The novel coronavirus took the world by storm this entire year. And although most people that were infected had a mild or moderate case, many were less fortunate. The elderly and those with pre-existing conditions were hit the hardest. But even for those with mild cases, some developed what is now sometimes termed post-covid syndrome.
Even though these people survived the infection and were cleared from quarantine, they still suffered some lingering symptoms. Sometimes for weeks or even months. There are patients that were infected earlier this year that still have these persistent symptoms till now.
Some of these post-covid syndrome symptoms include:
The same risk factors apply to post-covid syndrome as they do for the covid-19 infection itself: being older and having a pre-existing condition such as high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and even mental health issues. But what’s interesting is that a large percentage of those with lingering symptoms are otherwise young and healthy individuals. Yet they report being unable to reach their previous level of health.
One thing that is truly novel about this virus is just how much damage it can do to different body systems. It doesn’t just affect the respiratory tract, but the cardiovascular system, the brain and nervous system, and the musculoskeletal system, among others.
Some of the most worrisome effects it has, include, by system:
Psychiatric issues, such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, and sleep disturbances can also affect covid-19 survivors long-term. They may partially be the result of the challenge of dealing with persistent symptoms. Those with anosmia, which is the loss of smell and taste, and parosmia, which is the distortion of taste and smell, can be particularly vulnerable to developing mental health issues. The change can be so dramatic that family and friends have a hard time understanding what is going on.
As you can see, the damage that can happen to these systems during covid-19 is what carries on as lingering symptoms in post-covid syndrome. And because this is all quite new, medical experts and health organizations still don’t fully understand the long-term significance of these issues. It may take quite some time until there is more comprehensive research into what the clinical response should be.
In that sense, there is no one size fits all approach that you can take to deal with lingering symptoms. A comprehensive approach that takes into account your current condition, your condition pre-covid, and your lifestyle is what may be the most effective. And that’s what we’ll discuss in this article.
One thing to keep in mind is that addressing symptoms, though needed, is still a surface level approach. We need to dig a little deeper to see what some of the more systemic issues are that are not allowing for a full recovery.
Those with NeuroEndoMetabolic (NEM) Stress Response dysregulation are more susceptible to recurring infections and they have a harder time recovering from these infections. And the thing to note here is that you can be considered healthy by most mainstream medical standards yet have NEM dysregulation.
This is partially due to the fact that mainstream medicine has yet to accept Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome (AFS) as a real diagnosis. Similarly, to what happened with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for many decades until the sheer number of cases forced the mainstream medical community to take it seriously.
AFS and NEM dysregulation go hand in hand because the adrenal glands are part of the NEM’s Hormone and Cardionomic circuits.
The NEM is your body’s global response to stress. It is composed of six circuits of organs and systems that work together to fight stress. They are The Hormone, the Bioenergetics, the Neuroaffect, the Cardionomic, the Inflammation, and the Detoxification circuits. Your adrenal glands are your NEM’s first line of defence against stress. They secrete your body’s main anti-stress hormone, cortisol, along with more than 50 other hormones.
What happens when stress becomes chronic is that your adrenals overwork and their cortisol output goes outside normal ranges. That’s when you get AFS symptoms, such as fatigue, insomnia, weight gain, anxiety, mild depression, brain fog, memory and concentration problems, heart palpitations, racing or pounding heartbeat, hypoglycemia, salt and sugar cravings, lowered immunity, food and drug sensitivities, hair loss, dry skin, loss of libido, PMS, infertility, and an inability to handle stress.
As you can see, the symptoms vary widely, and that’s because when you have AFS, your entire NEM is affected with all of its different circuits. Also, as you can see, some of these symptoms are similar to those you get with the post-covid syndrome. And that’s because post-covid syndrome also affects the NEM circuits. In fact, AFS and post-covid syndrome have many links.
First of all, when you have AFS and NEM dysregulation, your immunity takes a hit. That’s why you find yourself more vulnerable to infections. If your AFS is very advanced, a common cold can knock you out and you feel like you never fully get back to normal afterwards.
On the other hand, because AFS is a condition you develop when facing chronic stress, having had something like a covid-19 infection may have added to the stress your body is under. And that could trigger or aggravate AFS.
So, this is then our first clue as to what should be included in the more comprehensive approach to dealing with post-covid syndrome: adrenal fatigue recovery and the rebalancing of the NEM stress response.
Now let’s take a closer look at three NEM circuits that, when affected by covid-19, can bring about some of the more serious symptoms: The Inflammation, the Cardionomic, and the Neuroaffect Circuits.
Your NEM’s Inflammation Circuit is composed of your immune system, your gastrointestinal (GI) tract, and your gut microbiome. Your gut actually contains two-thirds of your immune system cells in what’s called the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT). That’s why if you have inflammation in your gut, you can end up with a weakened immune system.
Many people have inflammation in their GI tract and not even realize it. If you’re someone who thinks that it’s only when you have chronic digestive symptoms that you then have a chronic gut issue, think again. Sometimes inflammation in the gut doesn’t show up as digestive or gut-related symptoms at all.
That’s because the inflammation in the gut can travel to other areas of the body and cause symptoms there. For example, chronic gut inflammation can travel to the brain and nervous system and cause neurological and psychiatric issues. That’s why there is a consensus now that low-grade chronic inflammation is a risk factor for depression. And also why brain fog is a very common symptom for those with celiac disease and other food intolerances.
The mechanism by which chronic inflammation develops in the gut is this: your gut and microbiome are repeatedly exposed to triggers that cause them to get out of balance. These can include a bad diet, certain medications (such as NSAIDs and antibiotics), toxins, and even stress.
When your microbiome is out of balance, it’s a condition called dysbiosis. Dysbiosis leads to the tight junctions in your gut lining to loosen, creating leaks. These leaks then let substances into the bloodstream that shouldn’t be there. Those include food particles, toxins, and pathogens. As soon as your immune system is alerted to the presence of these substances, it launches an attack. That’s what creates inflammation.
Acute inflammation is actually a protective and necessary measure. But because you now have these leaks, these different substances enter your bloodstream, triggering inflammation, on a cyclical basis. That’s why you get chronic inflammation in your gut. And actually, we believe that the majority of chronic inflammation begins in the gut.
This is the circuit we’d start with addressing if you have post-covid syndrome. Healing your gut, balancing your microbiome, and strengthening your immune system is truly the foundation of a strong and healthy body as well as a solid recovery.
This can be done through dietary changes and supplementation. The last section of this article will cover supplementation for different systems affected by post-covid syndrome. For the dietary changes, we suggest trying an elimination diet where you remove any generally inflammatory foods and also foods that you may be individually sensitive to. These can include things like:
Then you should add anti-inflammatory and microbiome-balancing foods to your diet. Those include probiotic foods like:
These foods will help rebuild your gut lining and repopulate your gut microbiome with good bacteria. This will then help seal the leaks and stop that chronic inflammation cycle. And this will finally allow your immune system to wind down and regroup.
The adrenal fatigue diet would be a good baseline diet to then add these probiotic, anti-inflammatory foods to. It will replenish the depleted nutrient and energy stores that your body needs to recover. It’s also good for stabilizing your blood sugar levels, another key factor in overall health.
Your NEM’s Cardionomic Circuit is composed of your cardiovascular system, your autonomic nervous system (ANS), and your adrenal glands. An important part of the stress response is to pump more oxygenated blood to your muscles. This helps your muscles metabolize more glucose and get more energy.
That burst of energy is meant to give you the best chance possible at surviving whatever threat is facing you by either fighting it or escaping it. This is what’s called the “fight or flight” response, and it’s one of our most ancient survival mechanisms.
The problem arises when chronic stress makes your adrenals release cortisol regularly and when the sympathoadrenal hormone system (SAS) of your ANS can no longer properly regulate the levels of the other two important stress hormones, norepinephrine and epinephrine (also called adrenaline).
When these hormones are released repeatedly, anxiety, insomnia, and increased heart rate can all be triggered or worsened. That’s when you start seeing damage to the heart muscles and cardiac nodes. Those nodes are what regulate your heartbeat, and their failure can result in blood pressure instability, atrial fibrillation, cardiac arrhythmias, and vascular dysregulation.
Your cardiovascular system is then put under immense strain. And since the lingering covid-19 symptoms are not only a sign of chronic stress but chronic stressors themselves, you can end up developing these Cardionomic Circuit issues as part of post-covid syndrome.
Your NEM’s Neuroaffect Circuit is composed of your brain, ANS, and microbiome. It shares the ANS with the Cardionomic Circuit and the Microbiome with the Inflammation Circuit. We’ve seen that the Hormone and Cardionomic circuits have the adrenal glands in common. Indeed, each circuit of the NEM shares one of its components with another circuit. This is why when one circuit is affected, it affects the others too, in a domino-like effect.
The dysregulation of the Neuroaffect Circuit is what can create some of the more unique symptoms of covid-19, such as the brain fog, memory loss, decrease in concentration, loss of smell and taste, mood changes and sleep disturbances. And since the triad of the gut-brain-ANS of this circuit uses neurotransmitters as its means of communication, that’s where we might want to look for some answers.
Let’s now take a closer look at the loss of smell and taste, because out of all the other symptoms, it requires a very special method for recovery.
Until now, the only scientifically validated rehabilitation method is smell training. Smell training consists of using different scents to sniff for a few seconds at a time and focusing on registering the scent. The most common products that people use for smell training are essential oils, and the essential oils that were used in one of the studies on smell training are lemon, rose, clove, and eucalyptus.
Also, the sniffing itself should be light, short sniffs rather than long inhales. The idea is to just barely get the scent to the top of your nose and then use a form of mindfulness to try and “find” the scent.
But please don’t let this become a source of anxiety for you if at first, you can’t smell anything. You need to have patience with this method as it can take weeks or months to begin seeing improvements. But there are countless success stories and many have regained their sense of smell and tastefully even after 8+ months of total loss.
Supplements can be an extremely effective tool in recovery from post-covid syndrome as well as the damage it has caused the different NEM circuits. In fact, a gentle supplements protocol is second only to diet in AFS and NEM recovery. However, keep in mind that these supplements are not treatments and do not help cure post-covid syndrome.
Although we will give you now a few suggestions, it is really important that you do not try any of them without the guidance of an expert medical professional experienced with these conditions. First of all, each person’s condition is unique, so the different supplements, dosages, and combinations will vary accordingly. Secondly, if you have NEM dysregulation it’s likely that you’ll be a bit sensitive to certain ingredients. You will also need guidance to avoid paradoxical reactions and sensitivities in this case. And, lastly, taking a shot-gun approach to supplementation where you try all different types just to get something to work is ineffective. At best, you’ll have some improvement without knowing which supplements actually worked and which are a waste of money.
Now that this is out of the way, here are a few possible suggestions.
Remember how we mentioned that the gut and microbiome are the foundation of a healthy immune system and health in general? So sealing leaks and reversing dysbiosis should be a priority. Some supplements that can help do that are:|
Healing your gut will already help with inflammation a lot. But there are supplements that fight the inflammation directly as well. These include:
Now that you’re on the road to healing your gut and reducing inflammation, it’s time to boost your immunity so your body can fight off whatever is left of the virus. This will also help you to stave off any other infections while going through recovery. Immune-strengthening supplements include:
A lot of the supplements already mentioned will go a long way to reduce or reverse the oxidative damage caused by covid-19 as well as AFS and NEM dysregulation. Oxidative stress happens when the free radicals circulating your system outnumber the antioxidants you have available to neutralize them. So, supplements that act as antioxidants may help with this fight. They include:
As you can see, many supplements overlap. And although we recommend you get as many of your vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants from food as much as possible, it’s inevitable to have some gaps leftover from your diet from time to time. Plus, a therapeutic dose may be a helpful push for recovery. So ask your healthcare provider to help you create an individualized supplementation plan along with dietary and lifestyle changes.
Although most people recover from covid-19, it is still a new and poorly understood virus. We simply don’t know the long-term implications of having been infected. There is a percentage of survivors that go on to develop lingering symptoms or post-covid syndrome.
This can be very frustrating and confusing, especially if you can’t get answers from your doctor. That’s why we suggest a more comprehensive approach that deals with the different body systems affected by the infection. And your symptoms can clue you in as to which systems those are.
A viral infection like covid-19 can be a big stressor on the body. So we think it’s a good idea to also check your adrenal glands and the entire NEM for any dysregulation, as well as check your body for inflammation. Addressing any issues there will already help a great deal in getting your body strong enough to keep fighting this infection and any left-over damage.
Don’t lose hope, many have recovered completely, and your body has its own wisdom and healing capacity. Take it slow and find a good support system. You will find what works for you and reach full recovery.
If you would like to know more about or need assistance with your recovery, the team at Dr. Lam Coaching can help. We offer a free** no-obligations phone consultation at +1-626-571-1234 where we will privately discuss your symptoms and various options. You can also send us a question through our Ask The Doctor system by clicking here.
Post-covid syndrome can be a confusing and frustrating effect of covid-19 infection. That’s why we think it’s necessary to look for a more comprehensive approach to recovery. An approach that will deal with the underlying body systems damaged by the virus that we can then build up to strength again.
