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I am not sure what I think of your comment, but I think it at least deserves discussion.

I have used said supplements before. In fact, I have a close friend who is very enamored with supplements and has about 50 different pill bottles in his medicine drawer.

Out of curiosity, I once spent two weeks taking about 25 pills a day at his recommendation, and I'm afraid they did not do very much for me — at least that I could noticeably discern.

The only supplement/herbal medicine I've had success with is St. Johns Wort, but I've been strongly discouraged from using it by a psychiatrist who emphatically emphasized that an SSRI is a much safer and more controllable way to achieve the same effects if need be.

Magnesium deficiency is relatively common, though I wonder if that isn't more of a dietary issue.

The experience you're describing doesn't disqualify supplements, you say you've taken "25 [random] pills", this is not what I'm advocating. There are various supplements, be it vitamins or plant extracts, that have definite medicinal effects. It should go without saying, really.

For illustration, just go on pubmed and search for "nigella sativa" (black seed oil).

I'm no expert on any of this, but I think the theory is that many of these don't have a single strong directional effect like most single-compound pharmaceuticals do, but that if your body is short on something, and that's causing an issue, it can grab something from the cocktail of compounds, and that can help. If it's not, then it doesn't.

Many of the recommendations are vitamins and minerals, that are common deficiencies (magnesium is a notorious one, because of soil depletion etc.). It's reasonable to suspect that recovery from an illness finds one in a nutrient-depleted state.

Ah yeah, I was thinking more about the plant extracts. But your body is probably decent at filtering out the vitamins and minerals it doesn’t need (the water soluble ones, at least, be careful with fat soluble ones like vitamin D).

Obviously both vitamins and plant extracts need to be treated with care, after having done thorough research. Thankfully there is plenty of information available, and as I've said the HN crowd should be especially well equipped for this.

> The only supplement/herbal medicine I've had success with is St. Johns Wort, but I've been strongly discouraged from using it by a psychiatrist who emphatically emphasized that an SSRI is a much safer and more controllable way to achieve the same effects if need be.

Yep. From Wikipedia[1]:

> On average, lead levels in women taking St. John's wort are elevated about 20%.

It's also a relatively dirty drug, with effects on typical monoamine and GABA reuptake, MAO-A and MAO-B inhibition and is an inhibitor or inducer at pretty much every relevant enzyme that breaks down common medications.

I wouldn't want to become dependent on something like that because the withdrawal syndrome could be pretty nasty compared to something relatively more selective and understood like an SSRI.

Even switching from SJW to something else might be tricky because of the enzyme induction.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypericum_perforatum#Antidepre...

I mean, if you're basically fine, then the supplements, which have had studies run, aren't really going to do much for you unless you're really in tune with your body. For extreme cases of long covid, however, the right set of vitamin supplements are life saving. (I'm not exaggerating. eg https://www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/long-covid-patie... )

There are absolutely scammers selling trash (there's someone selling stem cell injections as a cure) and fuck them. But don't ignore the very real problems that patients are experiencing, and that they're helped by simple remedies that aren't yet proven by science. Science will catch up, but people are suffering dying in the meanwhile.

This is my stance exactly. It doesn't hurt to try, and you will learn a lot in the process. Also, some of these are proven by science, just remember there is a lot of science out there and doctors are only aware of a tiny fraction of it.

Very interesting article, thank you for the link! When administered and monitored with some degree of medical oversight (as was the case for the article’s subject), I think such treatments are wonderful!

I just want to add a bit to this. While there is a lot of snake oil supplements, there is a also quite a bit research on some supplements helping.

I'm speaking from personal experience here. I suffer from a mild case of Erythromelalgia. During typing my fingers and hands would get red and feel warm. My case is most likely secondary caused by some nerve damage from a medication I took. There is a doctor who had severe case of it and has done some research on using magnesium/ala and it made his condition 95% better and he was able to return back to work. I have been following his protocol for about a month now, and it has made an incredible difference.

Anyone who is suffering from an annoying illness, that is not aggressive and require immediate treatment, should try research possible supplements and diets. Clean/healthy diet is always good.

Megadose B3 2000mg per day does seem to be commonly effective. The theory is NAD+. Gives me a headache so an aspirin is needed as well but was one of the first treatments that pulled me out of fatigue.

Thank you. Yes Niacin (vitamin B3) megadoses are seemingly very effective for a wide range of ailments.

> [edit] here come the downvotes, for those that do, note that downvotes, at least on HN, are not meant to express disagreement, they are meant for content that is objectionable for other reasons.

This is factually wrong. Search for posts by dang frequently explaining traditions and norms in this forum, including the downvote very much being a standard way to express disagreement (although it is better to voice your disagreement in a comment if you think the conversation would be interesting).

I didn't know that, frankly I remember reading, many years ago, people saying that downvotes are not meant to express disagreement. Maybe that changed, I personally don't agree with this and only consider downvoting if someone is not being civil, is not interested in discussion, or really voicing something obviously false. I was careful with my comment, I'm not selling anything, I was just interested in maybe nudging some people towards this information.

[edit] seems I'm not the only one: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19406299

It's often said, but as pointed out not the case, and ~never has been for as long as there was anything resembling policy - pg commented on it in early days.

Fwiw, I'm not really a fan of it (and don't do it) either. But it's a lot harder to upvote not-objectionable things (so many!) and not upvote things purely because you agree (tempting!) - so I suppose it makes sense. I've thought before about making a 'proof of concept' type commenting system where its designed around not/objectionable; the default as you scroll past things would be to up-vote them (automatically), only down-voting on intervention when 'this does not contribute to the discussion'. Meh, might be interesting, but I'm not interested enough that I've gotten around to it :).

All the things you mentioned are very healthy to take. You're not wrong in suggesting they're worth a try if all else fails. Don't know if they can cure anyone but what the hell do you have to lose at this point if you're feeling like shit from the Corona.

> Magnesium megadoses

If you're considering this (I wouldn't), be aware that milk of magnesia is a very effective laxative, and other magnesium salts like magnesium oxide etc work similarly.

Yes indeed, I was giving hints for research, that will quickly reveal the best forms of magnesium to take (glycinate, chloride).