Long COVID at 30% of normal with brain fog and PEM, recovered; niacin helped somewhat
- Condition
- Long COVID
- At worst
- Moderate (mostly housebound)
- Ill before improving or writing
- 1 year
- Last post
- Sep 2024
In their words
- Condition: Long COVID
I’m 2 months into have long Covid
In context ↗ - At worst: Moderate
I went from being 30% to 50% in a couple weeks
In context ↗ - Now: Recovered
Fully recovered!!
In context ↗ - Began after: COVID
I’m 2 months into have long Covid
In context ↗
Read from 12 of their posts and comments; links to the 8 this page draws on
Summary
A Reddit user who developed long COVID in mid-2022 quit their job and was at roughly 30% of normal, with unrefreshing sleep, brain fog and PEM. Niacin as nicotinic acid, built up from 25 mg, lifted them to about 50% within a couple of weeks, though improvement stalled and fluctuated, while they were unsure how much Quercetin and NAC helped. They later reported full recovery after about a year of illness. In September 2024 a second COVID infection brought back fatigue.
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What they tried
What they credit
Also tried
Their words about each treatment
- Niacin (as nicotinic acid) · Helped
I went from being 30% to 50% in a couple weeks (I slowly increased dose from 25mg to 300mg) but then things have kinda stalled
In context ↗ - meditation and breath work · Helped
So what helped, as many have said, is time but also trying to get into a calm state before bed (meditation and breath work)
In context ↗ - morning sunlight and consistent sleep–wake times · Helped
At first it was like I was doing all this for nothing but it did start to work.
In context ↗ - eating chicken or turkey before bed (tryptophan) · Helped
I remember this night I slept 5 hours straight and was so stoked
In context ↗ - vitamin C · Worse
I also stopped a lot of supplements (the usual ones… c,d, zinc, quecertin) cause I felt like it was messing w my system and making me more nauseous.
In context ↗ - Quercetin · Not said
I also took Quercetin (500mg) and NAC (600mg) and a couple Brazil nuts everyday ... Don’t know how much the latter stuff helped
In context ↗ - Brazil nuts · Not said
and a couple Brazil nuts everyday (I had read this is called a Nad stack or something)
In context ↗ - repathing stress reactions · Helped
Niacin. (And repathing stress reactions. Meditation. )
In context ↗ - John Sarno · Helped
The stories she shares (including her own) helped me to recover. And John Sarno.
In context ↗ - Raelan Agle's YouTube channel · Helped
Something that helped me w a major shift in healing was RAELAN AGLE ‘s YouTube channel.
In context ↗
Approaches: Brain retraining · Mind-body practices · Supplements
Their path
What they say at each step doesn’t fit the worst point or outcome above on the severity scale, so the steps are listed as they describe them. Dates are when they posted.
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| around May–June 2022 | long COVID beginsI’m 2 months into have long CovidIn context ↗ |
| August 2022 | quit job, broken unrefreshing sleep, daily napsthrough the day I get so tired (and I’m not doing much as I’ve had to quit my job) that sometimes I take a napIn context ↗ |
| October 2022 | climbed from about 30% to about 50%I am better than I was 2 months ago (I’m 5 months in) but can’t seem to get above about 50-60% rangeIn context ↗ |
| March 2024 | reported full recoveryFully recovered!!In context ↗ |
| September 2024 | second COVID infection, back to fatigueI’m in my second week feeling fatigued and still funkyIn context ↗ |
Adverse events
- Vitamin C, Vitamin D and sun exposure, Zinc, Other minerals and mixes, Baicalein and quercetin“I also stopped a lot of supplements (the usual ones… c,d, zinc, quecertin) cause I felt like it was messing w my system and making me more nauseous.” In context ↗ Gut side effects
- Niacin (vitamin B3)“I had to build up my dosage because the flush would be so intense (I started with 25mg and went up to 50. It was 100mg pill I’d just cut in half etc).” In context ↗ Side effects
Symptoms mentioned
Their words about their symptoms
- Sleep problems
my sleep is just so awful. I wake up every couple of hours having had crazy stress dreams
In context ↗ - Brain fog
The brain fog and fatigue just always there
In context ↗ - Post-exertional malaise
Still have trouble being on my feet for any amount of time without getting PEM
In context ↗ - Anxiety & low mood
And that anxiety only makes things worse
In context ↗ - Gut problems
making me more nauseous
In context ↗
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