Long Covid
Long Covid is a multisystemic complex condition that can cause a huge variety of symptoms, with extreme fatigue being the most common.
10-15% of people who contract Covid-19 may have lingering symptoms for months or years. This can range from mild to highly debilitating, and include postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) and post-exertional malaise (PEM).
Key Facts
- Long Covid is highly complex and there is no treatment. There are a number of key pathways which may be modulated by nutrition and specialised supplements. Depending on your symptoms, it may help to focus first on one of these – mitochondrial energy production, inflammation and gut health, the cholinergic system and neurotransmitters, or blood flow.
- Diet can play a role in managing symptoms and may include a low histamine diet, an anti-inflammatory diet, lower carb/ no sugar diet or avoidance of food triggers such as gluten
- Testing levels of nutrients can help with targeted supplementation. Some of our tests can be carried out at home for those who cannot travel
- Sleep, hormones, adrenal health and thyroid function are all contributing factors to consider
- People with more severe symptoms can react differently or poorly to some interventions and supplements. It is important to be careful not to reduce your baseline, especially with PEM
Best Test Options
Advanced Immune Test
Autoimmune Screen Blood Test
Functional Nutritional Profile Blood Test
Amino Acid Profile Blood Test
Whole Blood Nutrient Panel – At Home
Gut Health & Microbiome – GI Ecologix
Organic Acids Test – At Home
Viral Screen – At Home
Patient Story
History
Sarah attended our clinic after two years of Long Covid. Her symptoms included extreme fatigue, brain fog, headaches, and post-exertional malaise (PEM). She had also tested positive for POTS and was taking medication to treat this.
Tests
Sarah carried out a number of tests including gut microbiome testing and advanced immune testing which showed slightly elevated inflammatory markers and raised fibrinogen, a clotting marker in the blood. She also carried out nutrient testing and amino acid panel which identified low levels of particular amino acids necessary for healthy blood flow.
Plan
Given her fatigue, dietary changes were difficult to make but Sarah did commence on a lower histamine, gluten free diet. She started on a supportive supplement protocol including electrolytes and specific amino acids to promote blood flow and blood volume.
Outcome
The supplements helped her daily baseline energy but she still needed to practice careful pacing to avoid PEM. The low histamine diet reduced her daily headache and her repeat gut microbiome test showed significant improvements and reduced inflammation.
Referral and medical support
Sarah had tried a number of supplements to reduce clotting such as nattokinase and serrapeptase. She was referred for medical support and started on anti-coagulant medication based on her elevated fibrinogen. This markedly improved her symptoms including energy, cognitive function and reduced her symptoms of POTS. We published a case report in a scientific journal to help others in this situation.
“My threshold for PEM was much higher so I could expand my activities. I got back out into nature which made me very happy. I am able to participate more with my family and be ‘Mom’ again. I am now back at work part time, to a job that I love. I am starting to feel like me again” - patient perspective as published in our case report
