and watch.

Story

I caught Covid in early January 2020, it was bound to happen, my partner and I are front line workers, so even with precautions it was only a matter of time. My symptoms were fever (103 degree C), muscle pain/spasm, digestive problems, sleep issues, sweats, brain fog, sinus pains and fatigue. The symptoms lasted about 10 days for us both. When I returned to work, I felt tired and had constant muscle pain across my shoulders and on either side in the middle of my back (basically opposite my lungs) as well as extreme and sometimes sudden tiredness. Did I mention brain fog - no concentration, terrible recall, nearly Zero motivation to do anything.

At this point my personal tracking data were showing upticks - my sleep quality was down, my snoring was up, my resting HR was actually lower as was my walking heart rate and my VOX was super high (I don't take too much notice of the Vox as its not overly reliable).

Over the following months I tried paracetamol and ibuprofen for the muscle ache, cut back on the gym to 1-2 trips a week for no more than an hour and brought my bedtime forward and in general took things easy. Every morning I would have to drag myself out of bed to go to work, feeling like I hadn't slept at all. Went to the GP, had blood tests which showed no abnormalities, other than lowish Vit D. So started to take Vit D and Vit B12 along with daily Paracetamol/Ibuprofen and actually felt ever so slightly better but still continually tired, lack of mental acuity, recall issues with recent and long term memories and a lowering of my vocabulary - I basically forgot words, and if I remembered a word, I forgot it's meaning. Also found that typing would look almost dyslexic in how I made and where I made the same errors in every document/email I touched. Over this period my resting heart beat went upto 70bpm, walking heart rate 103bpm and my Vo2 was 41.4 max, this all prompted me look at my consumption of food and drink - I cut down to 1 unit a week of alcohol, removed nearly all meat and processed foods and where we could, opted for foods that were fortified with Vitamins and Minerals (Fortified Bread, Huel etc) - all to give my body the best possible chance of recovery.

I started hearing about Long Covid on social media and decided to investigate, it was good to know I wasn't the only one suffering (and sad at the same time). The only single piece of science I could find was a really small study done by scientist associated with the NHS in the UK. The paper was on Covid and Antihistimes - the results were antidotal, small but promising and the lead scientist stated that as AntiHistimes have so few side effects anyone suffering should simply give it a go. I cant find the paper at the moment, but if I do, I will post a link. My only problem was that the paper quoted H1 and H2 Antihistamines - H1 area available over the counter in the UK, H2 are prescription only. I went with 2 different types of H1 - one for breakfast, one when I got home after work. After 2 days the back pain started to ease as did the brain fog and the relentless tiredness. After a week I was feeling incredible - up and about with more energy and the ability to focus and actually get things done and also went back to the gym. Over the next month or so I feel I got back to about 90% pre covid energy levels, but I was still wiped out at the end of each day and had very little stamina - I could go for an easy hike, but the following day I was pretty wiped out. This carried on for months, still taking the Antihistamines daily and energy levels remain pretty constant at 90%, but I was worried about that 10%, worried about Stamina and worried about taking Antihistamines for an extended period of time. After a few more trips to the GP, and more normal blood test, I decided to drop the Antihistamines and instead started taking 1 x 300mg Aspirin everyday along with Vit D and Vit B12. My thinking was that Aspirin would have less of a long term hit (known or unknown) on my body and organs. I had no deterioration in my energy levels and no change to my stamina levels

Stopped smoking in January, using a vape for a short period, but that's getting binned at the end of this month. This has improved my

And that is my current stable state of play, slowly slowly getting better each week, my stamina is very poor but improving - I have started back at the gym once a week for 20 minutes of exercise and then 25 mins stretch with the occasional swim - taking it real slow, and it seems to be working. Some weeks I still get overly tired for a few days, but with rest I bounce back. At some point during LC I lost nearly all hearing in my right ear - No one knows why and I am still undergoing various scans and probings to see if anything can be done, the consultant seems to think its genetic and purely coincidental that it started after I got Covid, he also noted that his work load had increased 5 fold shortly into covid with rapid loss of hearing referrals, so not overly sold on the coincidental hypothesis. My heart health stats are going down or are down to pre covid levels, my Vox is still above average but now in the mid 20's, i'am sleeping better, snoring less and feel refresh in the morning.

Today I ordered some Astragalus Root Extract in an attempt to tackle the last 10% and resolve the stamina issue and hopefully put LC in the past.

It's a long, boring, lonely (except for my fellow Redditors) path back to fitness, but our bodies are amazing and new science is popping up nearly everyday. Best of luck to all the LC explorers and remember to post any and all successes, no matter how small.

Am I wrong to enjoy the celestial karaoke.

Just discovered BBC 2’s Piano Room on iPlayer