The Between-Fasts Stack

What you need to know

This is the standing daily stack for the long gap between protocol cycles: the months after one fast and refeed have finished, and before the next fast begins. It is not a pre-fast shopping list.
Valacyclovir is the standing antiviral backbone. It stays off during the dry fast and the first two water days because it is renally cleared, starts on water day 3, and then keeps running. Ivermectin is a secondary supportive antiviral and the primary antiparasitic.
Almost everything here is daily. The two exceptions are artemisinin (reserved for high-risk days and PEM crashes, because continuous use builds tolerance) and psilocybin microdosing (an optional extra, never part of the baseline).
Food timing is not a detail. Lysine and nattokinase need an empty stomach to work at all, while monolaurin and thymus glandular need food to be tolerated.
Bleeding risk is the hard stop: nattokinase, garlic and olive leaf are all anti-platelet, and those three never overlap the T3 and refeed phases, where low-dose aspirin is a deliberate co-factor. Valacyclovir is the carve-out: it is not anti-platelet, and it keeps running through the refeed and the T3 phase.
No doses appear on this page. They are individualized against your own labs and live in the members portal.

Most of the protocol is written around the fast. The preparation, the fast itself, the water bridge, the refeed, T3, hGH: all of it is scheduled around a few intense weeks. Then the cycle ends and you are left with a long quiet gap, sometimes several months, before the next one. That gap is where this page lives.

The gap is not a break. It is the period when viral load quietly rebuilds, when microclots reform, and when the immune system is doing the slow work of consolidating what the fast cleared. Running nothing through it is how people arrive at cycle two no better than they arrived at cycle one. The standing stack below is what holds the ground the fast took.

Which Page You Actually Need

Four pages on this site cover four different phases, and people regularly land on the wrong one. Use this to check you are in the right place.

Page	The phase it owns
Long Covid Basics	Before you are ready to fast. The first-line supportive stack that stabilizes you enough to consider a protocol cycle at all.
Viral Reactivation	The fast-to-refeed vulnerability window: the days when latent virus is most likely to wake up, and how to close that window.
The Refeed	The refeed itself. How to come off a fast without triggering refeeding syndrome, and how to stage food back in.
This page	The long gap after a cycle has finished and before the next one starts. The standing daily maintenance stack.

The Direct Antiviral Core

This is the part of the stack that does the actual pathogen work. Everything else supports it.

Agent	Role	How to take it
Valacyclovir (standing backbone, prescription)	The lead antiviral. It holds continuous pressure on the herpesvirus family that drives reactivation in most chronic illness cases.	With or without food. A small snack or a full glass of water prevents nausea. Extra fluid every single day is mandatory, not optional. See the timing gate below.
Ivermectin (secondary, prescription)	A secondary supportive antiviral and the primary antiparasitic. It calms the nervous system and inflammation and may mildly inhibit viral entry. It is not the lead antiviral.	Prescription only. Read the quercetin interaction note further down before running the two together.
L-Lysine	Competes with arginine for the transporter herpesviruses depend on, tilting the ratio away from replication.	Empty stomach where possible: 30 minutes before food, or 2 hours after, with water. Amino acids compete for the same gut transporters, so dietary protein blocks uptake. A little food is acceptable if it causes cramping.
Monolaurin	Disrupts the lipid envelope of enveloped viruses. A virus with a damaged envelope cannot enter new cells.	Must be taken with food. It is a concentrated fat-soluble lipid extract and causes gastric burning on an empty stomach. Food or a healthy fat also improves absorption.

The Valacyclovir Timing Gate

Valacyclovir is renally cleared. That single fact sets its entire schedule, and it is worth understanding rather than memorizing.

Off during the dry fast and water days 1 and 2Without renal water flow the drug cannot be cleared at the rate the dosing assumes. Clearance kinetics go wrong and concentration builds. This is a pharmacology boundary, not a preference.

Starts on water day 3By the third day of the water fast, rehydration is established and the kidneys are moving fluid again. That is the moment the antiviral backbone goes on, and it is deliberately before the refeed opens the vulnerability window.

Runs through the refeed and keeps runningIt does not stop when the refeed ends. It carries straight into the standing between-fasts course, which is what this page describes.

A prodrome is an escalation on top, not a switchTingling, burning or itching at an old outbreak site means replication has already started. The loading dose for a prodrome is layered on top of the standing course, not substituted for it. See Viral Reactivation for the full prodrome decision tree.

The Gut Rebuild Rider (Mandatory, Not Optional)

In Yannick’s clinical observation, a months-long valacyclovir course damages the bacterial biome and the virome alongside the pathogens it is aimed at. That collateral damage is predictable, so the repair runs alongside the course rather than after it.

What to do

Start raw kefir daily from the first day of the standing course. Once kefir is comfortably tolerated, layer in raw kombucha. This rider runs for the entire length of the standing course. Treat it as part of the antiviral protocol, not as a nice extra.

Nervous System, Sleep and Immune Reset

The second layer targets the part of chronic illness that is not pathogen load: the glial and mast-cell overreaction, the wired-and-tired nervous system, and the depleted immune baseline.

The Neuro-Immune Layer

Ultramicronized PEAPalmitoylethanolamide is in the stack to dampen hyper-reactive microglial and mast-cell flares. A systematic review of 47 human randomized controlled trials found consistent clinical benefit for pain and general wellbeing, with mast-cell and microglial damping given as the rationale (Bortoletto et al., 2025). Read that as researched for calming overactive immune and glial signaling, rather than as a settled human imaging finding. The ultramicronized form is the one used, because particle size drives absorption.

Liposomal apigenin (before bed)Taken 30 to 60 minutes before bed. Apigenin crosses the blood-brain barrier and binds the benzodiazepine site on the GABA-A receptor. That receptor affinity is well demonstrated, but only in preclinical work: rat brain tissue and cultured cells (Avallone et al., 2000). The same paper found no anxiolytic effect in living animals, so receptor binding is a mechanism, not evidence of a sleep or calming benefit. If your insomnia is histamine-driven, the MCAS page covers the tools that address it directly.

Thymus glandular (with food)Bovine thymus tissue, taken with food, to support T-cell maturation and the immune baseline between cycles. Note the category carefully: this is a glandular, not a peptide. Thymalin remains the only thymus peptide in the protocol. This is Yannick’s clinical framework rather than a tested protocol, and no published trial evidence is being claimed for it.

Blood Clearing and Biofilm

Microclots and viral biofilms are physical obstacles. They block oxygen delivery and they shelter pathogens from both the immune system and the antivirals. Two agents work this layer, and they work very differently.

Daily Versus As-Needed

Nattokinase (daily, empty stomach)An enzyme that breaks down microclots and viral biofilms in the bloodstream. It must be taken on an empty stomach, first thing in the morning or right before bed. The reason matters: taken with food, the enzyme is spent digesting meal protein and never reaches the bloodstream at all. With food it is not a smaller effect. It is a wasted dose.

Artemisinin (never daily)Sweet wormwood extract, used only on high-risk days and during PEM crashes. It is the one agent here that is deliberately intermittent. The next section explains why, and how to use it.

What To Do During a PEM Crash

Post-exertional malaise is the collapse that arrives hours or a day after you did something ordinary. Every other page on this site covers how to avoid crashing. This section covers what to do once you are already in one, because that is the question people are actually typing at 2am.

The first rule is the least satisfying one: the standing stack keeps running unchanged. A crash is not the moment to add three new supplements or to stop the antiviral backbone. The stack is what holds the baseline while the crash passes.

The one thing that changes is artemisinin. It is the as-needed lever reserved for exactly this situation, plus the high-risk days you can see coming: travel, a known exposure, a heavy commitment you cannot move.

Why Artemisinin Is Not a Daily Supplement

Artemisinin works by causing localized oxidative stress, which is hostile to pathogens sheltering inside biofilm. That mechanism is exactly why it cannot be a daily agent.

Continuous use makes it useless

Taken every day, the body upregulates its metabolic clearance of artemisinin. It is cleared faster and faster until the same amount does nothing at all. Patients who run it daily as a general antiviral find it has stopped working by the time they hit a crash and genuinely need it. Use days only, with real gaps between them, is what keeps the tool sharp.

Screen for G6PD Deficiency Before Any Artemisinin

Artemisinin drives oxidative stress on purpose. Red blood cells in people with G6PD deficiency cannot buffer that stress, and the result can be hemolysis. G6PD deficiency is common, frequently undiagnosed, and simple to test for. Get the test before the first dose, not after a reaction.

Medical caveat: G6PD status is a screening decision that belongs with your physician, and artemisinin is not appropriate for everyone even with a normal result.

Systemic Support

The last daily layer is broad cover: antimicrobial breadth, mast-cell stability, and mitochondrial energy.

The Systemic Layer

Garlic (odorless)Broad antimicrobial defense. Allicin, the active compound, reacts with thiol groups on microbial enzymes, and that single mechanism underlies documented activity against a wide range of bacteria, against Candida, and against parasites such as Entamoeba and Giardia (Ankri and Mirelman, 1999). That evidence is laboratory pharmacology covering antibacterial, antifungal and antiparasitic breadth. It is not cited here as antiviral efficacy, and garlic is not doing the antiviral work in this stack. Valacyclovir is.

Olive leaf extractA plant-derived antimicrobial. It sits alongside garlic as background pressure, not as a primary agent. In Yannick’s clinical experience it helps interrupt viral replication loops, which is why it is in the stack, and no trial evidence is being claimed for that.

QuercetinStabilizes mast cells and acts as a zinc ionophore, carrying zinc into the cell where it can interfere with viral replication. It is also the one item in this stack with a real drug interaction, covered immediately below.

Pyrucet (IdeaLabs)Topical or oral mitochondrial energy support, taken in the morning. Read the molecule warning below before adding it.

Two Interactions You Must Check

Quercetin raises ivermectin exposureQuercetin inhibits P-glycoprotein, the efflux pump that normally shuttles ivermectin back out of cells and out of the body. Inhibit the pump and circulating ivermectin exposure rises, even though nothing about the ivermectin itself has changed. Flag it to whoever prescribes your ivermectin whenever the two run together, so the interaction is accounted for rather than discovered.

Pyrucet is ethyl pyruvatePyrucet is not similar to the prescription refeed agent. It is the same molecule: ethyl pyruvate. Running the over-the-counter product and the prescription version at the same time is not stacking two supports, it is doubling one. Do not run both at once. Ethyl pyruvate belongs to the refeed phase, paired with methylene blue, and Pyrucet belongs to this between-fasts phase. Pick the one that matches where you are.

Psilocybin Microdosing: Optional, Not Baseline

Psilocybin microdosing appears in the protocol as an explicitly optional extra. It is deliberately excluded from the daily baseline. Nobody needs it to run this stack correctly, and leaving it out costs you nothing.

If You Choose To Use It

What it is there forThe rationale is neuroplasticity: giving a nervous system locked in a chronic-illness pattern a window in which it can form new ones. Run in cycles with scheduled off days rather than continuously.

Do not combine with methylene bluePsilocybin is serotonergic and methylene blue is a monoamine oxidase inhibitor. Combining them risks serotonin toxicity. Methylene blue runs during the early refeed, which is one more reason psilocybin and the refeed phase stay separate.

Stop signalsMonitor for transient rises in heart rate or blood pressure. Pause immediately on any CNS hyper-arousal or anxiety. Chronic illness nervous systems are already dysregulated, and hyper-arousal is a reason to stop rather than to push through.

Medical caveat: psilocybin is a controlled substance in most jurisdictions. Nothing here is a suggestion to obtain or use an illegal substance, and the legal position where you live is yours to establish.

Safety, Bleeding Risk and the Phase Boundary

Bleeding Risk: The Hard Stop On This Stack

Nattokinase, garlic and olive leaf are all anti-platelet. Individually the effect is modest. Stacked daily it is real, and it compounds with anything else that thins the blood.

While the anti-platelet items are running, completely avoid

Aspirin
Ibuprofen and other NSAIDs
Prescription anticoagulants
Bromelain
Omega-3 at 2 to 4 g (ordinary culinary intake is not the concern here)

The phase boundary

The phase boundary applies to the anti-platelet items only: nattokinase, garlic and olive leaf. Those three do not overlap the T3 and refeed phases, where low-dose aspirin is a deliberate co-factor, and you never run them and low-dose aspirin at once. If you are moving into a refeed or starting T3 therapy, nattokinase, garlic and olive leaf are what comes down first.

Valacyclovir is the explicit carve-out and it does not come down here. It is the standing antiviral backbone, it is not anti-platelet, and it keeps running straight through the refeed and the T3 phase. The refeed is the vulnerability window for viral reactivation, which is exactly why the backbone stays on through it.

Routine monitoring

Pull liver enzymes (ALT and AST) and kidney function (BUN and creatinine) every few months while the standing course is running. The point is to confirm the body is clearing the full stack cleanly, and to catch a trend early rather than a crisis late. Valacyclovir in particular is renally cleared, which makes kidney monitoring non-negotiable on a months-long course.

Where the Doses Live

The full dose sheet for this stack is individualized and lives in the members portal, where it sits next to your own labs and can be adjusted against them. Members get the complete between-fasts sheet with amounts, frequencies and personal overrides, plus the ability to ask about their own case. See what membership includes.

Medical caveat: valacyclovir and ivermectin are prescription medications. Every item on this page, prescription or not, is a decision to make with a physician who knows your history and your labs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do you take between fasts?A standing daily stack, not a pre-fast shopping list. It has four working parts: a direct antiviral core (valacyclovir as the backbone, ivermectin as supportive cover plus the primary antiparasitic, lysine and monolaurin as the natural baseline), nervous-system and immune support (PEA, liposomal apigenin, thymus glandular), blood and biofilm clearing (nattokinase daily, artemisinin only on bad days), and systemic support (garlic, olive leaf, quercetin, Pyrucet). Artemisinin and psilocybin are the only two items that are not daily.

Do you stay on antivirals between fasts?Yes. Valacyclovir is a standing backbone, not a short course you stop once the refeed ends. It stays off during the dry fast and the first two water days because it is renally cleared and needs water flow to clear safely, it starts on water day 3 once rehydration is established, and it keeps running through the refeed and into the long gap before the next cycle. Ivermectin runs alongside it as a secondary supportive antiviral and the primary antiparasitic. If a prodrome starts, the loading dose is an escalation layered on top of the standing course, not a replacement for it.

What can you take during a PEM crash?Artemisinin is the as-needed lever for a crash. It is deliberately not a daily supplement. It is reserved for high-risk days and post-exertional malaise crashes because it works by causing localized oxidative stress, and continuous use builds metabolic clearance tolerance that makes it useless by the time you actually need it. Screen for G6PD deficiency before the first dose. Everything else in the standing stack keeps running through a crash unchanged.

Can you take aspirin or ibuprofen on this stack?No. Nattokinase, garlic and olive leaf are all anti-platelet, so while those three are running you avoid aspirin, ibuprofen and other NSAIDs, prescription anticoagulants, bromelain, and high-dose omega-3. This is also why the phase boundary matters, and that boundary applies to the anti-platelet items only. Nattokinase, garlic and olive leaf do not overlap the T3 and refeed phases, where low-dose aspirin is a deliberate co-factor, so never run those three and low-dose aspirin at once. Valacyclovir is the explicit carve-out: it is not anti-platelet, it is the standing antiviral backbone, and it keeps running through the refeed and the T3 phase instead of coming down at the boundary.

Why are there no doses on this page?Because a dose that is right for one patient is wrong for the next. Kidney function, liver function, body weight, how many cycles you have completed, and which pathogens are actually driving your case all change the numbers. The full dose sheet is individualized and lives in the members portal, where it can be adjusted against your own labs rather than published as a one-size number.

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References

Bortoletto R, Comacchio C, Garzitto M, Piscitelli F, Balestrieri M, Colizzi M. Palmitoylethanolamide supplementation for human health: A state-of-the-art systematic review of Randomized Controlled Trials in patient populations. Brain, Behavior, & Immunity - Health, 2025;43:100927. PMID 39839988. — systematic review of 47 human randomized controlled trials; cited for PEA as researched for calming overactive microglial and mast-cell signaling
Avallone R, Zanoli P, Puia G, Kleinschnitz M, Schreier P, Baraldi M. Pharmacological profile of apigenin, a flavonoid isolated from Matricaria chamomilla. Biochemical Pharmacology, 2000;59(11):1387-1394. PMID 10751547. — preclinical only (rat tissue and in-vitro); cited for GABA-A benzodiazepine-site affinity alone. The same paper found no anxiolytic effect, so it is not evidence of a sleep or calming benefit
Ankri S, Mirelman D. Antimicrobial properties of allicin from garlic. Microbes and Infection, 1999;1(2):125-129. PMID 10594976. — mechanistic and in-vitro review; cited for antibacterial, antifungal and antiparasitic breadth only, not for antiviral efficacy

See the full research & citations page for the complete evidence base and how each study is used.

The information on this site describes a personal health protocol and is provided for educational purposes only. It is not medical advice. Consult a qualified physician before modifying your diet, fasting practice, or any medication regimen.