The Signs and Symptoms I See and Treat After Covid Waves

Now that we are 4 years into the pandemic, I have noticed some patterns that come along with covid.  After the acute infection wears off, there are many common lingering symptoms. We have all heard of long covid, and I absolutely recommend seeking treatment with East Asian medicine if you are suffering from any of those symptoms.  But there are other subtle and annoying signs and symptoms that can be easily treated with herbs and acupuncture.  Here is my list:

• Feeling full too easily 

• weight gain that is not related to changes in eating or exercising

• worsening or newly developed acid reflux

• nausea

• dizziness

• vertigo

• pain on the sides or the body or the ends of the body

• ear issues of almost any kind

• increased or newly developed menstrual pain

• newly developed or worsening headaches

• hemorrhoids, especially bleeding ones

• new rashes or hives

• anxiety with or without palpitations

• palpitations with or without anxiety

• lumpy boobs

• change in menstrual cycle, including tyiming, clots, texture of blood, pain, and increased vaginal discharge, or any of the symptoms on this list that fluctuate with the menstrual cycle

• weird lab work, including newly high cholesterol

• Strep throat

• shingles

Late Summer 2024, I have to add tremors and twitches to the above list.

I notice increases in these symptoms during and after covid.  Usually these come after having had a positive covid test, even if the infection was mild, but not always.  Early in the pandemic there were little effective treatments, and the importance of getting treated herbally as soon as symptoms started was very important.  Now we are lucky to have Paxlovid, which I highly recommend for people to take at onset of symptoms.  Herbs can still be combined for maximum effect, or if you have cold and flu symptoms without a positive test.

Most importantly, you can treat any symptoms using East Asian medicine without knowing the etiology and independent of any known covid history.  If you or are loved one has been noticing any of these signs or symptoms, or if they have a more severe form of long Covid, please let them know that EAM is an effective treatment and can be combined with other therapies their doctor may have recommended.

I want to bring a bit more attention to the risk of strep throat.  I refer patients to urgent care if strep is suspected (eg, a persistent sore throat) so that they can quickly get antibiotics.  While you can combine our medicine with antibiotics to treat this, I would not recommend using just EAM for strep.  If it is able to penetrate more deeply into the body, strep can lead to other more serious complications.

If you or someone you love are experiencing any of these difficulties, please reach out!