Natural Rx for Covid Long-Haulers

Around 10 percent of Covid patients continue to experience symptoms long after they’ve beaten the infection. Here’s what you need to know about these lingering issues.

- EMILY KANE

Q I got Covid last summer, and I still don’t feel well. I’m tired and “foggy-headed” quite often, sometimes for days on end. I had another Covid test, which was negative. How can I restore my health and vitality?

Many viral diseases have a “post-viral” syndrome, in which no discernible trace of the virus can be found, but health is not restored. An early and much documented example is post-polio syndrome. A more modern example is chronic fatigue, which is generally attributed to a significant infection with Epstein-Barr virus, often occurring in high school years, and known as mononucleosis.

It’s thought that the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 may have similar longterm effects in some people. According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, “There’s no question that there are a considerable number of individuals who have a post-viral syndrome that really, in many respects, can incapacitate them for weeks and weeks following so-called recovery and clearing of the virus.” Current estimates are that 10 percent of those infected will have prolonged recoveries, and women are four times more likely to report long-haul Covid symptoms. This is likely because women’s immune systems and hormonal cycles are more complex because we’re engineered to bear children.