Do you have a long COVID?Here’s how to tell

July 19, 2022 – New Yorker Lyss Stern Pandemic, March 2020. She ran 103 degrees. heat I have been bedridden for 5 consecutive days.Still, symptoms such as persistence headache When TinnitusOr ringing in her ears, protracted.

“Four months later, I still couldn’t walk four blocks,” says 48-year-old Stern. Five months after her diagnosis, her doctor finally named her condition. Long COVID..

Long-range COVID is known by various names such as long-range COVID, post-acute COVID-19, and even chronic COVID. This is a general term used to describe the range of ongoing health problems that people may have after an infection.

According to the latest data from the CDC, one in thirteen adults (7.5%) in the United States has symptoms that last at least three months after being first infected with the virus. According to another previous report, 1 in 5 COVID-19 survivors aged 18 to 64 and 1 in 4 survivors aged 65 and over were associated with previous viral infections. You are in a state of health that you may have.

Over 200 symptoms may be associated with long COVID.But perhaps the most noticeable is constant Malaise It interferes with daily life.

“We often hear that these patients can’t fold their laundry without feeling tired or take a short walk with their dog,” says Baloun.

This malaise can be exacerbated after the patient exercises or does something that is psychologically burdensome. This is a condition known as post-exercise. Stagnation..

“It can be crushed MalaiseAfter cleaning the room for an hour and talking to my friends, I feel like I can’t get out of bed the next day, “says Allison Guy, 36, who was diagnosed with COVID in February 2021. She is currently a long COVID. Advocated in Washington DC.

Other symptoms can be divided into different categories, including:

Heart / lung symptoms

• Dyspnea
• cough
• Chest pain
• Palpitations

Neurological symptoms. One of the most common is brain fog. Dr. Andrew Shames, MD, professor of internal medicine at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, which runs the post-COVID recovery program, says. “Patients explain feelings of” vague “or” spacey “and often report that they have forgotten or have memory problems,” he says. Others include:

• headache
• Sleeping disorder. A 2022 study at Cleveland Clinic found that more than 40% of patients with long COVIDs reported sleep disorders.
• Dizziness when standing
• Numbness
• Changes in smell and taste
• Depression and anxiety

“I don’t know if the COVID-19 infection caused someone’s diabetes. There are already risk factors, and the virus may have pushed them to the limit,” he says.

COVID-19 itself can exacerbate already onset conditions such as asthma. Sleep apneaAlso Fibromyalgia.. “For example, some patients have had mild asthma and have a constant cough and wheezing,” says Schamess. “When we start aggressive treatment, they usually react well.” Continuous positive airway pressure methodOr CPAP, a setup to help treat sleep apnea, or Gabapentin Treats the symptoms of fibromyalgia.

Is it a long COVID or something else?

Long COVIDs can cause a long list of symptoms, which can easily mean other illnesses. That’s one of the reasons why it’s important to see a doctor if your symptoms last for more than a month. They can perform various tests to check for other conditions that can be confused with long COVID, such as thyroid disorders and vitamin deficiency.

You also need to perform a blood test such as D-dimer. This helps rule out pulmonary embolism, which can be a complication of COVID-19 and can cause symptoms that can mimic long-term COVID, such as shortness of breath and anxiety. They also run tests to look for inflammation, says Baloun.

“These tests can’t provide a definite answer, but they can help provide clues as to the cause of the symptoms and whether they are associated with long COVIDs,” she says.

Equally important is a careful medical history, says Schamess. This helps identify exactly when the symptoms started, when they got worse, and if something else might have caused the symptoms.

“Recently, five months after being infected with COVID-19, I saw a patient with symptoms of brain fog, memory loss, malaise, headache, and sleep disorders,” says Schamess. “After we talked, I realized that her symptoms were due to a fainting spell she hit her head a few months ago. She didn’t have a long COVID – she I had a concussion, but I wouldn’t have understood it just by running a series of tests. “

Stern agrees. “If you have a long COVID, especially if you don’t see any obvious problems on a close examination, you may come across a doctor who dismisses the symptoms,” she says. “But you know your body. If you still think something is wrong, you have to keep pushing until you find the answer.”