Long-Covid’s Neurological Impact
Long-haul Covid patients are finding that the medical system — and most alternative therapies — are just not helping much. Chronic fatigue, brain fog, digestive issues, abnormal heart rhythms, and other problems can stubbornly remain, even after treatment. Patients are often told nothing more can be done.
Targeted rehabilitation of the brain and nervous system is showing significant results as a solution to Long-Covid cases. The latest research indicates why this top-down approach is an effective treatment.
Post-viral damage to the brain can result in autonomic nervous system dysfunction, and this dysfunction appears to be connected to symptoms of Long-Covid. Immune system defense mechanisms respond to fight the infection, then, in some cases, the nervous-system gets stuck in a defensive feedback loop — a self-perpetuating “fight, flight, or freeze” response, even once the virus is no longer in the body. If this happens, inflammation becomes chronic, and symptoms ensue, even if the threat is no longer there. [1]
Patients report a variety of physical and mental health challenges, including chronic fatigue, gut problems, brain fog, POTS, and cardiovascular symptoms. Dr. Lesley Kavi, MD explains that “the sympathetic nervous system is the fight-or-flight system… the parasympathetic system is the rest-and-digest system. And for us to function normally, we have to have a balance between the two— a sort of equilibrium. And it’s when that equilibrium gets disrupted [by a virus]… people develop problems.” [2]
If your post-Covid brain is stuck in “fight, flight, or freeze” mode, you might notice that you get exhausted by mild activity. You could also experience distortions and sensitivity to light, sounds, odors, or foods. You could have trouble concentrating or finding words, get headaches or muscle pain, have trouble with your gut, have intense mood swings, or experience intense heart palpitations. You may find yourself withdrawing from work, relationships, and the life you once enjoyed because of the physical and emotional upheaval you find yourself in.
The Post-Covid Brain’s Overreaction
If we start from the top down, the symptoms of Long-Covid are explainable by how the virus has affected the brain. “We were quite surprised to see some clear differences in how the brain had changed [after a COVID infection],” says Dr. Gwenaëlle Douaud, a neuroscientist in the UK. Analysis of 401 scans shows changes in brain size and function (especially areas of the limbic system) and cognitive decline, among other symptoms. [3]
Recent ground-breaking research on the long-term impact of Covid and other viral infections on the nervous system has also found that the brain can develop a specific “memory” of certain infections. [1] The brain’s unique memory for past viral infections can be triggered, which will signal the body to mount an immune response even when there is no infection present.
In some cases, it does not take much to trigger the brain into responding as if the body is under attack when it isn’t. It appears that Long-Covid patients may be victim to their brain’s over-sensitised memory for this novel virus. In these cases, the brain continues to signal the body to mount a defense, even though the virus has left the body. The ensuing neurological and immunological responses result in the debilitating symptoms Long-Covid sufferers experience.
Calming the Nervous System for Long-Covid Recovery
Dayna McCarthy at the Center for Post-COVID Care says that “modulating the nervous system’s fight-or-flight response may help regulate the immune system.” [4] In other words, if you can calm the brain’s overactive defensive response, you can calm the body into easing its excessive and ongoing immune response.
The good news is that anyone can reverse the brain’s oversensitized “fight, flight, or freeze” mode and restore their health— from the top down. Daily, drug-free rehabilitation, using brain-retraining techniques such as those laid out in the Dynamic Neural Retraining System™ (DNRS), can rewire neural pathways, calm the nervous system, regulate immune function, and reverse chronic, post-viral illness.
Dr. Cecilia Söderberg-Nauclér, MD, PhD. at the Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden and her research team is conducting an in-depth study of treating long-haul Covid using the DNRS program. “We have observed great to astonishing full recovery from severe long Covid/post-acute COVID-19 disease,” reports Dr. Söderberg-Nauclér. After seeing so many patients recover from chronic fatigue syndrome, dysautonomia and chronic inflammatory response syndrome, she advises any patient suffering with long Covid to get started right away with retraining the brain. While her study continues, she hopes more patients will “explore DNRS training to support their recovery from these conditions.”
Brain Retraining Methods That Work
When the brain suffers damage, repair is possible. Neural retraining methods have been used for many years to successfully rehabilitate stroke and brain trauma victims, helping them regain movement, and recover speech. Mounting research indicates that after any kind of viral or bacterial infection, chronic fatigue, brain fog, and other signs of nervous system impairment can result. [5] It follows that an impaired brain and nervous system can benefit from targeted neural rehabilitation.
DNRS is a non-invasive, self-administered, daily brain-retraining program that can be accessed online. The program was developed by Annie Hopper, a specialist in brain retraining for resolving hard-to-treat chronic illnesses.
Annie Hopper explains the events that led her to create this unique brain retraining protocol: “I originally developed this program to resolve my own chronic health issues. I’d spent many years— and thousands of dollars— desperately chasing recovery from chemical sensitivity, fibromyalgia, and other illnesses. I created the Dynamic Neural Retraining System after extensive research into the methods used to rehabilitate brains affected by strokes and other injuries, as I suspected the source of my illness was my nervous system. It turns out I was right.”
Annie’s book, “Wired for Healing: Remapping the Brain to Recover from Chronic and Mysterious Illnesses,” explains the neuroscience connecting the brain changes that result from physical, chemical, emotional, or viral trauma to chronic illness symptoms. Since 2008, Annie has been offering this effective, drug-free approach to re-wiring the brain and calming the overactive “fight, flight, freeze” defense reactions of the nervous system.
Stories of Rapid Recovery from Long-Covid
Doctors worldwide continue to refer their patients with “hard-to-treat” chronic conditions to the DNRS program. Tens of thousands of people have successfully retrained their brain with this program and recovered from a long list of conditions, including chronic fatigue syndrome, POTS, and long-haul Covid.
“On the very first day I started doing the DNRS program, I got a sort of explosion of the sense of taste in my mouth without even eating anything… I hadn’t been able to taste anything for a year,” wrote Sandra who had suffered from Long-Covid “In the first week I also really felt I had the energy to start moving again.”
Esther recovered from debilitating Long-Covid with the DNRS program. “When I started [DNRS], my life had shrunk down to the size of the first floor of my home. I was measuring out my energy in spoonful’s and looking at an unknown future,” she says. “Within days I got a surge of hope, happiness and energy.” She continued daily retraining, and, like so many others, regained her health and resumed life as normal.
“Don’t suffer any longer!” is Esther’s advice to Covid long-haulers. “DNRS is a brilliant program that puts knowledge and power for healing into your own hands. But you aren’t alone, the support from the community and DNRS is wonderful.” Videos of more DNRS long Covid success stories can be found here.
A Brain-Retraining Recipe for Recovery
The DNRS program provides Long-Covid sufferers with a reliable “recipe” to successfully rewire neural pathways in the post-viral brain.
By taking a “top-down” approach to illness, retraining your own brain and nervous system, you can regain your health and reclaim your life. DNRS gives you a safe, reliable way to shift yourself from “fight, flight, or freeze” mode into a state of healing, growth, and repair. Begin the DNRS online brain-retraining program here and become part of the community of recovered long-haulers.
References
1. McElvery R, 2021, ‘The Brain Has a Special Kind of Memory for Past Infections,’ Scientific American, <https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-brain-has-a-special-kind-of-memory-for-past-infections/>
2. Cohut M, 2022, ‘In Conversation: Long COVID’s Cardiovascular Implications,’ Medical News Today, <https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/in-conversation-long-covids-cardiovascular-implications>
3. Gale J, 2022, ‘Covid Can Shrink the Brain as Much as a Decade of Aging, Study Finds,’ Bloomberg, <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-07/brain-shrinkage-cognitive-decline-found-months-after-mild-covid?utm_medium=social&cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_content=business&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&fbclid=IwAR0mKU-qGETFpopPyhF0AJp52UpBCVwas1VSf0sKYT3Ms4nft59iiwa3XTk>
4. O’Rourke M, 2021, ‘Unlocking the Mysteries of Long Covid,’ The Atlantic, <https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/04/unlocking-the-mysteries-of-long-covid/618076/?utm_source=fbia&fbclid=IwAR0ZimpauQtRcqLdRXDKUWcxd7KdQfe-b7Pr2ZxJHZ4iUjkKqfpNB8i5ipQ>
5. Bannister BA. Post-infectious disease syndrome. Postgrad Med J. 1988 Jul;64(753):559-67. doi: 10.1136/pgmj.64.753.559. PMID: 3074289; PMCID: PMC2428896. <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3074289/>
