Long Covid and ME/CFS
Brain fog and no energy, for months?
For persistent fatigue and reduced exercise capacity.
Long Covid and EECP in brief.
Months of leaden tiredness, a head full of cotton wool, the crash after the smallest everyday tasks. EECP Cardio Pulse addresses one possible physical cause: the disturbed oxygen supply in the finest vessels.
How you may notice Long Covid and ME/CFS.
- Exhaustion that even sleep does not relieve
- The crash hours or days after minor exertion
- Brain Fog: concentration and finding words become difficult
- Racing heart or dizziness on standing up
- Shortness of breath on light exertion
- All findings normal, and yet it is still not working
What happens in the body with Long Covid and ME/CFS.
Anyone living with Long Covid or post-viral fatigue is not fighting imagination but physical limits: exhaustion that even sleep does not resolve. Trouble concentrating and finding words. The crash hours or days after a small effort. Heavy legs, a racing heart on standing up, shortness of breath. ECG, blood tests and X-rays often read “normal”. Research increasingly sees one cause in the smallest vessels and their lining, the endothelium: they no longer widen properly, and muscles and the nervous system receive too little oxygen.
How EECP can be added to the treatment of Long Covid.
Treatment of Long Covid and ME/CFS is guided by the symptoms, and much is still being researched. EECP Cardio Pulse can be an option here: the flow in the vessels is generated passively, without you exerting yourself.
What EECP can do for Long Covid.
Sport or gritting your teeth often makes the condition worse in ME/CFS. EECP Cardio Pulse is completely passive vascular training while lying down: the cuffs on the legs move the blood through the body in time with the heart, and the smallest vessels receive flow again. The stronger flow acts on the vessel lining. It can produce more nitric oxide again, the messenger that widens vessels, and the vessels can widen better. Your pulse stays calm, your muscles do not work. The aim is less exhaustion and more exercise capacity in everyday life.
When EECP may be suitable for Long Covid.
Persistent exhaustion after an infection
For more than three months things have not been as they were, and other causes have been ruled out.
Exertion intolerance
Every exertion takes its toll. A treatment that demands no exertion is then the prerequisite.
Circulatory symptoms without findings
Racing heart, dizziness, chest symptoms, but ECG and ultrasound are normal. The small vessels are a possible reason.
What speaks for EECP in Long Covid.
Passive, lying down, no effort of your own
Reaches the smallest vessels
Aim: less exhaustion, more exercise capacity
Lasting effect of EECP therapy for Long Covid.
After the course there is no further treatment. If the regulation of the smallest vessels recovers, this gain can remain without treatment. Experience with Long Covid is still young. What has changed for you, we discuss at the end of the course.
What EECP does not do for Long Covid.
EECP does not treat the infection. For Long Covid and ME/CFS, EECP Cardio Pulse is an individual treatment attempt: physiologically well founded, first studies show improvements, larger studies are still pending. We check beforehand whether your circulation tolerates the treatment, particularly carefully with a pronounced racing heart on standing up. The sessions themselves require little exertion. Getting there and back can be tiring, though. That is why we plan appointments so that your energy lasts.
Using everything, leaving nothing out.
Our philosophy: use every option in cardiology – including the body's own natural powers. EECP Cardio Pulse sets targeted flow stimuli and supports the vascular system's capacity to adapt. Entirely without a procedure, complementing conventional cardiology. As much as necessary, as gentle as possible.
Your path with EECP Cardio Pulse.
- 01
Cardio Check-Up
cardiac diagnostics.
- 02
First session
One hour lying down.
- 03
Series
35 sessions, one hour each.
- 04
Final check-up
The check-up.
View related research
In a pilot study at the Karolinska Institute, ten patients with long-Covid angina and documented microvascular dysfunction received 15 EECP sessions. Afterwards the six-minute walking distance was about 30 metres longer, angina and fatigue had improved, as had quality of life. A small study without a control group; larger studies are pending. For long Covid and ME/CFS, EECP is therefore an individual, physiologically well-founded therapeutic trial.
Wu E, Mahdi A, Nickander J, et al. Enhanced External Counterpulsation for Management of Postacute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Associated Microvascular Angina and Fatigue: An Interventional Pilot Study. Cardiol Res Pract. 2023;2023:6687803. PMID 38179014
Questions about EECP for Long Covid and ME/CFS.
Why are there often no findings in Long Covid?
The large vessels and the heart are usually normal, which is why ECG, ultrasound and laboratory tests show nothing. One possible cause is disorders of the smallest vessels and their lining, which are not detected by the usual examinations.
How well established is the effect in Long Covid?
Initial small studies and analyses from the USA report less exhaustion, more exercise capacity and better concentration. Control groups are still lacking, and research is ongoing. EECP is therefore an individual treatment attempt with a sound physiological rationale.
Is treatment possible with severe fatigue?
You lie relaxed during the session and do not have to exert yourself. The real strain is the journey to us and back. That is why we plan the appointments so that your energy is sufficient, and we adapt the rhythm to how you are feeling.
Can EECP trigger a crash?
The treatment requires no muscle work and your pulse stays calm. No serious side effects were reported in the analyses so far. With Long Covid and ME/CFS we still start gently: on request with a single trial session, shorter and at lower pressure. After that we give you time and see how you tolerated the days that followed. Only then do we decide on the course together.
Does this also apply to ME/CFS without Covid?
The mechanisms are similar: disorders of the smallest vessels and the vessel lining are discussed for both. Studies on EECP so far exist only for Long Covid. Whether a treatment attempt makes sense for you is something we discuss openly in the initial consultation.
What about a racing heart on standing up, known as POTS?
This is common in Long Covid. It does not fundamentally rule out EECP Cardio Pulse, because you lie down during the treatment. In the initial consultation we check how your circulation responds. Then we decide together.
General information, not a promise of cure. Whether EECP is suitable for you is something we clarify after a cardiac examination.
Just give us a call.
We answer your questions and arrange an appointment together.
Private service under the GOÄ fee schedule: about 100 euros per session.