Current Thoughts on COVID Prevention and Treatment

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I am writing this post to inform you that the type of respiratory infections I have seen at my clinic in Park City, Utah, during the last 6 weeks is characterized by pathogens that linger and are challenging to dissipate entirely. I researched and consulted with colleagues and mentors to understand how to treat these illnesses best, including COVID, RSV, and the Flu. Chinese herbal medicine options are available, but the dosing and length of time needed to take these herbs differ from the past.

The following is a discussion of my findings, a short discussion on post-COVID blood vessel inflammation with treatment recommendations, and an extensive list of COVID-related symptoms and treatments.

Please note: This is for informational purposes only. Please make an appointment for specific recommendations.
Damp Toxicity Illnesses
Damp toxicity is a concept in Chinese medicine related to having excess fluid in your body that overwhelms your system. It lingers and clings to the sick person like “oil mixed into flour.”Clinically, people with damp toxicity have a lot of phlegm, feel heavy in their bodies (tired, exhausted), and experience brain fog. Most commonly, they will feel better and then seemingly relapse again and again.Due to the dry nature of the climate in Park City, it is not as common to have extensive issues with dampness. However, this virus is more damp in nature, and we have had much more moisture this year. When these two factors combine in a person with pre-existing damp stagnation in their system, they get quite sick. 

This kind of dampness requires herbs with specific qualities to move the fluid. Supplements such as vitamin C, Zinc, and others that focus on the toxin aspect of the virus are not helpful with the dampness and clinically have had limited effects. 
Treatment Recommendations
The herbs that should be used for this situation differ from those we usually use in the dry climate of Park City.

If you have been someone who has relied on formulas such as Ilex 15 by Seven Forests to treat toxicity, it may not be working as well because there are not enough aromatic herbs in that formula.

We need herbs to treat dampness, not just toxicity, as discussed here:”When treating this disease, therefore, the focus should be on resolving turbidity with aromatic herbs, thus outthrusting the surface and regulating the up-down dynamics of the Spleen/Stomach network. As this particular type of dampness becomes resolved, stagnant heat will be able to disperse, and toxins will not be able to form, thus leading to a gradual resolution of symptoms.” Translated and shared on Facebook by Will Ceurvel

The herbs need to be taken much longer than usual, 10 days to 2 weeks.

Diet is critical to preventing relapse.
– Eat warm cooked foods
– Use spices to disperse the stagnation, especially ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric, and clove
– Limit wheat, dairy, and fried foods
– Avoid overeating
Post COVID Blood Clot Risk

COVID is a vascular disease because the spike protein damages the lining of the arteries, the vascular endothelial cells. (1) Vascular endothelial cells (ECs) form a critical interface between blood and tissues that maintains whole-body homeostasis. In COVID-19, disruption of the EC barrier results in edema, vascular inflammation, and coagulation, hallmarks of this severe disease. (2)

Due to the nature of the blood clot risk, I am recommending that you consider the following protocols:

Recent vaccination or infection

  1. Recommendation for prevention of side effects of COVID-19 vaccination (all types) and prevention of blood clot formation: Take Release Pearls 3 capsules 3x/day for 5 days, starting on the morning of the vaccination (both for the first and second shot); or, take for as long as soreness in the arm or other body parts persists.
  2. Recommendation for treatment of blood stasis in post-COVID-19 or post-vaccination situations: take Lightning Pearls 3 capsules plus Xuefu Zhuyu Tang 2 capsules 3x/day for 2 weeks or for as long as problems persist.

Past vaccination or infection – post 2 weeks

  1. Nattokinase to dissolve blood clots by directly hydrolyzing fibrin and plasmin substrate. (3) It is a traditional Japanese food and is considered very safe, especially at the dosage in this protocol.
  2. Cyruta –Contains several independent factors that help to maintain the integrity of capillary walls.
    1. Cyruta is also a food. It comes from buckwheat and is very safe as well.
  3. If you have had a heart attack or stroke, you will need to take a different protocol instead because of the anticoagulant effect of Nattokinase.

Master Herbalist Heiner Fruehauf compiled this list of the different patterns of symptoms related to COVID and how to treat them. These protocols are followed in my clinic and apply to the current non-COVID respiratory viruses in Park City. 

Revised Treatment Approaches, September 2021

by Heiner Fruehauf

Considering the dynamic circumstances of what has become a worldwide pandemic, the mutation of the coronavirus into new variants (i.e., Delta), and based on eighteen months of research and clinical presentations of COVID-19 and its related pathologies, my treatment approach with Chinese medicine has evolved. Here are some revised general recommendations:

  1. Recommendation for prevention of COVID-19 infection: take Thunder Pearls 3 capsules 2x/day.
  2. Recommendation for exposure to COVID-19 or during travel days: take Thunder Pearls 3 capsules 3x/day.
  3. Recommendation for treatment of early stage of COVID-19 infection, accompanied by clear signs of taiyang/shaoyang complexity syndrome (i.e., stiff neck, ear pain, malaise, sore throat): take Chaihu Guizhi Ganjiang Tang 3 capsules plus Yin Qiao San 3 capsules 3-4x/day; take for at least 10-14 days.
  4. Recommendation for treatment of early stage of COVID-19 infection, accompanied by clear signs of shaoyang/yangming complexity syndrome (i.e., stiff neck, pronounced headache with pain behind the eyes, obvious malaise and body pain): take Release Pearls 4 capsules plus Yin Qiao San 2 capsules 3-4x/day; take for at least 10-14 days.
  5. Recommendation for treatment of early stage of COVID-19 infection, accompanied by clear signs of shaoyang/taiyin dual affliction syndrome (i.e., stiff neck, ear fullness or lymphatic swelling, pronounced nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, general state of malaise, mild sore throat): take Xiao Chaihu Tang OR Ease Pearls 3 capsules plus Thunder Pearls 2 capsules plus Fengsui Dan 1 capsule 3-4x/day; take for at least 10-14 days.
  6. Recommendation for prevention of side effects of COVID-19 vaccination (all types) and prevention of blood clot formation: Take Release Pearls 3 capsules 3x/day for 5 days, starting on the morning of the vaccination (both for the first and second shot); or, take for as long as soreness in the arm or other body parts persists.
  7. Recommendation for treatment of blood stasis in post-COVID-19 or post-vaccination situations: take Lightning Pearls 3 capsules plus Xuefu Zhuyu Tang 2 capsules 3x/day for 2 weeks, or for as long as problems persist.
  8. Recommendation for treatment of sudden spiking of blood pressure accompanied by symptoms of dizziness in post-COVID-19 or post-vaccination situations: take Dahuang Zhechong Wan 2 capsules plus Balance Pearls 2 capsules plus Lightning Pearls 2 capsules 3x/day for 3-4 weeks, or for as long as problems persist.
  9. Recommendation for the general treatment of long-haul COVID-19 symptoms (fatigue, low energy, body pain): 2 Thunder Pearls plus 2 Shenxian Dushi Dan plus 1 Fengsui Dan 2-3x/day for 4-12 weeks.
  10. Recommendation for the lingering effect of COVID-19 or COVID-19 vaccination on the shaoyin (Heart and Kidney) system: take 2 Counterflow Pearls plus 2 Jingui Shenqi Wan plus 1 Fengsui Dan 2-3x/day for 2-6 weeks.

Revised Treatment Approaches In Response to the Omicron Variant, January 2022

The Omicron variant appears to cause more variegated symptoms and thus behaves more like the common cold/flu in people’s bodies. The Chaihu approach, overall speaking, appears to be less and less important, but the Triple Warmer congestion is still involved, now featuring Wendan Tang or Hao Qin Qingdan Tang (Wendan Tang plus Qinghao and Huangqin). The latest Omicron protocol we’re employing at our clinic has thus been:

For younger people

35 years of age or younger, with less likelihood of immediately developing blood stasis: 3 Thunder Pearls + 2 Wendan Tang + 1 Wind Pearls 3-4x/day

For adults

older than 35 years of age3 Thunder Pearls + 2 Wendan Tang + 1 Dahuang Zhechong Wan 3-4x/day

  1. https://www.salk.edu/news-release/the-novel-coronavirus-spike-protein-plays-additional-key-role-in-illness/
  2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35143839/
  3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5372539/#:~:text=Nattokinase dissolves blood clots by,activator (t-PA).