Can I Recover if I have pockets of Covid left in my Body- Viral Reservoir

Research into Covid Viral Reservoir and whether it is the cause of Long Covid. Strategies and resources to improve well being from Long Covid.

How can I Recover from Long Covid if the virus is still

stuck in pockets in the gut and immune system?

This was a question posed to me in a Long Covid Bookclub session. I didn’t have time to give a full answer, so decided to write a blog on it to share.

There has been so much research and so much uncertainty about causes of Long Covid, from the viral reservoir proposal, to our own immune system and gut not being able to complete the healing cycle because it is stuck in protection mode. Also, neurological feedback research shows that the brain has made unhelpful associations to exertion, triggers and “neutral’ events, so it is making the body react wrongly to situations.

Can I Recover?

Can we recover? Well the answer is yes, you can do a huge amount to get better. Secondly, the jury is still out on the research as results are not conclusive so there is no point waiting for years (and maybe forever) for an “antiviral” cure that may or may not work for you. People with myalgia encephalitis (M.E) have already waited over 20 years and there has been no breakthrough so far. Isn’t it better to consider “ what can I do now to improve my health and well being?”

According to one study into Long Covid, (Swank et al 2024) 43% of the participants, on average, were antigen-positive after 14 months. This means they tested positive for the protein spike, which indicates a marker for covid.

However, of the 43% who had the covid protein spike, 21% were asymptomatic ie. they had NO symptoms of Long Covid and were perfectly healthy. So even if you did have viral residue, that doesn’t mean you are going to have Long Covid.

The majority of people with Long Covid test negative for the protein spike, there is NO viral reservoir, and yet they do experience Long Covid Symptoms. In the study, 57% of people with Long Covid did not have the protein spike in the body and yet still had Long Covid so the “reservoir of viral infection” can’t explain the symptoms for most people. (Swank et all 2024).

“This finding suggests there is likely more than one cause of long COVID,” said David Walt, PhD, a professor of Pathology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Principal Investigator on the study. “For example, another possible cause of long-COVID symptoms could be that the virus harms the immune system, causing immune dysfunction to continue after the virus is cleared.”

Other studies are researching the viral reservoir but outcomes are not definitive and there may be many reasons why some people can have the viral reservoir and not be affected whilst others have Long Covid but do not have the covid protein spike. (Mechanistic Pathways Task Force 2023).

As stated by Altmann, D.M., Whettlock, E.M., Liu, S. et al. 2023, “although SARS-CoV-2 RNA has been detected in various tissues months after infection, there's limited evidence of active viral replication. This suggests that residual viral RNA may not be the primary driver of Long COVID symptoms”.

According to cellular biologist Naviaux (2020), Long Covid can be explained alongside other chronic conditions, where the body should have returned to normal but the body is stuck in survival mode, calibrating that the world, events and viruses are dangerous, even though they aren’t. The mitochondria will only complete the healing cycle when the body and cells get the signal “ it is safe to heal” and this signal is only emitted when the body is in the calm, healthy vagal system.

Therefore, even though this is a physiological reaction at a cellular level, it requires the survival system to turn off and this involves retraining the brain that instead of sending out “ alarm bells” and warnings (symptoms), it needs to send out signals that it IS “safe to heal”. Healing only occurs when everything in our world is safe, even having a virus. When we expose ourself to anything, we need to be making neural connections that it is fine, we are fine, we do not need rescuing.

This is where the neurological model for Long Covid dovetails with the biological cellular model.

We can be physically sick at the smell of fish, months after having had food poisoning and recovered; the body can react as if all fish is now poisonous/ dangerous. This is a purely physical reaction, not anything to do with “all in the mind” - the brain has learnt to make erroneous predictions about events (called prediction error). The brain is sending the wrong signals to the body, experienced as physical symptoms whenever exposed to fish. Although the reaction is physical, we have to retrain the brain and body that fish is safe.

In exactly the same way, whether we have “ reservoirs of viral load” or not, the brain needs to stop associating things as being threatening, stop sending out erroneous alarm symptoms about the virus or exertion and relearn that everything is okay, “ I am safe to heal and the virus is okay, having residual markers is okay”.

When the body is in survival mode, inflammation and histamines increase, causing illness and symptoms. Furthermore, the immune system diverts all the energy to fight the “infection” (that is no longer there for most people), causing exhaustion, fatigue, brain fog and other symptoms. Naviaux coined the term Cellular Danger Response (CDR) to describe how your cells’ mitochondria divert energy away from normal functioning and give you sickness behaviours.

CDR turns off when cells get the signal that it is safe to heal and energy is reverted back to fuel normal metabolic functions.

Even if remnants of the virus remain, recovery is still possible by focusing on immune regulation, nervous system balance, and cellular health.

Resources to Improve Well being.

Here are some Suggestions from the Reset to Thrive programme, from my book “ Breaking Free: A guide to Recovering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Long Covid Symptoms” and other experts:

1. Reset the Nervous System

Vagus nerve stimulation: Techniques like deep breathing, brief cold exposure (only if you feel well enough), and humming or chanting can help shift the nervous system from "fight-or-flight" to “rest-and-digest." Moving the body is an essential part of recovery even if you start with moving your arms, turning or lifting your head- the problem is NOT how much exertion you do, it is how you approach it. The brain needs to know it is safe, so when you do exertion of any kind, be calm, excited, enjoy it. It is better to do one step being confident, and celebrate the fact you can ( healthy neural and physical feedback) than it is to do 50 steps wondering when you will pay for it or worried about doing too much ( survival system). This is the B.E.T.T.E.R module in the Reset to Thrive programme and book “ Breaking Free: A Guide to Recovering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Long Covid Symptoms”.
Somatic practices: Gentle movement, yoga, and body-based therapies can retrain the nervous system to stop reacting to past immune stressors. We have specialist practitioners on our Reset to Thrive programme who can support you through this and also work with any trauma held in the body.
Focus Learn to develop your focus on what you can do, rather on what you can’t.
Learn Self Compassion because getting upset, berating yourself or focusing on what you can’t do is not conducive to wellbeing. Self Compassion and unconditional self worth are at the heart of well being. Unconditional means you are good enough- full stop. It is not dependent upon whether you do a good job, have a tidy house, say the right thing, be liked by your children or any other factor- these are wants not needs. You need unconditional self esteem and love then you can want, and have, all the other things that are important in life.
De-Stress: Whether you know you have protein spikes or not, it is better to do what you can to alleviate symptoms and to believe you can. As Zapolsky said in “ Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers”,viruses can remain dormant in the body but only create symptoms when the body releases high levels of stressor markers. So the key is to de-stress about the virus, about the illness, to respond to everything more robustly, then to make your environment healthy. This is taught on the F.E.A.R.L.E.S.S. module of the Reset to Thrive programme and in Part Two on becoming more robust and having a healthy environment. It is the essence of “Breaking Free: A Guide to Recovering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Long Covid Symptoms”.

2, Support the Immune System to Clear Residual Virus

Boost mitochondrial function: Mitochondria play a key role in immune regulation. Some people find nutrients like CoQ10, magnesium, B vitamins can help.
Address inflammation: Chronic inflammation can keep symptoms going. Anti-inflammatory foods e.g., turmeric, ginger, omega-3s can help.
Gut health: If viral fragments are in the gut, improving gut function with probiotics, polyphenols, and prebiotics may help rebalance the microbiome and reduce immune activation. Dr Tim Spector and his team have been instrumental in showing that it is better to have a diet rich in healthy microbiomes than it is to take supplements. This involves having pulses, nuts, plant based foods ranging in colour, flavour and texture, aiming for 30 different types of plant a week, including your spices, herbs, tea, coffee. Unprocessed meat is fine to eat and there is clear evidence now that the gut needs unprocessed natural foods but it can be detrimentally affected by processed foods ( put very simply: anything that you can’t cook yourself at home from natural ingredients).
Vitamin D3 is an essential immune system booster (take with K2) and has been shown to be important for being able to deal with respiratory infections. People hospitalised with Covid who had low levels of Vitamin D3 were six times more likely to need a mechanical ventilator and fourteen times more likely to die. They found 9 out of 10 people who died of Covid-19 had Vitamin D3 deficiency. (Dr Hermann Brenner, Professor of epidemiology and Dr Ben Schottker, 2020). Furthermore, Vitamin D levels are more likely to affect risk, than any other factor including age, gender, or comorbidity factors. Vitamin D3 lowers the risk of acute respiratory infection because it is a hormone in the anti- inflammatory healing process. David Jolliffe et al (2019) also found "Vitamin D supplementation safely and substantially reduced the rate of moderate to severe COPD”. In Northern hemispheres the Vitamin D3 Society recommend 3000-4000 units from October to March and at least 1000 through the summer months ( the UK government daily recommendation is 400 units).

4. Addressing Specific Symptoms

Dysautonomia/POTS: Salt, hydration, compression garments, and gentle recumbent exercise can help. It is essential to get expert advice on the amount of salt and water intake needed daily.
Brain fog: Omega-3s, and B vitamins can support cognitive function but also be aware that when the brain has gone into protective mode and activated the extreme reptilian system, everything is intended to shut down, including cognitive function. You do not need to be doing any clever thinking or recall when put into hibernation mode, safe but just ticking over.
Fatigue & PEM: Pacing, but also gradually increasing activity based on heart rate monitoring, can help prevent crashes- but setbacks ARE a natural part of recovery from any chronic conditions so expect them, be okay about them and learn to let them pass because everything will pass. If you are at all concerned about increasing activity, about your heart rate or pacing then do seek support, otherwise you could find yourself going backwards and activate the protective system that creates symptoms even more.

If you would like a more tailored plan based on your symptoms please do join our Reset to Thrive programme where you can meet a really supportive community and access 121 coaching.

Reference:

1. https://www.clinicalmicrobiologyandinfection.com/article/S1198-743X(24)00432-4/abstract Swank et al 2024

2.SARS-CoV-2 reservoir in post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC)

Proal, A.D., VanElzakker, M.B., Aleman, S. et al. SARS-CoV-2 reservoir in post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC). Nat Immunol 24, 1616–1627 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-023-01601-2

3. Benjamin ChenBoris JulgSindhu MohandasSteven B Bradfute RECOVER Mechanistic Pathways Task Force (2023) Viral persistence, reactivation, and mechanisms of long COVID eLife 12:e86015.

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife....

4. Altmann, D.M., Whettlock, E.M., Liu, S. et al. The immunology of long COVID. Nat Rev Immunol 23, 618–634 (2023).

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41577-023-00904-7

Categories: : Healing