Long Covid

[GT3Manthey]

breamster said:

Not old then. My wife is having similar issues albeit not quite as severe. She is early 40s, slim, fit and no existing medical conditions prior to covid.

Anyone saying it's "just flu" needs to rethink things a bit!!

Best wishes to your wife etc.

Tks yours too

Matin Bashir is in a bad way I gather and had no underlying conditions.

It’s the unknown going forward that’s concerning obviously .

[JohnBlackWatson]

deeb0 said:

I guess thats the bizarre thing about this, is how it affects people so differently. My missus, lost sense of taste and smell back in march before it was an official symptom (in the UK at least) so weren't able to get a test. No other symptoms, I went through a spell of feeling really exhausted after minor exercise in march but no other symptoms, it passed itself after a month or so (could have been fitness but I'm generally fit).

I read recently that they are looking at blood groups as a potential differentiator in the symptoms /recovery.

Good luck

Interesting article that suggests that there is a genetic link to the severity of Covid and that this could be leveraged in a test to determine those most at risk;

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/09/hidden-imm...

The article mentions some work being done in Southampton, some more info on this is in the following link;

https://www.reddit.com/r/synairgen/

The one good thing to know is that so many different approaches are being taken to try and clobber this thing.

[smashy]

Firstly wish your wife well very tough.......on LBC a few weeks ago people were ringing in with their Long Covid issus it was pretty frightening.One 32 year old womans story stayed with me,she had lost her taste and smell like many have she had a constant burning smell .... roast beef smelt rancid ,coffee smelt like petrol tht was 7 months in

[anxious_ant]

breamster said:

Anyone saying it's "just flu" needs to rethink things a bit!!

Exactly! It's shocking reading the posts on a popular thread about Covid here on PH.

I wish your wife all the best OP.

[Patch1875]

I reckon I had it way back in December would it still be worth getting an antibody test to check?

Fatigue seems to be still an issue if it was.

[ClaphamGT3]

In my case I had Covid in early April. The acute symptoms lasted 3 to 4 days and and I was only really laid low for one morning with a combination of the cough and temperature.

For me, the ‘long’ Covid symptoms are/were;
- crashing fatigue for 2/3 weeks - would literally finish work and go straight to bed
- slight breathlessness and a feeling of chest congestion for about a month/6 weeks
- lost quite a lot of hair that hasn’t grown back
- noticeably less energy than before for about three months
- sense of taste/smell still isn’t quite back to normal
- I wasn’t a big drinker anyway but have completely gone off alcohol

[Patch1875]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Thanks think I will go for it as it’s close by, I got a newsletter saying bupa does it but my nearest is Belfast and I’m in Edinburgh!

[GT3Manthey]

Wife has another big MRI next week then it’s back to the consultant to see where we go from there.

Y’day she fancied a walk around the shops.
Standing on an escalator the palpitations started for no reason and her Apple Watch recorded 165BPM.

Brain fog and forgetfulness is also becoming more apparent too.

Will update the thread once we know more

Tks for the well wishes and the sharing of symptoms

[SlimJim16v]

Yee, rest is absolutely required, even if feeling a bit better, don't be tempted to do anything.

[Julia121]

I've had it since June and most of the problems i.e. sweating, limbs ache, pins and needles I feel pretty comfortable now saying they've gone. The 'only' two things I still have are the palpitations and difficulty breathing. But that's rare now and they come together and only when I overdo it (last time when I was watching a missed Dave Allen episode on youtube).

I find knowing as much as I can helps and I deliberately ignore the doom and gloom stuff to keep my optimism high. Understanding that palpitations are usually not serious and that my breathing will get back to normal soon as I calm down helps me think I'm in control. When it does happen I find lying flat face down anywhere helps with the breathing and just ride it out. I know it's only temporary so I don't get overly frightened so it starts to dissipate. I'd estimate one minute tops once I've laid down. As soon as the breathing is back under control the palpitations go and I'm back to normal next day.

Personally I don't join self help groups as I find them too depressing but I understand many people find them helpful. My 'tips' then, if there are any, is to keep your optimism and sense of personal control high by remembering the symptoms that you no longer have., have a plan for symptoms you still have., lay off the heavy stuff and do more of the stuff you can do easily (multiple walks upstairs versus take up knitting), don't watch Dave Allen

[GT3Manthey]

Julia121 said:

I've had it since June and most of the problems i.e. sweating, limbs ache, pins and needles I feel pretty comfortable now saying they've gone. The 'only' two things I still have are the palpitations and difficulty breathing. But that's rare now and they come together and only when I overdo it (last time when I was watching a missed Dave Allen episode on youtube).

I find knowing as much as I can helps and I deliberately ignore the doom and gloom stuff to keep my optimism high. Understanding that palpitations are usually not serious and that my breathing will get back to normal soon as I calm down helps me think I'm in control. When it does happen I find lying flat face down anywhere helps with the breathing and just ride it out. I know it's only temporary so I don't get overly frightened so it starts to dissipate. I'd estimate one minute tops once I've laid down. As soon as the breathing is back under control the palpitations go and I'm back to normal next day.

Personally I don't join self help groups as I find them too depressing but I understand many people find them helpful. My 'tips' then, if there are any, is to keep your optimism and sense of personal control high by remembering the symptoms that you no longer have., have a plan for symptoms you still have., lay off the heavy stuff and do more of the stuff you can do easily (multiple walks upstairs versus take up knitting), don't watch Dave Allen

Nice write up Julia I’ll pass onto my wife many tks

[CrgT16]

Wishing all the best to your wife.

Indeed some people seem to suffer badly after COVUD infection. It’s probably due to the body response to the virus than the virus itself.

You mentioned heart artery affected and lung scarring, well those 2 things would not self heal so it is possible your wife is having some degree of heart failure and also reduced lung capacity. If you think of the heart as a pump it is pumping less efficiently so may increase base rate to compensate and may also go out of sync. The blood carries oxygen, if lung capacity is reduced blood oxygen levels would be lower than ideal causing some of the symptoms your wife experience. It would be interesting to monitor her oxygen levels with a pulse oximeter to see where they are.
No doubt she is in good hands, just my view off course. All the best and hope she recovers.

[Sheepshanks]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Interesting. One of our daughters (35) is suffering - she works for the NHS and both her and her husband got it early on. She was a runner, but can't run now. She has two bonkers little kids and a useless husband so is always on the go.

She only had a couple of days off and carried on working from home. She was the same when she broke her foot last year. Annoys us, as she just won't stop.

She (and the kids) had been staying here a couple of nights a week so at least she had some good nights sleep but that's been knocked on the head by the restrictions now.

At first her doctor was basically saying 'this is how it's going to be" but through running contacts she found a GP who is just the same and she's now had some cardiac tests and is waiting for a consultant appt.

[GT3Manthey]

CrgT16 said:

Wishing all the best to your wife.

Indeed some people seem to suffer badly after COVUD infection. It’s probably due to the body response to the virus than the virus itself.

You mentioned heart artery affected and lung scarring, well those 2 things would not self heal so it is possible your wife is having some degree of heart failure and also reduced lung capacity. If you think of the heart as a pump it is pumping less efficiently so may increase base rate to compensate and may also go out of sync. The blood carries oxygen, if lung capacity is reduced blood oxygen levels would be lower than ideal causing some of the symptoms your wife experience. It would be interesting to monitor her oxygen levels with a pulse oximeter to see where they are.
No doubt she is in good hands, just my view off course. All the best and hope she recovers.

Ok tks.. She is having the bigger MRI next wednesday so hopefully we get this sorted/fixed.

I'm no medical expert but i hear the lung will heal over time and my thinking was that a stent could be fitted to widen the artery?

[ch37]

Julia121 said:

I've had it since June and most of the problems i.e. sweating, limbs ache, pins and needles I feel pretty comfortable now saying they've gone. The 'only' two things I still have are the palpitations and difficulty breathing. But that's rare now and they come together and only when I overdo it (last time when I was watching a missed Dave Allen episode on youtube).

Many of the symptoms reported in Long-Covid (such as these) are identical to those which I had after suffering from Myocarditis in 2012. I was/am fit, slim and do a reasonable amount of exercise. After the immediate recovery from the virus itself, I also started noticing lots of strange things which could never be explained, so I'd be interested to know if any of these have come up:

- A strange sensation that I was going to drop whatever I was holding, like a cup of tea. I was just hit with an overwhelming urge to put down whatever I was holding as soon as possible. I never did drop anything but it was the strangest thing, that lasted a couple of years and then suddenly went away. I'd also occasionally feel it whilst holding the steering wheel when driving.

- A complete lack of tolerance to being warm. Sweating, just wearing t-shirts when everyone else was in jumpers etc. I'd still get cold if outside in winter etc, but summer was unbearable.

- A sudden urge to sleep and absolutely no way of shaking it off. I'd also wake up every morning feeling like I'd not slept at all.

They tested me for everything going but found nothing. My overall condition was put down to 'post viral fatigue' but there was very little support. I ended up working 2 days a week for the best part of 9 months during the worst phase of the tiredness.

[Prof Prolapse]

I'm still a bit skeptical about whether "long-covid" is in a class of it's own as media is implying, or just the long term impact of a fairly severe lung injury.

If you've ever had pneumonia, you'll know it can take months to heal up even after you get better. During which time you get very tired under even mild exertion and you're prone to other infections. Your lung tissue gets scarred and you effectively have to grow more to get back to normal.

[GT3Manthey]

Prof Prolapse said:

I'm still a bit skeptical about whether "long-covid" is in a class of it's own as media is implying, or just the long term impact of a fairly severe lung injury.

If you've ever had pneumonia, you'll know it can take months to heal up even after you get better. During which time you get very tired under even mild exertion and you're prone to other infections. Your lung tissue gets scarred and you effectively have to grow more to get back to normal.

So did you have an MRI to confirm your lung was damaged then another to confirm it had repaired ? I’m assuming you personally had pneumonia?

[Prof Prolapse]

GT3Manthey said:

So did you have an MRI to confirm your lung was damaged then another to confirm it had repaired ? I’m assuming you personally had pneumonia?

Not sure I understand the relevance of the question?

[GT3Manthey]

Prof Prolapse said:

Not sure I understand the relevance of the question?

I read your post as if you’d had pneumonia and lung damage that had repaired itself and had MRI’s. If not then apologies

[Prof Prolapse]

GT3Manthey said:

So did you have an MRI to confirm your lung was damaged then another to confirm it had repaired ? I’m assuming you personally had pneumonia?

I had Pneumonia earlier this year, yes. No MRI though, (I think they use X-rays to image don't they?). In any instance I avoided hospitalisation so no scans, just antibiotics and sent home. I was 33 and very fit so was amazed to have caught it in the first place, but it ruined me for months. Even without COVID-19, it can take a long time to heal from Pneumonia, six months is often quoted (https://www.blf.org.uk/support-for-you/pneumonia/recovery).

All I meant by my previous comment was that "Post viral fatigue" and the protracted healing times from Pneumonia, are well known even if their underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. I'm just personally, struggling to see how COVID-19 is unique in this regard, and more importantly I'm not sure it really matters as it's difficult to see how it's going to guide treatment.

I'm all for research, but not media scare mongering guiding decisions, or healthcare. I think what would be more helpful, is knowing that these sequelae often exist for many infections, and the overwhelming majority will heal up and be fine.