Post-COVID Syndrome: A Holistic Guide to Regaining Your Health

What Are the Symptoms of Post-COVID Syndrome?

There are many names for this condition including long COVID, long haul COVID, post-COVID conditions, or chronic COVID. 

COVID-19 can stimulate an aggressive immune reaction in many body systems, making symptoms different for everyone. 

Common symptoms include:

• Fatigue

• Cough, shortness of breath

• Headache, brain fog, trouble concentrating, dizziness

• Joint pain, body aches

• Low blood pressure, irregular heartbeat

• Exertional malaise

• Sore throat

• Swollen lymph nodes

Why Does Post-COVID Syndrome Happen?

COVID isn’t the only virus that can cause a post-viral syndrome. Conditions like chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) can be caused by viral illnesses like Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). 

COVID is especially aggressive in some people and stimulates the immune system resulting in dysregulated T and B cells and lots of inflammation via cytokines and other inflammatory compounds. 

This inflammation causes all sorts of issues with the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, mitochondria, and thyroid. 

Our bodies can only fight the damage for so long so our own antioxidant systems become depleted and dysregulated as well. The mitochondria become damaged making it very difficult for your body to heal.

The Bradykinin Hypothesis: Unraveling Its Role in Post-COVID Syndrome

One mechanism for post-COVID is through a peptide hormone called bradykinin. Bradykinin and cytokines interact with each other and can stimulate the inflammatory response during a COVID infection. Bradykinin can affect many body systems including the heart, lungs, and nervous system. 

In the cardiovascular system:

The blood vessels become permeable, allowing necessary immune cells to get into the tissues where they’re needed. You feel this as swelling and pain. But this process isn’t meant to last long term and this is when you get problems like blood vessel dilation, low blood pressure and irregular heart rate.  

In the lungs:

You can get fluid build up that impairs the flow of oxygen, making you feel short of breath. 

In the brain:

The blood brain barrier gets damaged and the immune cells of the brain get stimulated without being able to “turn down” the inflammatory response. This leads to “leaky brain.” You can feel this as dizziness, trouble concentrating, brain fog and headaches. 

Also, things that are normally regulated for us by the nervous system like our breathing, heart rate, digestion, and blood pressure are affected. This is called dysautonomia.

Systemic Dysregulation in Post-COVID Syndrome

In the thyroid:

This gland that controls many of our other body systems can be negatively affected by cytokines and can slow down due to poor thyroid hormone production and conversion as well as the development of autoimmune thyroid diseases like Grave’s and Hashimoto’s. 

In the immune system:

COVID can uncover or make you more susceptible to co-infections like Staph, Candida, Epstein-Barr virus or many others. Infections you had before might resurface or you might get new infections. 

These are just a few body systems that can be affected in long COVID but your hormones, adrenals, and gut function can also be thrown off. 

So as you can see, post-COVID syndrome can cause a variety of issues just about everywhere in your body. 

What Can You Do About Post-COVID Syndrome?

If you’re dealing with post-COVID there are many things you can do to get on the road to healing.

If you have mild symptoms with minimal limitations on daily life and some persistent symptoms or mood issues you might want to check some basic labs and any pre-existing conditions you had.

If you have moderate to severe symptoms that greatly impact your daily life, make it difficult for you to perform your usual duties or you have persistent symptoms, pain and mood issues, then you want to do a deeper dive into infections, gut health and overall body system function.

Labs to Consider:

Consider looking into anemia, inflammation, clotting, mineral status, autoimmunity, thyroid, adrenal, and gut function, hormones and co-infections.

• Complete blood count (CBC), ferritin, iron panel - anemia, immune function

• Comprehensive metabolic panel (CMP) - kidney and liver function

• Anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) - autoimmune disease

• Inflammatory markers - CRP, ESR, LDH, ferritin

• Clotting - D-dimer

• Co-infections - some to look for would be Candida, Staph, Strep, C. and M. pneumoniae, EBV, total immunoglobulins

  
  

Labs for hormones, adrenals and gut function:

• Full thyroid panel (TSH, fT3, fT4, antibodies, rT3)

• Adrenal panel - can be tested using AM cortisol or tests like the DUTCH Adrenal

• Hormones - test estrogen, progesterone and testosterone, can be blood tests or tests like the DUTCH Sex Hormone Metabolites.

• Gut testing - can be with the GI-Map but there are many other options out there

  
  

Labs for nutrient status and overall organ function:

• Minerals - zinc, copper, magnesium

• Organic acids (OATs) - I use the Genova Organix, but there are other options out there if you prefer. This test tells us important details about detoxification, metabolism, neurotransmitters, and nutrient and antioxidant status.

  
  

Therapy Goals and Helpful Nutrients

Treatment can vary depending on your health history and anything you find on the labs.

• Treat anything you find and monitor progress

• Make sure you do the basics like exercise/movement, healthy anti-inflammatory diet, stress management, mindfulness, hydration

• Basic nutrients like multivitamin, B complex, trace minerals, vitamins A/C/D/E

• Pregnenolone, progesterone, DHEA, LDN, and/or omega-3 fats for neurological healing

Always treat the mitochondria

The mitochondria get severely damaged by the inflammation that occurs in chronic disease. You can read more about that on this blog post.

N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC)

This is great for mitochondrial damage and helps the body recover from oxidative stress. It provides cysteine for us to make glutathione. Suggested dose is very reasonable around 1200 mg/day. Caution if you are sensitive to sulfur. 

Glutathione (GSH)

This is a very important antioxidant that we produce in our bodies. It can be difficult to absorb when taken orally so liposomal compounds are the preferred way to take it. You can read more about glutathione on this blog post.

In Summary…

Post-COVID Syndrome, also known as long COVID, involves a wide range of symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, shortness of breath, joint pain, and irregular heartbeat due to widespread inflammation and immune dysregulation. Key contributing factors include bradykinin and cytokines, which can affect the brain, lungs, heart, and other systems. Recovery often involves targeted lab testing, lifestyle changes, and supportive nutrients to help the body heal and reduce inflammation.

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Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time!

-Dr. Jamie 

Resources

Anderson, Paul. Post-COVID Syndrome. Consult Dr. Anderson, https://www.consultdranderson.com/courses/71-post-covid-syndrome/lessons/71-recording/

This website is not intended for the purpose of providing medical advice. All information, content, and material of this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider.