By Daniel Brouse
help@membrane.com
I’ve been reluctant to talk about my COVID experience for several reasons, but have decided — if my testimony can convince just 1 person to avoid contracting or spreading the disease, it will be worth it.
I had COVID back at the end of January and the first weeks of February and conducted a study of people that got infected along with me. The sample size of infected individuals in my study sample is 6.
Ages 30-80
16.7% died
33.3% had severe symptoms
33.3% had moderate symptoms
16.7% were asymptomatic
Age and blood type appear to be the dominant factors.
I’ve been working with my doctor for a couple months. In May, he first told me not to bother with the antibody test. That my symptoms were most certainly COVID. Insurance only covers the antibody test if you have previously tested positive, and getting tested doesn’t tell you anything, anyway. (eg inaccurate test results, inability of tests to determine the amount of antibodies and T cells, etc.) He believes I’ll have immunity until around December.
Now, here’s the interesting part…
I’ve been questioning whether recovered patients have immunity and how some people have appeared to be reinfected? Over the last 2 weeks, I’ve been working with my doctor about recurring symptoms. It turns out I have “long haulers” syndrome. Every couple of weeks I go through a wave of symptoms. Though not as severe as the original experience, it is still not pleasant. The symptoms don’t come on all at the same time, rather they cycle through over two weeks (not necessarily in the same order.) I’m not infected again, nor am I contagious. Exercise or anything that causes inflammation aggravates my symptoms. The symptoms include:
* difficulty breathing (feeling like you’re not taking in enough oxygen)
* congestion / mild cough
* stomach issues / diarrhea
* loss of taste, smell, and appetite
* temperature regulation / night sweats
* nightmares / vivid dreams
* dizziness / the spins / foggy thinking
* headaches / body aches / soreness
* fatigue
* ear aches
* peripheral neuropathy (tingling of the hands and feet)
There is currently no treatment or cure for long haul syndrome.
IMPORTANT UPDATE (November 2020)
A treatment has been found for long haulers syndrome. After 8 long, long, brutal months of long haulers, I am back to better than I was before. I am a scientist living in Pennsylvania (USA). In August of 2020, I joined a COVID survivors group. There I met Dr. Ade Wentzel from Port Elizabeth (South Africa). Ade and his colleagues, Robert Miller (Cape Town) and Guy Richards (Johannesburg), developed a diet based protocol based on their research COVID-19: NAD+ deficiency may predispose the aged, obese and type2 diabetics to mortality through its effect on SIRT1 activity.
Long haulers syndrome is the depletion of NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide). NAD+ is involved in cell creation, maintenance, metabolism, and regulating cell processes. COVID both increases the breakdown of NAD+ and decreases the production of NAD+. The result is the same as the disease pellagra. A niacin deficiency results in pellagra. Long haulers syndrome is COVID-19 Induced Secondary Pellagra (CISP).
Once I started the protocol, my symptoms diminished and then disappeared completely. In fact three weeks later, my quality of life improved back to when I was 20 years younger. Obviously, I was NAD+ deficient prior to contracting the virus, and COVID depleted my NAD+ even further (bringing me close to death.)
THE PROTOCOL is:
Niacin B3, Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Quercetin, Zinc, and Selenium
Here’s what I’m doing:
Vitamin C, Quercetin and Selenium you can get from your diet. Careful not too much Selenium. I eat 1 Brazil nut a day. The Vitamin D is best gotten from 15 minutes a day in the sun. You can take 1000iu, too. A 15mg zinc/day supplement. The niacin is the trickiest and most important part. You need to make sure you get the right kind. Non-flush is no good. You can start with 35mg/day, but it will depend on your deficiency. I take 50-75mg with each meal. Here’s the walk through on getting the niacin right. It is recommended I stay on the protocol for 6 months. This is how Ade and Rob walk me through getting the correct Niacin B3.