The Truth About Long Covid

Millions and millions have contracted Covid-19, and millions did recover without a trace, however, there are millions of people that are struggling with Long Covid, also known has ‘long-haulers.’

These millions of people are feeling confused and hopeless. They don’t know why they had the ‘bad luck’ of getting Long Covid and it is distressing because there doesn’t seem to be much information out there on how to recover, or even if they can recover. Lots of the medical advice online is just about managing the symptoms and finding support groups with people who are feeling just as confused and hopeless as they are.

This is something that you can overcome, but to do this, you first need to know what Long Covid is and why you, specifically, have been struck down by the ‘syndrome.’

What Is Long Covid?

Long Covid is when you contract a Covid-19 variant and after a ‘normal’ period, you are no longer testing positive for the virus. However, whilst the virus has gone, it has left behind a whole range of uncomfortable symptoms in its wake: brain fog, fatigue, low mood, low libido, body aches and pain, low drive, just completely wiped out. The symptoms sound similar to chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, right? This is not a coincidence.

Conventional medicine likes to put lots of illnesses and diseases and conditions in boxes, labelled with names so they can then form a structured list of how to treat the symptoms. However, there are many conditions, especially chronic conditions, that have very similar symptoms because there is overlap and, if the root cause is the same, then the approach to heal and overcome the condition will be the same. Long Covid is essentially a chronic condition triggered by viral infection. You just need to find the root cause for WHY the viral infection triggered Long Covid.

3 Reasons Why Someone May Get Long Covid

1. Viral Load

So, the most likely way that you contracted Covid-19 is being breathed in, probably through your nose – there are other ways to get it, but this way is the most common. Once the virus is in your body, it starts to replicate. The quicker your body can produce antibodies to fight this new virus, the faster the replication process is stalled. Antibodies tend to kick in within the first 72 hours of becoming infected.

Generally, people with a weakened or compromised immune system will tend to have higher viral road, because the antibodies take longer to kick in, allowing the replication of the virus to continue for longer.

This is why people with autoimmune conditions, high blood pressure, cardiovascular issues, chronic inflammation, people who take immune-compromising and symptom suppressing drugs and medications, and cancer patients are ‘at greater risk’ from the virus. Not only are they more likely to become more seriously unwell, but they are also more likely to get Long Covid than someone with a healthy and optimally functioning immune system.

2. Reactivation

Did you know viruses can remain dormant or latent in your body long after you have recovered? For many of these, if you ran a test, they wouldn’t even rear their ugly head, but there is a lot of science backing up that they are still lurking beneath the surface. Are they causing any trouble? No, they’re minding their own business, not hard at work making you feel unwell.

However, there is the possibility that these viruses, for example Epstein-Barr virus or other herpes-based viruses, can be reactivated. Your body becomes under attack and, whilst it is busy trying to deal with this new antigen, this gives this dormant virus the ‘space’ to replicate.

So, why does this lead to symptoms of Long Covid? Well, under the surface, your body is fighting a war and, whilst doing so, producing a lot of inflammation due to a large immune response. This explains the symptoms, whilst the effort it takes to fight off a virus (or two) explains the exhaustion. The inflammation left behind results in long-lasting symptoms. We know chronic inflammation puts you in a vicious cycle, right? That’s exactly where you have found yourself after Covid-19.

People may not have even suffered a ‘bad’ reaction to Covid-19 before getting Long Covid. All the fighting can be happening inside, without you being too aware. Your body is exhausted from these efforts and, as a result, leaves you with chronic fatigue.

3. Dysregulated Blood Sugar

Those with diabetes are more at risk from an extreme reaction to Covid-19 and becoming a ‘long hauler’. However, you can have dysregulated blood sugar, and not have diabetes, and still be more susceptible to getting Long Covid.

If your blood sugar is dysregulated, then your energy is dysregulated too. You may already suffer from 2pm ‘slumps.’ You may not get restful and restorative sleep. You probably wake up in the morning feeling groggy. When your energy is already compromised, any extra energy required to fight an illness will inevitably leave you exhausted. And remember, if you have dysregulated blood sugar before Covid-19, it’s still there, if not worse, after Covid-19.

Additionally, your body is fighting a virus whilst already in an imbalanced state due to the dysregulated blood sugar. This leads to oxidative stress, free radical damage and, you guessed it, inflammation. The result is extended symptoms, due to exhaustion, imbalance and chronic inflammation, long after the virus has ‘gone.’

What To Do If You Have Long Covid

This really needs a whole post in itself, but I just want to let you know that you CAN overcome this and you won’t feel exhausted, unwell, confused and distressed forever!

Conventional medicine has given Long Covid this new name, which makes the issue seem new, which makes everyone worried because there isn’t a ‘cure’ yet. There isn’t a silver bullet drug that can make the symptoms disappear instantly. This is true, there isn’t a silver bullet drug – if there was, I have no doubt there would be side effects! – and this isn’t solved overnight.

In fact, I would suggest that it will probably take you about 3 months, give or take, to overcome your Long Covid. You need to rebalance from within, you need to give your body room to heal itself, you need to reduce inflammation.

If you have a good idea of WHY you may be suffering from Long Covid, this is a pretty good indicator of where we need to focus our efforts when it comes to rebalancing. I recommend working with myself in private practice or another integrative health/ functional medicine practitioner, so you can identify what the problem is by running at-home functional medicine labs and then start your journey back to a functioning body and a healthy smile!

If this isn’t financially feasible, the best way begin your journey to rebalance your body is to do the 21 Day Reset, followed by the GI Protocol. This will give your body the reset and the tools it needs to repair itself. Look at the testimonials to see how powerful they can be for chronic conditions!