Long COVID: Symptoms, Recovery Tips, and When to Seek Help

Overview

Imagine at last testing negative for COVID-19 only to discover your body has not completely recovered. Weeks or even months later, you still struggle with a mental fog that interferes with your focus, coughing, or tiredness that makes daily activities seem impossible to solve. This is Long COVID, the term for the persistent symptoms that remain long after the first infection passes. One thing is obvious: you’re not imagining it, even when scientists are still working out why it occurs. Real long COVID is affecting millions of people globally. Although it may seem isolated, rehabilitation is possible, and you do not have to deal with it by yourself. Healing begins with knowledge; hence, in this post, we will discuss what to expect, how to take care of yourself, and when to seek help.

Symptoms of Long COVID

Long COVID can hang in unexpected places. Physically, you can experience chronic chest pain and headaches, shortness of breath with light exercise, or crushing tiredness for which rest does not help. Muscle pains or joint stiffness may appear suddenly, making even little movements difficult. Mentally, you could struggle with “brain fog,” an irritating haze that clouds memory, attention, or judgment. Mood swings, anxiety, or depression could also find their way in and give your body emotional weight.

Still, it’s not limited there. Some experience less-discussed symptoms include loss of taste or smell for months, sleeplessness, heart palpitations, or digestive problems, including nausea and diarrhea. These overlapping symptoms can be transferred and cause questions.

Long COVID symptoms vary greatly; one individual could be able to get out of bed while another suffers from daily tasks even with tiredness. Symptoms may disappear for days, then suddenly return. Though it can be frustrating, such instability does not define you.

You have valid experience. Your symptoms are real even if the scan or blood tests return normal. Millions of others are negotiating this with you. Acknowledging your difficulty is the first step toward recovering your health; it is not a weakness.

Risk Factors for Long COVID

Your risk of long COVID is increased if you:

Without a COVID-19 vaccination.
If you were hospitalized, you had a severe COVID. However, it is essential to remember that mild cases can also result in long COVID.
Had COVID or multisystem inflammatory disease (MIS-C).
Had pre-existing health issues earlier than developing COVID. These include diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and lung disease.
Are women.

Causes of Long COVID

For long COVID, experts cannot identify one specific origin. Long-term consequences have been shown, though, for other coronaviruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory disease (MERS). Thus, it is not surprising that COVID symptoms may also remain for an extended duration. Several elements could help to explain the reasons long COVID, including:

Small blood clots. While they might not cause a significant event (such as a stroke), very tiny blood clots may keep your lungs, brain, and other organs from functioning properly.
Inflammation. Long after the virus has been eliminated, your immune system could overreact and keep your organs and tissues constantly inflamed.
Autoimmune diseases. For reasons we do not know, COVID may trigger an autoimmune condition in which your immune system starts attacking components of your own body.
Viral toughness. The virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, may remain in your body for a long time after you recover from your first illness. Even if you test negative for COVID and are no longer infectious, your body may still be affected.
Reactivation of more viruses. You may not be aware that certain viruses are invisible or inactive within your body. Symptoms may reappear when these are triggered. According to some data, COVID may reactivate the Epstein-Barr virus, which causes mono, leading to chronic symptoms.
Mental effects of a serious disease over time. You may have anxiety, depression, or other mental health issues as a result of having a severe case of COVID, particularly if you were admitted to the hospital.

Diagnosis and Tests for Long COVID

Medical professionals use medical history and symptoms to diagnose long COVID. To learn more about symptoms and how to treat them, they might also run tests. Based on symptoms, they could do the following:

Chest X-rays. Obtaining images of the brain, lungs, or other organs can help medical professionals search for any abnormalities that may be contributing to symptoms.
CT scans. The way that doctors treat with some medications may be impacted by the type of lung inflammation a person has. To view this inflammation, the doctor might need to perform a computed tomography (CT) scan.
Blood test examinations.
Echocardiogram (Echo) or electrocardiogram (EKG/ECG). These tests aid medical professionals in determining whether you have cardiac problems.
Tests for lung function. The doctor can use these tests to determine how well the lungs are functioning.

Managing Long COVID

For long COVID, there is not only one treatment. To determine what works best for you, you and your provider might need to explore a few alternative possibilities. Treatment choices could include the following, depending on your symptoms:

Counseling. Through counseling, you can talk to someone who can help you deal with the emotional impacts of a serious or chronic disease.
Medicines. Caregivers can use medications to address certain symptoms and disorders, such as headaches, sadness, anxiety, and cough. They may be able to address the underlying cause of prolonged COVID with medicine if they can identify it, such as blood clots.
Physical therapy. Exercise, massage, and other therapies that can help with pain or mobility problems are all part of physical therapy.
Olfactory retraining or stellate ganglion block. These procedures are used by providers to try to restore your sense of taste and smell. Certain nerves in your neck that may impact your sense of smell are numb by a stellate ganglion block. Olfactory retraining helps your brain recall what things should smell like by using everyday scents.
Rehabilitation of lungs. You can improve your breathing and learn how to handle respiratory problems at home with pulmonary rehabilitation, a unique type of exercise and instruction program.

Prevention of Long COVID

Long COVID cannot be prevented in a single way, but there are steps you can take to lower your risk. Among them are:

Vaccination. Those who have not had the COVID vaccine are more likely to contract the virus in the future.
Antiviral drugs. According to a study, you can lower your risk of long COVID by taking the antiviral nirmatrelvir (Paxlovid®) within five days of receiving a positive COVID test. The study only included participants who were at risk for severe COVID. Keep in mind that doctors typically only recommend antiviral drugs five days after your symptoms begin.
Preventing infection. Long COVID cannot be obtained without first getting COVID. Wearing a multilayer, snug-fitting mask (such as a N95) when you’re around other people and practicing basic hand hygiene will help lower your chance of contracting COVID. When you or they are ill, or if one of you has been exposed to COVID, stay away from other people.

When to Seek Professional Help

Since Long COVID recovery depends mostly on waiting, some symptoms require immediate attention such as;

Severe shortness of breath.
Sudden chest discomfort.
Confusion.
Difficulty in speaking.
Weakness in legs.

Go immediately to the ER or phone emergency services if these symptoms occur.

If regular care isn’t enough, get help from a professional. Many hospitals now have Long COVID centers with pulmonologists, neurologists, and physiotherapists who make individualized plans for recovery. The work of these groups overlaps in some areas, such as offering with moving plans for tiredness or breathing exercises to help the lungs heal.