Survived COVID...

...even though I have severely impaired Vagus Nerve function already (no diagnosis yet despite months of trying. I recommend that no one ever get a zebra disease during a pandemic because no tertiary care specialists will see you and you cannot get tests).

Things I researched and was already taking in advance---1) nicotine (do not smoke or use tobacco) because it ameliorates the symptoms of low vagal tone. The Vagus nerve is tricky, you cannot do a nerve study on it to check for damage however an indirect test is cardiac variability---take a deep breath and breathe out slowly and the pulse should drop. Without nicotine I had no cardiac variability but as soon as I would use a lozenges, I would recheck and variability was restored (pulse would drop 5 while exhaling) which is a pretty good indicator that nicotine fortifies the vagus. Titrated up to the 14 mg patch and supplement with lozenges prn. My neurologist approved of this therapy which I started myself (I am a physician and read lots of interesting articles about the vagus nerve and nicotine and how pre-loading lab animals with nicotine before vagotomy prevented the inflammatory reaction that would quickly kill them).

2) Niacin (relatively high dose 500 mg bid) which is also a powerful anti-inflammatory. Get mine OTC at the health food store. Not for everyone--ask your doctor first.

3) The usual Vit D, zinc lozenges and melatonin.

4) External vagal stimulation device. (Got mine on Amazon) You apply it to the outer ear at a tiny area that the Vagus Nerve innervates (sort of like acupuncture) for an hour a day. Anecdotal studies have showed slightly improved COVID recovery time as well as a fall in blood inflammation factors. Be aware that if you use it too much it can make your hoarse by overstimulating the Vagus nerve.

Also got my asthmatic lungs to the hospital quick and got on Decadron, oxygen and remdesivir which is the hard part now that hospitals are in crisis mode due to certain people's refusal to wear masks or follow social distancing guidelines. I have no idea where or how I got this--I do not go anywhere.