Written in 2021…
What I learned, the hard way, about this wacky bat virus.
Based on common symptoms, such as loss of smell, fatigue, headache, gut ache, nausea, anxiety and insomnia – I have had long covid twice. In 2020 I fully recovered in 4 months. I then got a mild covid cold in September and had my 2nd covid long-haul by mid-October. I thought I might have fully recovered 4 months later in mid-February when my last symptom, insomnia went away. Six weeks later, I suffered a relapse after strenuous physical exercise and a day of emotional stress. Two days later, I had a headache, some gut ache, and some fatigue. One week later my stools turned almost white, clay-colored. With evening autophagy, I felt some liver inflammation in addition to a headache and some intestinal discomfort.
What does this mean? In my opinion, this strongly suggests persistent viral infection. And even worse for those suffering from long covid, it means that this sleepy bat virus can be reawakened and triggered to undergo a burst of viral replication. All this leading to a recurrence of old symptoms and even sometimes – brand new long covid symptoms.
How might this happen? Bats have many unique adaptations to support the intense energetic demands of flight. Bats have peak metabolic rates 3-5 times higher than any other mammal. After foraging they often go into torpor, a very low metabolic state, while hanging from the roof of a cave for example. Thus, bats are daily switching back and forth between very low and very high metabolic states.
The intense demands of flight and the associated high metabolic rate cause high levels of cellular oxidative stress. That is the environment for which the SARS-CoV-2 virus was adapted. I believe that many aspects of the SARS-CoV-2 virus reflect the unique adaptations needed for bat metabolism. Basically, I think this is a sleepy bat virus that wakes-up and replicates during periods of cellular oxidative stress. Strenuous exercise – both aerobic and anaerobic – is known to cause oxidative stress for muscle cells. In addition, mental and emotional stressors can cause oxidative stress in the neurons of the brain and negatively impact the immune system.
What are the implications for covid long-haulers? First, it means that avoiding all strenuous exercise may be necessary to limit viral replication. Second, it implies that avoiding mental and emotional stress is also necessary to limit viral replication. In contrast, meditation, easy walks in a natural setting, and similar activities may actively promote recovery. Third, anything that decreases the oxidative stress in our cells may be helpful. N acetyl cysteine (NAC) supplementation has been shown to boost cellular glutathione. Glutathione is responsible for about 80% of our cells antioxidant capability so boosting it helps our cells fight oxidative stress. Finally, bat cells have a higher basal level of autophagy. This likely helps them recycle damaged mitochondria and to handle the higher level of cell maintenance needed to support the intense energetic and cellular repair demands of flight. Bat viruses are naturally resistant to the low-level nightly housecleaning of autophagy. To help fight some bat viral infections strong induction of autophagy can be very helpful. I think a key strategy may be to induce strong cellular autophagy just one or two consecutive days per week to slowly degrade viral proteins and viral debris within infected cells and stimulate antiviral responses over a period of several months.
