This is a record of my experiences with Vedicinals-9 for Long Covid. I am not affiliated with V-9 in any way, nor was I expecting it to be a magic bullet cure. I've documented my experiences in case it helps anyone else on their Long Covid journey.
I had a horrible relapse towards the end of July - it was especially frustrating because until then I had thought that things were improving. And then to be struck down with the worst relapse I'd had in about a year was pretty crushing. Symptoms I had thought that I'd worked on and solved reappeared and I was feeling pretty low.
Previously, I had interviewed Joachim Gerlach, who in the man behind Vedicinals-9 and had thought that it sounded really interesting. You can listen to the interview - it's episode 41 of the podcast (hit the link or listen wherever you get your podcasts). I'd recommend anyone interested in V-9 to listen as it really explains a lot about it. What I'm writing about here is my personal experiences only.
Anyhow, it was this relapse in July that prompted me to try V-9 and I took advantage of their August/September offer which gave big a reduction in price.
It was largely the info in viral clearance that I had been interested in. V-9 gets very good results in this. I had been feeling "stuck" with my recovery. I'd worked on a lot of things and seen some improvement but I felt like anything further was being held back, I was in this relapse cycle.
I was wondering if there could be some viral muck or spike protein kicking around my body (from Covid or from vaccine) that was causing flare-ups. It was a theory and seemed worth a try.
The package arrived quicker than expected and soon I was the proud owner of 3 boxes (42 bottles) of gloop. I should clarify here - V-9 recommends 3 full boxes (42 days/6 weeks) for people with Long Covid, and one box/2 weeks for acute Covid infection. The package was very well packaged and took a bit of effort to get into, but for a company who ships liquids worldwide, I'd say this is both a good thing and completely understandable.
So there I was with my box of Vedicinals! It was 11th August when I started my Vedicinals Journey.
A word of warning - I'd advise anyone to read very carefully the leaflet before starting and V-9 recommend getting in touch with them prior to ordering if you are taking any medication, particularly beta-blockers & anti-coag meds, and this can be done via their website, as V9 is probably not compatible with this.
V-9 also suggest probiotics, some supplements such as Vit C, D & a few others things, holding the solution in your mouth for at least 60 seconds and eating rice to name a few. I can't find the info on their website, but they have posted it all as a reply to this Twitter Thread which is worth reading.
I should also say that I went into this feeling reasonable (for LC!) - it was the relapse a few weeks prior which had prompted me to try this but by the time I'd ordered and it had arrived I was feeling back to something resembling my LC-normal. I should also say that over the last 2 & some years I've worked hard & done a lot of research on a lot of my symptoms - breathing, deep rest, nutrition, reducing inflammation to name a few, and although I was far from "fixed", I was doing better than I had been, at least some of the time. (As David Putrino said at the Long Covid Physio International Forum last week, it's all about raising those anchors one by one)
The first problem was getting the lid off - I found it really difficult but luckily my partner was able to open my gloop every morning. A few people suggested using a rubber glove or elastic band to help for anyone struggling on their own.
Days 1-3 I didn't really notice anything. The taste wasn't pleasant, but it wasn't awful either, and the consistency wasn't my favourite. But it was do-able, and I wasn't taking it because I thought it would taste good!
Days 4-8 - It was around day 4 I started feeling a bit off. Initially I thought it just a bad day, but by day 7 I was pretty sure it was related to the V9.
Nausea (a symptom that occasionally happened, usually connected to over-stimulation I think - TV or travelling in a car) was ever present.
Having seen other people's experiences, I now know that it isn't uncommon. Still, a sign that it's doing something - hopefully!
Days 9-13 felt more like I did before I'd started V-9. The nausea seemed to have abated, I had a bit more energy and was able to get outside which helped mentally as well as physically.
Again this seems to be Not Unusual with Long Haulers using V-9.
Days 14-18 were kind of more of the same but some stomach pain kicked in here - not constant but definitely noticeable.
Also around about this time - the start of some sort of chemical warfare (I jest, but it was Bad)
The gassing, farting, trumping (whatever you want to call it) was unreal.
There was a lot of it and it smelled Bad. Really Bad!
Again, hopefully a sign it's doing something.
Days 19-26 (ish) - for those unlucky enough to be dealing with this every month, you will know what I mean.
Am I feeling bad because LC? Is it PMS? Is one exacerbating the other (probably). Is V-9 helping or hindering?
Someone on Twitter also said that V-9 might work as an anti-coag and make periods heavier. So suffice to say, I wasn't really looking forward to it.
However, I didn't really notice anything out of the ordinary. Just the usual feeling ropey, and LC symptoms flaring a bit (again, as usual).
Certainly no mass carnage as I'd been warned about (phew - apologies if that's overly graphic...)
The gas had even eased a bit!
Days 29-31 - oh...well that was wishful thinking wasn't it!!
Days 32-38 Warfare continues - a slightly sadistic part of me is enjoying that my farts are worse than Other Half's. The table are turned and it's kind of fun. (Also utterly disgusting though!!)
But he does tend to be a better judge of how I'm doing overall than I am. He is able to see the bigger picture a bit better I guess. And he reckoned I'd been generally brighter than before starting V-9.
It was around about here that I started trying to cut certain foods out of my diet. I had done a food intolerance test and it showed I was intolerant to cow's milk, almonds, eggs & wheat. Mentally this sent me into a meltdown (I can't imagine life without cheese and I've always done a lot of baking). I also started cutting out these foods (for 12 weeks - torture).
In hindsight I should have waited until I was done with V-9 before starting this, because it's definitely muddied the waters a little on what is a symptom of what! Looking back, I think the 2nd round of digestive issues was probably more related to the cutting out of foods-detox, but I can't be sure obviously.
Days 38-42 So, whether a result of V-9, diet change or some combination of the 2 (likely), my gut was not really enjoying life.
Nausea was back, farting was intense and my gut felt all wrong.
Definitely not feeling great and other symptoms flaring a bit too (there was a bit of outside stress too, so that probably didn't help)
The final week I had been really struggling with the taste. I mean, I'd not enjoyed it the whole way through, but this last week it was making me gag.
It was suggested that my body was rejecting it because it had done it's job - which sort of makes sense.
So - a few conclusions & observations:
Do I feel any different now to how I felt when I started V-9? No, not really. At points during the 42 days/6 weeks I did. It's hard to judge anything, as we all know, with the ups and downs of Long Covid. If my theory of there being some viral crap floating around is correct, I wouldn't expect to notice straight away, so I think maybe what will be more telling might be the months to come - have I "unstuck" myself? Have I raised an "anchor"? Time will tell.
Has it done anything?
Well, according to my gut, it's sure as hell done something! If all it's done has been to clear my gut out, then I'd say it was probably worth it - a lot of people say that the key to LC is in the gut, so...
Would I advise others to try it?
Honestly, I can't really give advice. I am glad I did it, I am hoping that it's helped and I don't regret it at all. I think you need to make your own choice - but I can say that there are lots of people who have seen a big improvement. So do your research, but it can, and does, definitely help lots of people.
Would I do anything differently with the benefit of hindsight?
Yes - I would definitely leave any major diet changes until afterwards!! Up until I started that, things had been looking better, so it made it very hard to tell what was what.
Is V-9 a miracle cure?
No of course not, and it was never marketed as such. It has helped a lot of people - many improve a little, many improve a lot. But plenty don't.
Where do I find more information?
Vedicinals themselves have information on their website which you can also use to contact them (& they welcome this) as well as order. Also listen to Joachim Gerlach from V-9 speak on the Long covid Podcast. I'm also happy to answer questions about my experiences, if they're not answered above.
Well done if you got to the end of that....
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