LONG COVID: Symptoms, Root Causes, and Support Options

Introduction to Long COVID 0:00

In this video, you're going to learn about long COVID, also known as long haulers. The problems it causes, why your doctor should not ignore it, and what you can do about it to recover. I'm going walk you through the treatments I use to help patients to safely and effectively help them with long Covid. I'm Dr. Mark Stengler and I've researched and written 20 books on nutritional and functional medicine and have been in practice for over 30 years. Now, of course, in the recent years, I have helped many patients with health problems related to long COVID.

Many people struggle with this condition.

What Long COVID Is and Why Itu2019s Missed 0:31

Long COVID is defined as a wide range of new returning or ongoing health problem people experience four more weeks after being infected with COVID-19. And as most of us have had this There's a certain percentage of us who continue to have ongoing symptoms ever since having COVID. It can happen to anyone who's had COVID-19, even if their initial illness was mild. The problem that I've seen with many doctors is that they fail to acknowledge that a patient's health problems are long COVID related. Many of my patients have told me that their doctors simply dismissed the possibility that there are new health issues were connected to the virus or having had the And this is a strange oversight because when new health problems begin within a certain time frame after having COVID, it must always be considered to be long COVID related.

The symptoms of long Covid are diverse and can impact multiple systems in the body.

Common Symptoms and Possible Causes 1:19

That's what makes it so hard for many doctors to understand. Now, according to the Mayo Clinic, as many as 200 symptoms have been linked to this condition. Some of the most commonly reported symptoms include the following. debilitating fatigue, shortness of breath, cognitive issues, such as brain fog, which can cause problems with memory and concentration. You can experience heart palpitations and chest pain, joint or muscle pain sleep disturbances. These are just some of the common things that people experience.

Now, the exact cause is still being investigated, but leading theories point to the persistence of a virus's spike protein in the body, causing chronic inflammation and autoimmune responses. COVID can also awaken dormant infections like the Epstein-Barr virus, which causes similar symptoms of fatigue and brain fog. And the impact is significant. A US Department of Health and Human Services report found that 23.5% of US healthcare workers with long COVID said their work was significantly and negatively affected since they had long or had COVID.

Hopefully studies like this will motivate more doctors to take this condition seriously for everyone. Now patients with long COVID are generally very frustrated with the therapies offered by conventional medicine.

Why Conventional Treatment Falls Short 2:25

The conventional approach is often just symptomatic. Use an inhaler if you have shortness of breath or get bed rest if your experiencing fatigue. Now in my opinion, holistic therapies are much more effective at relieving symptoms and the underlying imbalances of long COVID. Examples of therapies we use in our clinic and other integrative doctors use that we find very effective include IV nutrient therapy, so using things like B vitamins, magnesium, using NAD are very effective. IV ozone is very effectively in bringing energy levels back as well.

There's many nutritional supplements that can be helpful. Ones we commonly use are magnesium, mushroom extracts for the immune system and brain function, quercetin and turmeric for their anti-inflammatory effects,

Integrative Therapies and Recovery Options 3:08

antiviral effects. Also, some medications used integratively to reduce the spike protein include ivermectin. Medications used to regulate the immune system such as low dose naltrexone can be very helpful for patients with more serious symptoms. serious but there are many integrative therapies that are effective. I see it all the time with my patients as well as doctors around the country are using the integrate therapies with nutrition, supplements, IV therapies, some of the more integrates pharmaceuticals, very effective for helping people to not only eliminate symptoms but to regulate their immune system and help them for the long run so they're not always reliant upon therapies to feel better.

I hope you liked this video. If so, subscribe and watch our future videos on long COVID and many other conditions related to various health problems.

Closing Thoughts and Subscribe Prompt 3:56

Thanks for watching.