[_yb2s]

How does this theory line up with the my experience, which seems to be similar to a lot of people with CFS:

I had high energy levels until I suddenly got sick, and had a mild fever for about a day. After that I had the sort of fatigue one feels when having the flu, except it lasted for about 8 months, and then gradually lifted. After that my energy levels totally recovered and stayed normal for over a decade. All tests, including psychiatric evaluation were normal so it was considered CFS.

[martindbp]

I've had constant brain fog / fatigue for the last 6 months after a brief stomach flu. Got a tip to try the sauna for 3 days a week, which apparently doubles human growth hormone production. After two weeks of this I've finally had 5 days in a row where I don't feel tired. I still need to sleep more than usual, but before I could sleep 10 hours and still feel very tired, now I feel great after 9 hours.

The person who told me this had a patient who lost her sense of smell after Covid, and it wouldn't come back. It came back after a single session in the sauna.

[agos]

as far as low risk/low cost treatment options to try go, sauna sounds pretty great

[martindbp]

Yes, gyms tend to have them here, but we're a very sauna dense country

[lindsaywaterman]

Yes that’s pretty typical. Some people go in stepwise, some go in all at once. I think you got lucky with your complete recovery, although that is common after about a year for long Covid in particular.