Post Virus Observations

Okay, so I recently had an acute illness that tested negative for COVID and flu. Symptoms were very similar to a mild case of COVID - belching with intermittent nasal congestion, vomiting and diarrhea, low fever, chills, couldn’t stay awake, body aches, slight intermittent headaches, intermittent symptoms of stuffy nose, dry cough, wet cough, chest pressure, fatigue, SOB, feelings of dysautonomia with fast, hard heart beat and difficulty breathing.

During the acute illness, I noticed that all my normal Lyme/co/mold symptoms all but vanished. Illness began Thu night. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I had no noticeable “normal” symptoms. Around 6:30 pm Sunday, I started feeling inflammatory response symptoms in my head and face. That was the point when my “normal” symptoms started to return. I think joint stiffness returned a day or so after that.
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Here’s what I don’t know and would like to know:

Did my usual symptoms disappear because my immune system switched from an aberrant response to a normal response?

OR

Did my usual symptoms disappear because my gut got cleaned out with vomiting and diarrhea and I barely ate for several days?
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I did fast from sundown to sundown once in the past year, but it made me feel worse instead of better.

This would be a good opportunity for me to get on a helpful diet, but I don’t know what to do. All I know is the more food I eat, the worse I am feeling.

During the illness, I still ate an egg every morning. I drank a little bone broth for a few days. I ate saltine crackers and Campbell’s chicken noodle soup. Ate steamed bok choy and squash a couple of meals and little bites of fast food chicken. I also drank Gatorade and Powerade, which had sugar.

So, it certainly wasn’t sugar free, gluten free, processed free. It was mostly just a drastic reduction in the volume of food. After a few days of that, I was feeling awful hungry and started increasing my food intake.

For what it's worth, I just had my COVID vaccination booster and experienced the same thing. As I began to feel crummy from the vaccine response, my "normal" Lyme/Bart/whatever symptoms basically went away as well. The same thing also happened about a year ago when I had the original vaccine doses.

At least in my case, I interpreted temporarily feeling better as the immune system having something "better to do" than attacking whatever chronic infection/toxins are present and focus on the acute response to the foreign material in the shot. Regular symptoms came back shortly afterward. I didn't change anything else (diet, etc.) in the meantime.

I have to agree with others about your focus on the acute illness. Taking it a step further, it has been my experience I do not feel as bad, Lyme wise, even when there is something "mental" going on. For instance, when my mom died 7 years ago, the symptoms of Lyme weren't even noticed as my mind was on getting things done and focusing on getting my kids through it.

Also, when something is negative is happening with one of my kids, I tend to have les Lyme symptoms, which, again, I believe is the brain readjusting for what is immediately needed.

Haven't had the flu or any major sickness since I was a kid, except, of course, Lyme and friends. But the mental situations and responses I've had to them tend to lead me to believe the mind, temporarily, does what is needed to get through something that needs immediate attention. That may come from running and coaching for so many years, where I've used and taught the power of the mind.

whilst i do agree the effects of what a person focusses on can have a powerful impact

it is also possible that the cytokines and other things that get ramped up by an acute viral infection could not suit lyme and co - and could even reduce lyme and co symptoms

there is definitely something odd going on with the immune system in lyme - in that its so common to hear people say i never got any colds or flue while i was sick with lyme - then as they start to recover - they get colds again - this has just happened to me - 2 viruses in a row after none for 7 years
so it could well be that as the system adjusts for one ( or is adjusted by the bacteria - as they are all immunologically active ) and then it is less susceptible to the other.

i did also want to mention the possibility that - as you suggested - it may have been that dramatically reducing your food intake gave your gut a rest - and thereby lead to a lot of symptoms reduction. a lot of people with lyme and bart have lots of gut issues - even if they are not the most prominent symptom - it can be that it just makes us generally reactive to foods - and puts a load on our system that adds to fatigue, joint pain etc

this was the case for me - and it wasn't until i changed to a keto style diet that my symptoms dropped dramatically and it became evident how much food was driving my symptoms.

i know food preparation may be a challenge right now - but you might want to think about a trial of a keto approach or possibly gaps type diet at some point - as for me it was the first step on the ladder towards making progress. before that i was well and truly stuck for 3+years
its an adjustment - but easy in the end and i do less cooking now than before - so perhaps it is possible.