Click each ► line to see more info. Or go straight to the resources below.
There are resources DOWN and also TO THE RIGHT. Try scrolling to the right even if you can’t see the scrollbar.
Read the encouraging article about the science and practice of how a doctor prevented long covid
Listen to this brief strategy for anxiety/panic/adrenaline rushes
When you do something new, increase by just 5% at a time—a little stretch
Cover right nostril. Breathe in through left. Cover left nostril, uncover right. Breathe out through right. Breathe in through right. Cover right nostril, uncover left. Breathe out through left. Start again.
Share your email and take a quick quiz
"It can be a lovely thing to actually reassure somebody, ‘You need time, you need to give some respect to this process.’”
Choose a short reading to read or listen to
Choose the easiest exercise to try for 15 seconds
Understand the metaphor: if your energy is a bank account, you want to keep it in the black. Never a negative number (in the red). Don’t overdraw! Rest before you get “into the red.”
Work within your limits — stop before you get tired, let your “energy bank account” grow back up, and only then get back to action
Move your body in a "full body yawn" like a cat does when it gets up from a nap
Choose a positive idea and repeat it to yourself
Listen to the intro and read the outline to this mini course
View the tips, bed exercises and encouragement to build toward mobility—even if you can't move right now
See if one of these exercises looks easily do-able right now
Get a copy of the mini course (free with email sign-up)
Share this article with your provider
Try humming for 1 minute — one of the first exercises
Read over the tables and the concept of “submaximal effort” for treating fatigue
Try a free consult and perhaps a somatic movement class ($13)
Scroll down at the link to read “PARR PT Method for EDS, Dysautonomia & POTS”
Look through the posters and choose one exercise to try this week—do it once, then rest for a week before trying again
Put in your email, then watch the video that appears on the next page; stop when you have a good breath exercise to start with
Lie on your back. Breathe through your nose, gently. Inhale 4 seconds, exhale 6 seconds. Feel your belly and back press outward. Take it easy. Do this 10 minutes when you wake, 10 minutes before bed. Do it daily
Ask your provider about it. NOTE: A major medical institution recommended this to me—it’s legit
Just start with breathing exercises, and just one rep to start; rest one day, then try one rep again
Read through resources including: exercise and pacing, dysautonomia, employment and disability benefits, and peer support
Browse this list of curated books
Skim the article to find treatments your doctor can try
Scroll down to the Chapters and choose just one to listen to
Email edyong210@gmail.com for free access to the audio version
Turn a video on, move your device away, and just listen to the interview
.. and Launch of Long COVID Clinical Trials Through the RECOVER Initiative
Get information for sufferers, healthcare providers, researchers, innovators and government
If you are helping people with Long Covid, read this report—essential reading to hear directly from people with the condition
Email edyong210@gmail.com for free access to the audio version
Skim the PDF and pull out a couple things that seem relevant to you; take action on them or ask your doctor
Listen to a podcast interview with a chronically ill person
Email edyong210@gmail.com to get free access to the audio version or the written article; share widely!
Read the outline of the tutorial, and the benefits of pacing; which one would help you the most?
Huge list of potential treatments in wiki style—scroll to the bottom to see them!
Skim this lengthy report from the US Department of Health & Human Services
Turn video on, move your device away, and just listen to the interview or yoga class
Read this short webpage from the Long Covid Research Fund
Read the tip sheets. Print the PEM info sheet. Share it with people
Copy/paste these directly to ChatGPT for a cognitive shortcut for doctors, daily life and mental health
Read the intro and one of the sections — maybe “Crash Care Kit Essentials” (page 30)
Click through for several formal inventories ("how does fatigue affect your life? how tired are you?") and links to research or critiques of them
Fill out the checklists and worksheet—you’ll come away with better understanding and a strategy for your body
Look ahead and imagine a day when you see these in yourself
Read this PDF, replacing "pain" with "fatigue" or your symptoms
Download the app; it shows the cause-effect of “what you do” and “how you feel”
Read about the approach, listen to a podcast about it, and download the app
Order the light and try it out
Download the app and try taking a measurement; requires Polar H10 chest strap (less than $100)
Look at the page and screenshots — does this project management approach look helpful?
See which Garmin watches can measure your HRV (a way to see how your body is coping and recovering)
Download the app and take a measurement with your phone camera
Try lightweight cups and bowls, freeze-dried rehydrated meals and other supplies
Think about whether you would like to know your heart rate and HRV—a measure of your body’s readiness for the day
Browse the spreadsheet to understand what it shows—watches, straps, apps, devices recommended by people with CFS
Read the reviews of this small device meant to help with HRV, sleep, resilience, and anxiety
Slowly re-train your memory with an evidence-based app
Browse the images of HRV readings, to get a sense for what it is (related: Body Battery)
Claims to do a lot of the pacing/tracking for you—if you try it, balance out the symptom tracking by also tracking what feels good each day
Listen to this audiobook to learn how to make small changes that may have a big impact on your sleep and energy (spoiler: nasal strips, nasal rinse and nasal dilators)
Not verified! Led by a former Stanford medical director, take a mail-in blood test and have a virtual consult for possible treatment.
Read through a few tweets from this physiotherapist
Look through the resources and choose a few key terms; or watch this cardiologist’s video interview
Read easily digestible blog posts (some as audio) to help yourself in an area you may not expect
Learn three treatment areas for nervous system triggers
See whether you might benefit from this DFW clinic’s approach to POTS and "I can't stand up" issues
Read recovery stories, share articles and contact them for services
Look at the services, treatment arenas and providers
This supplement is well-tolerated and has widespread benefits for people with ME/CFS and Long Covid; have it with fat and try for 4 weeks
This medication can help with many conditions, including Long Covid, PTSD and ME/CFS
Check the class offerings of virtual yoga and community for Long Covid
Meeting you where you are! Look around, find one you like, and think about what it says; feel the meaning in your breath, place a hand on your heart and speak it to yourself
Join the Facebook group and look around
Learn your rights and options
Search for an online group in your region / language
Read poems and short articles about “balancing life’s joy and heartache”
Read or listen to a short essay about holding and listening to one another during challenges
Learn about a Twitter/X community discussing life with chronic illness
Find a recipe you think sounds tasty
See which foods you might like to add more of
A delicious and nourishing dish to give the digestive system a break
Look up Wahls Protocol recipes on Google. Or put a list of approved foods into AI with this prompt: “Here is a list of ingredients. I need 3 recipes that won’t take any thought and will not make me move much or lift things.”
Interview with the creator of a Long Covid Recovery Program (Gupta) in an academic journal
Think about whether this small group, personalized online program might help you
Read a little — does it sound helpful? Would you need to adapt it for your own limits and goals?
Read a little — does it sound helpful? Would you need to adapt it for your own limits and goals?
Check the timing of the next course, and listen to some sample audios at the website.
Scan the menu of comprehensive self-guided modules
Read through the website. Does it resonate with you?
Rotate type of energy used, every 15 minutes. Eg: physical, mental, emotional, back to physical
Start with level 0 (joining from bed while sleeping through the class :))—one of the only programs to truly meet you where you are, and open to all health conditions
Put on your science hat for a "who dun it" article about sickness, the nervous system and why each person's condition is unique
Skim the page and imagine your physical nervous system healing, calming and connecting
Browse the website and watch videos or read the resources
Think about how to bring stability to each of the 4 nested systems in your life (process, person, context, time)
Read this short article and think about what aspects of your health are "dynamic"
Listen to the video or read the script
Do your symptoms change, move, increase, lessen? If so you may benefit—take the quiz to know more
Print and bring to your doctor—it was written by Mayo Clinic for medical experts!
"The results presented here suggest potential benefits of HBOT, with statistically significant results following 10 sessions.”
They chose 34 cohort studies and looked at all the symptoms they showed. There were 100+ different symptoms and they varied widely
See all published research by Nancy Klimas, who investigates causes and models in conditions like chronic fatigue and long covid.
Understand the mechanism they suggest is at work behind ME/CFS
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Learn about new resources when you subscribe to the email list.
You can help!
Do you like this toolkit? Please help it keep getting better. Send an email to postviraltoolkit [at] gmail [dot] com to help out.
A few of the things your contribution will make possible: printable version, printable set of trackers and dashboards, apps for tracking your recovery and communicating with doctors, usability testing, promotion to share with more people, a better website, and of course more resources. Five percent of all contributions will be donated to the Long Covid research fund of Dysautonomia International.
Thank you
Many thanks to Tara at belighttt.com for creating an ad-free version of her 🆘 breathing video to help people who may not be able to tolerate watching the ads.