With the stresses and strains of daily life during a pandemic, a little tiredness is considered normal. But experts warn that some forms of further depletion may indicate a much deeper problem. In particular, a new study suggests that if you feel unusually tired after trying mentally or physically, it may actually be a sign that you have what some experts call “long COVID”, a prolonged case in which symptoms they can persist for months, even after the virus is no longer transmissible. Read on to find out more and for additional information about the signs that you had COVID, check If you have this subtle symptom, you may have already had COVID.
The December study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, was conducted by researchers at University College London, New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medicine, and Oregon Health and Science University. What they found was that among individuals who experienced prolonged symptoms, 72 percent reported experiencing “post-exertion malaise” or PEM, when a patient feels more tired after physical or mental effort.
The research team created a survey to identify the longest-reported COVID symptoms in a diverse patient population. With 3,762 respondents from 56 countries, patients were of varying ages and included male, female and non-binary individuals. All had long COVID, with 96 percent of respondents reporting symptoms beyond 90 days.
The researchers found that there were three main symptoms that were more common in general and more common after six months of exposure. These were feeling tired or fatigued, having PEM and experiencing cognitive dysfunction.
These three symptoms, it seems, are closely linked: according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), fatigue is aggravated by PEM, and PEM can lead to an increase in cognitive problems such as memory deficits and concentration, also known as brain fog.
The CDC further explains that PEM usually appears within 12 to 48 hours after activity and can last for days or weeks. The health authority suggests mitigating the PEM, controlling its activities and balancing them with rest to avoid severe outbreaks of fatigue and the resulting cognitive symptoms.
Of course, this is not the only long COVID symptom that you may be struggling with. Read on to learn more about the symptoms found in prolonged cases and to learn more about a serious long COVID symptom, see The “really upsetting” long COVID symptom that doctors want you to prepare for.
Read the original article at Better life.
For many patients with COVID, a headache is the first sign that something is wrong. Now, the researchers are noting that it may also be the last symptom to subside in patients with long COVID.
“We are seeing a small subset of people who experience prolonged headache symptoms long after their acute illness is over” Valeriya Klats, MD, a neurologist at the Ayer Institute Headache Center, said while speaking to Hartford HealthCare. “This can be episodic or a headache that lasts all day,” she explains. And to learn more about the first signs of COVID, check out The first signs that you have COVID, according to Johns Hopkins.
Those with long COVID often find that their respiratory symptoms persist after others subside. As the National Institutes of Health (NIH) explains, “Even in people with mild to moderate infection, the effects of COVID-19 can persist in the lungs for months.” Up to this point, they cited a study published in EClinicalMedicine which determined that three months after leaving the hospital, about 70 percent of the study subjects continued to experience abnormal lung examinations, suggesting that their lungs “were still damaged and trying to heal.” And for more regular news from COVID, subscribe to our daily newsletter.
According to UC Davis Health, some long-distance patients experience a loss of taste and smell for a long time after other symptoms have disappeared, “even if it did not occur at the height of the disease.”
This set of symptoms is also a very strong indicator of COVID more generally. A study published in PLOS Medicine found that more than 80 percent of people who reported a loss of their sense of smell later tested positive for coronavirus. And to find out more about what your symptoms mean, check If you have this symptom, you are more likely to have a mild case of COVID.
According to the Mayo Clinic, joint and muscle pain (also known as myalgia) are common long-term symptoms of COVID. A recent article in the medical journal The Lancet highlights that this can be a particularly worrying symptom, since chronic pain is already an area of poorly administered medicine.
“The knowledge of slowly evolving other poorly understood conditions (such as chronic pain and functional disorders) shows the risks for patients who feel their symptoms are being diminished or ignored. Without clear recognition, honest communication and careful patient-centered research, patients face unsatisfactory results. These errors should not be repeated for long COVID “, wrote the researchers. And to know another strange symptom of the coronavirus, check if this part of your body hurts, you may have COVID.