Functional medicine and energy healing for covid, post-viral fatigue, and long covid.

This is an article about the services that I provide to support long-covid and post viral patients. These service include energy healing, functional medicine, functional diagnostics, plant and flower essences, herbal medicine, nutrition, environment and lifestyle advice.

This article is for you if you have been struggling with your health for the past months after Covid-19 infection (or vaccine), if you have been to the doctor complaining with fatigue, post-viral or health challenges since your illness, and if you haven’t been able to get satisfactory answers to, or support for, your health challenges.

This article is also for you if you want to address underlying health issues that you feel may leave you more susceptible to covid or long covid complications.

We are still learning a lot about long covid. Long covid is also known as long-haul covid or post-acute sequelae of sars-cov-2 or PACS (post acute covid-19 syndrome). Phew! What we do know is that the Sars-cov-2 virus can target multiple systems in the body leading to many long term symptoms and that this has many similarities to chronic fatigue syndrome or other post viral illnesses.

This is where I fit in:

This is where I fit in. I have been working with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), post-viral fatigue, and over training syndrome (in athletes) since 2003 using a functional medicine, nutrition, energy healing and mind-body approach.

Long covid has many similarities with CFS. Long covid is quite a debilitating condition for those that are struggling with it and can present as a vast array of diverse symptoms for weeks to many months after infection.

It is believed that there are many reasons for such a diversity of symptoms and this can create challenges to determining a specific treatment. I believe that treatment should be personalised for each patient. A thorough and detailed work up of the patient is crucial along with an indepth health history.

It is very important that we work with the medical system; there is strengths to all approaches.

I have devoted a lot of time to understand this emerging condition, and more so to build evidence based strategies along with intuitive skills to support those struggling. The aim is to come through to the other side. Sometimes this means working closely with your consultants and adding layers to an existing medical approach, and sometimes we can work solely through functional medicine or maybe even energy healing for the trauma that you have just been through. The support offered varies case by case.

I struggled with CFS for several years and so can understand a little bit of what people are going through right now. I don’t however want to compare long covid to CFS. Furthermore, there is a whole world of difference in the energy around long covid; fear, trauma and global unrest being three.

Andrea

Long Covid is a tricky condition for all health professionals.

If you have found this article it is more than likely that you have already been to the doctor and perhaps one or several consultants.

Fatigue, post-viral fatigue, and post-viral syndrome symptoms are tricky for the medical system. This is because it is more a cluster of symptoms in multiple organ systems than one thing wrong in one place. It takes a whole body approach, multiple consultants, and often an entire team of us all to support you. Our medical system isn’t always set up for this, so that’s were it is important that myself and your GP support you in building this team.

It is not that medicine does not want to help you, or tell you what EXACTLY is going on; it is just that sometimes it cannot, or it does not have the resources, the expertise or the defined protocols. We know this from how standard medicine is lacking in its historical treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome.

I believe that the main reason that our medical system struggles to deal with fatigue and post-viral patients is that the symptoms, triggers and perpetuators of this post viral condition can be highly individual. This makes it tricky to agree on diagnostic protocols and defined treatment recommendations.

I do believe that we are in exciting times, that perhaps for the first time research will be more focused and find answers to these debilitating challenging conditions.

Every patient is different; hence making a personalised approach critical. We are still trying to figure out all the why’s, what’s, how’s and but’s; this is a very new condition. Treatment recommendations take as much alchemy as they do intuitive and experienced skill.

Experts in long covid do exist!

There are several experts and researchers scattered around the globe doing their very best to understand this condition. Covid long-haul clinics have been set up in the UK and the USA for example. I have also attended some fantastic helpful and resource filled lectures with The Royal Society of Medicine in London with whom I am an affiliate member, and the Institute for Functional Medicine with whom I have studied in the USA (Applying Functional Medicine in Clinical Practice AFMCP 2016). The functional medicine approach to long covid is one of the best systems that I have come across thus far. It ties in very well with physical, rehabilitation, medical and psychological support.

Functional medicine and energy healing can play an important role in your return to health (and figuring out what may be going wrong). I cannot promise to be as expert as better known leaders in the field, yet I also believe that with my experience and care we can implement crucial basic foundation to healing. From basics to specifics is how the healing path starts.

Multiple systems are impacted by the sars-cov-2 virus and long-covid.

More often than not, a lot of things are going on for persons challenged with long covid. For example: debilitating fatigue, sleep disorders, inflammation, mitochondrinopathy, organ damage, immune dysregulation, autoimmunity, autonomic nervous system dysregulation, adrenal dysfunction, cognitive dysfunction, persistent viral infection, viral remnants, musculoskeletal pain, inflammation, and more.

Chronic stress and a history of trauma or adverse life events impact our susceptibility to long covid (theoretical and based on what we know about trauma and similar complex conditions) and I also believe that there are links to our emotional health and spiritual journey (my experience as an energy healer).

The reason that I am writing this blog and bringing attention to my work and the work of very important others, is to say that I am here and I want to help. I promise that I will do all that I can to help you.

What I have been doing to support clients better:

Since the pandemic start in March 2020, I did my best to predict what I would see showing up globally and in my patients. I spent a lot of time in meditation asking how can I be ready. I turned my focus to the areas that I was shown to be of importance such that I can best support to anyone seeking my support.

The areas that I was shown to focus on fall roughly into three categories:

1. Emotional support and energy healing.
   I am a natural and intuitive healer; I have honed my own skills in healing over the past 20 years. To complement this I have developed a range of plant and tree essences over the past 10 years. These are created specifically to address the deep emotions that we hold within and assist their healing and release. I believe that many of our current health and global challenges are a major form of crisis. It will take a different and new approach to heal them.
   
   I encourage you to look at your own emotional and physical health with new eyes. What we have been doing isn’t fully working.
   
   I have spent the past 2 years asking how do we achieve true healing? What have I done to heal myself that I can teach you? And finally asking myself why aren’t the ways that worked before working anymore? I cannot simply do what was done; I must approach how I work with clients in new ways. The whole system is letting people down.
   
2. Support for underlying health conditions that you may have had before the pandemic. Stress, inconsistent medical support, or indeed Sars-Cov2 related viral illness has made these worse.
   
   For example, gastrointestinal health that wasn’t strong before covid-19 and is now worse, or fatigue and life stress now at intolerable and debilitating levels, insomnia, anxiety and mental health challenges, thyroid issues flaring up, autoimmune conditions impacting quality of life, poor blood glucose regulation or weight problems, chronic pain, and so on. It is very important, now more than ever, to address our current health challenges and create long term resilience.
   
3. Covid and long-covid specific support from a functional medicine, nutritional, herbal medicine and energy healing perspective. In other words supporting you with all that I have in terms of skills, education and experience.

I don’t think any of us escaped the extra stress of last year; physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually.

The past 2 years has seen so much turbulence, change and stress. I believe that we are hitting the limits of what we can tolerate in life – the old life. We seek something new, we sense more, our intuitive and psychic skills are opening up. We feel different, and yet many of us are lost. Something way more is happening right now and yet we cannot quite put our fingers on it.

Health conditions are forcing us into deeper healing.

I won’t go into it here now; but if you feel called to explore this more deeply, please do reach out. This IS the WORK.

Andrea

Services that I provide for long covid and post-viral:

• Functional medicine health assessment – this is an indepth assessment of your current health tied in with looking at the story of your entire health history. Where we are now is often due to many points along the journey.
• Diagnostic testing and interpretation (when recommended); for example interpretation of a full blood tests from your doctor, specialist testing such as Genova Diagnostics Metabolomix, Invivo clinical GI Ecologix, ZRT labs thyroid panels, precision analytics DUTCH testing etc. Tests are recommended when the information they provide is both helpful, practical, affordable and will significantly guide us and assist treatment recommendations.
• Nutritional / diet assessment.
• Lifestyle assessment.
• Environmental assessment.
• Energy healing and stress management skills.
• Personalised prescription for any or several of the following as appropriate: herbs, nutraceuticals, nutritional products, flower and tree essences, homeopathy.
  (I endeavour to be guided by best clinical practice and strong theoretical science. Long-covid is new and so not all recommendations can be based on evidence and clinical trials but emerging evidence and anecdotal findings.)
• Recommendations to improve your current diet and lifestyle with advice to minimise environmental risk.
• S U P P O R T – written this way and on purpose because this I believe is what many of us and possibly you also need right now. We cannot do this alone.

This all sounds very official; in a nutshell I meet you where you are, aim to determine what is going on, how you may have gotten here, and what we can do about it. This is very much a curious, fun, and hopefully insightful and empowering journey.

My aim is not to get you to where you were before you got sick, but for us to start you on a journey to even better health. I want to help you feel rooted, grounded and resilient.

Life WILL always knock us, this journey will assist you to be ready, to adapt and more so, to thrive.

What’s next?

Contact me via the contact form below, or jump ahead and make an appointment via my booking system . Choose this appointment for a full assessment and support, this one if you would like to chat first, and this one if you would like to start with energy healing support first.

Do I work virtually? What appointment options do I have?

You have options to work with me in person in my clinic in Newport, Co. Tipperary, via Zoom, Skype or telephone.

I have a range of appointment options as listed here .

Is there anything that you can do in advance of an appointment?

It is important that you are assessed by a medical doctor/ MD/ GP to have an accurate diagnosis for your condition or at the very least to rule out anything else. From this we build. Helpful things to consider include (including as recommended by the IFM):

• Complete blood count with differential (ask for b12 and ferritin also).
• Vitamin D.
• Electrolytes, renal and hepatic/ liver function tests.
• TSH, fT4, fT3 (and thyroid antibodies if you have a history of thyroid condition).
• C-reactive protein and/ or erythrocyte sedimentation rate.
• Creatine kinase.
• DHEAs and morning cortisol.
• Fasted blood fats.
• Cardiac/ pulmonary assessment.
• Endocrine and metabolic assessment (rule our thyroid, adrenal, renal, liver conditions and diabetes).
• Rule out other infections such as EBV, Lymes, HIV.
• Neurological assessment.
• Psychological assessment.
• Medication review.

Don’t worry if this all feels too stressful; let’s chat first.

Education that I have been focusing on so that you know I have been doing my due diligence:

Examples of Covid-19 and pandemic related further studies in 2020 and 2021; this is in addition to many years studying and working with CFS, post-viral, RED-s, and athlete over training syndrome:

• Polyvagal theory studies with the PCPSI and Deb Dana to further understand trauma and nervous system responses to stress.
  We are living in unprecedented times; it is important that I have a greater depth of understanding in addition to tools and skills to support patients.
  
• Demystifying SIBO (small intestinal bacteria overgrowth) course with Dr. Jason Hawrelak to understand the increased rates of SIBO that I am currently seeing. I have always worked with a number of gastrointestinal related health conditions; it is one of my specialties. Of late however, there is an increasing presentation of SIBO type symptoms to the clinic. This is for multiple reasons I suspect: diet, lifestyle, microbiome, and environment. Stress also plays a big part. It is a complex condition to treat and relies on accurate assessment, breath testing and microbiome testing. Emotional and energy support is a key area we focus on given its strong links to the nervous system.
  
• Multiple webinars and courses on functional medicine diagnostics and associated treatments connected to the gut microbiome, gastrointestinal health, chronic stress, sleep issues, chronic fatigue, chronic fatigue syndrome and post-covid fatigue, autoimmune conditions, and thyroid disease – all health conditions with a strong link to chronic stress, diet and environmental triggers.
  
• Herbal medicine webinars covering the topics of Herbs for Kids: Safe, Gentle Botanicals for Clinical Practice, Fighting Frailty: Herbs to Help Elders Stay Fit & Strong, Herbs to Support the Long Haul (post viral infections), Shifting the Focus in Menopause Management: The Impact of Adrenal Function, Mental Health: Maintaining Stability on a Rocky Road, Adaptogens that Offer Immune Support, Adrenal Support for the Current Times, Supporting Resilience, Circadian Rhythms and Mood, Breathe Easy: Botanicals for Lung Health & Respiratory Support, Practical Foundational Protocols to Build Resilience During a Pandemic, Understanding Elderberry: What You Should Know, and Banish Burnout – Strategies for Clinicians to Build Happiness.

Helpful medical & functional medicine resources for long covid:

Helpful webinar by Precision Analytical discussing the data on hormone health and their findings in long covid patient testing. I can facilitate this same testing for you.

Covid-19 webinar series and learning hub presented by The Royal Society of Medicine

Spotlight on long covid Royal Society of Medicine reading list

Royal Society of medicine covid-19 series on Youtube, for example

The Institute for Functional Medicine Covid-19 resources https://info.ifm.org/covid-19

Smell training and more resources by Fifth Sense

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I look forwards to helping you,

Love,

Andrea

If you would like functional medicine and other support for long covid please reach out.