This illness going around is nasty, and it's lengthy.
By James P. Johnston, D.O.
This is an image from a recent article I read online highlighting the recent increase in COVID infections:
I posted about the rise in COVID at the end of December, but what I didn't expect was the number of COVID cases that tested negative for COVID. I knew the tests were always generally unreliable, but in the past three months there has been an increasingly insidious illness that is diverse in its presentation and course, can last for months, and most of the time patients test negative for COVID. But I still think it's COVID!
It can start with sore throat, coughing, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. And the symptoms can change from day to day, week to week.
Usually, it's obvious when it's a respiratory or stomach virus, and those patients don't even need to be examined most of the time. I recommend some supplements and the need to stay well-hydrated, and urge patience until immunity kicks in. But this illness just seems to go on, and on, and on.
Texts from patients:
"Dr. Johnston, you have to do something! It started out with a runny nose and cough with most of the family. Now my toddler has nausea and diarrhea, and won't eat. Everyone else is better. You need to come check him out. Can you work him in today?"
"Hey Dr. Johnston. Most of the kids had a cold around Christmas. But now my 9-year-old still has low grade fever. Laying around all the time. Going on her fifth week! What is this?"
"Dr. Johnston, I had the cough just like half my 8 kids. They all got over it but it's lasted 6 weeks with me! I can't stop coughing. And I'm losing weight from the nausea. Different symptom every day. Headache, joint pain, eyes sensitive to light, bad stomach pain... I had some left over anti-nausea pills and it's not working. Help!"
There was a yahoo news article 3 weeks ago that described this unusual, lengthy illness that's viral and testing negative for everything. Another recent yahoo article confirmed the increased duration of these respiratory and stomach viruses. It's definitely what I'm seeing every day for 3 1/2 months. Many of these illnesses are so lengthy I'm suspecting that it's Long Haul COVID, or some other long-lasting virus like Influenza. (Read one of those yahoo articles here.)
If patients go to the ER they discover they're testing negative for everything: normal Chest X-rays, normal labs, negative for Influenza, negative for RSV, negative for strep and negative for COVID. The vast majority of these cases, in my opinion, are COVID. At the beginning of this lengthy illness, I asked patient to get several COVID tests and test themselves every day for a few days. Most of them would contact me back and admit that at least one of their tests was positive. This variant, I think, has mutated to the point that the test isn't catching the pathogen.
It's just COVID! That's why some people will get it in a family and others will not. It's because some patients' immunity against the last COVID variant will work against this variant, and others will not. It's very contagious. If one person in the home has it, everyone gets it, even if some don't get symptoms. About half the time a patient contracts COVID and develops immunity to it, they had no symptoms, which actually increases its transmissibility. This pathogen, it has now been proven, was leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where coronaviruses were studied. Being under the control of the Chinese Communist Party, it may be a weaponized version of the coronavirus. After all, it has a high fatality rate in the elderly and in patients with comorbidities, and it mutates at least twice as fast as the influenza virus. It increases the risk of strokes and heart attacks for up to three months after infection.
There have been studies on hundreds of various remedies--antivirals, chicken soup, supplements like vitamin C, etc., documenting their benefit or lack thereof on respiratory viruses like COVID or the flu. There are varying degrees of evidence for several supplements and treatments, but for COVID-19, nothing has shown a more impressive reduction in morbidity and mortality than Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin. Most doctors still will not prescribe it and most pharmacies still will not fill it due to CDC and FDA opposition to Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine early on, but there are some pharmacies that will fill it and ship it nationwide. I will definitely prescribe, and think it's malpractice not to given the impressive large studies that have been done proving its safety and efficacy. There's no excuse for anyone with COVID-19 to not be able to get Ivermectin within a day or two.
If you don't have ivermectin handy, or if it has expired, order a "one time consult", on my website YourHomeMedicalCare.com , and I'll take care of you. If you're an established family practice patient, get in touch with me for a course to have on hand should you come down with it.
Is It Long Haul COVID?
What I have discovered to be most profound with COVID in the last year of the pandemic is how many chronic illnesses or unexplained symptoms were precipitated with their last COVID-19 infection. Most of these long-lasting symptoms for months or years after the infection are due to the neurotoxic M-spike protein. Since the vaccines are designed to create the M-spike protein, this means Long Haul COVID is very similar to COVID vaccine injuries, and treated similarly.
Have you had any of the following symptoms since your COVID infection?
chronic headaches
loss of taste or smell
palpitations
gastric bloating or nausea
tinnitis
numbness or tingling in your hands or feet
depression
chronic fatigue
forgetfulness
If so, there's a good chance that it's Long Haul COVID. I have proven it to be reversible in hundreds of patients. I had one patient who had seen three physician specialists for her Long Haul COVID symptoms of chronic brain fog, palpitations, and gastric bloating and nausea with weight loss, and she was none-the-better. With my regimen, she called and claimed she was "95% better" in two weeks, and got off disability!
Order a One-Time Consult if you think you have Long Haul COVID, and I'll take care of you.
There are several supplements that also have a proven ability to help fight off COVID pathogen. To access my supplement list, check out my fullscript account here. You have to sign up to see it, but I have a 25% discount off retail for my patients.
Respectfully,
James P. Johnston, D.O.
Prepare for another mask mandate. There is evidence that if you are sick and wear a mask, you are less likely to spread it. But a mask is not going to keep you from getting COVID if you're around someone who has it.
Most importantly, don't forget the supplements that I recommend to protect against COVID, especially if you have comorbidities that put you at extra risk of a negative outcome. They are as important as Ivermectin in my opinion. To access my supplement list, check out my fullscript account here. Get on those supplements as soon as possible. (You’ll need to sign up to view my supplement list.) I have a 25% discount off retail for my patients.
James P. Johnston, D.O.
P.S. If you have friends or family who have been exposed to COVID-19, or who are at risk for infection and went to protection, encouraged them to order a “one time consult” on my website.