A year later, people on Long Island still have prolonged symptoms of COVID-19

Debbie Refenberry was first infected with COVID-19 in March 2020 and felt sick. Even now, more than 14 months later, she still has difficulty breathing, is weak, and often cannot sleep.

Riffenberry is one of many long islanders suffering from the effects of COVID-19 months after being infected with the virus. Scientists are uncertain about the causes of protracted symptoms, how to prevent and treat them, why some people get it and some who don’t, and how long the effects last. The federal government is spending $ 1.15 billion on research over the next four years.

“I’m completely overwhelmed,” said 62-year-old Oceanside Refenbury. “I used to be in power. I used to be independent. I used to be me, but now I’m not.”

Doctors found that during the first wave of COVID-19 in the spring of 2020, many patients’ symptoms did not go away, even after the virus tested negative. More than a year later, many people of all ages, including children and those who have only experienced mild cases of COVID-19, have been facing debilitating symptoms for months. It is becoming more and more clear. finish.

After spending 17 days at a hospital in Mount Sinai South Nassau after being infected with COVID-19 last spring, Riffenbury said he would be exhausted after walking a block or two. She has improved slightly in the last few months, but recently a doctor said, “My lungs may never get better.”

“It’s been another year,” she said. “It’s crazy. I didn’t think it was there yet.”

In a review of 45 studies published on May 26, researchers at Stanford University found that 73% of study participants had one of 84 symptoms at least 60 days after the initial coronavirus infection or symptoms. We found that one or more of the above lasted for 6 months. We followed the participants for a long time. Fatigue, shortness of breath, and sleep disorders are the most common symptoms, and many report memory loss, poor concentration, loss of taste and smell, fever, and chest pain. According to a review posted on JAMA Network Open, most participants were hospitalized with COVID-19.

A study published in February primarily targeted adults with mild COVID-19 symptoms initially. After 3-9 months, 30% were still symptomatic. The study was also presented at JAMA Network Open.

Fatigue lasted for months, doctors said

Dr. Jessica Cohen, 38, the doctor at North Shore University Hospital in Manaset, said the illness continued to cause months of fatigue and a fast heart rate after her first illness in March 2020. I sometimes felt sweaty, shivering, and tired. Or you may be dizzy and faint.

“I feel like we’re releasing a lot of adrenaline, but that’s not a good thing,” said Cohen, director of evidence-based clinical practice in the clinical transformation department of Northwell Health’s systems.

She was finally diagnosed with postural tachycardia syndrome. It affects the nervous system and blood circulation and can cause a rapid heartbeat, especially when the body is upright.

Cohen improved with respiratory exercise, 2-3 hours of aerobic exercise and weight training daily to build and maintain heart function, and increased salt intake to increase blood volume. However, a relapse was seen three weeks ago after a shoulder injury caused inflammation and inability to exercise. My heart rate got faster and I had fatigue, headaches, and gastrointestinal problems.

“Three weeks ago, I was really great,” Cohen said. “I was walking without problems, but my heart rate wasn’t that high. [and] I was riding a peloton [stationary bicycle] For my practice. Having had to do a lot of exercise, I’m probably better off with aerobic exercise than in the last few years. ”

She is trying to build herself again by slowly increasing her exercise on her recumbent bike and allowing her to adapt to returning to her upright Peloton.

“The frustrating thing is that you always go 10 steps up and 5 steps down,” says Cohen.

Physicians are often unable to inform patients about the prognosis of recovery, said Dr. Sritha Rajupet, primary care chief at the Stoneybrook Medicine Post COVID Clinic in Commack.

“I’m trying to use all the tools available in modern medicine, but sometimes I still can’t find the answer,” she said. “This is a new state and we are still learning a lot.”

With the exception of a few clinic patients, fatigue showed an improvement of “slowest improvement,” Rajupet said. However, few people returned to full normality, and many did their jobs. She said she was resting and her symptoms severely restricted her life.

At Northwell Health, which runs its own post-COVID-19 program, doctors are conducting clinical trials to determine the best way to treat long-term coronavirus patients with respiratory problems such as shortness of breath. Said Gita Lisker, a lung disease doctor. Northwell’s sick doctor.

“If you see a particularly slow improvement, just wait and wait and hope that your body will eventually handle it,” or administer steroids that carry the risk of side effects. She asked.

“I had to retrain my body to swallow it again.”

Before Dr. Scott Krakower, a resident of Nassau County, became ill with COVID-19 in April 2020, he was swimming, surfing, and taking regular miles of walks. But for the next few months, “I could only move one block at a time if I wasn’t sitting. Down.”

Cracower, 41, a psychiatrist at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Queens, didn’t start slowly returning solid food until August.

“I had to retrain myself to swallow again,” said Krakower.

Today, he still suffers from heart disease that may have been exacerbated or caused by COVID-19. Symptoms may recur after exercising by swimming or talking too much.

“I started coughing, I was about to suffocate, and I couldn’t speak,” he said in a conversation a few weeks ago.

Ten minutes later, the voice returned. But he said, “That’s very scary. You’re doing something really, really good, but it can happen out of nowhere.”

A 54-year-old Debbie Carr from East Northport, a patient at Stoneybrook’s Post-COVID Clinic, was infected with the coronavirus in December and had a fever and cough for 135 days.

Her ears are constantly ringing, her hair is almost shed, and some foods have a metallic taste. Her legs are weak and numb from her legs to her shins.

She is also often tired, “I still don’t have the leg strength to fly the stairs perfectly, so I literally have to use the railings to promote me.”

Still, she was less tired and more mobile than a few weeks ago. On Tuesday she returned to work as a crossing guard. But she was a bartender because of her long leg shifts. Not ready to return to other jobs as.

Kerr wonders how long her symptoms will last, whether they will disappear, and whether COVID-19 “influenced me in ways I may not yet know.”

“The unknown is the scary part,” she said. “They don’t fully understand the virus and its potential effects on everyone in the long run, so they don’t know what will happen. Absent.

David Olson is in charge of healthcare. He has been working for Newsday since 2015 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Southern California, dealing with immigration, multicultural issues and religion.