Long COVID made walking and talking exhausting; now recovered, crediting pacing and time
- Condition
- Long COVID
- At worst
- Severe (mostly bedbound)
- Ill before improving or writing
- 18 months
- Last post
- Sep 2023
In their words
- Condition: Long COVID
Contracted Covid in March 2021
In context ↗ - At worst: Severe
standing up, walking and talking were so, so exhausting
In context ↗ - Now: Recovered
I’ve been able to start cardio Mid April and joined my soccer team for full practice sessions end of July.
In context ↗ - Began after: COVID
03/2021: initial Covid infection
In context ↗
Read from 45 of their posts and comments; links to the 12 this page draws on
Summary
Infected with COVID in March 2021, this German patient's long COVID began in August 2021, when standing, walking and talking were exhausting and they were on sick leave for months. They credit pacing, physical therapy for vagus nerve activation and breathing, a low-histamine diet, therapy and time. They were symptom-free by September 2022 and later back to full-time work, gym training and full soccer practice, while still avoiding reinfection.
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What they tried
What they credit
Also tried
Their words about each treatment
- return to football practice / exercise · Worse
within 4 weeks my condition worsened rapidly
In context ↗ - BioNTech vaccination · No change
I don’t think the shots helped me getting better and am sure they didn’t make it worse.
In context ↗ - physical therapy for vagus nerve activation and dysfunctional breathing · Helped
In the beginning definitely physical therapy for vagus nerve activation and against dysfunctional breathing.
In context ↗ - pacing · Helped a lot
started to learn about pacing in September 2021 and put it at the number 1 thing I want to focus on
In context ↗ - low histamine diet · Helped a lot
changed to a (mostly) low in histamine diet. This helped me greatly
In context ↗ - cutting out alcohol and coffee · Helped
along with cutting out alcohol and coffee completely
In context ↗ - meditation (Headspace app) · Helped
I‘m using the headspace app and am pretty happy with it
In context ↗ - therapy · Helped
Getting a therapist played a key role in my recovery (to 90% by now).
In context ↗ - probiotics (Probio basic) · Helped
I‘m taking pure all-in-one and their probiotics (called Probio basic)
In context ↗ - vitamins / all-in-one supplement · Helped
Besides probiotics and some vitamins, I took nothing.
In context ↗ - cold showers · Not said
I‘m taking cold showers to activate my vagus nerve
In context ↗ - breathwork against dysfunctional breathing · Helped
breathwork against dysfunctional breathing
In context ↗ - Wim Hof breathing · Not said
tried Wim Hof breathing exercises. But those weren’t for me.
In context ↗ - tracking symptoms and activities · Helped
I also tracked a lot of stuff to figure out how to plan my week best so that I won’t do too much
In context ↗ - gradual return to work with reduced hours · Helped
I went with reduced hours and literally only did 2 hours per day for the first 4 weeks
In context ↗
Approaches: CBT & mindset · Diet · Mind-body practices · Pacing · Supplements
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. Dates are when they posted. What the levels mean.
Show as a table
| When | What happened | Where they were | After |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 2021 | COVID infection, 14 days of acute symptoms03/2021: initial Covid infectionIn context ↗ | Mild | |
| August 2021 | long COVID set in; standing, walking and talking exhaustingwithin 4 weeks my condition worsened rapidly: standing up, walking and talking were so, so exhaustingIn context ↗ | Severe | |
| September 2021 | started pacing and had fewer crashesI started to learn about pacing in September 2021 and put it at the number 1 thing I want to focus on. So I was able to not push my boundaries as often and experienced less crashesIn context ↗ | Moderate | Pacing and the energy envelope |
| June 2022 | back to full-time work, nothing else in the weekI was function in June 2022 when I was able to work full time again and provide for myself financiallyIn context ↗ | Mild | |
| September 2022 | symptom-freeSince Sept 2022 I feel completely recovered from LongCovidIn context ↗ | Recovered | |
| September 2023 | cardio and full soccer practice sessions againI’ve been able to start cardio Mid April and joined my soccer team for full practice sessions end of JulyIn context ↗ | Recovered |
Adverse events
- COVID vaccination as treatment“Every shot gave me some tiredness and a mildly hurting arm.” In context ↗ Side effects
- Probiotics and fermented foods“BUT these probiotics are apparently not low histamine (but I had only minor GI issues), so checkout this post to not make the same mistake as me” In context ↗ Gut side effects
Symptoms mentioned
Their words about their symptoms
- Post-exertional malaise
A crash for me was exhaustion, fatigue, brain fog and mostly heart palpitations
In context ↗ - Brain fog
fatigue, brain fog, loss of smell
In context ↗ - POTS & dysautonomia
blood circulation issues (cold hands and feet)
In context ↗ - Sleep problems
insomnia, sweating, itchy skin and eyes
In context ↗ - Pain & fibromyalgia
pain in the neck, anxiety
In context ↗ - Headaches & migraine
GI issues, headache, muscle weakness
In context ↗ - Light & noise sensitivity
First half of 2022 it was triggered by multifactored overstimulation
In context ↗ - Breathlessness
shortness of breath, different kins of pain in the lungs
In context ↗ - Heart symptoms & palpitations
heart palpitations, talking was only possible for some minutes without pain in the lungs
In context ↗ - Anxiety & low mood
panic attacks (there was more
In context ↗ - Flu-like symptoms
no appetite, light fever, shivering
In context ↗ - Mast cell (MCAS) & allergies
itchy skin and eyes (like WTF?)
In context ↗
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