Awful fatigue, shortness of breath, brain fog..anything helping you?

@bigj,
My brain fog includes difficulty communicating (especially word loss), difficulty thinking clearly and making decisions, inability to concentrate/pay attention, forgetfulness, memory loss, slow processing and reaction time of what is said and done, and mental exhaustion. It’s not consistent, but comes and goes. For me, stress and fatigue bring on brain fog. The worse the stress or the longer I’m fatigued without rest/sleep, the worse the brain fog.

I've discovered three supplements and one behavioral adjustment that have been recent Godsends in my battle against long COVID brain fog, respiratory issues, and fatigue. I feel as if I'm getting parts of my life back, regaining stamina and mental clarity, and from there have begun a moderate exercise program that adds to the snowballing effect of what I share below:

First, 10 mg of creatine in the morning coffee or smoothie. The usual 5 mg. dose used by gym rats is consumed by muscle before any gets to the brain, according to Rhonda Patrick (her Found My Fitness emails and YouTube videos have been breakthroughs for me.)

After that first 5 mg is absorbed and utilized by muscle (a stay against post-exertion fatigue, for long COVID sufferers,) the brain gets second dibs. That's where the gains against brain fog kick in. In my experience, life-giving and remarkable.

Short story, get a good grade of micronized creatine and do 10 mg. (two rounded teaspoons) per day - sometimes more or less depending on individual factors. Google Rhonda Patrick creatine, do your own research, make your own plan. Results are immediate and improve over time.

Second, 5 mg/day of L-glutamine, another body builder favorite that helps the immune system, exercise energy levels, and brain fog. Same story - look it up. One caveat - the stuff tastes horrible. Mix well into something that will disguise the sharp unpleasant flavor.

Third, (and a Godsend for me,) mullien. The extract or oil can be mixed with a splash of water and has a pleasant, earthy tea flavor. It coats and soothes the throat and helps thin and bring up cruddy mucous all at once, and does it gently.

Fourth, in an interview with Shawn Ryan Dr. Alexander Huberman recommends getting out into sunlight and lookling eastward every morning, preferably while exercising. That sets the biological clock for the rest of the day. Results: More alertness, less brain fog, better sleep at night. Again, look it up and give it a listen.

These things have helped me more than all the medical fummydiddling around to address long COVID I've been through over the past five years.

I'm already taking 600 mg. of n-acetyl cysteine twice daily and recently started Spiriva maintenance inhaler ($300 + per month - ouch!) to manage post-COVID exacerbation of COPD and asthma - both of which bcame crippling after the second bout of COVID.

Both the NAC and inhaler have helped my breathing immensely.

The medical community by and large ignores diet and supplements and/or behavioral changes as being reelevant to recovery from this disease.

They put me on an exercise and diet modification program following heart surgery; why does the same mode of thinking not transfer to a pandemic affecting so many people?

The problem is, there is no money for the pharma-medical cartel in lifestyle changes that would effectively shut down their profitability - which lies in developing quasi-addiction to expensive medical treatment while the manufactured pandemic rages on, moderated somewhat but not effectively addressed by their methods.

WE, this online community, must take charge of our own well-being and remain proactive and communicative about our condition and our successful tratments to combat it.

Please post here if the things I have mentioned help you as they have me - let's spread the word about what relieves our conditions, helps us manage and return to normal life, and gives us hope. We become stronger as we strengthen each other.

God bless you all.

GAME CHANGER - Mestinon (pyridostigmine) is a prescription medication (primarily used to treat myasthenia gravis) and i've been on it for 6 months now. I have 60mg pills - started 1/4 of a pill twice a day for a week, then 1/2 a pill twice a day for a week and now i'm on 1 pill twice a day. My doctor from Columbia Pres in NYC prescribed this to me and would like me to stay on it for a bit longer. I couldn't do anything without a cfs crash before i started it, now i can clean my house, my brain fog is gone and both Sunday and Tuesday i walked over 8 miles. I was tired afterwards, but... would you be? I skipped a day of meds by accident (visiting a friend) and i was very very tired w/o doing much. I understand this doesn't help everyone, but it is LIFE CHANGING.

I found a post on this website from someone (I forgot the poster's name) who shared that he had started a medication (Amantadine) stating that he noticed a difference within 2 weeks. I met with my Dr. to ask about this. I'm glad I did. I was on the verge of being fired from my job due to inability to concentrate or focus causing serious errors processing reports. While I didn't have the immediate results the original poster did, I am finally noticing a difference (3 months in) and I can tell when I've missed a dose. PLEASE NOTE - I am not offering medical advice! I'm just sharing that I am benefitting from this medication and it might be worth your time to speak to your Dr. about it. I hope this helps.

Fibromyalgia; Another gift from covid? I've always had the "coat-hanger pain" and extremely tense muscles in my shoulders since covid but the past year has progressed to where I can't bear even a shoulder massage after a manicure. I had a full body massage earlier this year and almost cried, every inch hurt as she lightly massaged me. Then during a pedicure a few months ago my legs hurt so bad as she applied lotion. WTF..... I saw my PCP last month and he thinks I now have fibromyalgia. He prescribed Cymbalta, but I'm so sensitive to medication I could only tolerate 2 days on this medication, such extreme nausea I couldn't eat ( I've already lost 60LB so can't afford to loose anymore), dizziness and feeling "out of it" plus my insomnia kicked into overdrive. Now what? another medication that makes me feel worse than I already do or just deal with this and try not to do too much that exasperates the pain?? This just isn't fair.......

@taunya6543 I (80 yo) agree that we who are older are fortunate in that most of us are no longer working (although I had to give up volunteer work) nor do we have children at home. My heart goes out to those who are rearing children, or caregiving for others, and/or must work for the income/insurance (if they’re ’lucky’). I miss many things about my former, very active life but like you try to look at the ‘upside.’ One of the things that’s hard for me is that I still look ‘fine’ ~ hard for people to believe I’m ill, so I fear people think I’m just lazy or antisocial…or in need of psychiatric therapy. Trying to stay positive, counting my blessings, wishing well to all who suffer. Inch by inch.

Dear @essiee.....YOU MADE MY (very difficult) DAY easier to bear. Consider yourself VERY SPECIAL! Hugs to you from me, "donnie46."

I feel as though I have it all these days.

suefish

@suefish Just order yourself the SARS spike antigen test. If it's negative, keep the psych appointment. If it's positive, go to the psych appointment and tell them so, and DO NOT let them tell you that you need a prescription. Instead, have a discussion about which Rx gives a person which side effects and why. If they can't answer the why, you know the very reason why you are sick. It's because you give the medical community too much credit for understanding what is wrong.

What is wrong with your head are the micronutrients. The fix is not easy, because your genes determine the pathway the nutrients and antigens take, while destroying what is left of your health.

Remember the warnings about all the fat people were gonna die? It's because they have terrible nutrient reserves. The fit are still aching around because we survived off our literal bones. Anyone else have new osteopourosis symptoms? That's your nutrients leaving your bones to fight the good fight. I'm a former super-athlete type of human. My entire professional life was built around fitness. So how did I become disabled?

Well, it took my body 5 years. I started out 5feet 10" 125 pound at age 50. I fed my way (poorly) in the beginning to 149 - my highest weight (due to histamine over production - I was swollen). March 2025, something "happened". I was being treated by the "wrong" doctor, and he ignored the appearance of bubbles in my urine, while also losing 5 pounds in 4 weeks (while eating tons more extra calories than necessary).

Since March, I've not been able to keep any weight on. My lowest wt was September at 107. I am only 5'9" now. I added some Omega3 due to Omegas 6 and 9 out balancing, and the AA/ EPA is 26...and today I'm 110.4. I ate a ton yesterday and I am sad it's not near 111 yet. I've become unhealthily obsessed with gaining weight.

WHAT IS MY POINT - sorry -correct your nutrition at the micronutrient level. Most don't know the 1st thing about it. But if you can read, remember and journal, you can achieve the best health, while knowing you are not going out of your mind.

You can accept that you are now "retarded" - the literal meaning of the word - and that there's a great deal of help for that. You just have to humble yourself to STOP PRETENDING that you're any sense of old you, left at all.

Embrace the new you. Have a quinteniera. or a BatMitzvah - I have no idea how to spell - I have a period when I came of age, not a party...so let's make this one last major human development change, a party.

Good food. No more bad vices. Get back to nature and nurture yourself.

The plane went down. You had your oxygen mask on, and the plane survived. Get up out of the rubble and stumble outta there. You ARE back. just different.

@donnie46
Your doc did you a favor. "Prepare to live with it the rest of your life," may not be the words we want to hear but we must hear them. Knowing what we face, facing it, and then summoning up the courage to accept it and deal with actually brings relief and makes life easier at that point - and is a thousand times better than the anxiety and confusion that comes from ongoing uncerttainty and not knowing.

Anxiety, over time, tears our bodies down. The quick surge of adrenaline that causes us to hit the brakes when a cat runs in front of the car serves a purpose for the moment - but when it's triggered all day, every day, it does damage. More symptoms appear and the old ones don't diminish.

I had to figure out for myself: There is no cure, yet. The etiology of this ongoing condition we face is unknown.

All the medical community can do at this point is attempt to manage symptoms - and after five years they are still at a loss as to how to do that.

In my case, I have retreated to the default position that I have two choices: passively accept the medical prognisis and sit here and decay while they look for answers - OR - pro-actively take charge of my own well-being, press on, never give up, and search out alternatives and lifestyle changes that ease my symptoms.

I have chosen the latter. Tough, but doable - and leaves a strand of hope to cling to. And no matter how discouraged I may get on a given day, I will not let go.

My current mindset is to act as if the symptoms ARE the disease.

As such, I've found that doubling or tripling my former occasional dose of NAC which I took during difficult breathing episodes and now taking it daily enables me to more effectively combat the formation of excess mucous in my lungs.

I've learned that mullien tea or extract (used during WWI to treat mustard gas poisoning and save the lives of trench soldiers) has the same effect on me as it did for those soldiers. I drink mullien tea or extract (essential oil) several times a day.

Both mullien and guiafeninsen thin the mucous that accumulates deep in the lungs and enables me to cough it up - and breathe freer. The mullien seems to do a better and gentler job of clearing the deep "stuck" mucous over time. Mucinex (guiafeninsen) breaks up the crud associated with colds and flu, and makes cough more productive. It doesn't lessen the severity of violent cough, however, as mullien does.

I've learned that two rounded teaspoons of micronized creatine in my morning coffee results in clearing of much of the long COVID brain fog and enables me to exercise moderately without crashing.

I hope that one rounded teaspoon of L-glutamine in something that disguises the flavor will help boost my immune system as winter illnesses approach, aid digestive issues, and also work with the creatine to boost stamina. We'll see - and I'll report back. Meantime, it can't hurt, so I'm doing it.

I go outside most mornings and look eastward for a few minutes to help set my biological clock for the day, as exhorted by neuroscientist Andrew Huberman in a Shawn Ryan interview. This practice moves me toward better starting energy in the morning and better sleep at night.

I am just now beginning a moderate exercise program with the intent of building into it. It seems weird - facing a workout has become scary, because over the past five years I've become conditioned to crashing for several days as the inevitable result of mild exertion. I reprogrammed myself to doing shorter stints of less, or pacing - and not planning more than one activity per day. I am now breaking that programming, and striving toward enjoying my former active, vigorous lifestyle.

By bits and pieces, doing what I've described above, I feel as if I'm getting my life back. The results in one area build into the others, and are cumulative.

And I am rejoicing, thanking God for every bit of it. I wish and pray the same for you.