Covid snuck in like a Trojan horse

That is… if a Trojan horse was filled with high school germs. 

My husband is a high school teacher, so we had a feeling Covid would be coming for us once he was back in school. And boy did it. 

My sweet, Trojan horse husband went down first and I watched his symptoms build and wondered if it was coming for me. 

At the time, I was all smiley and slap-happy because my two large, annual graphic design magazine projects were being whisked off to print. I was planning on taking a few days to play outside and enjoy a few adult beverages. 

Or… new plan! I could slap that smile off my face and get Covid the next day. 

Festive.

So instead of all that celebratory paddleboarding, mountain biking and happily diving into this blog, there was more horizontal Netflixing and hibernating in dark rooms with my Covid lungs. 

As bummed as I was to be taken down, I took it as a sign from the universe to watch every ridiculous rom com (romantic comedy) I could find. Because how often do I give myself permission to do that? 

(Apparently not enough, because hot damn I had a lot to catch up on!) 

I have to admit – I consider us both pretty healthy, but that viral wiseass showed us who’s the real boss. I’m just grateful we’re feeling better every day and that we’re able to recover at home.*

I’m sure our improvement is partly due to time and rest, but we also started quite the natural pharmacy on our counter. We definitely had a vast array of natural remedies for Covid.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m no doctor, but based on researching a few blogs (like this one from Chris Kresser), chatting with our Integrative Medicine doctor and Naturopath/Acupuncturist, this is what made up our arsenal of supplements: 

• Ma Xing Gan Shi Tan: A traditional Chinese herb blend for respiratory infections that I snagged from my Naturopath. 

• Bromelain: An enzyme derived from pineapples that when taken on an empty stomach has anti-inflammatory properties. (Covid loves to boost inflammation, that jerk.)

• Turmeric: Another anti-inflammatory supplement that is always a go-to when I’m injured or fighting an infection. 

• Andrographis: An herb used in traditional Chinese medicine to help with infections, especially those pesky respiratory kind. 

• Wild Cherry Bark Syrup: A more natural cough syrup that has a nice dose of healthy honey too. Also works well as a steam bath – boil water, add a serving of this syrup and put a towel over the pot as you inhale deep, healing breaths.

• Black Elderberry tincture: Extracted from a powerful immunity-boosting plant.

• Raw, local honey: It just tastes good. Ok, only sort of kidding. It’s also another excellent immunity booster, especially in raw and local form.

• Lauricidin: A pure form of monolaurin – a natural plant-based medium chain fat that is derived from lauric acid and helps with immunity, especially of the viral kind. 

• Oil of oregano: Ok, so this one is actually more antibacterial than anti-viral, but I often reach for this when I’m not feeling well and figured it couldn’t hurt. 

• Vitamin c: Like a LOT of vitamin c. Some days I was up to 4,000 mg per day based on my doctor’s recommendation. (I take 1,000 daily all the time.)

• Vitamin d: I take this vital nutrient daily, and made sure I was staying on top of that immunity boosting habit. 

• Zinc: Another one I take daily, but doubled my dose, per my Naturopath’s recommendation. 

• Magnesium glycinate and/or magnesium citrate: A daily must for me, but I upped my dose a bit while the aches and pains from my fever raged on. It really helps to relax those muscles and encourage deeper (healing) sleep. 

• CBD: I’m a sucker for CBD. It helps when applied topically for aches and pains, and I find the tinctures help with anxiety and inflammation. I figured it couldn’t hurt to up the dose a bit during these Covid times. 

• LMNT and Ultima electrolyte mixes: Fevers, night sweats, chills… I wanted to keep my hydration top notch, so I made sure to have some electrolytes every day while watching those rom coms. (Sans all the high fructose corn syrup or other funky additives.)

• We’re also both vaccinated and once-boosted, but that was so long ago I’m not sure how or if it helped. 

Are all of those absolutely necessary? I’m not sure. 

But I do know that my viral load stayed low enough that even though I felt like a used tea bag, I didn’t test positive until four days into my symptoms, and tested negative within a week. 

So where are we at now, a week and a half later? 

While I’m not whooshing down single track on my mountain bike yet, I do think my energy is returning to normal. I made it out for a mellow paddleboard once this week and walked the neighborhood and did yoga or pilates everyday. My head is still foggy, but I’m hoping that’s not hanging around for the “long haul” and will be gone within a week.

I also have a lingering cough that feels like an annoying fly that won’t go out the open door already. 

On my husband’s front – he had sinus surgery a few weeks ago, so he opted to take Paxlovid and is feeling fairly close to normal, minus a little brain fog and less energy. (The last thing he needed was to undo any of that painful surgery, flare up his asthma and/or end up in the hospital, so when the doc suggested Paxlovid it was a no-brainer.) 

So here’s my Covid takeaway – it sucks. Oh, you knew that already?

Ok, well I also feel that when it comes for you, it comes for you, and you just have to do your best to rest, ride it out, and try not to infect anyone else. And seriously listen to what your body needs. 

Plus, be kind to yourself. It’s a sneaky SOB that lurks in shadows and Trojan horses. 

*My heart goes out to anyone who’s lost someone or truly suffered from this virus. Sending you so much love.