Short Articles Do Not Imply Easy Answers
In the future, I will share a weekly article about specific techniques, supplements and treatments that have helped me with long-COVID and CFS. As someone with brain fog and energy issues, I must keep them under 1000 words to conserve my energy and the energy of my readers.
However, the short format and one-at-a-time presentation could give the false impression that I am touting a specific item or method as “the fix”. That is not my intent. My methods help me as a whole, so each item I share is just a piece within a larger puzzle. I approach my situation by trying to find enough small gains that when combined, they add up to a positive difference.
Healthy Skepticism and Objectivity Are Important
People with chronic illnesses are often desperate. Desperation makes us want to believe anyone who claims they can help, especially if that help is as easy as popping some pills. Online reviews tend to be positive for just about every supplement that claims to help, and often the more expensive the product, the better the reviews. I suspect that the positive sentiment is often about people wanting to believe that the thing they researched and spent money on is helpful so that they can have some semblance of power over their difficult situation.
Because of this, I think it important to be as objective and scientific as possible when looking for chronic symptom relief. I discuss everything with my doctors and do research beyond product reviews, social media and marketing claims. Whenever possible, I read up on scientific studies and pay attention to study sizes, whether or not they are double blind and peer reviewed, and who paid for them.
If it is safe to do so, I try each new thing for a reasonable period of weeks and then pause it and see if I notice the lack. To try and maintain objectivity, I use a symptom tracker app and when appropriate, diagnostic devices or tests to try and measure impacts. If something is supposed to lower my blood pressure, I use a blood pressure cuff and take readings. If it is supposed to improve my sleep, I wear a sleep tracker and review the results. If I am trying to correct vitamin levels, I get a blood test and verify that I am on track.
This approach saves me from taking 50 pills a day without having any idea of which ones are actually helping. The more things that I add to the mix, the harder it is know if some of them are negatively interacting with prescriptions, stacking up side-effects or overwhelming my body so I try to resist the temptation to take everything just in case it might possibly help.
Doctors Need the Complete Picture
Finally, I bring a written list of my current medications, supplements and methods to my doctor visits so that they can view them in their entirety and comment. Most of the things I use were recommended to me by one of my various specialists who without my sharing would know little about what the others recommended. I find it helpful to let each one see the full picture so that they do not accidentally create a conflict, and useful to ensure that my general practitioner acts as the centralized coordinator and referee between the various approaches.
Good luck with your battle with chronic illness. I hope these comments provide ideas for maintaining healthy skepticism and objectivity as you find new ways to combat your symptoms.
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I invite on-topic, helpful comments from readers with free Google accounts. I am especially interested in comments that share useful tips for fighting long-COVID, Chronic Fatigue, Chronic Pain and Migraines. Off-topic comments, comments that name other sites or products without including much relevant textual explanation, and comments disparaging any person or group will be deleted. As I am trying to keep this a positive place, I may also delete comments in a despairing tone that focus only on symptom misery rather than helpful ways to combat it. Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts and helpful tips!