Covid 19 Part XXXV-956,720 ROI (5,952 deaths) 452,946 NI (3,002 deaths) (08/01) Read OP

While I understand how 'long Covid' has become a colloquial term to describe what can happen, I'm not sure how there isn't a better actual knowledge of what it is by now. I was one of the first people to have what was most likely long Covid following a March 2020 infection. I had a range of post-viral inflammatory conditions. It was very worrisome when I experienced chest and lung difficulties 4 days after my seeming recovery as it was literally the same day that reports had come out of Korea of people testing positive after recovery and media speculation about Covid being a chronic condition was absolutely rife. But over the next few weeks the Korean investigation showed that their PCRs were picking up dead viral fragments and that as the virus didn't penetrate the host nucleus it was very unlikely to be a chronic condition. I was eventually diagnosed with pleurisy in my right lung, costochondritis, post viral-thyroiditis (which had caused the strangest symptoms including the mild myocarditis), esophagitis and a few other problems that were a mix of post-viral and medication side effects. I was essentially convalescent for 3 months and at about 80-90% but still needing to make adaptations for another 6 months. And I was left with severe insomnia which weirdly enough seems to have nearly disappeared following an Omicron infection 2 weeks ago.

But 'long Covid' is no mystery. It's mainly just a collection of the regular normal post-viral conditions that can come after any virus when the immune system overreacts to a threat. Some viruses cause them more than other, Glandular Fever is well known for it, for example. Covid was a novel virus, so it wasn't unusual for an awful lot of people's immune systems to overreact. People should just have been told to take it easy following infection and even if you fee well, ease back into heavy physical activity. I jumped straight back in to high levels of exercise once I felt better and I triggered problems. If I'd been more sensible and chilled out for a couple of weeks, I'd probably have avoided 'long Covid.' With my initial infection I never felt sick, I had breathing problems when I rested, breathing was harder work but I felt otherwise ok. Once I recovered, I felt full of energy, which led me to thinking I was fine to get back to normal and my normal includes a lot of exercise. With Omicron, I had an obvious cold, with achey muscles for a day or two, then felt weak and jelly like for another while, with constant on and off headaches. I was really tired in spite of getting more sleep each night than I had in nearly two years. It's like a normal illness and one where I feel more in tune with how it's actually affecting me. I feel like I can trust myself to know what activities I'm capable of and feel much less likely to cause post-viral inflammation. People just need to be told to rest after a Covid infection but tbh, I suspect that Omicron isn't going to trigger as much post-viral problems, especially as it's no longer a novel virus to the vaccinated majority.