I am waiting to contact my primary care doctor re: my chronic fatigue and pain potentially being a long-covid-like post-viral syndrome from really bad childhood infections. However, after reading this article about a possible cause of long covid, I have been taking periodic high doses of sodium bicarbonate.

I take it for a short period, then stop for a longer period, then try it again. Each time I dose the bicarbonate again, the intensely deep muscle aches lessen for a short period, maybe half an hour. It has a peculiar feel to it unlike any pain meds I've ever taken, and seems to be consistent in quality, but brief.

I think there's something to this, and I am annoyed thinking about how it might be correct but have no real interventions that my doctors are willing to try.


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in reply to @amydentata's post:

Oh, that's really cool that you notice a difference in pain!

I have CFS and POTS from a teenage viral infection, and I've been following this hypothesis with curiosity. After 17 years of watching hypotheses that were eventually discarded I'm always wary, but this one... Seems to have some folks who actually feel better when they address it?

I've been thinking of getting a lactate monitor to test my blood, before I try sodium bicarbonate or changing my diet. But it would potentially make sense; my legs get so achy at night, and during crashes like the one I'm experiencing right now, my muscles are weak and shaky...