After seeing how much treatments have helped her, Martha Ovalle of Devine wanted to share her story to help others fighting COVID-19 which she described as causing her “unbearable pain” that even brought her to tears.
Ovalle said it started off just like the flu, but quickly grew into something she described as “10 times worse” and the unbearable pain set in.
“I started off with a scratchy throat Tuesday morning. I didn’t think anything of it, but went in to get tested because someone else who had contact with me tested positive,” Ovalle said.
By Friday, the pain was so horrible Ovalle said “I didn’t need anyone to tell me I had the COVID virus. I just knew it.”
With a crackle in her voice she very sincerely stated, “I know why people are dying from this illness. I saw and I felt that feeling for a moment myself. There was a time when I did not think I was going to get through this. My ribs, my hips, my feet, my head….The pain I was in was absolutely unbearable. On Saturday, I was in so much pain that I was crying and my son could hear it from the other room.”
Ovalle said that all began to change when she began taking a high dose of melatonin, the treatment that one local doctor began using this April.
“That Saturday around noon, I began taking a high dose of melatonin (20 mg twice during the day, and 80 mg at night). And within six hours, my fever just broke. My headaches started going away. By the next day, on Sunday afternoon, most of my pain started diminishing. I don’t’ know why it works. I don’t know how it works, but it works.”
“On Monday morning I received my actual positive test result, and spoke to Dr. Neel. Based on my symptoms and the pain I was having, Dr. Neel upped my dosage to (40 mg taken twice during the day and 100 mg at night). Now I am almost completely pain free as of this Thursday, June 25. It was really amazing the way I recovered. I even called my family doctor and said ‘you need to get on this wagon,’ and he said he is going to call Dr. Neel.”
“I am not going to exaggerate, I can still feel twinges of pain now and then, and I can feel that my body is still fighting. As Dr. Neel explained to me–he is ‘not curing COVID, and he has never made any claims to that effect….he is trying to help us survive it…’ He is trying to help make the unbearable pain, bearable, while our bodies are healing, and that’s exactly what melatonin does. But it only works if you take the right dosage, and it is important that you talk to him so he can recommend the right dosage for you based on your symptoms.”
Melatonin has shown great effectiveness as an additional treatment to antibiotics in medical studies of sepsis and pneumonias as well.
Dr. Neel explained that best in one of his first interviews with The Devine News this past March. He worked with a team of chemical and biological weapons experts for the US Pentagon, back when the anthrax attacks were going on in 2001.
“Studies showed that melatonin was such a strong antitoxin it kept the anthrax at bay long enough to let the antibiotics work,” Dr. Neel said.
Melatonin is 10 times stronger as an antioxidant than vitamin C for example. Research suggests that a single molecule of melatonin can bind to and neutralize 10 of the bad oxygen free radicals that cause such stress on our bodies, organs and especially our lungs during the course of this virus. This helps prevent the deadly cytokine storm that makes this virus so dangerous. In layman’s terms, the “cytokine storm” is an overreaction of the immune system due to it being overwhelmed. Melatonin is protective of our lungs, brain, heart and other organs; while it brings down the toxins in our bodies to a level that our immune system and or antibiotics can fight the infection.
Ovalle says she will forever be grateful for Dr. Neel, her family, our Lord, and the community who has helped her get through this.
“I have also been taking 2,000 mg of vitamin C and 4000 IU of Vitamin D3 every day since Wednesday. The first doctor I saw put me an antibiotics beginning Friday. It wasn’t until Dr. Neel increased my dosage on Monday that I began to feel so much better. The pain, headaches, and fever are no more. It feels like I just have a cold now.”
“I have been seeing articles about Dr. Neel in The Devine News, and if I hadn’t have read that I might not have gone down this avenue. It is an amazing thing he is doing for our community. I started taking a small melatonin when I first started getting sick, but I am glad I reached out to Dr. Neel because when I talked to him and started taking the dosage he recommended for me, it helped so much more.”
Ovalle adds, “I wish I could get a hold of every doctor in the SA area and tell them my story. What Dr. Neel is doing really, really works. It works unbelievably well.”
“And he is just the sweetest person. I am not even a patient of his, and he called me back within 10 minutes of me calling his clinic. He said ‘I don’t care if you are an established patient or not, this is just my way of helping the community.’”
Dr. Neel has treated upwards of 100+ patients with a high dose of melatonin, and has seen remarkable results in a majority of patients. Some also require antibiotics, especially those who began treatment after several days of already having symptoms. He also stresses that it’s important for patients who are taking melatonin to take the full recommended dosage. Just like with antibiotics, it’s important to finish the regimen.
He is also excited to see the full-scale clinical trials starting in the Philippines, which will further evaluate melatonin’s potential to battle COVID-19 in more severe patients.
“No one thing is going to work the same for everyone, but melatonin is really helping so many of my patients. Some people will have more viral load than others, and so the amount of melatonin needed is going to vary. It depends on how fast the virus is replicating and the level of toxins in the body. The good thing about melatonin compared to some of the other drugs is that you can titrate the dosage accordingly,” Dr. Neel adds.
If you want to learn more about his research and experience, you can contact him at Little Alsace Urgent Care in Castroville, TX. They also offer tele-med service.
By Kayleen Holder
Editor