Barely able to leave home with long COVID, now near normal after talk therapy and ashwagandha
- Condition
- Long COVID
- At worst
- Moderate (mostly housebound)
- Ill before improving or writing
- 2.5 years
- Last post
- Jul 2023
In their words
- Condition: Long COVID
I caught this crap back in early 2020 and found myself re-emerging into the world afterwards with an extremely similar symptom profile as yours
In context ↗ - At worst: Moderate
finding myself barely able to leave home anymore and later having mystery heart issues
In context ↗ - Now: Near normal
I am leading a pretty normal life right now except for short-term memory issues.
In context ↗ - Began after: COVID
I caught this crap back in early 2020
In context ↗
Summary
After catching COVID-19 in early 2020 they were barely able to leave home, could hardly climb a quarter flight of stairs and had unexplained heart trouble. Symptoms improved after about two years; talk therapy helped gradually, while buspirone, THC edibles and zolpidem gave only temporary relief, and high-dose ashwagandha also seemed to help. By three years they could run again, and by mid-2023 were leading a near-normal life apart from short-term memory issues.
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What they tried
What they credit
Also tried
Their words about each treatment
- alcohol · Helped
Drinking was the only thing that helped with the anxiety
In context ↗ - psych drugs · No change
zero response to the gamut of psych drugs as well
In context ↗ - talk therapy · Helped
I took the plunge and did talk therapy, which helped gradually
In context ↗ - buspirone · Helped
temporarily found relief with buspirone and high-dose THC edibles
In context ↗ - zolpidem · Helped
I experience almost zero symptoms for the brief time I'm awake after taking zolpidem at night
In context ↗ - gabalin · Not said
Currently taking gabalin with bupropion during the day
In context ↗ - clonazepam · Not said
alternating between clonazepam in the AM or zolpidem at night
In context ↗ - high dose ashwagandha · Helped
High dose ashwagandha also seemed considerably efficacious for me
In context ↗ - Adderall · Helped
Adderall also seems to reduce my symptoms a little bit
In context ↗ - time · Helped
the symptoms did begin to start improving over two years later
In context ↗
Approaches: CBT & mindset · 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. The first step with a time is 2 years after onset: the story doesn’t say how ill they were before that. The dashed part: the story doesn’t say when. 1 step says too little to place on the scale and is only in the table. Dates are when they posted. What the levels mean.
Show as a table
| When | What happened | Where they were | After |
|---|---|---|---|
| early 2020 | caught COVID-19I caught this crap back in early 2020In context ↗ | Not stated | |
| — | barely able to leave home; mystery heart issuesfinding myself barely able to leave home anymore and later having mystery heart issuesIn context ↗ | Moderate | |
| — | blew out veins in one leg and could barely walkI also blew out multiple major veins in one leg for reasons unknown and could barely walk from that for a long time.In context ↗ | Moderate | |
| over two years later | symptoms began to improvethe symptoms did begin to start improving over two years laterIn context ↗ | Mild | Time and spontaneous remission |
| Three years later | could manage flights of stairs and run againseveral flights of stairs won't make me winded anymore, and I can actually run againIn context ↗ | Near normal | |
| mid-2023 | leading a pretty normal life apart from short-term memory issuesI am leading a pretty normal life right now except for short-term memory issues.In context ↗ | Near normal |
Adverse events
- “temporarily found relief with buspirone and high-dose THC edibles. I found it tricky to work on the THC in that dose range” In context ↗ Side effects
- Alcohol (beer, wine, spirits)“this solution basically turns you into a functioning alcoholic as tolerance builds” In context ↗ Other
Symptoms mentioned
Their words about their symptoms
- Brain fog
except for short-term memory issues
In context ↗ - Anxiety & low mood
Drinking was the only thing that helped with the anxiety
In context ↗ - Heart symptoms & palpitations
later having mystery heart issues
In context ↗ - Breathlessness
barely being able to make it up a quarter-flight of stairs exasperated
In context ↗
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