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Hi Sarah,
I am happy to hear your patients partner is feeling better! Such a hard situation when a loved one is sick, of course she wants to care for him especially when it was beginning to turn in a direction we don’t want. And it is challenging when others are not taking COVID seriously – if anyone has suggestions on that conversation I would love to hear it! Mask wearing conversations here are a slippery slope…
I feel fortunate to have not had any pregnant patient get COVID as of yet, but I have been proactively preventing if they have either had exposure via contact tracing or a member of their household has tested positive. As soon they find out, I suggest they begin taking Mycoshield by Host Defense – this is a blend of mushrooms that have antiviral properties (I lean heavily on food as medicine during pregnancy – this is a place I feel comfortable as herbs here in CA are frequently blamed if their is an adverse reaction). I have had several pregnant patients that are Dr’s and nurses on the front lines of COVID taking this as a preventative and (knock on wood) none of them have contracted COVID. I suggest taking the full dose on the bottle and continue until either their quarantine period is over or each day they may be exposed – being conscious to take days off between when there is no potential exposure (for my teachers, Dr’s, nurses, etc). I find it also helps them feel less vulnerable/scared having something to proactively take that both prevents and treats viruses. I also suggest the daily usual to keep their immune system harmonized and healthy – prenatal, vitamin D, probiotic. For prevention we may add zinc lozenges 1-2/day or vitamin C – all within appropriate pregnancy dosages and as above when their is potential exposure.
Thank you Diana for sharing, super interesting case and love that you used herbs! I appreciate hearing your experience. I too had a pregnant friend reach out to me last December that I helped care for from afar – I believe she was around 28 weeks at the time. I actually put her on Oscillococcinum for 48 hrs (I lean on homeopathy in my pregnant patients and for pediatrics), both Mycoshield and Garlic Force by New Chapter for 21 days (my non-pregnant patients I have continue for 30 days). The Garlic Force is STRONG – so I only suggest taking 1 pill/day during pregnancy (my non-pregnant patients take it 2x/day). I love Garlic for the reason you mentioned – that is makes the blood less sticky (and it fits my food is medicine during pregnancy). I also love it because it is both a natural antiviral and antibiotic, which covers a lot of ground for us. The biggest kicker is that it is an anti-inflammatory and prevents Cytokine Storm – we know that is the biggest factor as to why people go sideways after contracting COVID. I kept her on this regimen to make sure we made it past that 10-15 day window of when we most often see the inflammatory situation take over. I too do lots of hand holding during COVID, check in everyday, help to keep their spirits up and remind them that they are capable of getting through this illness. The mental emotional toll is BIG during both when a patient has contracted COVID and/or during a quarantine period when the patient is in the unknown – it can be so scary for them. This is where we can really help, most of their other practitioners are hands off and often times don’t have the personal connection that we have with our patients. I love all the suggestions you gave your friend, thank you for sharing – I have made notes 🙂
I have now treated about 3 dozen cases of COVID in my non-pregnant patients. Some I have given herbs, but most just follow the protocol above and move through with relative ease knowing that they are going to feel sick (if it has been more than 48hr since beginning of symptoms – I omit the Oscillo, this should be taken immediately when able). The patients that didn’t reach out to me when they were notified of a positive status or with initial symptoms have had trouble. I only have a handful of what would now be considered long COVID – most were last summer when we didn’t know much. They all present differently which is fascinating! I can totally nerd out here with our medicine and how spot on we are to be treating these patients that are falling through the cracks in the western medicine capacity as our medicine has a longer history and has seen these patterns before. Thank goodness the practitioners before us were such amazing historians/teachers! Feel so lucky and thankful to be practicing our medicine right now 💗 Oh, and once my patients are out of their quarantine period I do have them come in for treatments – so much we can do with acupuncture!
Good luck with your patient Sarah! Please keep us posted on how she and her partner are fairing. Sounds like she is in good capable hands with you!