Long COVID exhaustion and chest pain, somewhat better with low-histamine diet
- Condition
- Long COVID
- At worst
- Severe (mostly bedbound)
- Ill before improving or writing
- 2.5 years
- Last post
- Apr 2022
In their words
- Condition: Long COVID
I think I’ve been long hauling for 16 months now
In context ↗ - At worst: Severe
My cfs is definitely worse after getting Covid at Christmas. ... I’m stuck in bed.
In context ↗ - Now: Somewhat better
I went on a failsafe diet and it’s improved my symptoms so much. ... I’m still really tired all the time
In context ↗ - Began after: COVID
A couple of weeks before Christmas 2019 I started to feel really unwell.
In context ↗ - Says they never had: Gut problems
I have no GI issues from LC
Read from 55 of their posts and comments; links to the 30 this page draws on
Summary
They fell ill in December 2019 with exhaustion and, after eating, chest pain, palpitations and feelings of doom, which they traced to histamine. A strict low-histamine diet helped enough that they were hiking by summer 2020; a later failsafe diet also improved symptoms. COVID reinfections in February and December 2021 set them back, and they were diagnosed with CFS in November 2021. By April 2022 they were less unwell but still tired all the time.
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What they tried
What they credit
Also tried
Their words about each treatment
- high dose vitamin D · Helped
I’ve been on 30k daily for a few months now, it’s cured me of several problems
In context ↗ - copper supplementation · No change
I’m currently trying copper supplementation but that’s not working.
In context ↗ - low histamine diet · Helped a lot
My symptoms are so ridiculously improved by avoiding histamine triggers it’s a no brainer of the highest order.
In context ↗ - failsafe diet (salicylate elimination) · Helped a lot
I tried cutting them out too and I felt so much better within 72 hours
In context ↗ - loratadine · Helped
I’ve found the loratadine to have been very helpful
In context ↗ - Piriton · Helped
What really helps my anxiety by the way, is Piriton. I take Piriton and in about fifteen minutes it subsides.
In context ↗ - Benadryl · Not said
have to sit up and take Benadryl until it passes
In context ↗ - famotidine · Helped
I take loratadine and famotidine morning and night, if I don’t take at least one then I have a really bad day.
In context ↗ - niacin · Helped
niacin, d-ribose, L-carnitine, and Thorne vitamin b stress complex, these are all good for chronic fatigue
In context ↗ - CBD oil · Helped
I used 2020 botanics cbd oil, 5000mg. It totally deals with all my aches and pains!
In context ↗ - melatonin · Helped
I find melatonin really helps me to get to sleep but I often then wake up later in the night and can’t sleep.
In context ↗ - rhodiola · Helped
For that reason I exclusively use rhodiola.
In context ↗ - pacing · Helped
I’ve discovered that pacing is really important.
In context ↗ - daily gentle exercise · Helped
I’ve found (ymmv) that it’s important to exercise every day, but never to push too hard
In context ↗ - scheduled rest breaks lying still with eyes closed · Helped
I take two or three half hour breaks a day where I just lie still with my eyes closed ... I always feel better for it.
In context ↗ - Insight Timer guided meditations · Helped
There’s an app called Insight Timer which has some good calming guided meditations that usually get me out of the hole enough to at least sleep it off.
In context ↗ - self-taught anxiety control · Helped
For me this made an enormous difference to my LH symptoms.
In context ↗ - mycotoxin-free coffee · Helped
I can have four or five coffee a day if it’s myco free without any issues at all.
In context ↗ - calorie restriction · Helped
The only thing that works for me is calorie restriction.
In context ↗ - Aspirin · Not said
I had a reaction to aspirin when I was a kid
In context ↗
Approaches: H1 antihistamines · Amino acids and carnitine · Diet · Pacing · Radical rest · 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 2019 | sudden exhaustion before Christmas, then episodes of chest pain and palpitations after eatingA couple of weeks before Christmas 2019 I started to feel really unwell.In context ↗ | Mild | |
| late February/early March 2020 | started a strict low-histamine dietat least I didn’t have a major crisis every time I ate somethingIn context ↗ | Mild | Low-histamine diet |
| summer 2020 | symptoms eased, went hiking but still could not eat histamine foodsThe symptoms really eased off last summer, I went hiking and managed really well but couldn’t eat anything at all.In context ↗ | Near normal | Low-histamine diet |
| February 2021 | second COVID infection, back to square oneI caught Covid a second time last month and feel worse than everIn context ↗ | Moderate | |
| May 2021 | fatigue hit hard, stayed in bedI went from being able to walk 4 or 5 miles s day to staying in bed.In context ↗ | Severe | |
| July 2021 | cut out salicylates as well as other triggers and could exercise againSince I cut them out, I’m getting my life back.In context ↗ | Mild | Elimination diets (other) |
| December 2021 | Delta infection, back in bedThen in December I got the Delta virus and it was really unpleasant. I’m still in bed three weeks after recovering from the initial infectionIn context ↗ | Severe | |
| April 2022 | on a failsafe diet, less unwell but still tired all the timeI went on a failsafe diet and it’s improved my symptoms so much. I’m still really tired all the time but I don’t feel really unwell with it.In context ↗ | Moderate | Elimination diets (other) |
Adverse events
- Aspirin“I had a reaction to aspirin when I was a kid” In context ↗ Side effects
Symptoms mentioned
Their words about their symptoms
- Mast cell (MCAS) & allergies
I also have mast cell problems since getting Covid and it’s just awful.
In context ↗ - Post-exertional malaise
PEM is a real problem and even small activities can be too much.
In context ↗ - Heart symptoms & palpitations
my heart was thumping, chest pain
In context ↗ - Anxiety & low mood
I still have moments
In context ↗ - Sleep problems
episodes of adrenaline rush/ tachycardia/ feelings of doom that wake me up in the night
In context ↗ - Pain & fibromyalgia
I tend to have much more muscle aches and stiffness
In context ↗ - Headaches & migraine
mostly my worst symptoms at the time of the infection were muscle aches, fatigue and headache
In context ↗ - POTS & dysautonomia
when it’s really bad feelings of faintness, as if I’m going to pass out
In context ↗ - Breathlessness
It hasn’t changed the basic problems like fatigue, weird pains and sob
In context ↗ - Neuropathy & tingling
numbness in my arms
In context ↗
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