Research into Long COVID causes and treatments has been ongoing, and although progress is being made, it feels too slow to many of the millions of people suffering with debilitating symptoms. This has caused numerous long-haulers to turn to products and services that are unproven and often expensive. Ranging from $55 dietary supplements to $25,000 stem cell treatments, some long-haulers say as long as they can find some relief, the costs and risks are worth it, but many clinicians warn against cavalier experimentation.*

Expensive and unproven 

As lengthy and robust government-funded research continues, many private companies and smaller research teams have taken matters into their own hands, flooding the market with alternative treatments that promise to provide relief, but without sufficient data to back their claims. Here are some products you may come across.

Ivermectin

Ivermectin, primarily used as a horse de-wormer, is a drug approved by the FDA to treat certain parasites, head lice, and some skin conditions in humans in small, controlled dosages, but studies have so far shown it to be ineffective for treating Long COVID. The American Medical Association (AMA) says it does not approve of using ivermectin for COVID-related conditions because of the possible health risks.

The drug is championed by critical-care physician Pierre Kory, who often prescribes the “miracle drug” in his $1,650 telehealth consultations. He says that, even though the AMA does not agree with his position, he believes he is meeting his patients’ needs. “We’re stuck right now trying to help patients with trial and error until the science evolves,” he says. 

Dietary supplements

Since supplements, like vitamins and herbal treatments, are not regulated by the FDA, they do not have to meet the agency’s safety and efficacy standards. 

One herbal supplement called Vedicinals-9 ($95 per 42-day supply) claims to support recovery from viral infections. Company founder, Joachim Gerlach, says that by financing the drug himself, he is able to “act fully in the patient’s interest” without outside interference.

Some long-haulers have reported improvements in their Long COVID symptoms after taking the supplement, but others experienced no changes, despite buying several boxes. 

Other treatments

COVID long-haulers have reported spending large sums of money trying a variety of unproven approaches, such as:

• Cannabis,
• Pure oxygen administered in pressurized chambers, 
• Sedation-stimulant combination treatments, and
• An experimental ‘blood washing’ procedure.

“You want to protect people from charlatans,” said Harlan Krumholz, M.D., S.M., a professor of medicine at the Yale School of Medicine. “We need to resist the temptation to adopt tests and treatments without sufficient evidence to justify their use.”

Until rigorously-tested and proven treatments become available for commercial use, however, says Michelle Haddad, a neuropsychologist at Emory Rehabilitation Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, many physicians have adopted a “kitchen-sink approach” to treating Long COVID. 

“We’re kind of stuck,” she says. “I can define areas where you have impairments and how impaired you are…but I don’t have a magic pill.”

*Stead Sellers, F. (2022, November 25). Desperate covid long-haulers turn to costly, unproven treatments. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/11/25/long-covid-treatments-unproven-brain-fog/