I have Chronic Active-EBV and get warning signs when the virus is "coming out to play." When my face started flushing, I knew I had some sort of virus. I also lost my sense of taste and smell for about twelve hours, so I then strongly suspected CoVid. The first thing I did was alert my family and tell them to start the supplements we use to boost the immune system. The positive tests confirmed what I thought: CoVid had finally come to visit our family.
Two of my immediate family members have had Lyme and co-infections. Like it was when I had severe hyperemesis gravidarum, the medical community was of NO help at all. I had to reach out to kind and knowledgeable doctors in other countries to get answers to effectively treat both the HG and the L+Co. Because of those journeys, and a few others, I have learned a lot about viruses and herbal antivirals. The glory goes to God because He is the One who has opened the door for me to learn from so many medical and alternative medicine professionals.
CoVid is a virus.
When killing a virus (or any unwanted organism in the body), it is important to start slowly because as the viral cells die, they create toxins which creates an inflammatory response commonly known as the Jarisch Herxheimer reaction (aka "a transient cytokine storm") in the body.
When Clint's herxing started, his O2 levels would drop to 83 (one time) and (86-89 others). Because I can not see everything that is going on and was concerned he was getting the dreaded CoVid pneumonia, I asked him to go to the Emergency Room and get checked out. He failed the walking test by only one point, but they admitted him to the hospital for observation thinking he was "just starting" to get sick with pneumonia and expected him to decline. They initially told us that CoVid patients required at least a 5-7 day stay, but they sent him home in less than 36 hours because his blood tests looked too good for them to justify him staying with the insurance company. We actually knew after 30 hours he was not sick enough to stay! We feel pretty confident the O2 drop was from the herxing as the virus was killed off. What we were doing was working!!!
We tested our pulse oximeter while he was there and learned it is three points lower than the hospital's pulse oximeter which is very good to know. He was actually doing better than we thought. So, you need to add three to the O2 numbers above to get the real levels.
Some of the links below are to studies or articles. Others are affiliate links to products. I buy a few herbs through Amazon and Walmart, but most of the time, I buy them in bulk from HerbalCom.com and cap them myself with a capping machine. I like to know the herbs are potent. Some unscrupulous companies will use fillers and what is called "dead herb." Dead herb is an herb that has lost its medicinal properties.
I am not giving the dosages we took, because that is something that needs to be figured out for each person based on different factors. I will tell you we were taking much larger amounts than what you see written on OTC labels. The dosages on those, generally speaking, are very low. If you are interested in any way about taking care of yourself health-wise, I strongly encourage you to take the time to learn proper dosing. There are acute and maintenance dosages, contraindications, and calculation methods (weight, age, severity of the issue, etc), and more. You can take an herbal medicine course to gain this knowledge like I did, but I have also found it freely accessible on the internet and in books. Wisdom and discretion must also be applied.
We used oregano oil, turmeric (cytokine lowering benefits), garlic, licorice, goldenseal, cat's claw, and resveratrol (aka Japanese Knotweed). Many of these are not only kill off viral cells but also work to inhibit the inflammation (herx/cytokine) response. These were not all taken at the same time. I learned through EBV that if I attack it more often with a rotation of different antivirals, I get better more quickly. That is the approach I used with CoVid.
We also used mucus relief extended-release, 1200 mg and drank large amounts of water. The water not only helps get the gunk out, but it also helps calm the herx reaction.
We also took Vit A (lung tissue repair), Vit D 20,000 iu a day for 10 days and then back to a slightly higher than maintenance amount, Vit C 2 1000 mg every 4-6 hours (if stools get loose, back off of it a bit), Quercetin with Bromelain, Clear Lungs, zinc, melatonin, and a liquid B complex to help combat the fatigue. We also took L-Lysine.
Clint's levels for Vitamin D, zinc, and Vitamin C were tested and were right where they needed to be with what we were doing. They did not have to treat him for these at all. They told him to maintain what he was doing. This was also excellent information to receive.
We also used an incentive spirometer as soon as we noticed the congestion. This is a lung exercise machine that is very good at clearing mucus. I keep these on hand for my family. I use to get them from Amazon for $4 or so, but due to CoVid-19, the prices have shot up to a ridiculous price. These are the exact same I was purchasing for $4 but now sell for $17-22. Once we are through an illness, we thoroughly disinfect and dry them, place them in a zipper freezer bag, and put the person's name on them until the next time.
I am glad Clint was checked out and had the testing done at the hospital. It gave us some great feedback that what we are doing has been very effective. It also told us our monitoring and observations are on point. We also learned some things we will carry forward.
Co-workers who came down with it before seven of our nine did are still too sick to work. We are all cleared to work again. Because Brandon got well so quickly, he had to jump through extra hoops to prove he was well. He received a doctor's note releasing him to work five days after he had his positive test result. Clint was cleared to go back to work tomorrow. The hospital doctor had given him a note covering him for a full week off, if he needed it.
