Anyone have long covid?

Pablo Escobar · 11-05-2021 12:37PM

Pandiculation wrote: »

I’m just wondering if anyone else has experienced anything like this?

Early in the pandemic I had all the symptoms of COVID, but never got tested as things were bad and I just assumed I had it and self isolated for several weeks.

I had a very bad cough, crackling lungs when l breathed, tight chest, body aches everywhere, a bad headache, high temp and very bad brain fog. I just stayed mostly in bed for a couple of weeks and it went away.

I mostly recovered but maybe after 7 or 8 weeks I was still coughing a bit and I didn’t feel myself.

The problem is that I genuinely haven’t felt right since and it’s now way too long ago to still be unwell.

I’m too lacking in energy and I get short of breath if I walk even up a steep hill and my joints are getting sore a lot - knees and back.

I was always somewhat prone to back pain but this is getting ridiculous. I’ve just spent several weeks with a stiff back, very bad back pain and my knees and feet have been in a similar state and it’s only slowly fading. It’s bad enough that I can’t get out of chairs or sit in chairs for any extended period and get stuck a lot.

If I walked to say a steep hill I would get so breathless that I need to sit down. I’m not talking just a bit breathless I literally can’t catch my breath at all and my heart rate goes fast enough to trigger smart watch warnings.

I’ve been putting it down to lack of access to the gym and my gp seems to be writing it off as laziness or that I have sunk into a slump due to lockdown but it isn’t accurate.

Is anyone else experiencing anything like this ?

Not to that extent. Myself, partner and son all had symptoms in February 2020. They both had the 7/8 week cough. It was actually almost exactly 8 weeks for both of them. I didn't have that. But I was the only one to develop breathing difficulties. I had a short productive cough afterwards and then thought I was back to normal. But I felt incredibly tired consistently for a few months and my lungs also gave me trouble. I wasn't able to run very far without becoming severely out of breath and lungs felt like they weren't working properly. I went to a lung specialist who said it had most likely been Covid and gave me some meds to clear some sediment from my lungs. I went back for a review but the lungs were still giving me issues. He put me on a 6 month course of Symbicort which definitely helped. I'm 15 months on now and lungs aren't 100%, but much better than they were. They also haven't really regressed at any point either.

Lumen · 11-05-2021 12:43PM

Sounds like you need to get yourself a better GP.

From my position of complete unqualification I would have thought that pulmonary function tests would be a good place to start.

Pandiculation · 11-05-2021 01:06PM

Quite possibly will change GP.

It just feels like the virus may have gone but it’s like I’ve been slowly, slowly recovering. I definitely don’t feel quite as bad as I did a few months ago but I’m probably 25% as fit as I was in early 2020.

What I feel like when I run or even walk briskly uphill is my chest gets tight, my heart pounds and I get very out of breath and start absolutely pouring sweat.

You’d think I had run a marathon when I’d only walked up a steep hill.

The bigger concern is the back, hip, knee, foot and shoulder aches and stiffness.

I’ll get to the bottom of it eventually!

11-05-2021 01:28PM

Pandiculation wrote: »

Quite possibly will change GP.

It just feels like the virus may have gone but it’s like I’ve been slowly, slowly recovering. I definitely don’t feel quite as bad as I did a few months ago but I’m probably 25% as fit as I was in early 2020.

What I feel like when I run or even walk briskly uphill is my chest gets tight, my heart pounds and I get very out of breath and start absolutely pouring sweat.

You’d think I had run a marathon when I’d only walked up a steep hill.

The bigger concern is the back, hip, knee, foot and shoulder aches and stiffness.

I’ll get to the bottom of it eventually!

Sounds like you may have recently entered your forties?

In all seriousness, hope you get to the bottom of it

MacDanger · 11-05-2021 01:59PM

I was listening to Luke O'Neill on the radio recently and he was saying that some studies are showing that receiving a covid vaccine helps with the symptoms of "Long Covid" - I think it was ~33% of patients in the study who had experienced long covid symptoms reported an improvement after vaccination. Perhaps not the most reliable of studies since the symptoms of long covid are not well defined and are likely to be subjective but maybe it provides some hope to those suffering from it nonetheless

Beasty · 11-05-2021 03:17PM

Threads merged

sunbabe08 · 18-05-2021 07:29PM

my best friend who is 38 years old got covid back in august of last year. got told this morning that she is gonna need her heart valve replaced in the next five years and she has lung damage as well. she was perfectly healthy before all of this.

snnowwy · 30-06-2021 10:51PM

Does anyone have any good experiences with getting help from their GP?
I'm not looking forward to raising the issue with mine.

I've found a really interesting talk about what long haul is, from a doctor that was originally involved in understanding HIV back in the day. He really seems to have the measure of the condition.

It's quite technical so all I could take from it as a non doctor was to take Omega 3 (fish oil) and vitamin D.
I've been doing that while waiting for my appointment and it has helped with the headaches and numb arm but not cleared them up.

I think the value the video would be for your doctor but I'm not sure if it would be in a GP's wheel house.
Either way, it is being taken seriously by someone. I hope a similar understanding is emerging in the Irish medical system.

To that end, I'd be interested to know if anyone has been referred to a specialist by their GP and if so what kind?