Long Covid

In may I caught Covid-19 again. I didn't do the test but it had the (> neurological) symptoms I tend to have had before. I had knife-like headaches and tiredness mostly. A few weeks later, after the symptoms had gone, I had some new ones: back pain, tinnitus and lack of energy. I thought I'd caught covid again but after a few weeks realised it was of course Long Covid.

So what to do? Do I accept another 24 months of slow improvement. Or do I go for my Vitamin D therapy. Of course, it was the latter. I was already taking about 10-15k/day. I increased this by about 10k/day. And then a week later bumped it up to 40K/day. By chance, a local pharmacy had just started selling Vitamin D in 20k tablets. This is about 5 times the normal dose. They recommend 1 capsule per day.

So if 20k/day is now considered safe, 40k/day is only double. So that's what I did for a month. And like last time (phew!), it started to work. First my energy levels returned, followed by the back pain diminishing to nothing. The tinnitus however was more persisitent. For me, it was at its worst, deafness in both ears, white noise and a ringing. Today, I'ave got my hearing in my right ear, with the right at about 80% but with some ringing.

When I talk to people about tinnitus its surprising how many people have it. It's about 10% of the UK population. And there's almost no treatment. If you look on Tinnitus UK's website, there's a database of treatments and almost all they conclude don't work. The best they suggest is CBT or counselling. Things that have worked for me (other than Vit D):

• Rest (sleep, lie or sit somewhere quiet)
• Hold your palms against your ears and press. Wiggle your fingers to make a drum-like sound on the back of your neck.
• Focus your attention on it.

I'd read of few stories of people with LC or covid who had tinnitus (or deafness) but this tweet suggests actually I'm definitely not alone.