Anyone with longcovid checked ammonia levels?

Posted by longcovidcelsi @longcovidcelsi, Jul 4, 2023

Almost three years with longcovid here and no end in sight. 35, previously healthy, now totally debilitated. I can’t even fold a load of laundry without losing my breath and feeling nauseous.

Looks like for some people, shortness of breath could be caused by high lactic acid levels, but the source of THAT looks like a difficult-to-detect, acute liver injury from the virus that disrupts the urea cycle and leads to a back up of ammonia, which is itself a neurotoxin that creates an anaerobic environment which leads to the high lactic acid.
I’m getting my ammonia checked this week. Anyone else done this kind of lab?

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bettyjackson | @bettyjackson | Jul 5, 2023

So what correction would medical treatment offer for ammonia levels?

chrissy188 | @chrissy188 | Jul 6, 2023

Hi! Lactulose, which is a sweet syrup laxative, is usually given to people with high ammonia levels. High ammonia levels do affect the brain.

longcovidcelsi | @longcovidcelsi | Jul 6, 2023

In reply to @bettyjackson "So what correction would medical treatment offer for ammonia levels?" + (show)

I’m not sure yet. Depends on what’s actually wrong with the liver, but it’s being suggested that reacting off the ammonia and lactic acid could help the liver calm down from its irritation and reset.

anbe22 | @anneb22 | Jul 6, 2023

I am finding improvement with an alkaline diet. I learned about this through a YouTube video posted in a different thread: “The Acid-Base Disruption Hypothesis for Long
Covid | With Vicky Van der Togt and Jeremy Rossman.”

It hypothesizes that with Long Covid our cellular metabolism can change from aerobic to anaerobic, which has a side affect of generating more acid.
Vicky Van der Togt posted on Twitter her results from using the Edge lactate meter (~$250 on Amazon): “ To say that the lactate levels we measured were shocking would be an understatement.
While normal lactate levels range from 4.5 to 19.8
milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), or 0.25-1.1 mmol/l, we measured lactate levels at rest of over 100 mg/dl (or 5.55 mmol/l).”
She also shared her “makeshift treatment that I tried out on myself based on our hypothesis” (increases water consumption and a more alkaline diet).
Here is a link to their research paper: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1150105/full

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