Ayurvedic practitioner Maxine Shorto shares her experience of post viral fatigue. You can book an online ayurvedic consultation with Maxine here.
Back in January 2019 I came down with flu, only this was no ordinary flu, but a physical storm that wreaked havoc on my body for a whole year and a half. I had thought myself a pretty resilient patient, and I have a background in Ayurvedic medicine. I write this because what we are hearing about “long covid” sounds very reminiscent of the symptoms that I have been dealing with, and which led me down a path of consulting with doctors, cardiologists, lung specialists, naturopaths, Ayurvedic doctors, and homotoxicologists.
The flu itself had the usual symptoms of aching body, fatigue, productive cough, but the fever was high, and went on for at least eight days, leaving me at times soaked in sweat. A month or so after I had recovered I began to experience heart arrhythmia; my heart felt tired, and was beating at varying rhythms. I’d have to lie down because a fatigue would just come over me, along with a shortness of breath that was sometimes so intense that I couldn’t talk. This was accompanied with chest tightness and pain which sometimes had me yawning and gasping for air. After a fair bit of googling, and trying to figure out which dosha was playing up, I decided it was either my heart or lungs that were in trouble. So the testing began, but after an endocardiogram, sonogram, chest x ray, and blood tests, I was still none the wiser as to why I felt so chronically fatigued, and why I couldn’t breathe. I ate well, I didn’t smoke or drink, I took ashwaganda in the morning, and practised yoga. I lived on organic food, filtered water, and a diet that balanced my vata dosha. I was an Ayurvedic practitioner, and I was meant to be an expert on health.
By this time seven months had passed, and I was beginning to think that I had an undiagnosed autoimmune issue that I was just going to have to learn to live with. Maybe it was asthma, I reasoned, and started practising the Butenko breathing method. I felt that the less I thought in terms of labels and pathologies, the easier it was to think positively. I needed rejuvenation, and cleansing. I did a three-day pancha karma (an Ayurvedic cleansing program to remove any build-up which may be impeding optimum health) but still did not feel any significant change. I knew that I couldn’t expect immediate results, because once an imbalance is established in the tissues it can take many moon cycles to begin to feel a change. Still I longed for a diagnosis.
Finally my mum recommended a naturopath who had helped her. The diagnosis involved vitamin, hormone and stress tests. Nothing obvious came up, but the practitioner had seen my profile before and diagnosed my condition as post viral.
I recalled having Epstein Barr virus in my twenties and remembered that it had been bad enough to force me to cut out alcohol for a good year, as it would trigger a remission in the tiredness. I read medical medium Anthony Williams’ perspective on Epstein Barr virus. He says that it can be behind a whole host of physical issues ranging from lupus to chronic fatigue, and that is it often misdiagnosed. Williams’ solution – celery juice and a diet of raw vegetables – went against my Ayurvedic knowledge. I knew that being a Vata constitution I needed warm, cooked, and grounding food.
Medical science is only just beginning to understand the behaviour of the virome (the viruses in and of the human body). Ayurveda can tell us much about immunity, the dynamics of staying in health and balancing our constitutions, but its foundational text the Charaka Samhita was written 2000 years ago, before we had degraded our soil, contaminated our air and migrated to big cities. What Ayurveda does tell us is that even after the entry of microorganisms into the body, disease is not created unless there is a vitiation of the doshas, our unique biological humours. It also gives us the blueprint for creating this balance, without focusing on the labelling of incurable pathologies.
The epidemics of autoimmune diseases, viruses, autism, asthma, diabetes, obesity and depression we are witnessing in what are often called “developed” countries can be looked at as symptoms of a collapse in health that follows the history of separation from nature. While our media wages war on a virus, I still believe that what we are witnessing is a symptom of the disease of modern life. Our entire body is an organic garden of bacteria and viruses, but viruses are not microbes; they are not alive, they are a communication network, a genetic package of information. In neonatal babies 100 million viruses have been found per gram of faeces by seven days of life. We interact with viruses through our individual immune systems.
According to Zac Bush MD, “when a child recovers from chicken pox to a healthy state they become more resilient against disease and cancer. Conversely if that child never gets the “update” he is subject to higher rates of chronic disease and disorder in the decades after.” I saw this firsthand in my daughter who had suffered from constant chest infections as a child. After having a bad case of chicken pox she seemed to have a much more robust immune system with no more recurrent infections. Perhaps what we really need is to create an environment that does not collapse our innate immune system and accept that viruses are part of that environment. I often wonder why children growing up in “hygienic” city environments seem to suffer more with eczema, allergies, and asthma – is it because they are more exposed to the contaminants in our air, food and water and do not have the protective immunity bestowed by good soil and clean air? It is not enough to be balanced internally if our external environments are poisonous.
It has been two years since my viral flu, and I have finally come to a remission of my symptoms, but it took time, patience, and at times despair. Through the help of Ayurvedic herbs and homotoxicology, I feel I was able to cleanse my body, rejuvenate my organs, and reboot my immune system. Sometimes the shortness of breath and fatigue comes back, and I know it means that my body needs some help. Often if I tune in and introduce herbs, stillness, rest and good food I realise how much easier it is to fall into worry and labels, than to fully take responsibility for my health.
