Long COVID with months of palpitations and tachycardia, now nearly back to normal
- Condition
- Long COVID
- At worst
- Not stated
- Ill before improving or writing
- Not stated
- Last post
- Apr 2025
In their words
- Condition: Long COVID
I was doing pretty well with my LC until the past 3-4 weeks
In context ↗ - Now: Near normal
most of the time, if I'm careful, I'm OK - 90-95% of normal
In context ↗ - Began after: COVID
I was doing pretty well with my LC until the past 3-4 weeks
In context ↗
Read from 7 of their posts and comments; links to the 5 this page draws on
Summary
Sparrow 28904 had long COVID with months of palpitations, chest flutters, tachycardia and chest pain, improving to 90-95% of normal by October 2023 while using water, pacing, sleep, diet, supplements, an antihistamine and nattokinase. Stress in late 2024 brought insomnia and electric brain zaps, and a December 2024 vaccine dose coincided with a couple of days of worse symptoms during an ongoing flare-up. By April 2025 the zaps had mostly settled though they still recur.
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What they tried
What they credit
Also tried
Their words about each treatment
- Drinking a lot of water · Helped
Drinking a lot of water consistently through the day (very important - like 2-3 litres of liquids a day, mostly water
In context ↗ - Getting obsessive about sleeping well and enough · Helped
Getting obsessive about sleeping well and enough (ear plugs, darkness, regular hours etc. - and avoiding sleeping pills like the plague)
In context ↗ - Resting a lot and pacing yourself · Helped
Resting a lot and pacing yourself (stopping what you're doing any time you get near 140 bpm
In context ↗ - Eating more fruit and veg and less or no sugary stuff · Helped
Eating more fruit and veg, vitamin supplements etc. and less or no sugary stuff
In context ↗ - Vitamin supplements · Helped
Eating more fruit and veg, vitamin supplements etc.
In context ↗ - Avoiding getting too hot or too cold · Helped
Avoiding getting too hot or too cold as far as possible
In context ↗ - wellbeing food supplements · Not said
I've been taking some wellbeing food supplements which may or may not have helped
In context ↗ - protein mix · Not said
and a protein mix
In context ↗ - daily antihistamine · Not said
I take a daily antihistamine anyway
In context ↗ - nattokinase · Not said
have started taking nattokinase when symptoms act up
In context ↗ - low histamine foods · Not said
I'll try to keep to low histamine foods
In context ↗ - therapy · No change
not for want of effort/research/therapy
In context ↗ - time · Helped
I don't know what factor made the biggest difference or if it was a combination or just time
In context ↗ - Amitriptyline (Elavil) · Not said
brain zaps I had a few years ago after stopping amitryptiline
In context ↗ - COVID vaccination as treatment · Worse
the past couple of days it's been a lot worse (cell-deep exhaustion, chest pain, breathlessness, getting shaky and needing to eat at weird times)
In context ↗
Approaches: POTS medication · Pacing
Their path
How ill they were on the ME/CFS severity scale, estimated from what they describe at each point, in the order they describe; they don’t give enough times to place each step. Hover or tap a point. 4 steps say too little to place on the scale and are only in the table. Dates are when they posted. What the levels mean.
Show as a table
| When | What happened | Where they were |
|---|---|---|
| — | long COVIDI was doing pretty well with my LC until the past 3-4 weeksIn context ↗ | Not stated |
| — | months of palpitations and tachycardia, doubted survivinga year ago I didn't think I'd still be here nowIn context ↗ | Not stated |
| 2023-10 | much improved, close to normalmost of the time, if I'm careful, I'm OK - 90-95% of normalIn context ↗ | Near normal |
| 2024-11 | flare-up of insomnia and electric brain zaps after stresslife stuff and a fair amount of mental and physical stress happened, and now I can't get to sleep at allIn context ↗ | Not stated |
| 2024-12 | worse flare after vaccine dosethe past couple of days it's been a lot worse (cell-deep exhaustion, chest pain, breathlessness, getting shaky and needing to eat at weird times)In context ↗ | Not stated |
| 2025-04 | brain zaps mostly resolvedit did mostly resolve after a while (maybe 3-4 weeks)In context ↗ | Near normal |
Adverse events
- Amitriptyline (Elavil)“brain zaps I had a few years ago after stopping amitryptiline” In context ↗ Withdrawal problems
- COVID vaccination as treatment“the past couple of days it's been a lot worse (cell-deep exhaustion, chest pain, breathlessness, getting shaky and needing to eat at weird times)” In context ↗ Made symptoms worse
- COVID vaccination as treatment“that one didn't seem to make much difference to symptoms, I just felt tired for a few days” In context ↗ Side effects
Symptoms mentioned
Their words about their symptoms
- Heart symptoms & palpitations
I had heart palpitations and chest flutters for months with tachycardia and chest pain, and sometimes still do
In context ↗ - Sleep problems
now I can't get to sleep at all until I pass out from exhaustion at some stupid time
In context ↗ - Neuropathy & tingling
every time I get close it's like an electric shock to my brain
In context ↗ - Breathlessness
cell-deep exhaustion, chest pain, breathlessness
In context ↗ - Anxiety & low mood
I never have much luck trying to manage anxiety and stress consciously
In context ↗ - Post-exertional malaise
life stuff and a fair amount of mental and physical stress happened ... I've been in a low-to-medium-grade flare-up for the past few weeks
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