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The NIH’s RECOVER initiative just held its 2nd annual workshop-- Pathways to Treatment — and here’s what you need to know. In this episode, Dr Khan shares key updates on Long COVID research from RECOVER 2025, including patient voices, new treatments under study, and where the research is headed next.

Listen to Episode 19: Low Dose Naltrexone

We’ll cover:
 ✔️ The role of patient advocates in shaping research
 ✔️ Interventions under study: low-dose naltrexone, baricitinib, GLP-1 receptor agonists, and stellate ganglion blocks
 ✔️ Challenges with access and equity in treatment
 ✔️ What’s next for clinical trials in Long COVID

As both a physician and a patient with Long COVID, Dr Khan brings you a unique perspective on what this research means for patients, clinicians, and the future of care.

🔔 Subscribe for more updates on Long COVID research, treatments, and patient perspectives.
👍 Like this episode if you find it helpful, and share it with others navigating Long COVID.

More resources:
👉 Learn more about RECOVER: https://recovercovid.org

👉 Follow my work on Long Covid, MD: longcovidmd.substack.com

Keywords: Long COVID research update, RECOVER 2025, NIH RECOVER TLC workshop, Long COVID new treatments, low dose naltrexone Long COVID, GLP-1 Long COVID, baricitinib Long COVID, stellate ganglion block Long COVID, Long COVID patient advocacy, Long Covid MD

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📖 Read the full newsletter + reference sheet
💬 Share your experience with hydration strategies in the comments—I’d love to hear from you!

Living with Long COVID or POTS often means battling dizziness, fatigue, and brain fog caused by low blood volume. In this episode, Dr Khan breaks down the science of hydration and explain how different fluids—plain water, salt water, and oral rehydration solutions (ORS)—actually work in your body.

You’ll learn:
 ✅ Why plain water gives a quick but short-lived boost
 ✅ How salt water helps your body hold onto fluid
 ✅ Why oral rehydration solutions like WHO ORS and St. Mark’s formula can act almost like IV saline
 ✅ The difference between medical ORS and common sports drinks like Gatorade, Pedialyte, and Liquid IV
 ✅ How the sodium-glucose transporter (SGLT1) “supercharges” absorption

Hydration is more than just drinking water—it’s about strategic plasma expansion to keep blood flowing to your brain and reduce symptoms of dysautonomia.

⚠️ Safety note: Salt loading isn’t for everyone. Check with your doctor if you have kidney disease, heart failure, uncontrolled hypertension, or a tendency to swelling.

👩‍⚕️ I’m Dr. Zeest Khan, a physician and patient with Long COVID. On Long Covid, MD, I simplify medical science to help you make better decisions about your care and recovery.

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Can IV fluids really help with Long COVID symptoms like fatigue, dizziness, and brain fog? In this episode, Dr Khan reviews the scientific evidence on IV hydration versus oral rehydration solutions (ORS) in children, athletes, and patients with POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome)—and shares her personal experience as both a doctor and a patient living with Long COVID.

You’ll learn:
✔️ How IV fluids expand blood volume and why that matters in Long COVID
✔️ The risks and complications of IV therapy (including when NOT to use it)
✔️ What the research says about ORS vs. IV hydration in different groups
✔️ Why IV fluids may serve as a temporary rescue therapy for some people with POTS or Long COVID
✔️ Practical tips for safe IV use 

💡 Whether you’re exploring treatment options or just curious about the science, this episode breaks down what we know—and what we don’t—about IV hydration in Long COVID.

For links to studies and a printable summary of today's episode, subscribe to the newsletter.

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LCMD will be away for the summer. Will Dr Khan post anything in the meantime?? Find out by following her: 

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In this episode of Long COVID MD, Dr. Zeest Khan highlights a healthcare system that effectively mitigated the pandemic and maintained community trust, while facing numerous structural obstacles. Should we follow this model of medicine more broadly? She interviews Dr. Noha Aboelata, Family Medicine physician and CEO of Roots Community Health, who shares insights on Root's holistic approach to healthcare, the importance of community trust, and the need for accessible and equitable health services. Roots played a tremendous role in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization offered testing, recognized patterns of viral spread, and shared critical information with the public before, and sometimes in place of, government agencies. Roots' model of rebuilding community trust allowed them to respond quickly and effectively against the COVID-19 pandemic, and continues to serve the community well. The conversation highlights the role of community health in addressing systemic inequities and the significance of empowering patients to advocate for their own health.

People's Health Briefing

How Roots Pushed Medtronic to Improve Pulse Oximetry

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Enjoy Dr Khan's guest appearance on the Outrage Overload podcast. Hosted by David Beckemyer, Outrage Overload explores how outrage media fuels political polarization and stress. David and Dr Khan discuss how the unprocessed grief of a pandemic has contributed to our current polarized social climate.

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How a Doctor’s Long COVID Journey Exposed Systemic Failures

Millions are still living with long COVID, yet many patients are dismissed, misunderstood, or left without answers. In this episode, Dr. Zeest Khan shares her personal journey—from treating critical patients as a cardiothoracic anesthesiologist to becoming a long COVID patient herself.

This conversation isn’t just about COVID—it's about how we listen, how we heal, and what needs to change.

Guest:
Dr. Zeest Khan, physician, long COVID advocate, and host of Long COVID MD podcast.

Text me your feedback and leave your contact info if you'd like a reply (this is a one-way text). Thanks, David

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Show Notes:
https://outrageoverload.net/

Follow me, David Beckemeyer, on Twitter @mrblog or email [email protected]. Follow the show on Twitter @OutrageOverload or Instagram @OutrageOverload. We are also on Facebook /OutrageOverload.

HOTLINE: 925-552-7885

Got a Question, comment or just thoughts you'd like to share? Call the OO hotline and leave a message and you could be featured in an upcoming episode

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Rate and Review the show on Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/OutrageOverload

Intro music and outro music by Michael Ramir C.

Many thanks to my co-editor and co-director, Austin Chen.

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Summary

In this conversation, Dr. Zed Zha and Dr. Zeest Khan discuss the complexities of the patient-doctor relationship, particularly in the context of Long COVID. They explore the systemic issues that lead to mistrust in the medical system, the importance of patient advocacy, and the need for a shift in medical culture towards collaboration and understanding. Dr. Zha shares insights from her platform, 'Ask the Patient,' where she gathers feedback from patients to improve medical practice. The discussion emphasizes the need for physicians to recognize their power dynamics with patients and to adopt more compassionate, patient-centered approaches in their care.

Dr Zed Zha, MD
Zed is a physician and author. As a medical culture critic, she is committed to addressing critical issues such as medical misogyny, racism, anti-fatness, and ableism. As a feminist patient advocate, her writing brings to light the often-unspoken challenges within the healthcare system that fracture trust between patients and clinicians and find the common path for us to move forward together. Her nonfiction book defining medical consent is currently in the process of being acquired. 

Zed is also a storyteller. Her upcoming nonfiction children's book titled Why We Eat Fried Peanuts: A Celebration of Family and Lunar New Year, comes out in January 2025 by becker&mayer! Her Iive performance about her thieving mother is available on The Noturnists Podcast and on Youtube by the Bellevue Literary Review.

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Summary

In this conversation, Dr Zeest Khan speaks with Dr. Katie Brown, who shares her journey as a family doctor and a patient with ME/CFS. She discusses the complexities of diagnosing and treating long COVID, particularly focusing on the role of cranio-cervical instability (CCI) and its impact on patients' health. Dr. Brown emphasizes the importance of understanding the symptoms, the challenges in accessing proper care, and the need for collaboration among healthcare providers to improve patient outcomes. She also offers insights into treatment options and encourages both patients and doctors to take ownership of their health and care.

Bio
Dr Katie Brown: Katie Brown, MD has dedicated her career to learning how to treat ME/CFS and related conditions, including Long COVID. Her interest stems from her own experience with the disease which she developed during her first year of medical school. She is very grateful to now be in remission and have the chance to use all she has learned, both as a doctor and a patient, to support others with ME/CFS. The clinical uncertainty around ME/CFS should not mean that patients don't get help. In order to educate and encourage other doctors to treat ME/CFS, she is writing a book outlining best practices for primary care doctors. You can sign up to her newsletter to be notified when the book is published. 

Sign up for Dr Brown's newsletter: https://www.katiebrownmd.com/newsletter

Dr Brown's CFS website: https://chronicfatiguedoctornearme.com/

Dr Brown's notes on UCI, updated regularly: https://publish.obsidian.md/gsdpc/Publish/Patient+Resources/Cervical+Instability   

Additional Resources:

Project ECHO

Ressek et al Presentation and physical therapy management of upper cervical instability 

The Sick Times article on craniocervical instability

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In this episode of Long COVID MD, Dr. Zeest Khan discusses the financial challenges faced by individuals with long COVID and chronic illnesses. She interviews Kira Stoops, a writer and advocate, who shares her personal journey with chronic illness, the importance of asking for help, and the value of building community. They explore the realities of managing finances while living with a disability, the stigma around seeking assistance, and the tools that can aid in adapting to new life circumstances. Kira emphasizes the importance of self-compassion and the need to cut oneself some slack while navigating these challenges.

Kira Stoops

Kira is a writer who is chronically ill. Despite having ME/CFS for nearly a decade, she's determined to live the good life: close connections, moments of sunshine, meaningful work, and snarky humor. Find more of her work at Flying Bicycle Creative, her (free!) Meatscon tool for sickies here, and her Substack about luxe sickie life here. 

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Is being healthy a personal virtue, or a civic duty? And how should you be treated if you're not healthy?

In this episode of Long Covid, MD, Dr. Zeest Khan is joined by Dr. Alyssa Burgart, pediatric anesthesiologist and bioethicist, for a timely conversation on healthism—the idea that health is a moral responsibility—and how it's shaping everything from doctor-patient relationships to public health policy.

Together, they explore:

• What healthism is and why it matters now more than ever
• How figures like RFK Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz are using morality and patriotism to frame health in political terms
• What these narratives mean for people with Long COVID and other chronic illnesses
• How blame and bias show up in the clinic—and how both patients and clinicians can push back
• Why trauma-informed care is critical for healing, not just treatment

This episode offers practical insight and ethical clarity for anyone navigating illness in a society that often treats sickness as a personal failure.

Read more of Dr Burgart's work on Substack

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On this special bonus episode, we share Dr Zeest Khan's guest appearance on the podcast "Taking Healthcare By Storm" hosted by Dr Jean Storm, medical director of Quality Insights.

Dr. Khan shares her journey with long COVID, highlighting the importance of peer support, symptom validation, creative treatment approaches, and trusted information sources. She emphasizes the need for curiosity and compassion in healthcare providers managing long COVID patients. 

Learn more about Dr. Khan by listening to her podcast or by visiting her website or Substack.

If you have any topics or guests you'd like to see on future episodes, reach out to us on our website.

Publication number QI-040425-GK

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