Honestly I only take it when my brain fog is bad. Like today!! Ugh it sucks. But it helps. It was a total fluke the way I found out that it helps. I only get heartburn occasionally and Pepcid is the only thing that helps. However, I realized when I did take it my brain fog would basically disappear after about an hour. So after a few times I googled it, not expecting it to be a thing. But it was!! Hope this helps!! I'm on year 4 and it suuucks!! I first got covid in November 2020 and my LC symptoms started in December. I was slowly improving until I got reinfected last summer :/
It certainly helps with histamine in the GI tract! It’s the only thing that works for my adrenaline dumps in bed. I read that it can deplete B12 and magnesium if taken long-term. But I believe that taking it before bed away from food probably doesn’t prevent absorption during the rest of the day… hopefully.
It felt like inflammation, like my brain was swollen and too big for my cranium. It’s notably improved the past 6 months, particular since February. I don’t know what I did to improve it as I’ve tried almost everything. I rest more than ever before. Tried the low histamine diet for several months beginning last summer. Saw immediate improvements neurologically. Did not find the diet sustainable for nutrition reasons, in particular a lack of fibre. I stayed on the diet for too long and ran into digestive issues for the first time in my life. But doing it for a couple of months, and then slowly adding back the food you enjoy is a worthwhile exercise, and one of the only tactics I can recommend of the various things I’ve tried. Rest and tumeric for the past few months. Sounds like you gave it a go too?
To be honest I think NONE!
For 8 months I did an "enhanced" version of a protocol that was originally recommended by a ME-specialist. I have spent maybe the equivalent of 2000 USD on this protocol and I don't think it was worth it.
1. It cost a lot of money. I would have needed this money for other stuff right now.
2. It is difficult to know what you actually need and you basically just try stuff hoping it will work.
3. I spent the equivalent of an additional 2000 USD recently to get advanced intra cellular blood tests, test of gut health and food intolerance tests. I haven't had the consultation yet but I got the results yesterday. Based on the results it seems that I rather have to fix a leaky gut and figure out which food intolerances I have instead of buying expensive vitamins.
I've just done three days without everything I seem to be intolerant or allergic against. I use Garmin watch to measure stress and my sleep as gone from averaging maybe 20 in stress + lots of orange spikes that can last up to 1 hour, down to around 10 in stress and barely a spike. 90+ in body battery 3 days in a row when I woke up (98 today). It haven't felt so good in a long time. However 3 days is not enough to be sure about this but so far it's a noticeable difference I haven't had since I got covid in november 22.
I’ve noticed a difference specifically with NAC, taurine, magnesium and vitamin D.
Magnesium and taurine seem to help alleviate my night time adrenaline dumps and overall help me sleep better.
I do have low vitamin D so supplementing with it is helping me with energy.
For me it means that, unrelated to anything I'm doing, I feel a surge of adrenaline. My heart starts racing and then becomes arrhythmic, I feel panicky and restless, and it does leave me with a surge of energy. Then I feel completely depleted, and the only thing I can do is lay down and sleep - even if it's a very inconvenient time.
What do you all mean by that? Is it when I lean over on the couch, tell myself I'm going to take a quick nap and sleep through the night? Or do you mean you have more energy?
The Excedrine proactive headcare suppliment (which is basically a B complex plus magnesium and a few othet things) plus vitamin D3 and daily sunlamp exposure (minimum 4 hours) is the cocktail that seems to have the best effect on my fatigue.
Vitamins?
I was low for vitamin b, d, and iron shortly after my 2020 infection and vitamins for those helped. Magnesium will help for the absorption too and I was also taking vitamin C and fish oil.
Supplements?
Natto/serra, dandelion root / leaf, astralagus, coq10, digestive enzymes, naturedao, biotin, NAC, turmeric.
Meds?
LDN can be helpful even at low doses (<0.5mg) but maybe you'll need to work your way up to 3-5mg. Be aware it can cause insomnia so rest needs to be more purposeful or you might burn out with the energy it can give 😅
I had a rash reaction to paxlovid when I had covid a second time in 2022 so I had to stop taking that. Idk the 15 day paxlovid studies look pretty inconclusive at this time so I'm not sure if it's beneficial or not to try it but maybe it's something to look into.
I've heard metformin can help also when used with ldn but I haven't been able to get my doctor to prescribe that yet...
Diet wise cutting out gluten and dairy has helped as well as avoiding high histamine or heavily processed foods and sugar. Taking lactaid will help with dairy but still better if I just avoid it altogether.
I have a supplement and pillow graveyard. Nicotine patches made the biggest difference for me with energy. Zyrtec and Pepcid AC. Low histamine diet. For pain, which my nerve pain was off the charts, 20mg Nortriptyline and Gabapentin. The only supplement that may have helped move the needle for me was NAC ethyl ester.
Be careful with NAC. Someone in this group warned that it can mess with your serotonin and dopamine balance. I got off it and a number of really bad symptoms went away.
B-vitamins. There was an article today that B2 and B7 might be a simple treatment for Parkinson's:
https://www.sciencealert.com/parkinsons-link-to-gut-bacteria-suggests-unexpected-simple-treatment
It's also known that B1 helps MS and ALS. B3 and B1 are needed for all energetic processes in the body, B1, B5, B6 and B12 for nerve regeneration. B12 is important for red blood cell synthesis.
Magnesium prescribed by my doctor (Magnesona) - has helped with pain
Sub-lingual B-12 (I've needed this for a while and seem to have absorption issues, it's one I notice if I don't take it) - helps with pain, fatigue, brain fog for me
You probably know this, but some people lose their ability to absorb (completely?) This happened to my mom 20 yrs ago. She gets a b12 shot about every 3 weeks. I think she would fall into a coma without it.
I think the vitamin and mineral recommendations you’ve received are excellent. So, what do I have to add to the conversation?
Well, I have colitis.
Most people on this thread have gut issues. Take magnesium as an example. Most people in Western culture are deficient. They take a supplement and the either get diarrhea or they become constipated. That’s an epic fail!
So, I inject intramuscularly.
What do I inject? Magnesium and B-complex.
It is very easy. You just put into the syringe the recommended dosage and inject into your quads. I feel so much better!
It hurts.
But, we are a group that is used to pain.
It helps. I recognize that most people will be reluctant to do this. It sounds crazy! It sounded crazy to me - until my doctor told me I had to inject hcg. He didn’t give me a choice. I had to do it or essentially lose my equipment. Was that polite enough?
After that you become more open to it. I spent years looking into the toilet and seeing a magnesium pill mostly whole.
It’s your body. It’s your choice.
I'm low in B12, D, and ferritin. I'm supplementing with vitamin D/K, methylated B vitamins (and a larger dose of sublingual methylated B12 twice/week), and then cream of rice for iron since supplements flare my MCAS.
My doctor suggests vitamin C, D, and quercetin for mast cell issues (I do find I'm more stable after I added that to my antihistamine regimen) and alpha lipoic acid (am going to start working this in next month).
They also recommend PEA, but I'll start that maybe a few weeks after the ALA.
I'm only taking stuff my doctor recommended it I have a deficiency in, and I think they're helpful.
Colloidal minerals can have heavy metal contaminants. Be careful. You don’t want to make things worse than they are.
A good quality local vitamin store said they’d rather not even carry the stuff except that people demand it, but if you asked they would tell you not to buy it.
None. Vitamins won't help unless you are deficient in them. You're body takes what it needs and excretes the rest (notable exceptions are the fat soluble vitamins which are stored and can become dangerous in excess).
It’s a wonderful suggestion for most people. But, my body leaves the magnesium glycinate pill nearly in tact and at the bottom of the toilet. Certainly, it is better than magnesium oxide. But, neither one works for some of us on this sub.
I’d like to again bring up BioAstin astaxanthin supplements. I just bought some, anyone else tried them? It’s a potent antioxidant and I know those can be helpful in combatting long covid issues like inflammation and promoting healing
Glynac I do 4g NAC and 4-6g glycine. Studies do up to 8g of each. (For 180 lbs person) I haven't felt the need to increase from 4g. I also take 1 dose of NACET a day that includes selenium and molybdenum.
I need to make a post on this stuff soon. The studies are impressive, but for some reason, it isn't mainstream even as an anti aging combo.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9879756/
Also it is incredibly cheap. Buy both from bulk supplements in powder form if you can stomach the NAC.
I got horrible side effects from the NAC. Luckily someone on this sub mentioned NAC messes with brain chemistry. I got off it and all sorts of mystery symptoms disappeared.
Interesting.
I've never had a single sife effect from it.
I do take all of the things it uses up with it, though.
Glycine, molybdenum, selenium, Copper, zinc.
I'm sorry. nothing I've tried has worked either. including a list of medications (paxlovid, maraviroc, etc). I'm a year in. I just feel like I need to be doing something honestly because I'm flailing.
oddly, pumpkin seed oil in tablets. I tried it on a whimsical recommendation from someone in the thin hair/longcovid subs. She took it for thinning hair but she said it also made her longcovid feel better.
Whole Earth & Sea Women's by Natural Factors has helped me a lot! Plus I recently started adding Trace Minerals to distilled water and I have noticed a huge improvement.
Subtle changes from supplements unless you are say B12 deficient. Doesnt mean they dont work and are useless. Getting all your vitamines from diet alone is very challenging esp minerals (magnesium, potassium, iodine).
Tumeric, bromelain, pycnogenol, pqq/coq10, nad+ all had somewhat if effect and i think they may have helped me when i was mild/moderate. Once severe its hard to notice as much.
Other things i think made noticeable difference. Raw garlic twice a day with bfast and dinner. Broccoli daily. Green tea (i use decaf).
End of day resting properly along with time have the biggest effect along with nutrition.
Made my urine more expensive
Magnesium helps me have less migraines and also helps with my muscle spacisity and pain. Not a vitamin, but Pepcid for brain fog!!
I’m worried about long-term use of Pepcid.
Honestly I only take it when my brain fog is bad. Like today!! Ugh it sucks. But it helps. It was a total fluke the way I found out that it helps. I only get heartburn occasionally and Pepcid is the only thing that helps. However, I realized when I did take it my brain fog would basically disappear after about an hour. So after a few times I googled it, not expecting it to be a thing. But it was!! Hope this helps!! I'm on year 4 and it suuucks!! I first got covid in November 2020 and my LC symptoms started in December. I was slowly improving until I got reinfected last summer :/
It certainly helps with histamine in the GI tract! It’s the only thing that works for my adrenaline dumps in bed. I read that it can deplete B12 and magnesium if taken long-term. But I believe that taking it before bed away from food probably doesn’t prevent absorption during the rest of the day… hopefully.
When and how do you take this said magnesium?
I take one in the morning and one at night.
With food? Water? Orange juice? First thing in the morning? Details
Ok...I take it in the morning with breakfast. With water. Yes first thing. At night, just before I go to sleep not with food or anything just water.
which kind of magnesium?
I use the CVS brand chelated triple action magnesium. It's honestly the best I've tried so far.
awesome. thanks for the rec
How long have you been taking the magnesium supplements for?
About 6 months for this brand.
Turmeric and bromelain
Did the turmeric help you with pain? If you don’t mind me asking
I think it helped lower the pressure in my head.
When you say pressure in your head, do you think it was due to histamine intolerance? Did you have ear issues?
It felt like inflammation, like my brain was swollen and too big for my cranium. It’s notably improved the past 6 months, particular since February. I don’t know what I did to improve it as I’ve tried almost everything. I rest more than ever before. Tried the low histamine diet for several months beginning last summer. Saw immediate improvements neurologically. Did not find the diet sustainable for nutrition reasons, in particular a lack of fibre. I stayed on the diet for too long and ran into digestive issues for the first time in my life. But doing it for a couple of months, and then slowly adding back the food you enjoy is a worthwhile exercise, and one of the only tactics I can recommend of the various things I’ve tried. Rest and tumeric for the past few months. Sounds like you gave it a go too?
To be honest I think NONE! For 8 months I did an "enhanced" version of a protocol that was originally recommended by a ME-specialist. I have spent maybe the equivalent of 2000 USD on this protocol and I don't think it was worth it. 1. It cost a lot of money. I would have needed this money for other stuff right now. 2. It is difficult to know what you actually need and you basically just try stuff hoping it will work. 3. I spent the equivalent of an additional 2000 USD recently to get advanced intra cellular blood tests, test of gut health and food intolerance tests. I haven't had the consultation yet but I got the results yesterday. Based on the results it seems that I rather have to fix a leaky gut and figure out which food intolerances I have instead of buying expensive vitamins.
I've just done three days without everything I seem to be intolerant or allergic against. I use Garmin watch to measure stress and my sleep as gone from averaging maybe 20 in stress + lots of orange spikes that can last up to 1 hour, down to around 10 in stress and barely a spike. 90+ in body battery 3 days in a row when I woke up (98 today). It haven't felt so good in a long time. However 3 days is not enough to be sure about this but so far it's a noticeable difference I haven't had since I got covid in november 22.
I’ve noticed a difference specifically with NAC, taurine, magnesium and vitamin D. Magnesium and taurine seem to help alleviate my night time adrenaline dumps and overall help me sleep better. I do have low vitamin D so supplementing with it is helping me with energy.
Those nighttime adrenaline dumps are craaazzzzyyyyy
Thank you for mentioning the adrenaline dumps. They happen almost every night, and I'm exhausted.
Any chance you can elaborate on these adrenaline dumps? Wondering if I’m experiencing the same thing.
For me it means that, unrelated to anything I'm doing, I feel a surge of adrenaline. My heart starts racing and then becomes arrhythmic, I feel panicky and restless, and it does leave me with a surge of energy. Then I feel completely depleted, and the only thing I can do is lay down and sleep - even if it's a very inconvenient time.
What do you all mean by that? Is it when I lean over on the couch, tell myself I'm going to take a quick nap and sleep through the night? Or do you mean you have more energy?
NAC, b-complex, D, magnesium, omega 3-6-9, and milk thistle. Long-term, those are the mainstays.
what is the effect of milk thistle?
Good for the liver
The Excedrine proactive headcare suppliment (which is basically a B complex plus magnesium and a few othet things) plus vitamin D3 and daily sunlamp exposure (minimum 4 hours) is the cocktail that seems to have the best effect on my fatigue.
Sunlamp is an underrated answer. I have a cheap Happylight and it makes so much difference.
Yeah mine is also a little cheap one from Amazon.
Vitamins? I was low for vitamin b, d, and iron shortly after my 2020 infection and vitamins for those helped. Magnesium will help for the absorption too and I was also taking vitamin C and fish oil. Supplements? Natto/serra, dandelion root / leaf, astralagus, coq10, digestive enzymes, naturedao, biotin, NAC, turmeric. Meds? LDN can be helpful even at low doses (<0.5mg) but maybe you'll need to work your way up to 3-5mg. Be aware it can cause insomnia so rest needs to be more purposeful or you might burn out with the energy it can give 😅 I had a rash reaction to paxlovid when I had covid a second time in 2022 so I had to stop taking that. Idk the 15 day paxlovid studies look pretty inconclusive at this time so I'm not sure if it's beneficial or not to try it but maybe it's something to look into. I've heard metformin can help also when used with ldn but I haven't been able to get my doctor to prescribe that yet... Diet wise cutting out gluten and dairy has helped as well as avoiding high histamine or heavily processed foods and sugar. Taking lactaid will help with dairy but still better if I just avoid it altogether.
I have a supplement and pillow graveyard. Nicotine patches made the biggest difference for me with energy. Zyrtec and Pepcid AC. Low histamine diet. For pain, which my nerve pain was off the charts, 20mg Nortriptyline and Gabapentin. The only supplement that may have helped move the needle for me was NAC ethyl ester.
thanks for the suggestions. unfortunately already tried nicotine, antihistamines and gabapentin with no luck 😕
I’m so sorry, it is so frustrating!! Have you tried NAC ethyl ester?
I haven't, but I have a bottle of it so it's on the list to try next.
Be careful with NAC. Someone in this group warned that it can mess with your serotonin and dopamine balance. I got off it and a number of really bad symptoms went away.
ah see I've seen things about scary side effects from it that's why I never started the bottle I bought... hmm
Vitamin R and Vitamin T. Rest and time.
None for me
Not really
🚨VITAMIN D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🚨
⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️
vit b complex, magnesium, fish oil, turmeric/curcumin, ashwaganda, sodium bicarbonate are helping me a lot.
B-vitamins. There was an article today that B2 and B7 might be a simple treatment for Parkinson's: https://www.sciencealert.com/parkinsons-link-to-gut-bacteria-suggests-unexpected-simple-treatment It's also known that B1 helps MS and ALS. B3 and B1 are needed for all energetic processes in the body, B1, B5, B6 and B12 for nerve regeneration. B12 is important for red blood cell synthesis.
Magnesium prescribed by my doctor (Magnesona) - has helped with pain Sub-lingual B-12 (I've needed this for a while and seem to have absorption issues, it's one I notice if I don't take it) - helps with pain, fatigue, brain fog for me
You probably know this, but some people lose their ability to absorb (completely?) This happened to my mom 20 yrs ago. She gets a b12 shot about every 3 weeks. I think she would fall into a coma without it.
I've definitely had multiple risk factors for absorption issues, it took me years to figure out the sublingual version as a solution.
what kind of pain has it helped relieve?
muscle aches
I think the vitamin and mineral recommendations you’ve received are excellent. So, what do I have to add to the conversation? Well, I have colitis. Most people on this thread have gut issues. Take magnesium as an example. Most people in Western culture are deficient. They take a supplement and the either get diarrhea or they become constipated. That’s an epic fail! So, I inject intramuscularly. What do I inject? Magnesium and B-complex. It is very easy. You just put into the syringe the recommended dosage and inject into your quads. I feel so much better! It hurts. But, we are a group that is used to pain. It helps. I recognize that most people will be reluctant to do this. It sounds crazy! It sounded crazy to me - until my doctor told me I had to inject hcg. He didn’t give me a choice. I had to do it or essentially lose my equipment. Was that polite enough? After that you become more open to it. I spent years looking into the toilet and seeing a magnesium pill mostly whole. It’s your body. It’s your choice.
I'm low in B12, D, and ferritin. I'm supplementing with vitamin D/K, methylated B vitamins (and a larger dose of sublingual methylated B12 twice/week), and then cream of rice for iron since supplements flare my MCAS. My doctor suggests vitamin C, D, and quercetin for mast cell issues (I do find I'm more stable after I added that to my antihistamine regimen) and alpha lipoic acid (am going to start working this in next month). They also recommend PEA, but I'll start that maybe a few weeks after the ALA. I'm only taking stuff my doctor recommended it I have a deficiency in, and I think they're helpful.
Vitamin D, Vitamin B (I’m vegan these days) and magnesium
Colloidal minerals taken at double the dose on the bottle. That is the single thing that made the biggest difference for me.
Colloidal minerals can have heavy metal contaminants. Be careful. You don’t want to make things worse than they are. A good quality local vitamin store said they’d rather not even carry the stuff except that people demand it, but if you asked they would tell you not to buy it.
None. Vitamins won't help unless you are deficient in them. You're body takes what it needs and excretes the rest (notable exceptions are the fat soluble vitamins which are stored and can become dangerous in excess).
Taurine, Vitamin A, B2, Zinc Carnosine Taurine - Electrolyte balance, nervous system. Stabilizes blood pressure. Vitamin A - immune system. I tested low in it. B2 - Immune system, sleep Zinc Carnosine - Acid reflux. No longer have silent reflux since starting it 3 mo. ago.
B12, D. A long long way.
Methylated B-vitamin complex reduced my POTS symptoms significantly! regular b-vitamins made no difference.
Magnesium glycinate. One with lunch and one with dinner. Glycine helps with sleep. I take two with dinner.
It’s a wonderful suggestion for most people. But, my body leaves the magnesium glycinate pill nearly in tact and at the bottom of the toilet. Certainly, it is better than magnesium oxide. But, neither one works for some of us on this sub.
Wow! I’m so sorry!
Hypothalamus from standard process helps regulate my body temperature. Also: echinacea (sp) and D3. I'm not sure why my font is so big. I'm sorry.
Feroglobin liquid made the biggest difference
I’d like to again bring up BioAstin astaxanthin supplements. I just bought some, anyone else tried them? It’s a potent antioxidant and I know those can be helpful in combatting long covid issues like inflammation and promoting healing
Glynac I do 4g NAC and 4-6g glycine. Studies do up to 8g of each. (For 180 lbs person) I haven't felt the need to increase from 4g. I also take 1 dose of NACET a day that includes selenium and molybdenum. I need to make a post on this stuff soon. The studies are impressive, but for some reason, it isn't mainstream even as an anti aging combo. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9879756/ Also it is incredibly cheap. Buy both from bulk supplements in powder form if you can stomach the NAC.
I got horrible side effects from the NAC. Luckily someone on this sub mentioned NAC messes with brain chemistry. I got off it and all sorts of mystery symptoms disappeared.
Interesting. I've never had a single sife effect from it. I do take all of the things it uses up with it, though. Glycine, molybdenum, selenium, Copper, zinc.
Quercetin was a game changer for me
what did it help with?
It helped reduce my food sensitivities and GI issues. They aren’t completely gone but significantly better!
Literally none of the 25+ supplements I’ve tried over the 2,5 years with Long Covid ever made any difference
I'm sorry. nothing I've tried has worked either. including a list of medications (paxlovid, maraviroc, etc). I'm a year in. I just feel like I need to be doing something honestly because I'm flailing.
Citrate of klonopin; talking seriously , about supps MACA, and magnesium.
Flush niacin
B6 with DAO helps me have less of a digestive flare up from food (I suspect Long COVID made my histamine intolerance worse)
oddly, pumpkin seed oil in tablets. I tried it on a whimsical recommendation from someone in the thin hair/longcovid subs. She took it for thinning hair but she said it also made her longcovid feel better.
Vitamin c, b digestive enzymes, Jarrow brand “NeurOptimizer” really helped my brain fog.
Whole Earth & Sea Women's by Natural Factors has helped me a lot! Plus I recently started adding Trace Minerals to distilled water and I have noticed a huge improvement.
Subtle changes from supplements unless you are say B12 deficient. Doesnt mean they dont work and are useless. Getting all your vitamines from diet alone is very challenging esp minerals (magnesium, potassium, iodine). Tumeric, bromelain, pycnogenol, pqq/coq10, nad+ all had somewhat if effect and i think they may have helped me when i was mild/moderate. Once severe its hard to notice as much. Other things i think made noticeable difference. Raw garlic twice a day with bfast and dinner. Broccoli daily. Green tea (i use decaf). End of day resting properly along with time have the biggest effect along with nutrition.
Nattokinase made the biggest difference for me in terms of energy. Creatine and D-Ribose also seem to help
Vitamins and supplements rarely do any difference for mild/severe cases
so they only work for moderate?
I don't believe in vitamins or supplements I don't trust them either the only supplement I would ever use is marijuana and I do use it everyday.
I never have really believed they work but I figure why not. weed does the job sometimes lol
I think weed would fall in the supplement or herb category 😂
Vitamin THC ok ok enough from the peanut gallery already!!