If you’re reading this, chances are you or someone you love is battling Long COVID, and I’m here to tell you: you’re not alone, and you’re definitely not crazy. Let’s break it down, get to the root of this thing, and set the stage for your healing journey.
What Is Long COVID, Anyway?
Let’s start with the basics. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) defines Long COVID as new, returning, or ongoing health problems that stick around four or more weeks after the initial SARS-CoV-2 infection. In plain English? It’s any health issue that lingers for more than a month after you’ve had COVID-19. But honestly, that definition is way too vague to be useful for understanding your own situation or figuring out what to do about it.
Here’s how I see it, based on years of experience with post-viral conditions. Long COVID generally fits into two categories. First, you’ve got symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, and other signs that scream post-viral chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) or fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), lasting months after the infection. Second, there’s overt organ damage, think heart, lung, or brain issues, that persists beyond a month after COVID. We’ll dig into both of these in this series and, most importantly, how to tackle them.
Long COVID isn’t a new beast either. It’s got a lot of names floating around: Long-haul COVID, Post-COVID Conditions, Chronic COVID, or the fancy Postacute Sequelae of COVID (PASC). But let’s not get hung up on labels. I’ve seen this before in my years of work, and I can tell you it’s essentially a form of post-viral CFS, myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), or FMS. The good news? This is curable. A mix of knowledge from these conditions, the right supplements, nutrients, and a mix of dry fasting and bioenergetics, is all you need to heal. So, don’t stress about the name; focus on what it means for your body and how we can fix it.
Why Your Body Feels Like It’s Betraying You
Picture this: your body is a house, and a nasty virus like SARS-CoV-2 flips a circuit breaker. That breaker is in your brain, specifically the hypothalamus, a tiny almond-sized powerhouse that controls sleep, blood pressure, pulse, hormones, and even your gut function. When your body fights an infection, it shuts down energy production to starve the virus. Smart move, right? But here’s the catch: that energy shutdown can trip the hypothalamus, sending everything it controls into chaos.
This is why over 60% of Long COVID folks struggle with sleep. It’s why your hormones, like your thyroid, adrenals, and reproductive systems, feel out of whack. Your autonomic nervous system, which handles things like blood pressure, temperature, and digestion, gets thrown off, too. On top of that, your body goes into adrenaline overdrive, leaving you exhausted. It’s like your whole system is stuck in a loop, trying to fight a battle that’s already over.
Meanwhile, your immune system is in overdrive. It can’t turn off after the infection, so it keeps fighting, thinking the virus is still there. This constant high alert exhausts your immune system and can even wake up dormant viruses like Epstein-Barr, leading to chronic inflammation and that low-grade, “I feel awful” vibe. Add to that the possibility of initial injury to your lungs, heart, or brain from the infection, and you’ve got a perfect storm.
The Symptoms: What You’re Feeling Isn’t Imaginary
This energy shutdown and immune overdrive can trigger a ton of symptoms. According to the CDC, the most common ones include fatigue, especially the kind that gets worse after physical or mental effort, also known as post-exertional malaise (PEM). You might feel short of breath, like you’re running a fever even when you’re not. Heart issues can show up too: chest pain or a racing heartbeat. Then there’s the neurological stuff, think “brain fog,” headaches, or migraines. Sleep problems, dizziness when you stand, pins-and-needles in your hands or feet, and even changes in smell or taste are all on the list.
It doesn’t stop there. You might be dealing with depression, anxiety, digestive issues like diarrhea or stomach pain, joint or muscle pain, rashes, or even changes in your menstrual cycle. Sounds overwhelming, right? I get it. But here’s the silver lining: while these symptoms can feel scary, most of them aren’t dangerous. Some may stem from organ damage, but the majority are your body’s systems going haywire, and we can work on resetting them. We’ll dive deeper into these symptoms and how to tackle them in the coming chapters.
Who Gets Long COVID, and How Common Is It?
Let’s talk numbers. Research shows that 10 to 15% of people who’ve had COVID-19 end up with Long COVID. As of Spring 2024, that’s roughly 17 million people worldwide, and the number isn’t dropping. If we zoom out, about 44% of the global population has been infected with COVID-19, that’s 3.5 billion people. If 10 to 15% of them develop Long COVID, we’re talking 350 to 525 million people affected. That’s a massive hit, not just to health but to quality of life and the economy. In fact, 18% of Long COVID patients face higher unemployment rates, with 79% saying it limits their daily activities, and one in four reporting it severely impacts their life, even a year later.
Here’s something else: Long COVID hits women harder. A 2022 study in Clinical Microbiology and Infection found that 82% of Long COVID patients are women. That means women are more than twice as likely to develop it compared to men. Why? It’s biology. Most genes that control immunity are on the X chromosome, and women have two of those while men only have one. So, women are three times more likely to deal with complex illnesses like this. Historically, conditions that mostly affect women, like multiple sclerosis or lupus, were dismissed as “hysteria.” Sound familiar? If you’re a woman and you’ve felt ignored by doctors, this might be why. But let me be clear: you’re not crazy, and your symptoms are real.
You’re Not Alone, and Healing Is Possible
If you’re feeling gaslighted by doctors who don’t get Long COVID, I hear you. So many people come to me asking, “Am I crazy?” No, you’re not. Your physician’s lack of understanding doesn’t mean your experience isn’t valid. Long COVID is real, and it’s a beast, but it’s not unbeatable. Your body is screaming for a reset, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.
I'm all about tapping into your body’s natural healing power. Long COVID might have knocked you down, but it’s not keeping you there. I'll try to continue this mini series, but if you want faster results, we’ll break down these symptoms even more, and start building a game plan to get you back to feeling like you. Dry fasting, along with other strategies, can help reset your system, calm that overactive immune response, and get your energy flowing again. You’ve got this. Good luck on your healing journey!
