You may have a serious case of COVID-19. You can get COVID-19 and feel good. Anyway, you can just afterwards have what Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease specialist, warned of: a “post-viral” syndrome that attacks your body long after COVID leaves you. It is called Post-COVID Syndrome, or Long COVID, and its carriers are called “long haulers”. Knowing the signs of this syndrome is a way of knowing if you have already been infected. “Although there is limited information about the late sequelae of COVID-19, there have been reports of persistent symptoms in people who have recovered from acute COVID-19 disease,” says the CDC. “The most commonly reported symptoms include” the following – keep reading and, to ensure your health and the health of others, don’t miss out on this comprehensive list of Clear signs that you’ve had the coronavirus.
This is not just a “sleepy” feeling. Post-COVID fatigue can be debilitating and resemble chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis. And you can never leave. “About 75 to 80% of cases of chronic fatigue syndrome are post-viral in nature,” said Dr. Mark VanNess, head of the Department of Health and Exercise Sciences at the University of the Pacific ABC news. “Viral infection and the following immune response are precipitating causes of long-term symptoms.”
This is also known as shortness of breath or difficult or difficult breathing. “Persistent shortness of breath – not being able to climb a few flights of stairs, for example, or being unable to complete normal effort activities without running out of breath – are complaints seen repeatedly on long COVID forum sites,” he reports. American scientific. “Small studies have found persistent pulmonary findings, such as fibrosis (a form of lung scarring), perhaps explaining these symptoms. A retrospective multicenter study published in the lancet of 55 non-critical recovered patients found that more than 60% of patients had persistent symptoms three months after discharge, while just over 70% had abnormal results on their lung CT scans. A quarter had demonstrable reductions in lung function. “
Joint pain can be serious. “The current outbreak of COVID-19, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is characterized by clinical signs and symptoms such as interstitial pneumonia, fatigue and headache,” says a study in the lancet. “Arthralgia is one of the symptoms that occur in patients with COVID-19 and is present in 14.9% of cases.”
“The first clinical studies showed that patients with COVID may have complications like myocarditis (inflammation of the heart), abnormal heart rhythms and other cardiac sequelae weeks after contracting the virus “, according to American scientific. “These conditions may help explain why some long-haul trucks experience shortness of breath, chest pain or a racing heart. An unrevised peer study involving 139 health professionals who developed coronavirus infection and recovered, found that about 10 weeks after your initial symptoms, 37 percent of them were diagnosed with myocarditis or myopericarditis – and less than half of them had symptoms at the time of their exams. “
Long-haulers complain about “brain fog”, which Dr. Fauci calls “difficulty concentrating”. “It is increasingly recognized that the virus also attacks the nervous system, “writes Andrew E. Budson, MD for Harvard Health. “Doctors at a major medical center in Chicago found that more than 40% of patients with COVID showed neurological manifestations at the beginning, and more than 30% of them had impaired cognition. Sometimes, neurological manifestations can be devastating and can even lead to death. “
“Researchers are carefully monitoring mental health outcomes,” reports Scientific American. “Unquestionably, the long-term psychosocial effects that this virus is having on COVID survivors have not yet been fully elucidated. Anxiety, despair, depression, even post-traumatic stress disorder -especially in Health professionals or patients following intensive care unit experiences – all were reported and they need more studies. “
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Myalgia means pain in the muscles or tendons. It often occurs in conjunction with other symptoms. “There is no medical definition or list of symptoms shared by all patients – two people with long Covid can have very different experiences. However, the most common feature is disabling fatigue. Other symptoms include: shortness of breath, a cough that it doesn’t go away, joint pain, muscle pain, hearing and vision problems, headaches, loss of smell and taste, as well as damage to the heart, lungs, kidneys and intestines “, reports the BBC.
Post-COVID headaches can be like a jackhammer in your brain that doesn’t stop. “In the early hours of an April morning, at her home in Erie, Malea Anderson woke up to what appeared to be an explosion of icy water rising up her spine and over her head,” reports AP. “She had a big headache and tried to get out of bed to go to the bathroom, but her members did not cooperate. She feared she was having a stroke.” She was gone. It was the post-COVID syndrome.
“The initial observational experience with post-COVID-19 patients supports the conclusion that there is no high incidence of post-COVID-19 chronic cough and, when such a persistent cough occurs, it is not reported as severe or as the most symptom discomfort that affects a patient “, says a study. But it can happen.
Its temperature can rise above 100.4 degrees. “Recurrent fevers, persistent constipation or diarrhea, intense attacks of fatigue, debilitating brain fog and vivid hallucinations – some people who get COVID-19 have symptoms like these for months on end, and we are still learning why,” he reports Living Science.
“We are starting to see more patients with cardiovascular symptoms ranging from chest pain to palpitations to pre-syncope or syncope – which is a feeling of dizziness, as if you were going to pass out – which are often accompanied by neurological symptoms, such as brain fogging , headaches, numbness, or other sensations in various parts of the body “, reports the University of California at San Francisco. “These are part of a constellation of symptoms that people in this so-called COVID-19 long-distance category are experiencing.”
These “appear to be less common, but have been reported,” says the CDC. “These complications include:
- Cardiovascular: myocardial inflammation, ventricular dysfunction
- Respiratory: abnormalities of lung function
- Renal: acute kidney injury
- Dermatological: rash, alopecia
- Neurological: olfactory and gustatory dysfunction, sleep dysregulation, altered cognition, memory impairment
- Psychiatric: depression, anxiety, mood swings. “
Contact a doctor immediately if you or someone you know suffers from Long COVID. Doctors are still learning about the syndrome, but they can put you in touch with specialists who can try to help alleviate your symptoms, although there is no cure in sight. To confirm that you have had coronavirus, ask your doctor for an antibody test, although they are not 100% accurate. And try not to get COVID-19 in the first place – follow the public health basics and help stop this increase, no matter where you live, and use a face mask, social distance, avoid large crowds, do not go home with people you are not sheltering (especially in bars), practice good hand hygiene, be vaccinated when it is available to you and to protect your life and the lives of others, don’t visit any of these 35 places you’re most likely to reach COVID.