Long covid?

On the other side of Long Covid - and there is a YouTube channel by a man who has it. He's very educated...intelligent...worked his way through a variety of things by now to get rid of it.

Check out "Everything I've tried in 5 years of Long Covid" by Gez Medinger.

My 45 year old daughter has long covid and is on long term sick leave now. She is very limited due to breathlessness and fatigue. She has always been someone who takes a while to recover from any illness. I wonder if she has ME /chronic fatigue. She seems able to do what she wants to do however and I am a struggling to get my head around what she does have. I will listen to the podcast with interest.

Her blood tests a year ago did show low vit D level and iron level. No other abnormalities. On retesting after treatment she still has low levels.

She has been referred to a long covid clinic and receives help with her breathing from a physio specialising in long Covid.

She lives in Leicester where there seems to be a number of her colleagues with long covid who all work in the NHS. As you will remember Leicester had many deaths and stayed in lockdown longer than anywhere else.

My very active climbing, swimming canoeing daughter is now almost housebound after covid 2 years ago. She now has a diagnosis of ME/chronic fatigue.
She had to stop work and has taken voluntary redundancy, but is desperate to be able to work again.
And to those who say getting out for a walk will help...she would love to be able to do that.

There is very little treatment on offer....and so little understanding and so much ignorance.

The advice above to request a thorough blood test is good. Sympathies OP.

Thank you so much keeping quiet I really appreciate you getting back with this information. I'll search & give it a listen now.

Ok. The podcast is entitled: The Age of Diagnosis by Suzanne O Sullivan. The whole series is very interesting but episode 2 deals specifically with Long Covid.

It is based on a book O Sullivan wrote with the same title. She is a consultant neurologist.
She has also written other award winning books.

I don't recall the particular study she cited in her book but I would recommend a listen- it was brought out in May this year so is still current.

I wish I could remember- but you will find it on a BBC podcast series about over diagnosis of spurious medical conditions, of which Long Covid was scrutinised now data is beginning to be corrolated.
There was no mention then of it all 'being in the mind' as you say, but that the symptoms are so varied and diverse that it is difficult to bring them together, as you also say.
I shall try to find it and get back later.

Meant "nebulous" not "tremulous" symptoms, perfect example of brain fogged thinking.

I'm a long term sufferer after contracting covid five years ago but with it manifesting as neurological rather than chest related symptoms as in your case susytish.
Last year I had a full hysterectomy to treat ovarian cancer and I was very hopeful thinking that it was that which was causing me to feel so poorly all the time and that my health would improve in due course.
Thank God, I got the all clear with my CA125 blood count dropping from 192 to 8 but the dredging fatigue, the constant on the edge of flu feeling, the inner tremors, have not gone away.

Long covid as a diagnosis is so hard as no-one really knows how to make such a tremulous bunch of symptoms into a coherent whole. So we're still in the dismissive "it's all in the mind" territory, sooo frustrating and insulting when every day is a struggle to try and make sense of what's happening to your body and trying anything & everything to achieve some kind of wellness.
Would it be possible to provide a link to the research you mentioned keeping quiet? I read all the science I can and this seems to go against all the findings so far.

I had a hip replacement in May and just cannot get myself going. Breathless on exertion, tired, lack of motivation.

I was going to suggest a blood test too, to see if you are anaemic. You may have lost blood after your operation; I was told I had and was advised to take iron tablets for three to four months. Even a slightly low haemoglobin level can cause those symptoms.

Ask for a full check before you take supplements.

I'm wondering if you have had any blood tests.
I was breathless on exertion. Blood tests showed I was vitamin D deficient and B12 deficicent. I had a high dose course of vitamin D and now have to take it for life. I have B12 injections every three month. This has made an incredible difference to my life.
It's worth investigating. Hope you feel better soon.

I understand that recent research has shown that the evidence for Long Covid is very thin on the ground and that the symptoms people claim maybe due to the virus are really just symptoms of other conditions.
You say your results came back reasonable for lung function.
It could be thyroid dysfunction? Anaemia? Any number of things, including even depression.