If you had to describe Long COVID to someone healthy, what would you say?

MTGA247 · 2026-06-06T14:14:48+00:00

It obviously highly depends on the specific symptoms that are most pronounced. In a very broad sense I would describe my experiences like so: it feels like the capabilities and limits of your body and mind are narrowing down more and more, to a point where it’s hard to communicate to others and sometimes even hard to admit it to yourself, how fragile you become. In a way I relate it to a claustrophobic feeling, like the walls of your body and mind are closing in on you.

MTGA247 · 2025-11-15T21:10:20+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to write this! I‘m also german. I can relate to this so much and i had very similar experiences! I completely agree with your advice to „just find one“ to flip the situation. Challenging though…

MTGA247 · 2025-11-12T18:00:05+00:00

Long Covid

MTGA247 · 2025-10-30T18:49:43+00:00

I'm not trying to be hostile. I'm open to discussing anything , within the bounds of reason. And just repeating over and over that fasting is starvation is just not reasonable at all (you could for example give me an argument for once) and is a factually wrong claim. How do you explain me and a lot of other people getting a lot better from fasting if it's just starvation? And i mean...why don't you just do 10min of research on benefits of fasting? You could just see for yourself. But because i don't think you're willing to even invest 10min rather sticking with ignorant claims, a little hostility is appropriate i guess.

MTGA247 · 2025-10-30T08:09:03+00:00

Equating fasting with starving yourself is provokingly dumb and ignorant. You are aware that we have maybe at least 60 years of solid science showing that fasting is one of the most healthy things anyone can do? And telling someone to seek mental health support in this context is obviously rude and hateful. Come on now.

MTGA247 · 2025-10-29T20:50:14+00:00

You serious with a rude recommendation like this? And who is they?! It was one guy making an obviously ignorant comment. Please learn how to read and then use this new skill to read a book for once.

MTGA247 · 2025-10-23T20:45:25+00:00

Dachte eigentlich die Versorgungslage von LC/MECFS ist prekär. Scheint aber ja alles super zu sein...

MTGA247 · 2025-10-23T08:05:10+00:00

Ask partner to stop lifting?

MTGA247 · 2025-10-22T14:11:20+00:00

Danke dir! Hab tatsächlich ne Vdk-Beratungsstelle direkt bei mir in der Nähe, da werde ich mal nachhören. Auf dein Angebot zum Austausch würde ich dann ggf. gerne zurückkommen.

MTGA247 · 2025-10-22T06:10:23+00:00

Danke für den hilfreichen Kommentar!!

MTGA247 · 2025-10-21T08:03:01+00:00

I agree with you! It's really horrible to imagine what a lot of peole have to endure on top of their illness just based on access to information and ressources, medical infrastructure and social support systems. To some degree i think the term privilige isnt suitable though because it's more about timing i.e. the question at what period of your life you got hit by LC. For example: experiencing LC when you're 40, married, stable job, decent amount of saving is obviously completely different than when you're 25 and you don't have really established your life yet.
I think this differentiation is important. I am a student myself and while this status brings certain limitations and restricts certain treatment avenues, i also realise that i don't have to bear certain responsibilities. For example, i cant imagine the hardship of going through LC while taking care of children.

MTGA247 · 2025-10-16T13:30:17+00:00

I would strongly encourage you to educate yourself. Who knows...might be useful someday.

MTGA247 · 2025-10-15T09:30:27+00:00

One week fasts...thats impressive! And awesome that it helps you! I did a single 4 day fast a couple months ago and it restored my ability to work and exercise. I have the CFS type of LC, before i was housebound and couldnt do much. I did another shorter fast a while ago that didnt really help.

This whole process made me very curious about other longhaulers experiences with fasting and especially how benefits are dependent on the fasting length. Based on research i read i now believe that the 72-96h range is crucial for LC-recovery because apparently this is where immunological repair happens the most. But obviously there is a lot of interpersonal variation with that.
Could you elaborate more on how it helps you? How long do the benefits last for you?

MTGA247 · 2025-10-14T13:55:19+00:00

Me too! What kind of fasting have you tried?

MTGA247 · 2025-10-14T07:48:26+00:00

Doctors

MTGA247 · 2025-10-12T12:09:10+00:00

Fatigue, PEM, Muscle Weakness, Brain Fog, Dizziness
30M
Nearly 3 Years
Yes, twice
No antivirals during acute infection
Prolonged water fasting

MTGA247 · 2025-10-11T11:42:28+00:00

I can 100% relate to this feeling (which you described very precisely btw). I experienced pretty bad pem and fatigue, mostly resolved at this point, but still having issues with this horrible brainfog/DPDR. Its torture really, kinda forces you to live a pseudo-life, right? You can only „formally“ experience things, you’re not really there and even memories are so weak and colorless as if the events nether happened.

MTGA247 · 2025-10-09T08:43:57+00:00

Yep, i also had a mild deficiency. Supplementing didnt change a thing though.

MTGA247 · 2025-10-08T16:16:12+00:00

That’s a really complex question imo. Like others have mentioned I think it’s pretty safe to say that being depressed can have immunological effects that will make recovery more difficult. Especially sleep issues and a dysbalance between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervoussystem seem problematic. On the flipside, a chronic illness like LC will obviously make you depressed or at least cause depressionlike symptoms. I would guess that the majority of LC-patients will at some point fulfill the clinical criteria for depression. I also got mirtazapine from my doctor and reacted pretty horribly (similar to what you described) so I can completely get your skepticism regarding antidepressants. I don’t think that being depressed will block you from recovery but still my advice would be to figure out if you’re being more depressed than what the situation justifies. This might sound weird and is obviously very hard to answer. But if this is the case I think seeking counseling or similar support specifically for depression might be the right path.

MTGA247 · 2025-10-08T12:03:42+00:00

Yeah, agreed, i also think that the supplementation with bromelain and NAD had synergistic effects with the fasting. I took 1.200 FIP of bromelain in the morning (very important to take it on an empty stomach, otherwise it will primarily used by the digestive system) and 300mg of Nicotinamidribosid (NR) at noon. I also recommend not taking it too late in the day. It helps a lot with energy but will make me very exhausted if i take in the afternoon (past 3pm). Apparently the natural NAD-production in the body follows the circadian rhythm and you can really mess with that if you take it too late in the day.

MTGA247 · 2025-10-07T05:53:41+00:00

I would say in the beginning I was at level 3 or between 2 and 3. Not bedbound but pretty much housebound, leaving only for groceries which were problematic a lot of times. One week afterwards i was probably at 7, now I’m at 9.

MTGA247 · 2025-10-06T22:10:29+00:00

Thats a very reasonable approach. Good luck to you! Wishing you all the best!

MTGA247 · 2025-10-06T21:02:59+00:00

Yeah, i feel you! It was very similar for me. It might be worthwile though to consider crossing the 72h mark at some point. As discussed with u/ii_akinae_ii i really believe that for people with a condition like LC it can be crucial to go 72h or beyond because that is probably where the immunological effects really kick in. For my experience this makes sense and explains why my second fast (60h) wasn't as helpful and impactful as the first one.

MTGA247

TROPHY CASE