Head haze, pressure, "anxiety",

Your symptoms sound exactly like mine to a T. Mine started out of the blue Nov 2023, about a month and a half after having Covid. Spent all of 2024 running from specialist to specialist and having every test done. Everything came back clean. Long story short, I was ultimately diagnosed with Long Covid.

Thats what ive heard from someone else. But ive never had covid. Did you ever find anything that helped? I go a day or two of 'ok' and then days of bad. I cant find any consistency to a cause or to help.

@breydon Did you have the vaccine? Maybe you were asymptomatic. No it’s been over two years and I’ve tried everything. Nothing has helped. Still hoping for a cure.

Did they do MRIs of your brain?

I was also thinking Post Vaccine Syndrome (PVS), Neurologist for Head issues and Gut Health. Neurologist likes the patient to journal what they eat, when symptom(s) start and what you were doing prior to the symptom(s) - Try to find patterns.
Good PVS research paper by Akiko Iwaski and Harlan Krumholz
(Graphic below Long Covid vs Post Vaccine Syndrome (PVS)).
https://news.yale.edu/2025/02/19/immune-markers-post-vaccination-syndrome-indicate-future-research-directions
(Click article link for full research paper and additional hyperlinks)
A small number of people report chronic symptoms after receiving COVID-19 shots. A new study provides clues for further research.
Feb 19, 2025
5 min read
By
Mallory Locklear

COVID-19 vaccines have been instrumental in reducing the impact of the pandemic, preventing severe illness and death, and they appear to protect against long COVID. However, some individuals have reported chronic symptoms that developed soon after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. This little-understood, persistent condition, referred to as post-vaccination syndrome (PVS), remains unrecognized by medical authorities, and little is known about its biological underpinnings.

In a new study, Yale researchers have taken initial steps to characterize this condition, uncovering potential immunological patterns that differentiate those with PVS from others. The findings are early and require further confirmation but may eventually guide strategies to help affected individuals.

“This work is still in its early stages, and we need to validate these findings,” said Akiko Iwasaki, Sterling Professor of Immunobiology at Yale School of Medicine (YSM) and co-senior author of the study published Feb. 19 as a preprint on medRxiv. “But this is giving us some hope that there may be something that we can use for diagnosis and treatment of PVS down the road.”

Some of the most common chronic symptoms of PVS include exercise intolerance, excessive fatigue, brain fog, insomnia, and dizziness. They develop shortly after vaccination, within a day or two, can become more severe in the days that follow, and persist over time. More studies are needed to understand the prevalence of PVS.

“It’s clear that some individuals are experiencing significant challenges after vaccination. Our responsibility as scientists and clinicians is to listen to their experiences, rigorously investigate the underlying causes, and seek ways to help,” said Harlan Krumholz, the Harold H. Hines, Jr. Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at YSM and co-senior author of the study.

Data for the study came from Yale’s Listen to Immune, Symptom, and Treatment Experiences Now (LISTEN) Study, through which researchers aim to better understand long COVID and PVS. For the new study, researchers included data from 42 LISTEN participants who reported symptoms of PVS and 22 individuals who did not report any PVS symptoms after receiving a COVID-19 vaccination.

From participants’ blood samples, the researchers looked for immune features that were different between the two groups. They found several differences in immune cell populations; those with PVS had lower levels of effector CD4+ T cells and higher levels of TNF-alpha+ CD8 T cells — both are types of white blood cells — among other differences.
(Click article link for full research paper and additional hyperlinks)

@fourleaf
066 - New paper: The top treatments for ME/CFS and Long-COVID

This newly-released paper highlights the treatments reported as most beneficial by almost 4000 ME/CFS and Long-COVID sufferers. The open-access paper is here:
(Graphics below Figure 1, 2, 4)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40627388/
. 2025 Jul 15;122(28):e2426874122.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.2426874122. Epub 2025 Jul 8.
Patient-reported treatment outcomes in ME/CFS and long COVID
Martha Eckey # 1, Peng Li # 1, Braxton Morrison 1, Jonas Bergquist 2, Ronald W Davis 3, Wenzhong Xiao 1
Abstract
Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and long COVID are persistent multisystem illnesses affecting many patients. With no known effective FDA-approved treatments for either condition, patient-reported outcomes of treatments may prove helpful in identifying management strategies that can improve patient care and generate new avenues for research. Here, we present the results of an ME/CFS and long COVID treatment survey with responses from 3,925 patients. We assess the experiences of these patients with more than 150 treatments in conjunction with their demographics, symptoms, and comorbidities. Treatments with the greatest perceived benefits are identified. Patients with each condition who participated in the study shared similar symptom profiles, including all the core symptoms of ME/CFS, e.g., 89.7% of ME/CFS and 79.4% of long COVID reported postexertional malaise (PEM). Furthermore, treatment responses between these two patient groups were significantly correlated (R2 = 0.68). Patient subgroups, characterized by distinct symptom profiles and comorbidities, exhibited increased responses to specific treatments, e.g., a POTS-dominant cluster benefiting from autonomic modulators and a cognitive-dysfunction cluster from CNS stimulants. This study underscores the symptomatic and therapeutic similarities between ME/CFS and long COVID and highlights the commonalities and nuanced complexities of infection-associated chronic diseases and related conditions. While this study does not provide recommendations for specific therapies, in the absence of approved treatments, insights from patient-reported experiences provide urgently needed real-world evidence for developing targeted patient care therapies and future clinical trials.
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All the body organs depend on “Good Gut Health” – antibiotics are necessary, but can wreck gut health.
I always had gut issues – certain food wouldn’t agree (gut inflammation, nausea) and I was taking prescription meds to buffer the gut against the sinus and headaches prescription (why do I see red flags…). I was on antibiotics for too long also and didn’t realized how bad it wrecked my “Gut Health” and “Intestine Health”. My new ENTs made me think about that.
I was eating Prebiotics food - Banana (little on the green side), Apples, Oats, Almonds, Kiwifruit and Probiotics food - Yogurt (sugar free), Sourdough bread (google to find items you like) – after the antibiotic treatment.
My question was – Am I getting enough of the Prebiotics and Probiotics? That question lead to discussion about rebuilding good gut and intestine health - “Glutamine and Zinc Carnosine” for gut and “Lactoferrin” for intestine health. So I research those, any side effect and bad interaction with the prescription meds taking, blah blah blah and research what ingredients, testing – more blah blah blah and headaches – to find what would be best for me. Pass it by the doctor and given the green light.
For me, it was a 60 day treatment plan to rebuild good gut and intestine health. I notices I just felt better.
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I drink Chamomile tea before going to bed and I drink Peppermint tea when I feel nausea. (The nausea is also a precursor for my migraine.)
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I take Ashwagandha supplement 2x/day and I final fall asleep at night. Lowers my stress and anxiety. If you still experience Anxiety, I would recommend seeing a Psychiatrist, then can prescribe Anxiety medication.
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Ashwagandha-Consumer/
Ashwagandha: Is it helpful for stress, anxiety, or sleep
It is commonly promoted for sleep, stress, and anxiety as well as cognitive function.
Stress and anxiety
Ashwagandha extracts might help reduce stress and anxiety. In several studies, people who took ashwagandha for 6 to 8 weeks reported that they felt less stress and anxiety as well as less fatigue and sleeplessness. Ashwagandha also lowered stress hormone levels. In some studies, ashwagandha appeared to be more effective when taken at doses of 500 to 600 milligrams (mg) per day compared with lower doses.
Sleep
Results from a few small studies suggest that ashwagandha extracts might improve sleep. In these studies, people who had trouble sleeping and took ashwagandha reported that they fell asleep faster, slept longer, and woke up less often during the night. Overall, the benefits for sleep were small, but ashwagandha seemed most helpful when taken at doses of 600 mg per day or more for at least 8 weeks.
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As for head pressure – mine is from atmospheric moving up or down. I use https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/
Enter zip code, click Yesterday/ Past Weather, and scroll down to “City” Weather History for the Previous 24 Hours – Note the Barometer column (Atmospheric Pressure). Scroll down and you can select previous days for trending.
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Everyone one is different and should consult with PCP or Provider Specialty(s) before trying any new medications or supplements.
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Best Wishes,
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