Amy Tiemann PhD's guide to Covid Recovery
When our doctors didn't give us guidance, we needed to figure things out for ourselves
I avoided Covid for over 2 years, but it finally came home to roost in mid-2022. I felt a distinct lack of guidance from the medical community about how to maximize our chances of a healthy recovery and avoid long Covid. There are no guarantees, and you should check with your own doctor, but I feel compelled to share what I learned. My good news is that about six months later, I do feel that I have recovered completely, as far as I can tell. (Not looking to tempt fate in any way here!)
I’m going to boil this down as simply as I possibly can to start, then will list the supplements I took.
When you get Covid, is important to rest and recuperate more than you think you need to, as much as possible, for at least several to many weeks. Some would say several months. I know this is a tall order, because extended rest and recuperation is not supported socially, or by employment, or caregiving responsibilities, but it’s vitally important. A vivid piece of advice I received was to “lounge like a French aristocrat for as long as you can.”
Do not try to return to exercise quickly. Rest your voice, and your brain too. Do not try to “push through this.” Pushing through things, or “toughing it out,” is the mental model most of us [Americans] have so deeply ingrained in our brains that we are not even aware that it is our guiding belief, but it is the wrong model for Covid recovery.
Covid stresses out your cellular metabolism. Most people remember exactly 1 thing about mitochondria from high school biology class. Say it with me:
“Mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell.” This is quite literally true.
One of the potential problems caused by Covid and other post-viral illnesses is that mitochondria can become oxidized, “rusted out.” Your mitochondria are like rechargeable batteries, and if they get “rusted out” they might not recharge any more. If that happens, the cell, the organism, YOU, are in big trouble.
It is worth investing in your long-term recovery! My approach, after reading a lot of research from awesome primary researchers such as The Putrino Lab, and others, was to seek out supplements I could take that had been used for a long time and were readily available. I specifically avoided anything sold as a “Covid miracle cure.” Instead, I sought out tried and true metabolic support and anti-oxidants. Things that should do no harm and could actually help.
Since I had broken my arm a couple of months before I caught Covid, I was already resting a lot. I extended my rest for about 8 weeks after that, remaining quite sedentary. I went about my business a little bit, such as going to hand therapy and taking care of my dog—the pictured Cavalier Mochi, who was happy to walk out to the sidewalk and back. I consciously avoided any exercise that would make me break a sweat for about 2 months. And then I gradually went back to exercise, starting up tennis and martial arts again. The first time I played tennis, I asked a friend who was already at the courts for another match to stay after and play with me for just 20 minutes. I limited myself to that short amount of time on purpose to see how I felt the next day or two after—I was on the lookout for “post-exertional malaise,” which would tell me to cut back. This strategy is called “resting and pacing” and is recommended for post-Covid recovery.
I know others who took off less time from exercise who also recovered, but I really want to encourage you to rest as much as you can.
With everything related to this post, please use your own sound judgment, consult your own medical advice, and know that “your mileage may vary.” I am not making any claims here, many of us feel that we have been left to figure this out on our own and that is part of the problem.
I am thankful to researchers, medical doctors, Covid recoverers, and people who have lived through myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and other post-viral illnesses. ME/CFS survivors are some of the most bad-ass health advocates out there, and they deserve our thanks. Over the years these folks were often treated very badly, given harmful medical advice, and were told their problems were all in their minds, when that was not the case. We owe ME/CFS survivors a true debt of gratitude for their persistent advocacy, now that the whole world needs to learn how to recover from post-viral illness.
Here are the supplements I took for several months as I recovered. I am not here to promote specific brands; I used ordinary brands that you can get from Whole Foods or Amazon:
Vitamin C
D-Ribose, a special kind of sugar that supports ATP production, the source of energy for use and storage at the cellular level. ATP is “the power” made by “the powerhouse” mitochondria.
Alpha Lipoic Acid, 100 mg
Magnesium
Omega 3 fish oil and CoQ10. I will share a link here because some of these formulas are pretty gross if you open the capsules. I liked this one. I don’t like to swallow huge pills, so I cut these open and blend into a smoothie. Other friends have recommended this liquid form of CoQ10.
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I looked up a lot of references but will share just 2 Twitter threads here. Buckle up for science if you want to get into it, which I do recommend!
One by Athena Akrami, English neuroscientist.
A thread one by The Putrino Lab.
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My final thought:
Try to avoid catching Covid. Any day you can avoid catching it for the first or subsequent time is a good day. But if you do get it, please invest in your well-being, rest, and recovery.
If you have scientifically-knowledgeable feedback relevant to this post, please share it in the comments. I kept my metaphors as simple and vivid as possible, on purpose. I read up on complex research and tried to translate what I found into a few take-home messages that would help people achieve their best recovery.
Sending you my best! Amy
Mitochondria are really cool, and complex. An area of active research to say the least. Worth learning more about! https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/jun/26/can-our-mitochondria-help-to-beat-long-covid
Last May & June I could only find this kind of information on Twitter, discussed by researchers and health advocates. A few months later it started to show up in print, see for example this Time magazine article, "Why You Should Rest—a Lot—If You Have COVID-19." https://time.com/6215346/covid-19-rest-helps/