A journalist developed post‑Covid‑19 syndrome after contracting Covid‑19 at a concert, experiencing over 200 symptoms including heart palpitations, gastrointestinal chaos, joint pain, severe brain fog, and incapacitating fatigue. Daily activities and brief conversations can trigger prolonged exhaustion and near-comatose sleep. The severity of symptoms prompted experimentation with numerous alternative and wellness interventions—chromotherapy, sound baths, mushroom extract, reiki, leg compression boots, infrared light panels and more—driven by disillusionment with mainstream medicine. The global wellness industry, promoted by celebrities and influencers, appears highly persuasive to someone desperate for relief and contributes to heavy personal spending despite unproven efficacy.
But three years into a debilitating chronic illness, I am willing to try anything to get well. Even things that would have once made me roll my eyes. Chromotherapy, sound baths, mushroom extract. Reiki, leg compression boots, strategic humming. If the devil (hopefully the Liz Hurley Bedazzled version) offered me full health in exchange for my soul, I would have a hard time saying no.
Three months later, I was diagnosed with post-Covid-19 syndrome, colloquially known as long Covid because, well, it does like to hang around. Since then, I have sampled from the 200+ available symptoms, including but not limited to heart palpitations, gastrointestinal chaos, joint pain, the ability to feel my heartbeat in my arms, brain fog so bad I once forgot how to turn off the shower and the type of fatigue that regularly makes me Google can you die from tiredness.
At times, a five-minute phone conversation has sent me to bed for days. I'd have to rest halfway up a small set of stairs. I'd answer a single email then slip into a sleep that felt much closer to a coma than a nap. When things are that grim, the promises made by the wellness industry sound very, very appealing.
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