LONG COVID?
Let’s Find Out!
Long COVID is real!
What is meant by “long COVID”?
- (aka Long Haul COVID, PASC)
- Physical or mental health problems
- Not present before you got COVID-19
- Still bothering you four or more weeks later
What Kinds of Problems?
Many issues have been reported in Long Covid sufferers:
-
- Shortness of Breath
- Poor endurance
- “Brain fog”
- Cough
- Chest pain
- Headache
- Palpitations and/or tachycardia
- Joint pain
- Muscle aches
- Tingling and numbness
- Abdominal pain
- Diarrhea
- Sleep difficulties
- Fever
- Lightheadedness
- Unable to function daily
- Pain
- Rash (e.g., urticaria)
- Mood changes
- Loss of smell and taste
- Menstrual cycle irregularities
When a careful history is obtained, many patients reported these symptoms at some time before they got Long COVID.
That complicates making the Long COVID diagnosis.
To help sort this out, the National Institutes of Health has launched a study to carefully look at these symptoms to see which ones are most commonly associated with a prior COVID-19 infection. If you’d like to participate in that study, you can get more information about signing up at the dedicated RecoverCOVID.org website.
Wellivery Blogs About Long COVID
How Can I Help You?
Symptoms
Collecting your symptoms is essential both at your first visit and at regular intervals thereafter. Symptoms guide in diagnosing and treatment.
Testing
There is no single test that confirms Long Covid. Testing is sometimes needed to find other causes for your symptoms or to track your illness.
A Plan
The most important thing after arriving at a diagnosis is creating, launching and executing a treatment plan. A plan gives you direction, goals, and hope!
Medication
Some symptoms of Long COVID can be helped with medication. Keeping you well rested, with minimal symptoms, and active are the main goals.
Referrals
Specialist consultations are sometimes needed to determine if you have an underlying medical condition causing your symptoms.
Follow-up
Long COVID is not a one-and-done illness. I expect you will need help navigating your recovery and am prepared to reassess you every four weeks.
