The treatment
DISCLAIMER: I want to share what the treatment that helped me recover consists of and share my personal experience of doing this treatment.
However, this is not a suggestion to what people should do, as it needs to be studied and clinically tested first.
DISCLAIMER: I want to share what the treatment that helped me recover consists of and share my personal experience of doing this treatment.
However, this is not a suggestion to what people should do, as it needs to be studied and clinically tested first.
The different components: breathing exercises, gentle stretching (NOT exercise), a very specific diet, a lot of water & more.
This sounds WAY easier on paper than it was. At this point I couldn’t stand for longer than a couple minutes & I hadn’t been able to cook in some time.
This sounds WAY easier on paper than it was. At this point I couldn’t stand for longer than a couple minutes & I hadn’t been able to cook in some time.
As the body gets rid of excess acid through the urine, I figured that dramatically increasing my overall water intake would be a good idea.
I also added alkalizing electrolyte drops (bases) to every glass of water.
I also added alkalizing electrolyte drops (bases) to every glass of water.
In terms of diet things were a little bit more complicated. There is a difference between the starting acidity/alkalinity of food and whether or not they are acid/alkaline-producing in the body.
Simply put: lemons are acidic, but they produce bases upon digestion.
Simply put: lemons are acidic, but they produce bases upon digestion.
I decided to limit my intake of acid-producing foods (all meats, fish, dairy, most grains & most nuts) while increasing my intake of base-producing food (almost all fruits & vegetables) by a lot.
The thought was: If I can add enough bases to my body, it can balance out the excess acid that my muscles are producing due to their hypoxic state. For this I used something called a PRAL (Potential Renal Acid Load of food) value list.
There are different PRAL lists available online, but sadly none of those are made by health institutes (as far as I could find), and the listed PRAL values vary some depending on which list you use.
I found this list very helpful: inaturally.com.au
I found this list very helpful: inaturally.com.au
There are different published papers where researchers calculated PRAL values of a variety of foods, such as the one below, as well as published data on the effects of eating a low PRAL diet on different conditions.
jandonline.org
jandonline.org
I figured that mild stretches (NOT exercise*) would help move acid through my body, so that it can be eliminated by the kidneys.
*By now it’s common knowledge that exercise can cause post-exertional malaise (PEM/PESE) in #LongCovid
*By now it’s common knowledge that exercise can cause post-exertional malaise (PEM/PESE) in #LongCovid
There’s been research that showed that breathing is dysregulated in #LongCovid, and breathing exercises can help restore respiratory capacity, so I tried doing breathing exercises.
For example: when going up the stairs I would do deep breathing, which helped me to not get winded
For example: when going up the stairs I would do deep breathing, which helped me to not get winded
After doing these activities for a couple of days I started to see significant improvements in my full range of Long Covid symptoms.
And after continuing this makeshift treatment for a couple of weeks, I improved to a point where I was completely and stably symptom free.
And after continuing this makeshift treatment for a couple of weeks, I improved to a point where I was completely and stably symptom free.
All of this sounds simple, but it’s really not given how debilitating Long Covid is.
Stretching (and thus being on my feet a lot) was close to impossible in the beginning. As were other parts of this treatment.
Stretching (and thus being on my feet a lot) was close to impossible in the beginning. As were other parts of this treatment.
A low PRAL diet seems like something people would've tried, but it's not a common diet. As far as I could find it's never been connected or tried for either #LongCovid or ME.
Now this treatment was effective in helping me recover, but that doesn't mean that will be the case for everyone.
We state in the paper:
As PASC may be a type of chronic metabolic acidosis, a single treatment (e.g. bicarbonate) is unlikely to offer full disease resolution, but any changes in symptomology following treatment would further support the hypothesis.
As PASC may be a type of chronic metabolic acidosis, a single treatment (e.g. bicarbonate) is unlikely to offer full disease resolution, but any changes in symptomology following treatment would further support the hypothesis.
In my case this treatment protocol quite quickly resulted in a dramatic improvement in my quality of sleep (potentially restoring my cellular molecular clock), which I believe played a big part in the steady improvement that followed.
It may have broken the feedback loop.
It may have broken the feedback loop.
I want to state again: this is not a suggestion to what people should do, as it needs to be studied and clinically tested first.
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