I have Long Covid. I have had it since February 2020. Almost 4 years now. It's been really awful. It caused me to get Epstein Barr, I have a chronic shingles flare on the left side of my body, and the entire left side of my body has backed up lymph. So my left side is a little bigger than the right side and you can just see the fluid build up.
I have ALL the symtpoms. I have had loss of taste and smell in varying degrees for the entire 4 years.
In Jan 2020, My husband and son began the dry cough, and coughed the entire month. All night, all day, in my face. My son specifically complained of an odd, persistent tickle in his throat the day before he was symptomatic during the first few days of Jan. 2020. The next day, I also got that tickle. But it went away within an hour or so and I did not get the cough at all.
A couple times during that first month, I did get the persistent tickle again, but then it only lasted a couple hours. It was VERY specific and totally different from any other sort of throat tickle I have ever had. It felt like someone had a little tiny feather and was physically tickling the back of my throat.
So, I was a-symtomatic and then got long covid symptoms in Feb 2020. Of course, I had NO idea what the heck was happening to me. It was just a plethera of these extreme symptoms that began pluaging me. I completely lost my sense of taste and smell for several months. Sometimes it was faint, but for the most part, I would never e able to guess what I was eating.
in early March, I began having absolutely terrible chest pains, heart palpitations, anxiety and panic attacks. I felt like a sword was stabbing me in the chest and an elephant was sitting on it at once. It felt like a heart attack. After 5 weeks of no sleep, I went in and got a chest xray, bloodwork and EKG. They found nothing wrong. Mind you, this was March of 2020. Covid was barely emerging. Long Covid didn't exist as a 'thing' in the world yet.
It took me several months to figure out on my own that is what I had. I have so much more to say about that, and all the tests and symptoms I have been dealing with, but for now, I'll put that aside.
About ticks in our property and my first bite Dec 16, 2023:
Well, there's a first time for everything, I guess and on Dec. 16, 2023, I found an embedded tick on my shoulder.
The reason I am posting this is that I had some Vive Minerals on hand because Jeanne had sent me some to use on my Long Covid Symptoms and for my horses.
See, the thing is, my horses both got Lyme. Yeah. In 2017 there was a terrible tick outbreak that year, and one spring day, I went out and was messing with them. Under their hair on their legs, where you cannot see them unless you pull the hair back to look at the skin, I saw what seemed to be HUNDREDS of tiny baby ticks! I was horrified!
We do have a lot of deer around here that hang out in our pastures, and they bring the ticks in. However, I have never seen anything like this and my horses rarely get ticks, if ever.
That year my older mare foundered for NO reason. She had the same pasture, same feed and routine for the past 14 years, and she suddenly foundered. I could not get her out of the founder in spite of doing all the things you normally do to mitigate it. It just would not go away! So, finally, I ordered some antibiotics for her from overseas and gave them to her. She got better! It finally brought her out of the founder.
Then, slowly over a period of a couple years, my other mare began to become lethargic and she totally changed. She was a bright eyed, super energetic horse and she went to dull and listless. Just standing and eating only a small fraction of the food she normally consumes.
Long story short, after buying OTC antibiotcis for her many times over the internet and seeing improvement every time, I finally had her tested in 2021. She tested positive for Lyme. After Several rounds from the vet of different kinds of antibiotics, she almost died from Lymphangitis, and she tested positive again for Lyme. It was definitely deeply embedded in her body.
Where Vive Minerals come in
So..... all this to say the Jeanne sent me a few bottles of Vive Minerals in Sept 2023. One for me and one for each horse. ( Jeanne has horses, so we connect on that! ) I had asked her quite some time before if it had been used on horses and how it worked. She said it had been used on horses and cured them of Lyme. At that time, it was still being nebulized. My issue was getting a nebulizer and nebulizing my horse every single day. I was struggling just to function each day as it was, and that seem very overwhelming to have to commit to. Also, they were on antibiotics and they needed to be off those before starting the Vive Minerals.
Vive Minerals are not supposed to be used if you are on Antibiotics, Anti fungals or anti virals. I am on ALL THREE. And I absolutely have to take them because the symptoms are SO painful if I don't. One of my symptoms is pelvic and kidney pain and the only thing that works for it is Bactrim.
Anyway, I was holding off using Vive Minerals until I could get to a place where I could stop my other medications and my horses were off their antibiotics.
Then came this tick bite two weeks ago. UG! I could not wait to use the Vive Minerals. THAT NIGHT I began taking Vive Minerals for myself. I know that tick had something. I had some weird symptoms and a pain going up my neck right where it bit me. I also had weird tingly feelings in my forehead on that side (left side). There were other things, too.
I saved the tick in case I need to have it tested. I am honestly terrified to have it tested because I don't want to know what else it may have given me. I think Lyme, but they have SO many other nasty diseases!
Vive Minerals brought my sense of taste and smell back!
Shortly after beginning the minerals, I noticed my sense of taste and smell improving. It was always fading in and out, but never better than maybe 60% (except when I took Paxlovid 3 different times! I had FULL taste back on day 1, but it never lasted more than the 5 day dose) It has been 4 years of messed up taste and smell, so I forgot what full flavors and smells were even like.
For the first time in FOREVER, when I was mucking out my horse stalls, I could actually smell poop. I know, that sounds weird, but when you don't have something for soooo long, you forget what it's like to have it. It's kind of shocking and takes you back a bit.
Then, on Christmas, I could taste Christmas dinner! That was 9 days after starting Vive Minerals. I can't say my taste was back 100% at that time, but it was very obviously much better.
So, today, Jan 1, exactly 2 weeks in, I have what I believe is full taste back!!! I just ate a bbq steak, and it was SO AMAZING The flavors were almost overwhelming. I imagine its like someone that is color blind and gets those glasses where they can see color. The people are crying and they are excited and pointing out all sorts of things they are seeing for the first time. It was kind of like that. I forgot what I was missing for 4 years.
Now, I don't know if it will stick. I have tried SO many things and have Epstien Barr. Covid attacked my thyroid and gave me nodules almost overnight (I could literally feel them like gravel in my throat). I was treated with 5 weeks of Vitamin C IV's for the Epstein Barr. It got rid of my symptoms and I lost 5 POUNDS of lymph fluid , but a month later, it was all back. It was so depressing. I spent $1500 for those IV treatments. Covid is so horrible. I definitely have autoimmune issues super bad, but I can tellyou that so far, Vive has given me my taste back.
It is pretty awesome and I am praying that it sticks.
This went long and I have a lot more I would like to explain, but I have to sign off for now. Happy 2024!