I have been doing breath work for several years. It has helped me get through a cytokine storm, from long COVID, and has helped me keep relatively pain free, in my chest, despite cancer in my right lung and chest lymph nodes. I also practice daily gratitude which I think is vitally important in surviving catastrophic illness. I recently celebrated by 30th Anniversary of surviving metastatic breast cancer and 22 years of heart failure and cardiomyopathy.
@@carnivorewisdom Mainly whole foods. I do eat a little processed food, such as cheese and crackers, but most of it is food that is similar to the Mediterranean diet. I don't drink alcohol, smoke, or use recreational drugs.
This visual demonstration of coherence breathing is amazing to see. I think it’s what my long covid clinic calls ‘box breathing’. My morning routine is box breathing, meditation and sensory mindfulness before I get up from bed just to have a decent shot at making it through my ‘new normal’ day. All can be okay if I ‘chunk’ activity into small parcels, have four proper rest breaks, ideally 20 minutes sleep on each, some ‘stretching with intent’ and breathing meditation- or Qigong if I’m feeling particularly well. All wrapped up in a very careful minimal sugars, low carb diet and healthy sleep hygiene. Some days it all comes together and I almost feel normal again… feeling positive.
Thanks for suggesting Quingong meditation, it’s really very helpful and rejuvenating for breathing and whole body system, adopting right breathing techniques is really a key in long covid
unfortunately he knows nothing about the 5 box immune system ,all post viral conditions have the same root cause and all are easily healed,to heal cancer or any post viral condition you have to understand how the body and the immune system is fueled,this is bread and butter stuff to a biological systems engineer trained on the 5 box immune system,the immune system is fueled by atp/mag ,if that level gets low the immune system wont work,it cant clear dead viral debris out of the system,its the dead viral debris what is causing the symptoms,this is what a post viral condition is ,dr boons patients are not lucky to have him
So true about the repeat setbacks ! So hard on mental health and relationships. There is no balance right now in my life on this rollercoaster. It’s been since March of 2020 and I’ve lost myself. Thanks Gez for all your work !
You, Doc, and this other Doc Boon who´s with you on this one and that other blonde Doc. with glasses from California, I guess his name is Davenport, you 3 are helping me save my life in Brazil. Thank you so much, you guys. I got HBP in the second month after Covid, with a lot of HRV. Pretty much everything you guys said here applies to HBP. I´m 51, unvaccinated, healthy as an everyday boxing practitioner (no hard sparrings), and I didn´t even get respiratory symptoms, but a cardiologist told me to keep exercising with a beta blocker and then I started to really feel bad, till I found your channel. And a good infectologist doctor who´ll actually listen. Thank you so much.
Hi Gez! Thank you so much for your videos. I was ill for about 1,5 years and got so much help and understanding for my condition simply by watching your videos. The fact that you have done this to help thousands and thousands of people while being chronicly ill like us others, is truly remarkable. But i also want to ask you that have you tried fasting as a treatment? About 2 months ago i came across a theory that fasting might be helpful in autoimmune conditions, because your body will then get rid of cells that aren't working properly. That is of course very simply and shortly explained. Wanting to try anything that might be helpful, i did 60 hour prolonged fast and it really cleared like 90 percent of my symptoms away. Month after that i did another 48 hour fast and it even further accelerated my recovery. After that i've been slowly increasing my activity levels and lately i've been able to work full time, see my friends and family normally and go for 45min runs 2-3 per week etc. I would say that maybe for a month i've been healthy again. I was so surprised that a thing like fasting could make such a drastic change to my condition. Of course i can't say that it will work for everybody or even most of the cases, but i'm so happy it worked for me. And if you haven't tried it yet i think it would be a worth a shot to try for you too. And maybe for your viewers too. Fasting was the right treatment for me and i know it might not be the case for everybody. But i'm sure there is ways for everybody to improve their condition. And you Gez have done an amazing job to highlight different ways to look and treat this disease. To put it short i'm so grateful to be back in life again and i'm sure there is hope for others too.
This is amazing! Thanks for posting. Really appreciate it.. Can you please let me know what did you do during those days of fasting? Ru over weight or under weight? And what did you eat when you reintroduced food??? Sorry for so many questions... I've just not been able to fully do it. Just done 9-5 intermittent.. but honestly I'm ready for anything
This is seriously interesting!! My HRV (Going off my oura ring) before long covid was in the 70s on average. After covid and the 2nd fiszer vaccine it dropped to 30s and 40s AND I FELT TERRIBLE!!!! 7 months on now and Im back training Jiu jitsu every day and my HRV is averaging in the 60s and 70s. One thing my body doesn't seem to be able to handle yet is hypertrophy training. I feel like I'm 95 percent recovered. Hang in there guys, it does get better!!
I’m also have long Covid and my HRV when meditating on the App shows that it goes up too 100-110? Sometimes it can be 70-80… but usually in 99 and up.: is that good ? Been long hauling for 19 long months.. feel like I am getting better most definitely now !
Such a great trio of interviews, thank you both! When you said you’d been skiing Gez, I was like whaaaat?? I can’t make it out my house…. So I’m relieved to hear the details about what you actually did! You should be thrilled with your progress…. Dr boon is so right, we need to bring specialists together. The human body should be viewed holistically 🙂
Great interview! I literally just ordered an Inner Balance device. The app and features look really amazing, thanks for this information! I'm going on 16 months with LC. I've been tracking HRV using Oura since fall, and doing breathing exercises during the day, but I'm the sort of person that really needs a structured program and immediate feedback. I'm super sensitive to drugs and supplements and haven't been able to tolerate any of the promising drug therapies, so breathing, meditation, and mindset are key treatment strategies for me. As a martial arts instructor I once knew always said, 'you fight like you train.' Inner Balance looks like cool training.
Gratitude to Dr Boon, thank you for your compassion and commitment to spreading such valuable information far and wide. Gez too for the interview. I happened to have heartmath device hidden in a draw, immediately got it out and started measuring and went into the green coherent zone immediately watching Dr Boon! Just FEEL grateful for all the Doctors dedicated to helping us heal ❤ Breathe work and positive emotions are key in our recovery from long covid.
So we’ll said Dr Boon a holistic approach to looking at the whole person is really important. Regular practice of breath work and self help is required . No one learnt to ride a bike by doing it once .
Another Very Helpful video! I’ve been wearing a WHOOP band which tracks my HRV for about a year now. I’m just now learning specifically about my HRV number. But…the WHOOP band gives a strain and recovery % each day based on how well recovered you are after you wake up in the morning…and they base the recovery score based on HRV. I’ve purchased the Breath book you recommended in a video…and I did the exercises…once. I’ve purchased the Gupta Program and was doing the meditations and beginning to do the brain retraining technique…but then my father was hospitalized, entered hospice, and passed away 2 weeks ago. It was a very difficult time. Interestingly, when my family made the decision to not put Dad back on the ventilator or feeding tube, I was so upset I couldn’t eat. I ended up doing a water fast for 4 days. In those 4 days, I was extremely emotionally stressed…but I spent a lot of time meditating. My HRV was much higher than usual those days. I do believe that fasting helped my body relax. Ever since I began eating again, my HRV has been at my average. However, yesterday I started having a flare up of symptoms again (nausea, rib cage right and sore, chest aching, headache, shortness of breath, foot pain in the night in my sleep, stiff sore joints, chills, fatigue). This video made me realize that buying the book and program are not enough if I am not maintaining the daily practices. And also, it’s very normal and natural for things to happen in our lives that throw us out off course temporarily. I took a nap and just breath awareness after watching this video has calmed me and given me hope to keep going. You do amazing things and it’s greatly appreciated. I share your videos with others. Thank you🙏🏽
Amazing!!! I remembered I paid a doctor some serious money about 8 years ago and he teach me this, he had the computer at his office with the program he teach me how to breath I was suffering with severe insomnia and it did helped me, obviously back then this information was not easy to find online, thank you very much for making this video! 😍🙏
This confirmed my suspicion about an attack of some sort on the autonomic nervous system. I like the device used to demonstrate that. I’ve done similar with a finger pulse device, but I’ve also noticed when I look down at it, it spikes. I was just imagining if just having a conversation and talking can make your heart rate variability out of line, imagine what anger or yelling could do! I’m glad you also brought up feeling and visuals. The mind is amazing. The way to tap into autonomic nervous system is through the breath, feeling, and visuals :)
Another great video Gez! I think at this point you are ready for your PHD in long haul studies🤓 My HRV is in the 20s usually, on a good day I would have it in the 30s. I don't know what was before long covid. But definitely I feel the correlation between how I feel and the HRV numbers. I had one time reading of 40 and I felt like I could finally start healing, short lived moment. Recently started IR sauna and red light therapy, total disaster! It takes me days to recover and I can't get the HRV above 28. Not doing it anymore. Tips and suggestions are welcomed!
Amen Dr Lim! Been saying for 40yrs that there needs to be a holistic approach to helping humans heal, and communication between researchers, specialists, doctors and patients is key! Why is it that this approach has been so slow 🤔 I think we all know why. I know we need to appreciate that doctors won't know everything about everything, but what annoys me is when they say I know more than they do on LC but the information is out there. Surely with so many patients presenting they would feel the impetus. Despite being referred twice over time to an immunologist re my mcas type symptoms he refuked this as I hadn't had any anaphylaxis responses!😳 I've been doing meditation, anti inflammatory diet and pacing (along with many tried supplements which cost alot). Still get symptoms all the time although they ease then relapse (worsen) every few weeks on average. Will step up the belly breathing more. Thank you both, for caring and being brave enough to face the challenge that is LC. Hopefully attitudes will change for all those suffering auto immune type illnesses moving forward 🤞🙏❤️
Thank you so much for all the information that you have brought together! Your you tube channel has thrown me the lifeline that I needed! I'm so sorry that you've had to go through all this, and so thankful that you are sharing your experiences and helping so many others!!
Another great video. I have gave up on my doctor for the last 5/6 months unless I need antibiotics But there are probably many people like me who have not been working for over 2 yrs because of this and have to live on some kind of benefits The stress of your doctor not knowing what is wrong with you also adds stress because your benefits depend on your doctors records It’s a vicious stress cycle. I am on income related ESA unit I’ll it runs out in December which I am dreading. ????? I am sure many people are in similar positions
Another incredibly helpful video - thank you! I have found yoga nidra to be incredibly helpful and would seem to have a similar impact during the day. I would highly recommend. It can take me from feeling very unwell, to feeling like I have got it under control again.
unfortunately yoga nidra wont raise the critical glutathione levels so you can raise the vit a a nd the vit d level over 60 ,the viral onslaught all begins with vit a levels below 60 the virus can easily use glycosylation enter the cell and replicate thats how it increases its viral laod,with vit a levels over 60 the cell wall is too strong for the virus to use glycosylation thats the end of any virus ,if the glutathione level is low you cant raise the vit a and the vit d levels over 60
So incredibly informative and helpful to me. Thank you. And , yes, I must forgive all the specialists I have seen. What is happening to my body is a phenomenon that is new to many of us. Scary, but there is hope.
Fabulous video, I wish I knew this all, 2 years ago. I had POTS like symptoms, admitted to hospital for 7 days May 20. Discharged on a beta blocker, and left to get on with it. My heart improved on the BB but couldn't understand why other symptoms got worse. A more holistic approach like this is needed.
Fascinating info thanks both. I've been suffering a mystery illness for 18 months now and I increasingly suspect Long Covid. One observation I have made that is possibly related to the info covered here is that my heart rate rarely increases with stress as it did prior to the illness. I am naturally a reasonably anxious person and my HR would rise quite noticeably under certain circumstances in the past - such as making a presentation at work. Since 'the illness' began, my HR never seems to shift anywhere near to what it did in the past.
Thanks, Gez! Great timing on this video for me. I started brain retraining (after extensive research) about a month ago. It has been hard, but very helpful so far. It might not be a cure, but it can help everyone. One small comment that might be key in this process. The word "psychological" was mentioned a few times. Brain retraining of the Limbic system (not only the ANS) is a physiological process. If it were "in the head" it could be done in a few days. However, the new connections in the brain and the new way of thinking take months. Seems to be about 6 months on average. It is really a holistic process that includes the brain (top-down), the body (bottom-up), and most importantly the center (the limbic animal brain). This May I "forced" my students to do 3 whole minutes of HRV breathing before the final oral exams. They complained, but I caught some of my future RNs doing it just before the final written exam. The students thought it was only for them, but I needed it as well to get through those last stressful days of class 🧘♂.
@@Unitedstatesian I couldn't agree more on the researched so much part. So relieved to know I am not the only one! I would search and search, read and read and then dump all of it!
Have seen good improvements with the breathing. No drugs. Gatorade, water and mindful living is the only thing that works for me! I've turned to swimming for exercise that is peaceful as well. Not sure what my HR is at night but was told it was crazy. Try not to dwell but CONTROL. Another great video guys! Sharing !
My HRV is typically 9 or 10. I had long covid and dysautonomia. I have tried breathing and it helps boost it to 11 or 13. The highest it has been was once 20, once 15, and a few times 13. It is disheartening to see it at 9 and 10. I will look into the heartmath sensor. Thank you for all you do! You are looking much better these days! :-)
I think it's time for me to thank you, Gez. Your videos are what has been most useful for getting a grip on what came over me after I had the virus early in 2020.
Wonderful video - a great summary of everything I have learnt from others and self-taught over the past 2 years. Thanks so much Gez. I really hope you can get this insight in to mainstream media as so many people are getting LC now.
What a brilliant, lovely man. Thank you again, Gez. Re: waking with racing heart, low O2 and heat- I'm finding that after deep diaphragmatic breathing I can tell my bladder to stop over-reacting. The urge goes away so I don't have to get out of bed. (doesn't work during relapse incontinence though). Also, as well as the weird yawns, I'm now experiencing huge involuntary breaths; normally just one and when I'm talking or eating. It's like being inflated by a bicycle pump! Not so good when eating though..
Hi Gez (you DO look well at the moment 😉) and thanks for this! Loved the little proof with the device and your voiceover-complete magic as I can’t imagine being able to do two things at once again! However, this video made me really sad..after the elephant parable (which I’d heard before, I think in the context of autism), Dr Lim said we should learn to forgive our doctors, as they habitually inhabit their siloes-and we should look at the broader picture. As someone who’s had a fail on all the siloes-even though those specialists’ own colleagues write detailed articles and post videos online about how to approach our conditions-it feels like a bit of a downer. Especially as those such as myself are too poorly for the ‘big picture’ things he suggested, like ENO seminars and yoga videos. It feels very much like slipping through the net. But thank goodness for you, Gez, keeping us all sane!
So, kindness can help heal... I've always intentionally tried to be kind as it helps aid social interaction, and you just don't know how bad a day someone's had.
Gez this series is by far my favorite. Every interview you have shared opens such a light and sense of being heard, and this one so much more. I was about to ask how to do the breath work properly and glad it was demonstrated. Question though, when I do it through the belly, I don't feel like it brings in as much air as when I fill my lungs... is that normal? And I also feel like challenged to bring in a full breath when doing the slow 5 second inhale. You both looked so peaceful.... maybe it's practice? Would love to know your thoughts and experience. Thank you again for all of your help. Hope you are doing well and continuing to improve
Hi Tracey - yes it doesn’t feel like you bring in as much air - that’s fine. And it doesn’t need to be a maximum capacity breath either. It’s not about quantity but quality!
Breath work, meditation, gratitude, cold exposure, zone2 exercise, low histamine diet, citicoline, B12 injection, glutathion injection. My rmssd normally was in the 70-100. After Covid dropped to 30. With the treatment at top i‘m back at 50-80.
@@RAMRRR545 a cheap and easy way of cold exposure is a cold shower (3-5min) in the morning. Zone2 exercise is best measured by lactate (should be around 1,7 - 1,9 mmol). For me personally it‘s around 135-145 heart rate.
I have an inner balance. great little device. Just tried it with Wim Hof breathing. Quite surprising result. love the story of the elephant. As a naturopath we are doing this every day. Systems medicine - looking at how all systems link together Nothing symptom is in isolation. Oxidation inflammation immune dysregulation
That was an excellent demonstration Gez. It would be interesting to see how different the change would be if you carry on breathing through the mouth when you stop talking. Nose breathing while talking is not an easy task, and it would be interesting to see what proportion, of the change is due to not talking and what proportion due to nose breathing.
Superb video, amazing work. An amazing guy too. I've used - in the past, in my previous professional life - the analogy of the six blind men too. I was a student of management and we identified some 25 years ago, that some organisations, Eg the NHS, operated in hermetically sealed, functional silos (with little cross functionality). When, in point of fact, their 'customers' (patients) were a whole person, with holistic needs - thus the organisation didn't serve those needs only that of its own (don't get me started on big pharma's involvement then and now - suffice to say we called it right). These hermetically sealed functional silos could also be called ego based ivory towers 🙄😉😉. I'd argue that all classical pyramidal organisational structures are fundementally flawed (and whenever I mentioned upwards appraisal at a management meeting I was often booed out of the room🙄😄😲). Keep up the good works, the government and WHO evidently don't seem to give a damn about the millions with Acute Long Covid Syndrome.
Great videos. I absolutely agree we need to look holistically and treat the body as a whole. Hope this will give you hope - it's been 6-7 months after I got Covid and I almost feel normal now. I did meditation practices for 4-5 months, twice daily - 10-30 minutes each. I went to bed early and paced myself, eat a healthy diet, no alcohol, no coffee, almost no sugar, lots of water, no exercises - just walking and when I felt down - lots of rest. Spplements - vit. D in a spray form helped a lot for most of the symptoms and magnesium for the palpitations. Maybe what I did right was that when I first got my long covid symptoms, I immediately started listening to my body and I rested when I was not feeling well and did not try to make my body do what it was not able to tolerate. The book of James Nestor Breath is a must-read. Its really amazing how important our breathing is.
Treating the root cause of the condition is the 'miracle cure '. Treating rhe patient holistically is part and parcel of healing PLUS spiritual - emotional healing encorporated. Thank you for a MOST interesting video.
Thank you for developing this TH-cam channel. I had Covid three weeks ago and took Paxlovid which was very helpful. The second week however I’ve developed a reoccurrence of inner ear symptoms that had been under control for some years. Previously diagnosed with Ménière’s or endolymphatic hydrops, I am currently experiencing those symptoms again. Of course it’s incredibly distressing because my low frequency hearing goes out and the tinnitus can be excruciating, especially while trying to sleep. It also seems that possibly I have developed some food sensitivities. I have been eliminating dairy products however I had a small bite of some ice cream yesterday and immediately my ear responded with increased pressure and fullness. I am wondering if you have seen this occur and if it has resolved over time. Thanks so much
Gez, this series is just fabulous. The most heartening video series I saw on this topic. Q. What is the correlation between coherence breathing and Spo2? I find my levels go down 2-3 points after breathing. So does another fellow longhauler. Can you respond when you can?
Pulse oximetry uses capillary circulation for oxygen level. During breath work the ixymeter remains confused and can not measure accurately. You don’t know when o2 increase or decrease durin breathwork . So reading you get are not to be trusted . Take reading when you are breathing normally
GEZ today I went outside for five minutes on a warm day and got very sick. But I’m not sweating. Headache. Clammy dizzy. Palpitations. I have felt sick for hours. Cleveland clinic is baffled. Does it sound familiar to you? I’m getting nervous. My BP is running high.
They say I passed the QSART and the Neuro tilt. Basing it on tests not symptoms. Crazy. I have all the symptoms. Can the heat intolerance go away? I Am going to try to go to nyc. They are all over the long Covid.
Would you ever consider getting someone like Professor Melvin Lobo on from St Barts? I am under his care for Dysautonomia and his clinical team are very informed. He is a well esteemed Cardiologist with a special interest in blood pressure etc.
Just waiting for a www to get back to me for a custom made HRV arm sleeve w sensors. Not even sure what HRV was, but wild BP brief rises, nearly dropping me to the ground ready to try anthing. Meds make me worse much worse. Not LongC but extreme CPSTD stress exhaustion and OLD F 71. Not POTS Reconized I needed to learn to breath few months ago. Now trying to raise blood volume 2 Liters water a day. Realized when fearful I breath shallow. Off to buy one!! So far just trying to self train.... going through a doorway= big inhale. This App seems supior to other product. Watches didnt seem useful. Other product had sensor on the wrist and another attached by wire from arm pit of elastic sleeve to chest. It seemed targeted for athletes. And the Canada Co did not reply! THX
Thank you so much Gez for producing all of these informative and inspirational videos. Very much appreciated. Can I ask for a comment on the Alpha-Stim AID device? I am thinking of getting one, but obviously it's quite expensive. I recently started using a tens machine on the tragus of my left ear to stimulate my vagus nerve (having heard that there is an NHS clinical trial of this treatment). Do you think the Alpha-Stim would offer something more and is worth the outlay?
Does anyone know of a good youtube video that has 10ish minutes of guided HRV / coherence breathing? I'd really like to try what he suggests. A guided practise would make it much easier!
Thank you fore these videos Gez, very reassuring and informative. I have one question though, does you or anybody reading this have experienced tired/fatigued legs apart from the other symptoms mentioned on these videos? Ive been dealing with this for some time now and I don’t see it mentioned as often, other than general “fatigue”.
excellent video, possible the nodes in the r. atrium releases a gas that is ignited and or combusted as well as conducting a current , or causing an imbalance between the serem levels, possible neutralizing receptor proteins and autonomic calculation of rbc's
Thank Gez & Dr Boon, a great set of videos. Understanding HRV definitely helped me recover (and it’s helping manage a 3rd infection!) How are you Gez? Can I ask if you’ve tried the Lightening Process? It definitely took me from 70% to 100% (once I’d done all the work on calming the ANS, trauma & personality).
@@RUNDMC1 sorry to hear you’re still finding your way back from omnicron. Definitely agree re : LP (or any neuroplasticity), you need to be in the right place & have done all the work on calming the ANS, trauma etc. Maybe something to consider for the future. All the best. Thanks again for all your work
Thank you for all your work and the videos! So, if I understood well, post covid dysautonomia may never go away? We cannot totally recover from it and be as we were before? For example, before covid, I had no problem sitting in the sun or feeling the summer heat. Will I ever again do these? I mean it seems strange to me why after recovery, dysautonomia may appear again...so is it impossible for the body to fully heal from dysautonomia and symptoms like low blood pressure, palpitations etc? It never comes to the previous situation? And if not, why is that? Is there a severe injury of the nerves or the autonomic nervous system that cannot heal?
Somebody told me this last week. Sometimes we think we made no progress, but it isn't always true. We can't always see the bigger picture, but when someone tells it, it is good news!
Hello Gez and lovely people! Can anyone tell me whether the Garmin venu watch does the same as this great product? I have one that shows low stress and high stress and varies from 0-25 blue is low stress and goes up and varies in color etc... So sorry if this has been asked... I have spent so much money over the past 18m that dunno if I need to invest on this too;-) thanks a million
Thank you to you and Dr Boon Lim - so excellent and so helpful! My first video of yours I've watched, after several recommendations from others with Long COVID and then listening to the also excellent Long COVID Handbook which was hugely helpful for me. You're both wonderful communicators, and I agree with other comments that Dr Lim exudes compassion. :) I'll be sharing these.
Sorry - it’s not specifically about heat intolerance but heat intolerance is a direct consequence of dysautonomia - so a wider understanding of dysautonomia will help you manage it.
Sorry - it’s not specifically about heat intolerance but heat intolerance is a direct consequence of dysautonomia - so a wider understanding of dysautonomia will help you manage it.
Thank you. We are boaters in the summer. I’m used to sun but now I get very ill after ten minutes outside. Will this possibly go away? I can’t imagine being this way forever. I also have become exercise intolerant and I own a dance and fitness studio. Beyond frustrated.
@@mrstudio8237 I’m so sorry to hear this :( Lots of people are seeing some improvement over time - my next series of interviews in autonomic conditioning might be quite useful for you.
Thank you so much gez! For all you do,.all you've done. I had long covid last year with severe heart problems, was told I needed a pacemaker. Instead i started using light therapy patches including one that increases a copper peptide that activates stem cells. It got me over that 1st long covid. I've had covid again this year which lingered 6 weeks (not too bad and better than 5 months with the 1st one because I still had the patches) and then another minor covid probably omicron. Again I had the patches including an antiinflammatory, and glutathione the body's master detoxer, and an energy enhancer patch which studies showed it improves heart rate variability! So now I know why that particular patch has helped all this time too. I see that many of us find different things that help. And I'm happy that we do. We're all different. For me, I'm so glad I crossed paths with these patches. And with you!
Hi, just to say that this is great information, particularly the demo. Is the difference in a long covid sufferer easy to demonstrate using the Heartmath? (I'd do a comparison myself if I could afford one...)
I would spend my lottery winnings on a biomedical solution since - as Dr Lim says - you can have relapses even when using these all these interventions which take a lot of time & effort. I'd rather get a fix that lasts and puts me on par with other people who don't have to do all those things in order to have some functionality and modest quality of life. {don't have LC, some other post viral thing with similar symptoms}
Thanks for this video Gez! I have a question regarding smartwatches like garmin. Iv a history with ocd/anxiety.. And i bought a garmin to track stress/hrv/HR also for pacing with HR (dont go over 100-110). But im also getting more obsessed about it. Would you think this can dysregulate the ANS even more and would it better to ditch the watch? Im struggling bc afraid of losing control when i do. But i also freak out a lot when HR goes over 110 when walking or doing things (constantly checking hr). And i used to love data. I even did my thesis on HRV and stress but now im not sure if measuring makes the stress worse 🤯 (but i cant check if stress is lower when not wearing ofc 😅) Would like to hear your thoughts about it :)
Amazing stuff gez!. Question!, how necessary is this alpha stim?, you seemed to mention you use it along with the breathing but never went into much detail or suggested we get one?, also any info on which model you own would be great, thank you Gez and thanks for the info as per!
Gez. A fantastic trilogy, thank you. Slightly unrelated but can I ask whether you have explored blood sugar regulation in long covid. I used to practice intermittent fasting and try to maintain lower carbohydrate and found that very positive for health until covid. Now I feel worse unless taking plenty of fruit, which is unfortunate when nausia stops you eating. Chris Masterjohn talks about maintaining "neither low nor high blood sugar" for long covid. Would appreciate any insight you have.
Hi Tony, blood sugar regulation seems to be a bit rogue in LC - lots of people being pushed into pre-diabetic states and pre-diabetics going full diabetic. Haven’t seen any science covering this beyond the anecdotal stories yet though!
@@RUNDMC1 just in case this is interesting to anyone, I followed up on this. I fitted a continuous glucose monitor. I'm not diabetic but had developed symptoms of fatigue and thirst, exacerbated by eating. My most common symptom is a daily morning hangover (without alcohol). For me personally I can find no correlation between my night time or morning glucose (either high or low) and the symptoms. However I've had a couple of late afternoon fatigue moments which have correlated with lower blood sugar. However for me, the blood sugar bounced quickly by itself. I've found the exercise interesting but have excluded blood sugar from my hypotheses as I seem to regulate it well.
@@RAMRRR545 I have tried prebiotic such as biokult. I find yoghurt and fermented foods don't agree with me since I had covid. I do however prioritise getting plenty of leafy greens and fibre to support gut health. How about you?
@@RUNDMC1 there isn’t a website called ‘breath yourself better’ and if you go on ‘do breath’ it’s just a pdf. It was hard to catch when he was speaking
He did so well, especially with the blind men and elephant comparison, until he dropped the ball by saying we need to forgive our doctors and take control ourselves. NO! Doctors are supposed to be the experts. They should ask for forgiveness from their patients and apologise for not knowing everything, for not working together with other specialties, and promise to improve that cooperation. We patients understand that. Instead, what do most docs do? They shrug and blame the patient for not getting better. God complexes. Yoga etc is all well and good, and surely helps some, but we need better physicians, better scientists. Really, this kind of thinking, would you apply it to something like cancer or ALS? It's belittling and merely shows the gaps in this doctor's expertise. For many, these extra, alternative therapies will only be helpful if physicians start doing their jobs and address things like ongoing inflammation, MCAS, organ damage, etc. Which he only mentions in passing, leaving the impression that that's minor, and easy to access. Meanwhile, most doctors will dismiss them, if they even can get referred. Ultimately, it leaves many patients with the idea that they (should) have things in their own control, and when they fail, leaves them with medical ptsd. My overall feeling is that this doctor, although very well-intentioned, still misses the bigger picture.
Using this good doctor as an example, it is clear we cannot lump them all together, just as we are not all alike either. It is not only untrue, it is unfair. And it is certainly not the mindset we need going forward. As Gez is doing, we have our part to play.
I find it hard to do this for longer than 2-3min due to breathing pattern since Covid..after 2 min of deep breathing I experience slight dizziness and need to take a deep breath ☹️
Sounds like you need to breathe less, over breathing creates more breathlessness… focus more on the exhale. Buteyko method explains this (it’s due to something called the Bohr effect). A deep breath doesn’t need to be a BIG breath, just a diaphragmatic one.
I have been doing breath work for several years. It has helped me get through a cytokine storm, from long COVID, and has helped me keep relatively pain free, in my chest, despite cancer in my right lung and chest lymph nodes. I also practice daily gratitude which I think is vitally important in surviving catastrophic illness. I recently celebrated by 30th Anniversary of surviving metastatic breast cancer and 22 years of heart failure and cardiomyopathy.
Wow! Congratulations! What do you eat? #meathealsus #fast4health
@@carnivorewisdom Mainly whole foods. I do eat a little processed food, such as cheese and crackers, but most of it is food that is similar to the Mediterranean diet. I don't drink alcohol, smoke, or use recreational drugs.
This visual demonstration of coherence breathing is amazing to see. I think it’s what my long covid clinic calls ‘box breathing’. My morning routine is box breathing, meditation and sensory mindfulness before I get up from bed just to have a decent shot at making it through my ‘new normal’ day. All can be okay if I ‘chunk’ activity into small parcels, have four proper rest breaks, ideally 20 minutes sleep on each, some ‘stretching with intent’ and breathing meditation- or Qigong if I’m feeling particularly well. All wrapped up in a very careful minimal sugars, low carb diet and healthy sleep hygiene. Some days it all comes together and I almost feel normal again… feeling positive.
With such gently dedicated self treatment (hopefully combined with positive affirmations) you are bound to gradually recover. Good luck.
Thanks for suggesting Quingong meditation, it’s really very helpful and rejuvenating for breathing and whole body system, adopting right breathing techniques is really a key in long covid
That was an excellent discussion. Dr. Boon Lim exudes compassion. His patients are lucky to have him!
unfortunately he knows nothing about the 5 box immune system ,all post viral conditions have the same root cause and all are easily healed,to heal cancer or any post viral condition you have to understand how the body and the immune system is fueled,this is bread and butter stuff to a biological systems engineer trained on the 5 box immune system,the immune system is fueled by atp/mag ,if that level gets low the immune system wont work,it cant clear dead viral debris out of the system,its the dead viral debris what is causing the symptoms,this is what a post viral condition is ,dr boons patients are not lucky to have him
So true about the repeat setbacks ! So hard on mental health and relationships. There is no balance right now in my life on this rollercoaster. It’s been since March of 2020 and I’ve lost myself. Thanks Gez for all your work !
You, Doc, and this other Doc Boon who´s with you on this one and that other blonde Doc. with glasses from California, I guess his name is Davenport, you 3 are helping me save my life in Brazil. Thank you so much, you guys.
I got HBP in the second month after Covid, with a lot of HRV. Pretty much everything you guys said here applies to HBP. I´m 51, unvaccinated, healthy as an everyday boxing practitioner (no hard sparrings), and I didn´t even get respiratory symptoms, but a cardiologist told me to keep exercising with a beta blocker and then I started to really feel bad, till I found your channel. And a good infectologist doctor who´ll actually listen.
Thank you so much.
Hi Gez! Thank you so much for your videos. I was ill for about 1,5 years and got so much help and understanding for my condition simply by watching your videos. The fact that you have done this to help thousands and thousands of people while being chronicly ill like us others, is truly remarkable.
But i also want to ask you that have you tried fasting as a treatment? About 2 months ago i came across a theory that fasting might be helpful in autoimmune conditions, because your body will then get rid of cells that aren't working properly. That is of course very simply and shortly explained. Wanting to try anything that might be helpful, i did 60 hour prolonged fast and it really cleared like 90 percent of my symptoms away. Month after that i did another 48 hour fast and it even further accelerated my recovery.
After that i've been slowly increasing my activity levels and lately i've been able to work full time, see my friends and family normally and go for 45min runs 2-3 per week etc. I would say that maybe for a month i've been healthy again. I was so surprised that a thing like fasting could make such a drastic change to my condition.
Of course i can't say that it will work for everybody or even most of the cases, but i'm so happy it worked for me. And if you haven't tried it yet i think it would be a worth a shot to try for you too. And maybe for your viewers too.
Fasting was the right treatment for me and i know it might not be the case for everybody. But i'm sure there is ways for everybody to improve their condition. And you Gez have done an amazing job to highlight different ways to look and treat this disease.
To put it short i'm so grateful to be back in life again and i'm sure there is hope for others too.
Amazing you had such great results to fasting - it’s definitely a very interesting topic!
Ville did you have join pain has a symptom?
Do you think reducing the diet can benefit similarly if not as much as fasting?
I had some lovely progress with fasting.
This is amazing! Thanks for posting. Really appreciate it..
Can you please let me know what did you do during those days of fasting? Ru over weight or under weight? And what did you eat when you reintroduced food??? Sorry for so many questions... I've just not been able to fully do it. Just done 9-5 intermittent.. but honestly I'm ready for anything
This is seriously interesting!! My HRV (Going off my oura ring) before long covid was in the 70s on average. After covid and the 2nd fiszer vaccine it dropped to 30s and 40s AND I FELT TERRIBLE!!!! 7 months on now and Im back training Jiu jitsu every day and my HRV is averaging in the 60s and 70s. One thing my body doesn't seem to be able to handle yet is hypertrophy training. I feel like I'm 95 percent recovered. Hang in there guys, it does get better!!
Like many other people I’ve had it for over 2 years, and it hasn’t gotten better - not everyone has the same experience as you unfortunately
I’m also have long Covid and my HRV when meditating on the App shows that it goes up too 100-110? Sometimes it can be 70-80… but usually in 99 and up.: is that good ? Been long hauling for 19 long months.. feel like I am getting better most definitely now !
@@andocobo Agreed, not all of us get better. Thats what the 'recovered' need to realise
Which app?
Such a great trio of interviews, thank you both! When you said you’d been skiing Gez, I was like whaaaat?? I can’t make it out my house…. So I’m relieved to hear the details about what you actually did! You should be thrilled with your progress…. Dr boon is so right, we need to bring specialists together. The human body should be viewed holistically 🙂
Thanks Tammy! Wishing you the best in your recovery
The description of POTS and the ability to improve but getting knocked back by illness, travel etc was very well said.
highly interesting and pleasant to watch! Thank you for this video and for all your work!!
Great interview! I literally just ordered an Inner Balance device. The app and features look really amazing, thanks for this information!
I'm going on 16 months with LC. I've been tracking HRV using Oura since fall, and doing breathing exercises during the day, but I'm the sort of person that really needs a structured program and immediate feedback.
I'm super sensitive to drugs and supplements and haven't been able to tolerate any of the promising drug therapies, so breathing, meditation, and mindset are key treatment strategies for me.
As a martial arts instructor I once knew always said, 'you fight like you train.' Inner Balance looks like cool training.
Thank you both so much. Very understandable and helpful. 👏👏👏👏👏👍👍👍
What a wonderful doctor. ❤️ These three videos have been my favourites so far.
Thanks Heidi!
Gratitude to Dr Boon, thank you for your compassion and commitment to spreading such valuable information far and wide. Gez too for the interview. I happened to have heartmath device hidden in a draw, immediately got it out and started measuring and went into the green coherent zone immediately watching Dr Boon! Just FEEL grateful for all the Doctors dedicated to helping us heal ❤ Breathe work and positive emotions are key in our recovery from long covid.
So we’ll said Dr Boon a holistic approach to looking at the whole person is really important. Regular practice of breath work and self help is required . No one learnt to ride a bike by doing it once .
Another Very Helpful video! I’ve been wearing a WHOOP band which tracks my HRV for about a year now. I’m just now learning specifically about my HRV number. But…the WHOOP band gives a strain and recovery % each day based on how well recovered you are after you wake up in the morning…and they base the recovery score based on HRV. I’ve purchased the Breath book you recommended in a video…and I did the exercises…once. I’ve purchased the Gupta Program and was doing the meditations and beginning to do the brain retraining technique…but then my father was hospitalized, entered hospice, and passed away 2 weeks ago. It was a very difficult time. Interestingly, when my family made the decision to not put Dad back on the ventilator or feeding tube, I was so upset I couldn’t eat. I ended up doing a water fast for 4 days. In those 4 days, I was extremely emotionally stressed…but I spent a lot of time meditating. My HRV was much higher than usual those days. I do believe that fasting helped my body relax. Ever since I began eating again, my HRV has been at my average. However, yesterday I started having a flare up of symptoms again (nausea, rib cage right and sore, chest aching, headache, shortness of breath, foot pain in the night in my sleep, stiff sore joints, chills, fatigue). This video made me realize that buying the book and program are not enough if I am not maintaining the daily practices. And also, it’s very normal and natural for things to happen in our lives that throw us out off course temporarily. I took a nap and just breath awareness after watching this video has calmed me and given me hope to keep going. You do amazing things and it’s greatly appreciated. I share your videos with others. Thank you🙏🏽
What is brain retraining technique pls
Amazing!!! I remembered I paid a doctor some serious money about 8 years ago and he teach me this, he had the computer at his office with the program he teach me how to breath I was suffering with severe insomnia and it did helped me, obviously back then this information was not easy to find online, thank you very much for making this video! 😍🙏
This confirmed my suspicion about an attack of some sort on the autonomic nervous system. I like the device used to demonstrate that. I’ve done similar with a finger pulse device, but I’ve also noticed when I look down at it, it spikes. I was just imagining if just having a conversation and talking can make your heart rate variability out of line, imagine what anger or yelling could do! I’m glad you also brought up feeling and visuals. The mind is amazing. The way to tap into autonomic nervous system is through the breath, feeling, and visuals :)
Another great video Gez! I think at this point you are ready for your PHD in long haul studies🤓 My HRV is in the 20s usually, on a good day I would have it in the 30s. I don't know what was before long covid. But definitely I feel the correlation between how I feel and the HRV numbers. I had one time reading of 40 and I felt like I could finally start healing, short lived moment. Recently started IR sauna and red light therapy, total disaster! It takes me days to recover and I can't get the HRV above 28. Not doing it anymore. Tips and suggestions are welcomed!
Amen Dr Lim! Been saying for 40yrs that there needs to be a holistic approach to helping humans heal, and communication between researchers, specialists, doctors and patients is key! Why is it that this approach has been so slow 🤔 I think we all know why.
I know we need to appreciate that doctors won't know everything about everything, but what annoys me is when they say I know more than they do on LC but the information is out there. Surely with so many patients presenting they would feel the impetus. Despite being referred twice over time to an immunologist re my mcas type symptoms he refuked this as I hadn't had any anaphylaxis responses!😳
I've been doing meditation, anti inflammatory diet and pacing (along with many tried supplements which cost alot). Still get symptoms all the time although they ease then relapse (worsen) every few weeks on average.
Will step up the belly breathing more.
Thank you both, for caring and being brave enough to face the challenge that is LC. Hopefully attitudes will change for all those suffering auto immune type illnesses moving forward 🤞🙏❤️
Thank you so much for all the information that you have brought together! Your you tube channel has thrown me the lifeline that I needed! I'm so sorry that you've had to go through all this, and so thankful that you are sharing your experiences and helping so many others!!
Thanks so much Cindy. Wishing you the best in your recovery!
Another great video. I have gave up on my doctor for the last 5/6 months unless I need antibiotics
But there are probably many people like me who have not been working for over 2 yrs because of this and have to live on some kind of benefits
The stress of your doctor not knowing what is wrong with you also adds stress because your benefits depend on your doctors records
It’s a vicious stress cycle.
I am on income related ESA unit I’ll it runs out in December which I am dreading. ?????
I am sure many people are in similar positions
Another incredibly helpful video - thank you! I have found yoga nidra to be incredibly helpful and would seem to have a similar impact during the day. I would highly recommend. It can take me from feeling very unwell, to feeling like I have got it under control again.
unfortunately yoga nidra wont raise the critical glutathione levels so you can raise the vit a a nd the vit d level over 60 ,the viral onslaught all begins with vit a levels below 60 the virus can easily use glycosylation enter the cell and replicate thats how it increases its viral laod,with vit a levels over 60 the cell wall is too strong for the virus to use glycosylation thats the end of any virus ,if the glutathione level is low you cant raise the vit a and the vit d levels over 60
So incredibly informative and helpful to me. Thank you. And , yes, I must forgive all the specialists I have seen. What is happening to my body is a phenomenon that is new to many of us. Scary, but there is hope.
Fabulous video, I wish I knew this all, 2 years ago. I had POTS like symptoms, admitted to hospital for 7 days May 20. Discharged on a beta blocker, and left to get on with it. My heart improved on the BB but couldn't understand why other symptoms got worse. A more holistic approach like this is needed.
Another great video, thanks as always. Dr Boon Lim is an excellent communicator.
Thank you again, for sharing this, Gez! Heart problems are the most important things to improuve, in my case. Be well and stay well!
Still appreciative of all you do Gez! Christine from NJ ✨💖 ( love this Dr!!)
Thank you Christine!
Fascinating info thanks both. I've been suffering a mystery illness for 18 months now and I increasingly suspect Long Covid. One observation I have made that is possibly related to the info covered here is that my heart rate rarely increases with stress as it did prior to the illness. I am naturally a reasonably anxious person and my HR would rise quite noticeably under certain circumstances in the past - such as making a presentation at work. Since 'the illness' began, my HR never seems to shift anywhere near to what it did in the past.
Thanks, Gez! Great timing on this video for me. I started brain retraining (after extensive research) about a month ago. It has been hard, but very helpful so far. It might not be a cure, but it can help everyone.
One small comment that might be key in this process. The word "psychological" was mentioned a few times. Brain retraining of the Limbic system (not only the ANS) is a physiological process. If it were "in the head" it could be done in a few days. However, the new connections in the brain and the new way of thinking take months. Seems to be about 6 months on average.
It is really a holistic process that includes the brain (top-down), the body (bottom-up), and most importantly the center (the limbic animal brain).
This May I "forced" my students to do 3 whole minutes of HRV breathing before the final oral exams. They complained, but I caught some of my future RNs doing it just before the final written exam. The students thought it was only for them, but I needed it as well to get through those last stressful days of class 🧘♂.
Completely agree to change all the perjorative use of ‘psychological’ in this space to physiological!
Brain retraining of the nervous system- pls share a little more
@@RAMRRR545 There are lots of programs (Gupta, DNRS, ANS)... I researched so much that I did not sign up for any of them.
@@Unitedstatesian I couldn't agree more on the researched so much part. So relieved to know I am not the only one! I would search and search, read and read and then dump all of it!
Have seen good improvements with the breathing. No drugs. Gatorade, water and mindful living is the only thing that works for me! I've turned to swimming for exercise that is peaceful as well. Not sure what my HR is at night but was told it was crazy. Try not to dwell but CONTROL. Another great video guys! Sharing !
Very calming! ❤
My HRV is typically 9 or 10. I had long covid and dysautonomia. I have tried breathing and it helps boost it to 11 or 13. The highest it has been was once 20, once 15, and a few times 13. It is disheartening to see it at 9 and 10. I will look into the heartmath sensor. Thank you for all you do! You are looking much better these days! :-)
I think it's time for me to thank you, Gez. Your videos are what has been most useful for getting a grip on what came over me after I had the virus early in 2020.
It’s a pleasure!
Great work Gez!
I'm in the same boat as you have been an athlete all my life and just really want to get back to enjoying what I did before 🤞
I feel you!
Invaluable trilogy! Thanks Gez & Dr Boon
Wonderful video - a great summary of everything I have learnt from others and self-taught over the past 2 years. Thanks so much Gez. I really hope you can get this insight in to mainstream media as so many people are getting LC now.
Thank you Dave!
What a great interview, and dr! Huge thanks from a 2,5 year long hauler
What a brilliant, lovely man. Thank you again, Gez.
Re: waking with racing heart, low O2 and heat- I'm finding that after deep diaphragmatic breathing I can tell my bladder to stop over-reacting. The urge goes away so I don't have to get out of bed. (doesn't work during relapse incontinence though).
Also, as well as the weird yawns, I'm now experiencing huge involuntary breaths; normally just one and when I'm talking or eating. It's like being inflated by a bicycle pump! Not so good when eating though..
Three days in a row. What a treat! Off to look more into how I make breathing help with healing. 💜
Felt like I had to make up for weeks and weeks without anything!
@@RUNDMC1 char shooting her shot
Hi Gez (you DO look well at the moment 😉) and thanks for this!
Loved the little proof with the device and your voiceover-complete magic as I can’t imagine being able to do two things at once again!
However, this video made me really sad..after the elephant parable (which I’d heard before, I think in the context of autism), Dr Lim said we should learn to forgive our doctors, as they habitually inhabit their siloes-and we should look at the broader picture.
As someone who’s had a fail on all the siloes-even though those specialists’ own colleagues write detailed articles and post videos online about how to approach our conditions-it feels like a bit of a downer. Especially as those such as myself are too poorly for the ‘big picture’ things he suggested, like ENO seminars and yoga videos. It feels very much like slipping through the net.
But thank goodness for you, Gez, keeping us all sane!
So, kindness can help heal... I've always intentionally tried to be kind as it helps aid social interaction, and you just don't know how bad a day someone's had.
Gez, this is another brillant video! Thank you!
Thank you for this. I've been trying the breathing today and it's making a massive difference to me. It feels like a total game changer.
It really is!
Gez this series is by far my favorite. Every interview you have shared opens such a light and sense of being heard, and this one so much more. I was about to ask how to do the breath work properly and glad it was demonstrated. Question though, when I do it through the belly, I don't feel like it brings in as much air as when I fill my lungs... is that normal? And I also feel like challenged to bring in a full breath when doing the slow 5 second inhale. You both looked so peaceful.... maybe it's practice? Would love to know your thoughts and experience.
Thank you again for all of your help. Hope you are doing well and continuing to improve
Hi Tracey - yes it doesn’t feel like you bring in as much air - that’s fine. And it doesn’t need to be a maximum capacity breath either. It’s not about quantity but quality!
@@RUNDMC1 I'll keep practicing 😊 Thanks you again Gez
I notice the same phenomenon when belly breathing: seems as if not as much air gets in there! I will keep at it 🙏🏻
Breath work, meditation, gratitude, cold exposure, zone2 exercise, low histamine diet, citicoline, B12 injection, glutathion injection. My rmssd normally was in the 70-100. After Covid dropped to 30. With the treatment at top i‘m back at 50-80.
Can you pls share about cold exposure and zone2 exercise.
@@RAMRRR545 a cheap and easy way of cold exposure is a cold shower (3-5min) in the morning. Zone2 exercise is best measured by lactate (should be around 1,7 - 1,9 mmol). For me personally it‘s around 135-145 heart rate.
Brilliant stuff!! as always. I'm off to the docs later, I'll be telling him about this and following the advice. Thanks
On board with all of this. Thanks again Gez.
Thanks Cass!
I have an inner balance. great little device. Just tried it with Wim Hof breathing. Quite surprising result. love the story of the elephant. As a naturopath we are doing this every day. Systems medicine - looking at how all systems link together Nothing symptom is in isolation. Oxidation inflammation immune dysregulation
Very insightful. Thanks Gez. Another course down - towards my GM diploma.
I agree, outstanding and insightful. Big thanks Gez and Dr Lim 👏👍
Thank you Tara!
Just a brilliant Trilogy! Thank you both.
Thank you Liz!
so interesting. i feel a lot of relief doing apnea in the pool or the sea……….i love it
I could hug you two! Thank you so much for your videos x
Glad they help! Best wishes to you in your recovery Kathryn.
That was an excellent demonstration Gez.
It would be interesting to see how different the change would be if you carry on breathing through the mouth when you stop talking. Nose breathing while talking is not an easy task, and it would be interesting to see what proportion, of the change is due to not talking and what proportion due to nose breathing.
Wow, this is amazing!
Superb video, amazing work.
An amazing guy too.
I've used - in the past, in my previous professional life - the analogy of the six blind men too.
I was a student of management and we identified some 25 years ago, that some organisations, Eg the NHS, operated in hermetically sealed, functional silos (with little cross functionality). When, in point of fact, their 'customers' (patients) were a whole person, with holistic needs - thus the organisation didn't serve those needs only that of its own (don't get me started on big pharma's involvement then and now - suffice to say we called it right). These hermetically sealed functional silos could also be called ego based ivory towers 🙄😉😉. I'd argue that all classical pyramidal organisational structures are fundementally flawed (and whenever I mentioned upwards appraisal at a management meeting I was often booed out of the room🙄😄😲).
Keep up the good works, the government and WHO evidently don't seem to give a damn about the millions with Acute Long Covid Syndrome.
Great videos. I absolutely agree we need to look holistically and treat the body as a whole. Hope this will give you hope - it's been 6-7 months after I got Covid and I almost feel normal now. I did meditation practices for 4-5 months, twice daily - 10-30 minutes each. I went to bed early and paced myself, eat a healthy diet, no alcohol, no coffee, almost no sugar, lots of water, no exercises - just walking and when I felt down - lots of rest. Spplements - vit. D in a spray form helped a lot for most of the symptoms and magnesium for the palpitations. Maybe what I did right was that when I first got my long covid symptoms, I immediately started listening to my body and I rested when I was not feeling well and did not try to make my body do what it was not able to tolerate.
The book of James Nestor Breath is a must-read. Its really amazing how important our breathing is.
Treating the root cause of the condition is the 'miracle cure '. Treating rhe patient holistically is part and parcel of healing PLUS spiritual - emotional healing encorporated. Thank you for a MOST interesting video.
Thank you for developing this TH-cam channel. I had Covid three weeks ago and took Paxlovid which was very helpful. The second week however I’ve developed a reoccurrence of inner ear symptoms that had been under control for some years. Previously diagnosed with Ménière’s or endolymphatic hydrops, I am currently experiencing those symptoms again. Of course it’s incredibly distressing because my low frequency hearing goes out and the tinnitus can be excruciating, especially while trying to sleep. It also seems that possibly I have developed some food sensitivities. I have been eliminating dairy products however I had a small bite of some ice cream yesterday and immediately my ear responded with increased pressure and fullness. I am wondering if you have seen this occur and if it has resolved over time. Thanks so much
Best of luck in your recovery Samara!
Feldman's physiological sighs have a good HRV effect?
Thanks
Gez, this series is just fabulous. The most heartening video series I saw on this topic. Q. What is the correlation between coherence breathing and Spo2? I find my levels go down 2-3 points after breathing. So does another fellow longhauler. Can you respond when you can?
Honestly I can’t answer that question! Asad might have some thoughts on it. Glad you enjoyed the films!
Pulse oximetry uses capillary circulation for oxygen level. During breath work the ixymeter remains confused and can not measure accurately. You don’t know when o2 increase or decrease durin breathwork . So reading you get are not to be trusted . Take reading when you are breathing normally
@@Israr1946thank you much Uncle.
GEZ today I went outside for five minutes on a warm day and got very sick. But I’m not sweating. Headache. Clammy dizzy. Palpitations. I have felt sick for hours. Cleveland clinic is baffled. Does it sound familiar to you? I’m getting nervous. My BP is running high.
Yes this is textbook dysautonomia. No idea how the clinic are baffled
They say I passed the QSART and the Neuro tilt. Basing it on tests not symptoms. Crazy. I have all the symptoms. Can the heat intolerance go away? I
Am going to try to go to nyc. They are all over the long Covid.
Would you ever consider getting someone like Professor Melvin Lobo on from St Barts? I am under his care for Dysautonomia and his clinical team are very informed. He is a well esteemed Cardiologist with a special interest in blood pressure etc.
Of course I would!
@@RUNDMC1 I'd love to hear his take on all of this as I'm assuming he probably knows Dr Len. What's your process do you just contact their office?
He said if your pressure is low, have more fluid, more salt, more compression. What does he mean by compression?
Tight clothing on the legs or round the stomach.
Just waiting for a www to get back to me for a custom made HRV arm sleeve w sensors. Not even sure what HRV was, but wild BP brief rises, nearly dropping me to the ground ready to try anthing. Meds make me worse much worse. Not LongC but extreme CPSTD stress exhaustion and OLD F 71. Not POTS Reconized I needed to learn to breath few months ago. Now trying to raise blood volume 2 Liters water a day. Realized when fearful I breath shallow. Off to buy one!! So far just trying to self train.... going through a doorway= big inhale. This App seems supior to other product. Watches didnt seem useful. Other product had sensor on the wrist and another attached by wire from arm pit of elastic sleeve to chest. It seemed targeted for athletes. And the Canada Co did not reply! THX
Amazing! :)
Thank you so much Gez for producing all of these informative and inspirational videos. Very much appreciated. Can I ask for a comment on the Alpha-Stim AID device? I am thinking of getting one, but obviously it's quite expensive. I recently started using a tens machine on the tragus of my left ear to stimulate my vagus nerve (having heard that there is an NHS clinical trial of this treatment). Do you think the Alpha-Stim would offer something more and is worth the outlay?
Look on ebay to see if you can pick one up cheap, also consider a Sensate. Something like this is worth having
Does anyone know of a good youtube video that has 10ish minutes of guided HRV / coherence breathing? I'd really like to try what he suggests. A guided practise would make it much easier!
Thank you fore these videos Gez, very reassuring and informative. I have one question though, does you or anybody reading this have experienced tired/fatigued legs apart from the other symptoms mentioned on these videos? Ive been dealing with this for some time now and I don’t see it mentioned as often, other than general “fatigue”.
Muscle weakness SUPER common!
Omg my lowest was 7
excellent video, possible the nodes in the r. atrium releases a gas that is ignited and or combusted as well as conducting a current , or causing an imbalance between the serem levels, possible neutralizing receptor proteins and autonomic calculation of rbc's
Thank Gez & Dr Boon, a great set of videos. Understanding HRV definitely helped me recover (and it’s helping manage a 3rd infection!) How are you Gez? Can I ask if you’ve tried the Lightening Process? It definitely took me from 70% to 100% (once I’d done all the work on calming the ANS, trauma & personality).
Hi Cyra, I’m still working my way back from Omicron. Not tried the LP, think it’s a very personal thing as to who it works for.
@@RUNDMC1 sorry to hear you’re still finding your way back from omnicron. Definitely agree re : LP (or any neuroplasticity), you need to be in the right place & have done all the work on calming the ANS, trauma etc. Maybe something to consider for the future. All the best. Thanks again for all your work
Thank you for all your work and the videos! So, if I understood well, post covid dysautonomia may never go away? We cannot totally recover from it and be as we were before? For example, before covid, I had
no problem sitting in the sun or feeling the summer heat. Will I ever again do these? I mean it seems strange to me why after recovery, dysautonomia may appear again...so is it impossible for the body to fully heal from dysautonomia and symptoms like low blood pressure, palpitations etc? It never comes to the previous situation? And if not, why is that? Is there a severe injury of the nerves or the autonomic nervous system that cannot heal?
Fab
Looking well gez 😁👍
Thanks Richard!
Somebody told me this last week. Sometimes we think we made no progress, but it isn't always true. We can't always see the bigger picture, but when someone tells it, it is good news!
Thanks for that Gez very informative 👍
@@johnmurfin9843 thanks John!
Great Video as usual Gez
Hello Gez and lovely people! Can anyone tell me whether the Garmin venu watch does the same as this great product? I have one that shows low stress and high stress and varies from 0-25 blue is low stress and goes up and varies in color etc... So sorry if this has been asked... I have spent so much money over the past 18m that dunno if I need to invest on this too;-) thanks a million
maybe overlap and enlarge the parameters of the graph
Thank you to you and Dr Boon Lim - so excellent and so helpful! My first video of yours I've watched, after several recommendations from others with Long COVID and then listening to the also excellent Long COVID Handbook which was hugely helpful for me. You're both wonderful communicators, and I agree with other comments that Dr Lim exudes compassion. :) I'll be sharing these.
GEZ I am not seeing the section mentioning heat intolerance.
Sorry - it’s not specifically about heat intolerance but heat intolerance is a direct consequence of dysautonomia - so a wider understanding of dysautonomia will help you manage it.
Sorry - it’s not specifically about heat intolerance but heat intolerance is a direct consequence of dysautonomia - so a wider understanding of dysautonomia will help you manage it.
Thank you. We are boaters in the summer. I’m used to sun but now I get very ill after ten minutes outside. Will this possibly go away? I can’t imagine being this way forever. I also have become exercise intolerant and I own a dance and fitness studio. Beyond frustrated.
@@mrstudio8237 I’m so sorry to hear this :(
Lots of people are seeing some improvement over time - my next series of interviews in autonomic conditioning might be quite useful for you.
Thank you so much gez! For all you do,.all you've done. I had long covid last year with severe heart problems, was told I needed a pacemaker. Instead i started using light therapy patches including one that increases a copper peptide that activates stem cells. It got me over that 1st long covid. I've had covid again this year which lingered 6 weeks (not too bad and better than 5 months with the 1st one because I still had the patches) and then another minor covid probably omicron. Again I had the patches including an antiinflammatory, and glutathione the body's master detoxer, and an energy enhancer patch which studies showed it improves heart rate variability! So now I know why that particular patch has helped all this time too. I see that many of us find different things that help. And I'm happy that we do. We're all different. For me,
I'm so glad I crossed paths with these patches. And with you!
please could you share the type of patches you use?
@@noordinaryexperience7815 they're light therapy patches, nontransdermal. Can PM me on Facebook if you want
Hi, just to say that this is great information, particularly the demo. Is the difference in a long covid sufferer easy to demonstrate using the Heartmath? (I'd do a comparison myself if I could afford one...)
Yes it is!
Great man, great men!( I would just have liked to listen him breathing without talking menwild…). Great holistic wish
*Meanwhile
I would spend my lottery winnings on a biomedical solution since - as Dr Lim says - you can have relapses even when using these all these interventions which take a lot of time & effort. I'd rather get a fix that lasts and puts me on par with other people who don't have to do all those things in order to have some functionality and modest quality of life.
{don't have LC, some other post viral thing with similar symptoms}
Have you considered nutraceuticals?
Thanks for this video Gez! I have a question regarding smartwatches like garmin. Iv a history with ocd/anxiety.. And i bought a garmin to track stress/hrv/HR also for pacing with HR (dont go over 100-110). But im also getting more obsessed about it. Would you think this can dysregulate the ANS even more and would it better to ditch the watch? Im struggling bc afraid of losing control when i do. But i also freak out a lot when HR goes over 110 when walking or doing things (constantly checking hr). And i used to love data. I even did my thesis on HRV and stress but now im not sure if measuring makes the stress worse 🤯 (but i cant check if stress is lower when not wearing ofc 😅)
Would like to hear your thoughts about it :)
Try it for a few days and see if you can just judge exertion/HR by feel, you might well do better that way. Good luck!
Amazing stuff gez!. Question!, how necessary is this alpha stim?, you seemed to mention you use it along with the breathing but never went into much detail or suggested we get one?, also any info on which model you own would be great, thank you Gez and thanks for the info as per!
It’s not ‘necessary’ but an alpha-stim or vagal tens device does help. Breathwork makes the most difference though
Can you link the device to measure HRV?
It’s called a heart math
Gez. A fantastic trilogy, thank you. Slightly unrelated but can I ask whether you have explored blood sugar regulation in long covid. I used to practice intermittent fasting and try to maintain lower carbohydrate and found that very positive for health until covid. Now I feel worse unless taking plenty of fruit, which is unfortunate when nausia stops you eating. Chris Masterjohn talks about maintaining "neither low nor high blood sugar" for long covid. Would appreciate any insight you have.
Hi Tony, blood sugar regulation seems to be a bit rogue in LC - lots of people being pushed into pre-diabetic states and pre-diabetics going full diabetic. Haven’t seen any science covering this beyond the anecdotal stories yet though!
@@RUNDMC1 just in case this is interesting to anyone, I followed up on this. I fitted a continuous glucose monitor. I'm not diabetic but had developed symptoms of fatigue and thirst, exacerbated by eating. My most common symptom is a daily morning hangover (without alcohol). For me personally I can find no correlation between my night time or morning glucose (either high or low) and the symptoms. However I've had a couple of late afternoon fatigue moments which have correlated with lower blood sugar. However for me, the blood sugar bounced quickly by itself.
I've found the exercise interesting but have excluded blood sugar from my hypotheses as I seem to regulate it well.
I have experienced the same all of last year. Blood sugar dipping down in afternoon accompanied by fatigue. Have you tried any probiotics yet?
@@RAMRRR545 I have tried prebiotic such as biokult. I find yoghurt and fermented foods don't agree with me since I had covid. I do however prioritise getting plenty of leafy greens and fibre to support gut health. How about you?
Thanks Gez, but I don't see the link to purchase the device used in this video.
It’s called a heart math, you should be able to find one online
I couldn’t catch where to get the link of the HRav monitor used. Could you share a link here please or what brand/model it is?
Yes, where can we get this device?
Didn’t he say he had 20 in stock? Have a look on his website
@@RUNDMC1 there isn’t a website called ‘breath yourself better’ and if you go on ‘do breath’ it’s just a pdf. It was hard to catch when he was speaking
@@Rebalancewithhazel better when you set the subtitles.
Heart math is the product.
Have you seen sky news today? Should we be drinking protein shakes for a while then?
What was on Sky News?
Hi Run-dmc, are you still suffering from Long covid?
After reinfection with Omicron, yes
@@RUNDMC1 omg, this virus is a nightmare. Wish you health and strength🙏💪
Currently using a Polar H10 to measure my HRV, but what App do you suggest ? My typical HRV is 78-80, male 60.
What.......expection at 9 mins
IODINE !! Please do a video on iodine
Hi Gez, did/ do you experience visible blood pooling in limbs due to dysautonomia?
Wasn’t visible for me
He did so well, especially with the blind men and elephant comparison, until he dropped the ball by saying we need to forgive our doctors and take control ourselves. NO! Doctors are supposed to be the experts. They should ask for forgiveness from their patients and apologise for not knowing everything, for not working together with other specialties, and promise to improve that cooperation. We patients understand that. Instead, what do most docs do? They shrug and blame the patient for not getting better. God complexes.
Yoga etc is all well and good, and surely helps some, but we need better physicians, better scientists. Really, this kind of thinking, would you apply it to something like cancer or ALS? It's belittling and merely shows the gaps in this doctor's expertise. For many, these extra, alternative therapies will only be helpful if physicians start doing their jobs and address things like ongoing inflammation, MCAS, organ damage, etc. Which he only mentions in passing, leaving the impression that that's minor, and easy to access. Meanwhile, most doctors will dismiss them, if they even can get referred. Ultimately, it leaves many patients with the idea that they (should) have things in their own control, and when they fail, leaves them with medical ptsd.
My overall feeling is that this doctor, although very well-intentioned, still misses the bigger picture.
Using this good doctor as an example, it is clear we cannot lump them all together, just as we are not all alike either. It is not only untrue, it is unfair. And it is certainly not the mindset we need going forward. As Gez is doing, we have our part to play.
@@Turtledove2009 That is a very privileged position.
I find it hard to do this for longer than 2-3min due to breathing pattern since Covid..after 2 min of deep breathing I experience slight dizziness and need to take a deep breath ☹️
Sounds like you need to breathe less, over breathing creates more breathlessness… focus more on the exhale. Buteyko method explains this (it’s due to something called the Bohr effect). A deep breath doesn’t need to be a BIG breath, just a diaphragmatic one.
@smooth pursuit Thank you for this I will check it out! 🙏
@@vanjacalantropo good luck! 🤍
Wouldn't a simple beta blocker let you achieve this state throughout the entire day? Somehow that doesn't make me feel all that great
Beta blockers can be prescribed for dysautonomia and do help