If you subscribe to the idea of “long COVID”, what would your Peaty suggestions be in how to improve and ultimately resolve the condition? Has anyone tried anything or carried out a routine in which they noticed substantial improvements if they felt they were experiencing LC?

@Corngold said in Solutions for head heaviness?:

Buteyko or periodic breathing techniques, EFD or getting a break and going outside.

I’ve tried different breathing methods a few years ago with good success, usually box breathing and the 4-7-8 technique, but I’ve noticed over the last few years as my energy has gotten lower, that those breathing techniques have not been as helpful - it could be that I need more rounds to achieve the same effect.

Related to breathing techniques, I used a nasal dilating strip on my nose last night which helped enormously with the head heaviness so far today - I suspect that I’ve had chronically poor breathing at night that has been leading to greater sensations of head heaviness over time, and it will take a few nights of proper airflow to recover from the feeling fully. I’ve been mouth taping for a few years now, but my nose is a tad crooked and the airflow out of each nostril is uneven, so I think I have a deviated septum. I tried nasal dilation previously but I didn’t stay consistent with it. Mouth taping without nasal dilation (via adhesive strips or an internal dilator) is likely causing poor recovery during night and leading to feeling awful/low energy/having brain fog in the morning and throughout the day, especially at work where stress is higher. I notice that I’m usually just starting to feel better and more focused at the end of the work day and when I return home. I’m hoping I’m right and that after a few nights of better airflow through my nostrils that I will see a full recovery from the head heaviness.

@sushi_is_cringe

Wow really? Do you know how that might work? If possible, that’s fascinating. My assumption was that regaining normal color could only occur where new keratinocytes are being formed, which is at the base/within the hair follicle - I can’t see how color could begin on the opposite end given there’s no circulation, but I suppose anything is possible if there were some sort of intercellular communication between the keratinocytes from the base to the tip. The keratinocytes of hair outside of the follicle are also typically considered “dead”, so that would go against re-pigmentation that starts at the tip of the hair.

Noticed this morning after my shower that one of the hairs that came out off my scalp was gray at the end, but brown at the base. My hair is mostly brown to begin with, speckled with gray hairs here and there, but it was nice to see that the gray hairs I do have are capable of turning brown again. The hair itself was about 5 inches long, and it was about half and half in terms of gray and brown, so whatever I’ve been doing for the past 5-6 months seems to be beneficial in terms of stress reduction (Peaty diet lowish in fat, incandescent light over my workspace, still doing some light running 1-2x week). I did do a trial of NDT a couple months ago for about 1 month, but it ended up making me feel worse so I stopped, and it appears that the hair strand started to gain color before this trial. My energy overall is still low a lot of the time and I’m not where I’d like to be in terms of productivity and mood, but I know that restoring the metabolism isn’t an overnight process. I’m just happy to know things are moving in the right direction.

I wanted to post this as it’s easy to get caught up in health concerns/problems that are most often shared, versus success stories and reports of positive momentum. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, just have to stay consistent and adjust as you go. WAGMI

It sounds like anemia might be a root cause to a lot of your issues - have you had ferritin tested alongside an iron panel? I know Peat was generally anti-iron, however sufficient iron is necessary for maintaining high metabolism and keeping thyroid in check (sufficient iron is essential for thyroid hormone conversion among many others things). One paper I read noted that ferritin levels < 70 ng/ml impaired activity of iron-dependent enzymes in the cell. Unfortunately a lot of things can bring iron down, so getting ferritin tested plus the full iron panel is helpful to discern what the problem might be. Ferritin is ideally > 100 ng/ml, but not too much higher (I’d start getting concerned if it got around 150 or higher). Moving forward and regarding the bigger picture of your health, it might be helpful to first focus on getting your ferritin/iron issues resolved, and then moving onto thyroid-focused interventions if you’re still having problems.

@Corngold

My office space at work is right by a nursing station, which is usually bustling and noisy, so that tracks. I can close my door and put headphones on, but often the sound bleeds in, so this could certainly be a factor. It didn’t always used to be an issue, but I feel like it’s definitely contributed to feelings of fatigue way more over the past year.

@Corngold

I don’t think I have issues with cholesterol conversion. I get anywhere between 70-120 g fat/day depending on if I’m trying to eat lower fat. I eat 3 eggs/day and ample dairy products, so I must be getting more than enough dietary cholesterol. Blood cholesterol is in the 170-180s, which isn’t too high nor too low I think.
Being the dietitian I am, I almost always get most of my nutrition/micronutrients from food and so I only supplement periodically (a bottle of B-vitamins or thiamine every once in a while), otherwise I’m pretty skeptical of supplements out there, plus too many supplements might cause issues as Peat suggested. I understand aspirin’s safety but I also only use it sparingly, I try not to use anything if I don’t have any overt/exaggerated symptoms.

@Milk-Destroyer

I tried pregnenolone last summer/fall, didn’t really do much for me. I’m envious of the folks who report any of the positive effects from reduced anxiety, improved mood, and increased energy. I’ve tested at doses of 70–150 mg, which I think is pretty standard. Do I need to increase the dose? Also, I have the powder from Health Natura and I usually tried to let it dissolve sublingually on an empty stomach, I’m assuming this is the best way to take it.

@Corngold said in Solutions for head heaviness?:

I was stretching, doing certain routine stretches and had very limited relief until doing PT (Where I think some of the mental and nervous connections were made).

Seems like you were working with a fairly holistic PT - I'd have to do some research to find a good one near me. I live in a metro area so there's lots of specialists, shouldn't be too hard to find one.

Do you drink coffee? I started adding milk and sugar and am digesting coffee far better, getting more energy, and no cortisol-like stomach pain and jitters.

For many years I drank it black without anything in it, but for the past several years I started to add cream and coconut oil, I rarely added sugar as I didn't like the taste of it with sugar in it. Fortunately, I found maple syrup to combine well with the flavors of coffee, so I actually just started to add that over the past couple months. I also got into a decaf stint last year (April-Dec) as I was bit desperate in terms of finding relief - ultimately I found no benefit, but I did enjoy not being dependent on caffeine/coffee, so now I operate on a 5-days on during the week/2-days off during the weekend, which has been working well for me in terms of limiting dependence and maintaining the psychoactive effects. The caffeine during the week helps a bit with working, but I'm still not operating at the level I'd like to be at.

I can't find Peat talking much about biofeedback (if you know where he does, feel free to link) whereas GNM proceeds first from biofeedback / environment interaction.

Not aware of any sources, but I might search Peatbot to see if he had any references to biofeedback. I think the biofeedback approach could be quite beneficial for me moving forward, I appreciate you bringing up GNM as a resource, it's something I'm going to read a bit more about.

I wrote in a different thread that Dr. Sarno differentiated between placebo and lasting pain relief when he talked about TMS (tension myositis syndrome) being largely driven by unconscious rage. "Placebo" treatments are temporarily useful. He thought / measured that lasting relief came when patients accepted their pain was stemming from unconscious rage and not mechanical, physical issues. Very worth reading his books.

My take is there are mechanical causes of pain. However, the mechanical component is always linked to a mental component. So every movement or repetition is corresponding to a mental criterion. I know that playing an instrument can cause carpal tunnel or joint pain but I'm certainly convinced that mental stresses go along with this ability, just as physical work or procedures are accompanied with a mental directedness which might be under distress.

I looked a little bit into TMS previously - again, it's a case where I'd like to believe it's purely physical so I can address it with physical modalities, but seems like it's time to seriously consider the emotional/mental aspect. My acupuncturist who does cupping therapy on me has said that the muscles where the pain is located are very very tight, so it could still be an issue mainly rooted in my posture/chronically knotted muscles, but it can't hurt to also try to address any corresponding mental factors in order to optimize relief. Anything to get my head screwed on tighter at this point.

@sushi_is_cringe Update: Before bed I did a trial of 10 minutes of head/neck lymph massage using my wife's Gua Sha. I noticed it was a bit easier to wake up this morning, which is an issue I've been struggling with for a few years now. Still not as seamless a transition to waking as I'd like, but somewhat improved. My head also felt a bit lighter during my morning routine, but of course the sensation returns when I'm at work - the heaviness might be more work-related than I previously thought. The improvements could be placebo, so I'll have to be consistent with it for a few nights to check for continuing improvement.