It'll be 2 years in April for me. Brain fog and fatigue still very much an issue, and still not quite back to full-time at work. I have only been to the office once since March 2020! Lucky to have that support - if I had a physical job I'd be in a right state.
I find I'm ok so long as I don't do any breathless exercise - but then I feel crap very quickly, and can feel it in my lungs. On the plus side, I've now managed to get my average daily steps above 6,000. And at least I never lost my sense of taste.
Unfortunately, it seems that COVID might have, somehow, triggered Ankylosing Spondylitis, which I'm not best chuffed about. Waiting on some tests.
I know there are some fellow sufferers here - how are you doing? Need a rant? Ideas?
I'm not a long covid sufferer myself but I have enormous sympathy for all the people who have had their lives turned upside down by it.
I was shocked to learn how many people with mild covid have ended up with it :
1 year for me now, still find exercise hard and often heavily fatigued. Work is a struggle but at least it's not a physical job. Struggle to take in the last 10% of my lung capacity I'd say, as if it's physically constrained, almost asthma like.
I don't think there seems to be any treatment or cause identified so I'm just moving on as if it never happened, there isn't much else to do for now.
I have had a bit of a shocker, seemingly i have Type 2 diabetes from Covid.
I have had my hba1c checked in the past a few times due to fatigue issues (below 40 is fine, 40-48 pre-diabetic and over 48 diabetic) and never been over 36. In the weeks after Covid i started having to get up and wee 3-4 times a night, if i stood up too quick i felt really dizzy, and had some issues with my eyesight. I put this down to virus and thought i would recover, but other symptoms abated, although taste and smell took 8-9 weeks, but these symptoms continued, so went to GP and was told that hba1c was 60 and that i was now diabetic and that they wanted to put me on medication straight away.
There seems to be a family history to getting T2 when ill, mum and uncle both got it when suffering cancer, and it seems virus causes a lot of inflammation and seems to attack a weakness you may have (daughter is T1 too).
I have refused medication for now, i want to see if i can control it purely by diet and exercise, and didn't want the medication to mask whether diet and exercise were working, quickly lost a stone, and brought in a lot of easier exercise so walking/ cycling at low efforts every day, instead of riding at a higher effort 2-3 times a week.
To date, seems to be having desired effect and blood sugars are going down (weirdly went up by about 15-20% when i had booster too). So hopefully it is something i can control well, but it is not something that will go away.
Diabetes UK are now recognising that virus is causing T1 and T2:
https://www.diabetes.org.uk/about_us/news/new-worse-cases-coronavirus
Brain-foggy fatigue and sensory issues for me since April 2020. It's put paid to my time as a school teacher but have learned to manage it reasonably well so I'm studying for a career change that will let me work more flexibly.
Exercise is broadly fine but I certainly don't have the motivation to train for racing (which may also be due to 2 young kids).
Two years for me since I had it. My wife had a full set of symptoms. I just felt really tired for a couple of days and then my taste and smell disappeared. Zero respiratory symptoms and if it wasn’t for the taste/smell I wouldn’t have thought I’d had it.
Taste now functioning at about 80%, but smell around 40%. Still can’t smell anything at the fuel pumps or when cutting grass, and most things don’t smell at all like they used to.
Might be of interest to some - intermittent hypoxic exposure (IHE) for Covid rehab:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2021.643619/full
https://www.altitudecentre.com/research_post/the-beneficial-impact-of-hypoxia-in-covid-rehab/
I'm going to give it a go - my effects are lingering a little more than I like & I'd like to get on with my life!
Ps: I've no affiliation with The Altitude Centre.
Two years in April. Fatigue comes and goes. Smell has gone. Intermittent chest pains with lung damage ruled out by MRI. Inflammatory response at the slightest hint of any decent exercise - including cycling hard. No issues with walking though.
No eau du chien issues with the puppy, so some good news. Almost poisoned the family cooking off chicken and I can't smell burning.
I have/had long covid from around March 2020 onwards and this time last year was still in a pretty bad place - brain fog, severe exercise intolerance (PEM), weird blocked-up ear stuff on the lefthand side, chest pain, tinnitus etc. I'd also had small nerve 'changes' (probably damage), breathing issues, some really unpleasant autonomic nervous system dysfunction with horrible postural-related adrenaline surges, tachycardia and stuff I've probably forgotten. I improved markedly after my second dose of AZ at the end of May. Started riding an e-bike around the same time and progressed onto a normal bike again and my exercise tolerance has improved to the point where I did the Rapha Festive 500 and finished with a 150k ride.
All of which is good and I'm massively better than I was and I'm amazed at how quickly I've regained fitness. The vaccine thing may or may not have been coincidence, I don't know, but some others have had similar experiences, so who knows. I still struggle recovering from hard efforts over threshold and my head still isn't working properly and I have tinnitus in my left ear, which is annoying, but fading slowly. I'm hoping in time it'll go completely, but I'd like to get a proper MRI of my head at some point.
I've been incredibly fortunate in the support I've had from my partner and my friends and intermittently from my GP. It's been a learning experience, the first time I've ever had anything seriously wrong in health terms, ever. I'm still very much not 'right' and my body reacts weirdly to stress and vaccines too, but I'm getting there albeit slowly.
One thing that may not be apparent from the outside is just how little medical science currently knows about long covid. There's a constant stream of speculative papers and articles, but no certainty and no universal effective treatments. Some GPs are decent, others are unsympathetic and put it down to 'anxiety' or similar. My experience of one of the vaunted long covid clinics was incredibly disappointing and came down to a doctor asking me a few questions and listening to my breathing wth a stethoscope then discharging me.
It's also frustrating that long covid is barely mentioned as a covid outcome at a point where infection is rampant. It may be that omicron is less likely to trigger long covid, but it's a hell of a gamble that could potentially leave hundreds of thousands of people in a really horrible place. I really hope that it doesn't.
Anyway, I guess I'm lucky to be quite a long way down the road to recovery, but I've lost almost two years of my life to this thing and Boris Johnson's incompetence in not reacting decisively to covid back in March 2020. I will never forgive him or the idiots who enable his government.
Covid in July-August 2021; Sense of taste at about 50% and sense of smell about 10%. My sense of smell was getting better then it just reversed. I can’t smell a thing unless I push it up my nostrils.
Odd bouts of fatigue, forgetfulness and brain fog. Difficulty in concentration and if I sit still for 10 minutes with nothing to do I get overwhelming urge to sleep.
I had a really weird balance problem that was eventually traced to my nostrils and sinuses being swollen to the point that my ears couldn’t balance. This also coincided with my sense of smell worsening. It’s all shite but I still feel fairly lucky in comparison to what some people and families have suffered.
I got what I am sure was covid at the start of 2020 before testing was available, then a month later developed Rheumatoid Arthritis. In my mind those two things are linked but there is no definitive proof that they are.
It's been a long old slog since then, the meds can be worse than the actual condition and currently I'm in a bad state with a few of my joints out of action blocking me from any real exercise but when I do the right stuff with meds, food, rest etc and the weather is good life gets back to pretty much normal
Glad to hear you're back on the bike, BWD!
I got what I am sure was covid at the start of 2020 before testing was available, then a month later developed Rheumatoid Arthritis. In my mind those two things are linked but there is no definitive proof that they are.
This is a bit like me. The current thesis (waiting on some appointments to confirm) is that COVID (I too couldn't get a test at the time) may have triggered a rheumatological condition in me, probably Ankylosing Spondylitis.
It's mental that it's causing other conditions like this - like the poster above who now has diabetes. My neighbour had long COVID for 18 months and now has myocarditis, which he'll probably take meds for long term. Terrifying.
It's made me a lot more anxious about going out - what if I get it again? What if that makes it worse?
I've also noticed some odd, more minor side-effects, like feeling very weak and ill if I go too long between meals. My alcohol tolerance is still pretty low too - although the resulting reduction in my booze intake might be a good thing I guess!
Read the Cambridge article. Then the NCBI.
Then get some good quality vitamin B12 and D ,(consider adding some folate too).
Alternatively don’t be seduced by quackery
Immotverygood
If that's aimed at me you have no idea what you're talking about.
If you Google (and pick whichever source you want) for b12 deficiency and chronic fatigue, then do the same for vitamin d . You can spend the rest of your days reading medical peer reviewed articles.
So to continue on the path of "why does Covid impact some people worse". Well, you might want to consider if you're already "at risk" if you have a MTHFR polymorphism (inherited from your parents, single or double copy).
If any of you guys have done an Ancestry DNA test (or 23andme) and still have your DNA raw data - you can plug that into various DNA checkers to see if you have the "mutations" (single or double mutations). If you do, then you're worse at using folate, increased homocysteine levels (bad stuff if your body can't use it).
Roughly 30-40% of Europeans have a single MTHFR gene mutation - which is likley to make you more susceptible to Long Covid (and other viral fatigue). If you have two, you're even worse. If you can't use the folate, and folate is important in red blood cell formation and for healthy cell growth and function.
Not heard of the AS thing before but my god it fits so many of my symptoms post covid. I've had lots of trouble with my lower back including an MRI in December for it which showed trouble with the base of the spine but had no follow up with the doctor after that, and I still get trouble taking a full breath in because the chest feels restricted at about 90 percent. The bowel and bladder dysfunction are ever present at the minute with frequent urination as well.
I think I ought to follow it up with the doctor.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030698772100061X
"If confirmed, treatment should address restoration of methyl-group supply, reasonably tailored to an individual’s specific requirements. Replacement of vitamin B12 and folate in combination with glutathione or a precursor, and possibly serine, would likely form the mainstay of therapy. Interestingly, a recent study of ten European countries showed that suboptimal B12 consumption correlates with increased COVID-19 incidence and mortality [60]."
Attention should also be given to general diet, including daily methionine intake. Avoidance of other nutrient deficiencies and effective nutrition policies may help strengthen population resilience to COVID-19 itself [61], [62]. For example, 17 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 who received daily vitamin D (1,000 IU) magnesium (150 mg) and vitamin B12 (500mcg) had a significantly improved clinical course compared to 26 non-supplemented patients [63]."
Don't get sidetracked by the antivaxx brigade shouting about Vitamin D as the saviour, it's still a hugely important vitamin.
I think I ought to follow it up with the doctor.
Do - but it can be slow! My first phonecall with the GP complaining of back pain was 13 months ago, and I'm still waiting for appointments with the Rheumatology clinic to become available, so it'll be some more months yet.
The good news is that along the way, I've seen physios and an osteopath, and am now seeing another osteopath privately. They all gave me various exercises and stretches to do, which have really helped with the back pain (for a long while I would wake up in pain after 3 or 4 hours in bed; now I can pretty much get through the whole night).
Also, see if you can get referred to your local Long Covid clinic. I've found them far easier to contact than a GP, and they referred me directly to the physio at my local practise, which if I had gone via the usual channels, would have taken absolutely forever.
6 weeks on from my first positive test. My sense of taste and smell is still 50% of what it was. The fatigue though is the real killer. I'm tired all the time, which is never something I've ever struggled with. I'm struggling to wake up every morning whereas before I was always up at 7am and straight out of bed. A few days over xmas I slept until lunchtime which is absolutely unheard of. Even mild exercise has me floored. When I walk the dog for an hour, I need a sleep after. I can manage an hour on zwift in zone 1 or 2. Tried a 45 minute zwift training session a few days ago and had to bail after 30 minutes. I'm trying to do a 30 minute session on zwift every second day to try and bring the fitness back. I reckon it'll be a few months before I can get on the bike properly.
Fatigue is what's getting me currently. Taste & smell are ok. Brain fog so so..
Non confirmed in Feb 2020 as no testing available but all the symptoms. Still can only smell an ashtray ! Several random complaints - chest pains, ear problem in r ear and outbreaks of crushing fatigue. Compared to others relatively OK !
blood sugars are going down (weirdly went up by about 15-20% when i had booster too)
My glycaemic control goes 7its up when I have a flu jab but didn't budge after the covid medication.
I'm roughly where BadlyWiredDog is. March 2020. Post Exertional Malaise whacks me fairly regularly. Booster Pfizer knocked me back for 6 weeks. Have earache in my right ear when i start relapsing. I've spent a lot of time looking at stress triggers.
Currently on a plethora of supplements my nutritionist friend has recommended and considering CAWS as a method of getting over th PEM.
Thoroughly fed up with the whole thing and beginning to get my head around the idea that this might be me now long term.
But still better than very many others, and quite frankly it's made me significantly improve my lifestyle.
Mate of mine got it Oct20. Still on oxygen therapy and hardly leaves the house. Terrible.
Currently on a plethora of supplements my nutritionist friend has recommended and considering CAWS as a method of getting over th PEM.
I did a month with a CAWS coach before the first AZ jab stopped play. I found it really useful in that it forced me to monitor what I was doing more closely using a spreadsheet that traffic light colour-graded each day and helped me spot patterns. It's also quite positive having an external take on where you are and what you're doing and a programme of some sort to follow. It's quite easy to lose your bearings with this thing.
What the CAWS stuff does roughly, is base your efforts on simple initial ramp test with a HR ceiling then aim to build it up gradually without triggering PEM. The idea, which I buy into, is that the body heals better when it's moving, but you don't want to go off the PEM cliff. Might be worth a try. Shout if there's owt else I can tell you about it.
I got covid in November 2020. Over a year on I do feel vastly better (took 11-12 months) but still have days feeling incredibly tired and breathing a little tight, and occasional pain in the side of my lung. Main symptoms after 8 weeks were a 5 month daily headache which only resolved after 3 months of drugs, breathing issues (both mechanical and oxygen exchange) and fatigue. Went back to work FT after 4 months but had to be very careful. Exercise got better v slowly built up with the guidance of a PT. Found the long covid team useful to chat too but I was generally doing everything they suggested - basically pacing and planning for managing fatigue. I fully agree with the point about about moving but avoiding the PEM cliff.
I do have some genetic health issues which point to mast cell type response might have been part of my issues. I took antihistamine for about 3 months which I am pretty sure helped. My vitamin D levels have been low throughout so now taking supplements everyday (including summer). I never lost my sense of taste but I now can’t stand alcoholic beer. At most I drink a glass of wine once a week having not drunk for about 8 months after covid. Otherwise I fit the very typical profile of long covid sufferer who had mild covid - a fit and healthy woman in their 30s.
My main problem is I’m now terrified of catching it again! It’s a really brain f***.
Wishing you all the very best and good luck for recoveries.
I had posted a longer reply here but it got lost somewhere after the submit button. How are people getting on with their "sequelae"? I am thoroughly fed up with mine, and the ongoing Covid epidemic feels like a slow death sentence.
Energy levels and fitness doing well. No sense of smell whatsoever. Recovery from any mild illness is still protracted. I am hoping that the Heart Rate bumps in a recent track race are artifacts and will test another HR monitor tomorrow!
I'm pretty good now. I still have mild tinnitus in my left ear, but in terms of fatigue and being able to ride a bike, run etc, I'm decent. My top-end power and repeatability of harder efforts aren't as good as they were and frustratingly, if I do target that area with specific interval sessions, I don't respond as well as I'd expect to historically. Then again I'm older too. I shall keep on trying.
I think I'm generally less resilient than I was before and don't bounce back from minor bugs etc as quickly, but the autonomic stuff, odd chest pains and cognitive issues have all cleared up.
Interestingly, my brother, who I don't speak to often, also has long covid with similar symptoms to mine. That may, of course, simply be coincidence, but might point to some sort of genetic weakness I guess.
Been a long hauler since end September '22. I'm still really struggling with mental plus physical fatigue; concentration; stamina; poor sleep (sleeping tablets usually enable me to sleep through without waking several times, but leave me really groggy through most of the next day); anxiety; chronic tinnitus. Took ill health retirement from work a few months back after long term sick leave, to try and concentrate on improving my health, still in no fit state to hold down a job and no idea what I'll apply for.
Thankfully NHS supported my better half's two year absence from her role due to long covid much better, as well as when she has had the odd few days off since returning last summer, when she has had spells of fatigue going off the scale.
Work colleague is still on the long road to recovery - fatigue seems to be the issue. Must be getting on two years for him, possibly three. He's mainly WFH as a day in the office, plus travel, wipes him out completely.
Had it in September 2021.
No physical or mental issues that I'm aware of. Sense of smell is shot to shit. My brain has a habit of filling in any gaps with the whiff of burning plastic.
For me it's currently crushing fatigue and trying to feel out energy headroom again after Covid #3 in November. Lurking autonomic nervous system issues, with occasional inappropriate fight-or-flight responses that I manage with breathing/meditation. Tinnitus and mental malaise (dizziness, unclear thinking, brain fog) that comes on when tired or after mental "heavy lifting" (especially abstract or spatial thought, which has made software engineering frustratingly impossible). I had managed exercise back up to reasonable levels after Covid #2 in January last year, running or cycling at a reasonable pace for up to an hour without abberrant heart rate spikes or excessive PEM or fatigue issues, but #3 has wiped out that progress again and I feel like I'm really struggling to avoid triggering fatigue crashes at the moment, though the stream of winter illnesses the kids bring home really don't help.
I'd desperately like to get back to working again, even if it's just building something under my own steam or getting some small open source software contributions under my belt, but it just feels so far off again right now. I've shrunk my life back so far to keep within my energy allowances that it feels like there's almost nothing left: my activity is ferrying kids about by bicycle riding at their pace; my socialising is snippets of chat with parents of their friends; my professional output is nothing at this stage; I tinker with household projects but don't know when I'll be able to get anything bigger done. I'm hoping things improve enough again in coming months to get back to some social bike riding again. Grumble grumble grumble.
The looking at heart rate bumps with suspicion is very familiar @TiRed. The ones I've seen have thankfully been sufficiently repetitive to believe they were algorithmic, and others fixed by replacing a chest strap battery. The first time I had Covid my first abortive return to running yielded an eye-opening max HR at a medium perceived effort level and an abandoned session, but I have been more wary since and haven't seen anything like that again.
I was an early adopter of Covid, locally one of the very first hospital patients when it all kicked off. I had a couple of weeks in hospital and it all got quite grim. But I bounced back super quickly with apparently no side affects. But my GP wife alerted me recently to my really high respiratory rate when resting. Currently away in the Alps and noticed impact of higher altitude. I’m off for a chest cray next week to see if my lungs have been damaged.
I'll be up to 4 years in April. Still fatigue and brain fog are the main culprits. I now do half a day per week in the office, assisted by an ebike. And I did indeed get diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis,which has had a significant impact too. It's hard to know how much of the fatigue is attributable to that, rather than LC?
Here's my step count since Jan 2020 - I've been using steps as a sort of proxy for overall health levels. You can see the initial crash from a base of around 10k. The later dip from about 7k to 5k was deliberate - I realised I was basically just doing steps for the sake of it, and it was wearing me out, so I decided to ease off. I got COVID for the 2nd time a year ago, and I've struggled to get back to 2022 levels - the last 12 months were pretty rough. I'm making progress again now. But my god it's frustrating.
For the long hauliers, was it a sudden onset, or gradual? Also with the loss of smell, is is it all smells, or just some?
for me, it was pretty sudden. I had been ill with COVID, and self-isolating. I was keen to get back to normal, and had a few of those days where I was like, 'that's the headcold and sore throat done, a couple more days and I should be right as rain'.
Then about 12 days in, I decided I would act as though I was fully recovered, because that's what I wanted to be. I was hoovering the house, working reasonably hard trying to get a load of cat hair off this one rug, and suddenly felt a bit ropey... no, very ropey... nope, I'm going to have to lie down here. Urgently, in fact, before I fall down. Dropped the hoover on the floor, collapsed onto the sofa and stayed there for the rest of the day. And even now, 4 years later, I still feel like the tail end of a flu, when the worst symptoms are past and you just haven't got your energy back yet. Still waiting!
For me it was more gradual than that. I knew I wasn't over it, and it just took an age to get over it. The second time around it wasn't obvious at first, then I'd pushed through trying to do well in a new job and just blew to pieces. That time was worse than the first one. Third time around I know what I'm looking for in terms of recovery or not, and I feel like I've been bouncing from fatigue crisis to fatigue crisis despite doing my utmost to do as little as possible.
For me the loss of smell definitely wasn't all smells. It was at first; but in time some smells definitely came back stronger than others. Child #2 was still in nappies and for ages I couldn't smell excrement which was arguably pretty good. Unfortunately I also couldn't smell coffee, and it tasted like dirt for quite a while. I suspect beer and wine probably aren't what they used to be, but it doesn't feel important as I feel like the slightest hangover might possibly never go away nowadays.
Coffee is the big thing I've noticed, I can smell other things but not coffee.
For the long hauliers, was it a sudden onset, or gradual? Also with the loss of smell, is is it all smells, or just some?
For me it was a weird sort of initial part recovery, was feeling much better, then walking to the cafe on a flat rail trail, I got hit by proper can barely walk fatigue crash. Went into limp mode. Got home 50 metres at a time and went downhill from there. Recovery has been slow and very bumpy. I do think I tried to do too much too soon initially - my HR had been massively elevated and once it dropped to near normal, I thought I was 'okay'. With hindsight I'd have been more cautious, but who know if it would have made any difference.
One positive thing is that my sense of taste and smell has been mostly unaffected as far as I can tell.
I got OG COVID back in Mar/Apr 2020 as I was recovering from a concussion. Basically, my concussion symptoms (brain fog, fatigue, sensory issues) that had been improving reset themselves and have never really recovered. Almost four years in and I've learned to manage it reasonably well - I need a nap most days to reset my brain and I also need to plan a day or two completely off if I've got something taxing happening. Yesterday was a total duvet day after a first aid course over the weekend.
I'm really lucky that I was insured against income loss so I managed to leave the teaching profession to re-train in something more home based. The silver lining has certainly been more time to spend with my young kids.
Unknown to me at the time, I must have been exposed on my last working day (Sat) before annual leave. Took my road bike as planned to ride the lovely lanes and hills around Longleat Centerparcs, developed a sore throat on first night (Mon) that got really sore as week progressed, my legs felt a bit achy on the bike but I put that down to "last minute training" before the hol. Thought I simply had a head cold once I got the sniffles and headache, so by mid holiday I stopped trying all-out efforts on hills and took things steady.
It was only the day after we got home (Sat) I even thought about doing a test in case it was covid, instant positive on way up. Felt like I was getting better over Sun and Mon, did some light cycling, but Tues morning I felt much worse than any day previous since symptoms began. I finally got a negative covid test result two weeks after the first, but exhaustion; weakness and breathing continued (thankfully breathing improved early summer '23). Didn't return to work to do a shift again, still feels so surreal, as I was getting personal bests and even some top tens on segment leaderboards during '22 upto and including Liz's funeral day.
Same as Scud, Covid triggered my T2 diabetes, symptoms started the morning I tested positive, raging thirst, weight loss etc, although I ignored them thinking them to be Covid related, by the time I got tested I'd lost two stone and had a hab1c of 138, so stuck with it for life, sugars are now in the normal range but that requires good diet, plenty of exercise and lots of drugs, the only difference from pre diabetes is the drugs as like most on here I'm pretty healthy and always moved around a lot.
Add my 2 ps worth –
Now all or none of this may be related and at 45 I am square in snipers alley sights- But since first covid early 2020– Ive had Covid toes (look it up) – Pins and needles and loss of sensation in fingers and wrist – Pluracy – Blue lighted with Atrial Fib and a Resting heart rate of 178 Bpm to Harefield heart hospital – Herpies Simplex keritits is both eyes (Cold sore in each eye) .. and major lack of resilience to common colds
Some of this may be work and stress related – but never been so unhealthy in such a short space of time.
I now have serious problems concentration and get WAY more fatigued and tired than i than I used to (Was nicknamed Zebadee as i couldnt sit still and thats all i want to do now) and have lost most of my drive to train (Used to gym or Run/Bike every day) From 6 hrs a night of sleep being normal and fine Im crashing in the afternoon.
Some of this is life and Lifestle as a single parent and business owner …. But By christ im certain whatever covid was had a role to play (To add my symptoms at the time were mild compared to to others – Mild fever and the rest for a few days.
Anyway still soldering on
18 months in with Long Covid now, wasn't too bad to start with, then went down to working 4 days a week, then 3 days a week (work a day, rest a day), but then had to stop work. Very slowly improving, brain fog is the worst, an e-bike is a big help.
Just listening to Radio 4 and they trailed this which is on later today, but already seems to be listenable online:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001vzy9
Why recovering from long Covid is a lot like training for the Olympics
Inside Health
Laura Foster visits the UK's first long Covid clinic to find out what we've learnt about the condition - and whether we're any closer to seeing the end of it.
Well as per my entry a couple of years ago above, T2 diabetes is genetic in my family following illness, 3-4 people have it due to cancer normally.
In the weeks after having COVID first time, my blood glucose rose up and up, til i was diagnosed a fortnight after, i know what i had not suffered it prior to COVID as my daughter is T1 and i knew the symptoms.
At first no doctor took me seriously that I felt the two were linked, I declined medication and for 2 years i controlled it well enough with just diet and exercise that i was taken off diabetic register within 2 months of diagnosis and all was good, weirdly I was probably the fittest i'd been since I left the army, exercising 10-15 hours a week.
Had COVID again beginning of December '23 and it knocked me for six again, all the diabetic symptoms back, brain fog, neuropathy in hands and feet, blurred vision and extreme fatigue straight away.
Taken me til last week to again get it back under control, its hard work trying to put in 10 hours of exercise and have a really clean diet, when all you want to do is curl up in a ball and sleep to be honest.
Something about COVID that some reason kicks my ar*e when it comes to blood glucose control, but at least take it seriously now.
Well it seems I may been joining the gang. I've been feeling rubbish for a good few years now, been trying all sorts. Mostly put it down to the IBS that I suddenly developed. After a year of trying all sorts of stuff with diet and basically sacking off exercise as it destroys me, back to docs a couple of weeks ago. Waiting on the usual bloods etc... but his diagnosis is long covid, and from what I can tell its tough, learn to live with your body being shagged.
Not feeling particularly positive. Also wondering if 'long covid' is now the default answer to the generally unwell - bit like it seemed 'stress' was pre covid.
This is an interesting paper on POTS and its relation to Long Covid, would be interesting to get an opinion on it from Tired.
I’ve been looking through papers that I pretty much cannot follow, apart from the conclusions, as my mums best mate was one of the very few who suffered severe complications with blood clotting and organ/lung damage from the initial covid vaccine that put her in hospital for months, was touch and go for a few weeks. She still suffers from severe exhaustion/breathlessness and cannot walk very far which for a lifelong hill walker is bloody annoying, her consultants at Dumfries infirmary have basically told her they don’t know what’s wrong with her body/immune system and they’re out of ideas so she’s got to live with it.
PS : Edited multiple times attempting to fix the small text, WTF is going on with the forum changing it?
It may be a good conversation but it’s got (not a dr) john Campbell in it,
Very promising, it seems to me, and well worth a watch, but do your own research, as always.
Watching a click hunter on YouTube is as much research is as Dr. Campbell holds a PHD in medicine.
I’ve done some ‘research’.
https://time.com/6278831/ivermectin-americas-frontline-doctors-lawsuits-covid-19/
I can't complain too much, as so many people have experienced much worse, but I'm gutted that the hearing loss I got with my COVID infection last year appears to be permanent.
When we were still getting boosters, COVID was an unpleasant two-week illness for me. But I'm in my 50s and was too young for last autumn's booster, and when I got COVID at the beginning of November it was a bad as the first time - a 3 month slog of wheezing, fatigue, and other symptoms. Including deafness this time.
It's a symptom worth going to the doc about, as I was able to get a lot of hearing back with a course of steroids. Just not all of it.
At least the booster situation will change soon. For a fee, of course:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/02/pharmacies-in-england-and-scotland-to-offer-private-covid-jabs-for-45
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7649937/
"N-Acetylcysteine to Combat COVID-19: An Evidence Review"
NAC is a precursor of glutathione, a potent antioxidant of the body. It has been shown to help with various viral infections (influenza and covid included), and is used as an antidote for paracetamol overdose as it protects the liver from damage. Also has been used as a daily medication for Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for decades, so its use has been shown to be safe. NAC is available to buy cheaply in powder form.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34262324/
"N-Acetylcysteine as Adjuvant Therapy for COVID-19 - A Perspective on the Current State of the Evidence"
I have gone through covid now 3 times - first one really bad in 2021 with after effects lasting several months, and during the latter two I took dual daily doses of NAC and vitamins D, B6 and B12. I also take daily nattokinase and vitamin K2 to decrease risk of micro-clots that covid can cause.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6043915/
"Nattokinase: A Promising Alternative in Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases"
Nattokinase has dangerous interactions with blood thinners and also aspirin (which is an anticoagulant too) so it must not be used together with these classes of medicines. For others it can be helpful in maintaining circulatory health.
Also, this study was interesting (from 2023) -
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10663976/
"Clinical Approach to Post-acute Sequelae After COVID-19 Infection and Vaccination"
"Viral and vaccine-encoded spike proteins have been shown to play a direct role in cardiovascular and thrombotic injuries from both SARS-CoV-2 and vaccination. Detection of spike protein for at least 6-15 months after vaccination and infection in those with post-acute sequelae indicates spike protein as a possible primary contributing factor to long COVID. We rationalized that these findings give support to the potential benefit of spike protein detoxification protocols in those with long-term post-infection and/or vaccine-induced complications. We propose a base spike detoxification protocol, composed of oral nattokinase, bromelain, and curcumin. This approach holds immense promise as a base of clinical care, upon which additional therapeutic agents are applied with the goal of aiding in the resolution of post-acute sequelae after SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccination. Large-scale, prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials are warranted in order to determine the relative risks and benefits of the base spike detoxification protocol."
Free full text available.
"It may be a good conversation but it’s got (not a dr) john Campbell in it,"
In fairness, most of the conversation comes from the Professor.
"Watching a click hunter on YouTube is as much research is as Dr. Campbell holds a PHD in medicine.
I’ve done some ‘research’.
https://time.com/6278831/ivermectin-americas-frontline-doctors-lawsuits-covid-19//a > "
Sure, you'll find a huge range of attitudes to ivermectin if you google it. As for myself, I'm a bit suspicious of the use of "right-wing" when applied to doctors in this way, it suggests the article has an agenda.
I posted what I posted as I just wanted to draw attention to what seem like promising recent work in the field of long covid in a thread about it, hoping it might be of use/interest to some people. Ignore it by all means.
You joined a cycling forum just to spread dodgy links?
Nearly as bad as not disclosing a conflict of interest
Currently laid out with an infection. Covid makes recovery from minor illness more protracted for me. My HR in the velodrome this week has the kind of spikes that I can only hope are artifacts, but so match high efforts where I attacked the bunch (think 240 bpm) . Smell gone for good, taste not much better. Now retraining as I’m resting to try and recover.
ivermectin is for deworming livestock. At the doses necessary for antiviral activity, you’ll be poisoned. You’ve been warned. Mind you, worms won’t be a problem.
"ivermectin is for deworming livestock."
Your implication that ivermectin is for animals only is false. Or fake news as we say nowadays. It has been given in doses in the billions to humans.
Here are its uses under its wiki entry:
"Medical uses
Ivermectin is used to treat human diseases caused by roundworms and a wide variety of external parasites.
Worm infections
For river blindness (onchocerciasis) and lymphatic filariasis, ivermectin is typically given as part of mass drug administration campaigns that distribute the drug to all members of a community affected by the disease. Adult worms survive in the skin and eventually recover to produce larval worms again; to keep the worms at bay, ivermectin is given at least once per year for the 10–15-year lifespan of the adult worms."
And so on.
But there's been such a campaign of misinformation about it over the last few years that it's understandable that you have been duped.
"At the doses necessary for antiviral activity, you’ll be poisoned."
Ivermectin has been repurposed for use with covid and long covid. Its mechanism of action in this role (for example in the US observations mentioned by Prof Clancy in the video mentioned above that it can "de-clump" agglomerations of red blood cells) is unlikely to be the same mechanism of action that applies when it's used as an anti-parasitic. And it’s (probably) not acting as an anti-viral in this role either. Consequently, speculations about likely toxic doses etc are a bit pointless.
But there’s been such a campaign of misinformation
Like the nonsense you post. Time for you to go.
Did doc99h understand who he is arguing against?
More 'It's the just the flu' content.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/researchers-discover-underlying-cause-brain-114054928.html
I don't know if more understanding of the mechanisms behind so-called 'brain fog' and memory problems directly leads to a treatment, but hopefully the wider public will start to get an idea of the way that Covid-19 can assault a variety of body systems, rather than just being a respiratory virus.
It appears that in my case it may have led to the development of long QT. Appointment booked with the top man in the UK later in the year, but been off work for six weeks and will be for some time yet.
At least my heart is structurally fine, but electrically it now resembles one of the horror story DIY jobs you see on YouTube where a kitchen fitter has done the wiring.
I thought I'd responded to the OP but can't see my post, so here is the gist.
Had LC since March 2020. Recovery has been slow but consistent. I've made lots of lifestyle changes.
I'm now about 95% in day-to-day life and around 75-80% in my athletic life.
I'm more hopeful now that I'll get back to 'normal' than i was before. But it won't be for another couple of years.
For those who took time off work to recover, did it help? I've been experiencing long covid like symptoms since November following a virus, I'm going through the process of ruling things out with the GP at the moment but the fatigue and brain fog are making work really challenging. It's a desk based job thankfully but it's mentally challenging at the best of times, and if I take time off most of my tasks just won't get done, making it even more difficult when I do go back.
I had 7 months off work - wasn't really an option as I couldn't have worked. Similar style of job to you by the sound of it. Time off work absolutely helped!
It sounds like you've maybe got it quite mild at the moment if your still working - better to take time off now, get healthy and avoid getting another bout of covid and crashing into long covid severity. That's what happened to me on my third covid infection.
First infection was mild. Second one, I was off work for 3 weeks plus long covid symptoms started. Struggled on for around 6 months (just about managing at work at the expense of everything else in life). Covid infection 3 dropped when I was already struggling and it plunged me into the abyss and was off for 7 months. Most ill I've ever been in my life.
Back at work now, full time, however, my sporting life is completely gone. Hoping it comes back slowly but it's been a year since my 3rd infection and i'm still only able to walk without consequences the next day. Having formally been pretty fit, running and cycling 3 times a week, it's a life changing experience.
I would prioritise your health over work - plus if you end up with severe LC then you'll be off work for way longer.
Had LC since March 2020. Recovery has been slow but consistent. I’ve made lots of lifestyle changes.
I’m now about 95% in day-to-day life and around 75-80% in my athletic life.
What lifestyle changes have you made? I've been going since April 2020 and I'm certainly not that far along. I'd say maybe 50% in my normal life, and about 5% as far as any cardio activity is concerned!
I don't know if it helped me or not. I've got a physical job and it was a case of stopping totally or ploughing on. The latter wasn't an option so I ended up doing pretty much nothing for months on end which was great for my symptoms but bad for pretty much everything else.
If I'd been able to work flexibly as and when I could it would really have helped I think.
I’m going through the process of ruling things out with the GP at the moment but the fatigue and brain fog are making work really challenging. It’s a desk based job thankfully but it’s mentally challenging at the best of times, and if I take time off most of my tasks just won’t get done, making it even more difficult when I do go back.
For a while I got a sicknote from the GP saying I should only do 4 days a week for my (desk) job. I took Wednesdays off to rest. It really helped!
Dr. Campbell holds a PHD in medicine
Nope. PH.D in Nursing.
Glad to hear that most people are making some improvements - my post-viral crapness was mild and short-lived so I'm an amateur by comparison. Fingers crossed for you all to make further strides.
For those who interact with fans of alternative treatments, in "fairness" to Doc666meh from a few weeks ago, ivermectin is used in humans (and sadly, that's the basis for a good conspiracy theorist to jump on anyone saying it can't be used in humans). Various tropical wormy things plus also sometimes scabies, even in the UK. It has a bit of a reputation for significant toxicity but that's muddied by the nastiness of the tropical parasites and what happens to the host when they're killed.
It's very toxic to some dog breeds due to genetic deficiency of a membrane transport "pump" and possibly individual variations of some metabolising enzymes too; humans have the "same" processes but we tend not to be quite so inbred and don't expect such major variations except maybe very rarely (guess what happens to the likelihood of hitting a rarity when loads of people take something).
Ivermectin also is subject to, and has effects on, a variety of enzymes and transporters so in people who're also taking other drugs, the possibility of a toxic interaction also arises.
I've no idea nor intention to learn what doses the charlatans are promotng for COVID these days, but "safe" use of the stuff is possible in some circumstances. Trouble is that some loons just consider it totally harmless - don't buy it, figuratively or literally. It remains unproven as far as legit medical research into COVID goes.
That sounds crap Aldo, hope you manage to get back to some semblance of normality. Sound advice vs work vs health, have decided to take a week off to start and see how it goes from there.
My top tips for recovery are: radical rest, super healthy diet / vitamins and good sleep hygiene / duration.
The radical rest part was the hardest for me to get my head around as a formally very active / busy person.
radical rest, super healthy diet / vitamins and good sleep hygiene / duration.
I'd agree with this. But also add, pacing, pacing, pacing! Know where your limits are and don't exceed them.
I'm currently around 5 - 6k steps a day. If I'm expecting to have a busier day, I'll do fewer steps the day before, to 'save up' the energy. Helps avoid energy crashes. I hardly ever have to take to bed these days, as a result of being careful and planning.
It does still happens sometimes. Last month I went out for brunch - by 2pm I had done 6000 steps AND spent 2 hours in a noisy busy cafe. Had to go to bed for the afternoon and write off the rest of the day (despite having only got up at 11am!). But that kind of crash is rare now.
Totally agree about pacing - I'd almost forgotten it's a thing as I do it automatically now...
To help with pacing and the radical resting I was shown the traffic light system at a CSF/ME clinic I went to 15 years ago.
Green; activity you can do every day and repeatedly without worsening symptoms.
Amber; an activity you can do occasionally without too much worsening of symptoms.
Red; and activity to avoid unless you really have no choice as you can guarantee worsening of symptoms and to a bad level.
The idea being that you try to restrict yourself to green activities, with limited amber activities, and preferably no red activities.
Obviously you need to keep a diary for a while and log activity (as in everything; like getting showered, having a shave , making lunch, emptying bins, watching TV, reading a book, checking your bank statement, going to a cafe, not just 'exercise') to help figure out what is what and how it affects you, but it is a very useful activity, especially if like me you actually forget what you've been up to, and so forget that you did zxy plus abc and efg and no wonder you're laid up buggered again.
Also helps if you have a significant other who can pull you up and remind you what you've already done, or that you know that activity will floor you, or that you have something coming up so you'd better rest up for it and be prepared to rest up afterwards too.
What lifestyle changes have you made? I’ve been going since April 2020 and I’m certainly not that far along. I’d say maybe 50% in my normal life, and about 5% as far as any cardio activity is concerned!
Cut and paste from an email I sent to another sufferer... The things I have found that have helped:
Well, I went to the doctors today and reeled off a list of things wrong with me that have been present, and getting worse, over the last couple of years. Constant tiredness, achy arms and legs, tingly fingers, back pain, chest discomfort, breathlessness and low mood.
I have to admit that I hadn't really thought of long covid before but the doctor mentioned it as a possibility. Had bloods and ecg and will await the results.
I've now googled long covid symptoms and my list is almost the same.
Just staring to recover from a cold. The fatigue is an order of magnitude above what I used to have pre-COVID. Takes about a month to recover from what used to be a week off the bike and a few sneezes! Pericarditis is a given, and the hands have decided to shed themselves as per usual. Smell took an odd turn yesterday, a sort of continuous sweet sensation. It's gone now and nothing to replace it.
The list above is decent. I hardly drink, sleep well, and tune my exercise from the totally ridiculous (14h/w) to nil and a gentle stroll with the dog. Currently at the latter for the past two weeks, despite the national 50 at the weekend 🙁 The years to recover is prescient. Any any infections sees a few steps back. Any, not just another bout of COVID.
