Long COVID: rough eight months, a crash, now much better with fasting and low-carb diet
- Condition
- Long COVID
- At worst
- Moderate (mostly housebound)
- Ill before improving or writing
- 2 years
- Last post
- Feb 2024
In their words
- Condition: Long COVID
Going about 2 years into LC.
In context ↗ - At worst: Moderate
During the worst of LC, talking at all was exhausting
In context ↗ - Now: Much better
I'm mostly fully functional these days. Can lift weights at about 50% capacity, cognitively doing quite well.
In context ↗ - Began after: COVID
a Dec. 2022 - Aug. 2023 episode of LC
Read from 13 of their posts and comments; links to the 8 this page draws on
Summary
This Reddit user fell ill with long COVID in December 2022, had a rough eight months, then seemed recovered enough to train for a half marathon. A crash in May after ramping up exercise and calories set them back. Intermittent fasting, a low-carb diet and a daily probiotic eased symptoms, and by February 2024 they were about 60-70% functional, still troubled by a sensitive gut and head pressure when lifting.
Ask Miruvor AI
What they tried
Also tried
Their words about each treatment
- intermittent fasting · Helped
After getting my intermittent fasting back in action and reducing carbs and calories, I experienced much improved symptoms.
In context ↗ - clean/low-carb diet · Helped
fasting and a clean/low-carb diet are the only things I believe do any good for me.
In context ↗ - regular meditation, breathing exercises and stretching · Helped
Regular meditation, breathing exercises and stretching are helpful to calming things down.
In context ↗ - avoiding caffeine · Helped
I HIGHLY recommend avoiding any and all caffeine.
In context ↗ - unplugging from social media · Helped
Getting back on IG made my sense of flight/flight so much worse man.
In context ↗ - intense exercise (gym 4 times a week, half marathon training, Muay Thai) · Worse
crashed bad after really amping up the exercise + my calorie intake
In context ↗ - prednisone · Helped
I feel kinda crazy on it albeit better than I do when I'm feeling very symptomatic.
In context ↗ - therapists and support groups · Not said
I've had therapists.. I've joined support groups..
In context ↗ - supplements · No change
I think most of the supps are nonsense tbh..
In context ↗
Approaches: Diet
Their path
How ill they were on the ME/CFS severity scale, estimated from what they describe at each point, with time counted from when the illness began. Hover or tap a point. The chart starts 8 months after onset: the story doesn’t say how ill they were before that. 1 step has no time and sits in story order between the steps around it. Dates are when they posted. What the levels mean.
Show as a table
| When | What happened | Where they were | After |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2023 | seemed recovered; trained for a half marathon, gym 4 times a week, Muay ThaiI went on to get in the best shape of my life. I started training for a half marathon, was in the gym 4 times a week and was also training Muay Thai.In context ↗ | Near normal | Intermittent fasting |
| May | crashed after amping up exercise and calorie intakeThis, sadly, did not last. I crashed bad in May and only recently started engaging in exercise again.In context ↗ | Moderate | |
| Dec 2023 | back to semi-regular exercise, greatly reduced capacity, head pressure when liftingFast forward to today and things have improved greatly. Like I said, I'm back doing semi regular exercise but.. it's not like it was when I initially recoveredIn context ↗ | Mild | Intermittent fasting |
| Feb 2024 | mostly fully functional, about 60-70% functional, gut still sensitiveI'm mostly fully functional these days. Can lift weights at about 50% capacity, cognitively doing quite well.In context ↗ | Mild | Intermittent fasting |
Adverse events
- Corticosteroid pulses“Prednisone can be pretty intense. I feel kinda crazy on it albeit better than I do when I'm feeling very symptomatic.” In context ↗ Mood or psychiatric effects
Symptoms mentioned
Their words about their symptoms
- Post-exertional malaise
My symptoms flair up if I push it on exercise
In context ↗ - Headaches & migraine
it doesn't take long for this immense head pressure to form
In context ↗ - Gut problems
my gut was basically destroyed by COVID
In context ↗ - POTS & dysautonomia
I also have random dizzy spells where I feel like I may pass out.
In context ↗ - Anxiety & low mood
I feel overwhelming sadness and a sense of disconnection.
In context ↗
Ask Miruvor AI
Similar stories
-
Housebound and mostly in bed with ME/CFS, now much better on rapamycin and low-carb diet
Ill for over a decade, Flint 23355 was at worst housebound and mostly in bed. Over the years she improved, crediting a low-carb, high-fat diet, iron infusions and rapamycin at 4 mg, which helped PEM after a direct 6 mg start caused a massive crash; weekly…
-
Long COVID with PEM and brain fog, now close to normal after keto and fasting
Lake 45346 got long COVID after a COVID infection in August 2022 and had PEM, brain fog, broken sleep and carb intolerance. He credits keto, fasting, fermented foods, low-dose naltrexone, cold plunges, nightly guanfacine, sauna and high-dose thiamine TTFD…
-
Housebound and in a wheelchair with long COVID, much better after leaving mould and Xolair
Bramble 45719 fell ill with long COVID in January 2022 and was housebound and in a wheelchair for months, with PEM, GI and mast-cell problems. A prednisone course briefly restored walking but faded; LDN, cannabis, fasting and a carnivore diet helped him…
-
Not enough detail to draw a path
Off work with long COVID for three months, now 60-80% of normal after tirzepatide
Pelican 87385 became ill with long COVID and at his worst was off work on disability for three months. A low-histamine diet, blood-sugar control, LDN for deep sleep, guanfacine for brain fog and NAD+ injections slowly helped; tirzepatide was the biggest help…