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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2020 7:25 pm 
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The story came through Microsoft's version of Smart News and I don't seem to see it in a casual search. Can't search the NY Times site as you need to be a paid member.

The article was not very in depth but the following from your post is almost, if not totally, the same.
Quote:
The study estimates:

One in seven people is ill for at least four weeks
One in 20 people is ill for at least eight weeks
One in 45 people is ill for at least 12 weeks

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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2020 8:07 pm 
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That's odd because the version of the NYT i see appears to be paywall free, at least it appears that way when i go to nytimes.com

I do see a banner appear at the bottom of the page saying i need to subscribe to read articles but it doesn't seem to stop me reading them?

e.g. If you have a spare $2.6 million you could buy this property just outside Edinburgh... i didn't know Edinburgh had a "greater" Edinburgh but apparently we do for peeps in NY so if you want it...
Quote:
House Hunting in Scotland: Vintage Mansion Meets Modern Style for $2 Million

In greater Edinburgh, the housing market was strong before the pandemic shutdown, and since Scotland eased restrictions in June, it has come roaring back, agents say.

Souce: https://nyti.ms/3ml5nbR

I won't bore you by copying and pasting any more content, suffice that i've read more nonesense than i need, to test if and when the paywall kicks in ;)

The above is the same for all sections of the NYT and not just real estate.

VPN (i don't use one) or location, i don't know?


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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2020 8:57 pm 
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Quote:
Long Covid causes large amounts of hair loss since getting sick
Roisin Monroe, 46, from Ohio

On March 16th, our office was sent to work from home because we had an employee test positive for Covid. One week after I had a sore throat and body aches. I didn’t think I had Covid because I didn’t have a fever or cough.
Since then I’ve had fatigue, body aches, dizziness, sore throat, diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, burning chest, palpitations, high heart rate, cough, hair loss, numbness, headache, hoarseness, confusion, stutter, tinnitus, tremors, spasms, anxiety and depression.
My doctor was sympathetic at the start and we thought I had MS or cancer but blood test and head MRI ruled that out. I only realized what I had when I joined the Long Covid Support Group on Facebook. So many were suffering from exactly what I had.
When I told my doctor of all my symptoms he said I don’t know what’s wrong with you and even if it is Covid there’s no treatment. I recently told him I can’t work anymore and I need him to sign my paperwork to keep my job and he flat out said no. I was in shock. I called the office back and the receptionist that answered told me the doctor already told me he’s not signing it. I could tell the whole office knew my business and I was so humiliated.
At the moment I am in bed most of the day with fatigue, weakness, numbness, dizziness and I’m trying to find another doctor fast so I don’t lose my job.
I’ve had a colonoscopy, endoscopy, ENT scope, X-rays, blood work, ER visit and many doctors visits and have refinanced my home to pay all the doctors bills. I want to get back to work so bad but I can’t focus, concentrate or spell or remember words. I have worked from home from March with fatigue, pain, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, diarrhea but my neurological symptoms are bad now and I literally can’t do my job anymore.
This virus has made me feel so ill, lonely, depressed, put me in debt, I’ve lost friends as they had said I should be glad I’m not dead and can’t believe I’m still sick and I’m on my way to losing my job very soon.
I’m really trying to stay hopeful and positive but I don’t know how long I can take this.
I need help!


Source: https://www.longcovid.org/stories

I know that in this forum i don't really need to post a story like this, but for anyone who visits and isn't familiar with this forum... it's real, it exists, and it's causing untold damage and it isn't going to go away.

If you can only do one thing, be sympathetic.


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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2020 9:31 pm 
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Thousands of New York ‘Long Haulers’ Struggle with COVID-19 Months After Diagnosis
https://www.thecity.nyc/coronavirus/2020/9/15/21439062/long-haulers-struggle-with-covid-19-new-york-city

Posted 15th Sept.

I cherry picked a couple of the quotes from the above.
Disclaimer: I'm not familiar with the US healthcare system but if i lived in the US what follows would alarm me.

Quote:
The illness was supposed to last for three weeks, doctors told her.

But weeks four through six of COVID-19 were the worst for Holly MacDonald. Her low-grade fever morphed into an all-around fatigue. She began having trouble speaking.

And when she stood up, her legs and feet turned purple.

“I’d walk too far and then I’d need to be in bed for three days,” said MacDonald, who is 29 and lives in Crown Heights. She had to take administrative leave from her job at a nonprofit where she builds social-media campaigns.

A month after getting sick in early March, MacDonald was back in the ER, frustrated as she tried to convince her doctors she was mired in her second month of what, she’d been told, was a three-week respiratory virus.

She’s still not fully recovered. MacDonald is one of upwards of 70,000 New Yorkers struggling with unexplained long-term symptoms of COVID-19, according to a range of estimates provided by several New York City-area doctors and hospitals contacted by THE CITY.

Quote:
Patients who experience symptoms long after three weeks sometimes are hit harder by the physical ravages of the virus than when they first contracted COVID-19.
In some cases, patients say, their doctors don’t believe them. That can add to the struggle for those seeking to get their medical expenses covered — especially after losing work because of their illness or the pandemic-slammed economy.

Quote:
Dr. Aluko Hope, a critical care doctor who’s treating COVID-19 patients at Montefiore Medical Center in The Bronx, likened life with lingering illness to “accomodating to a new body.”

“It’s not like you’re going to fix it with one little pill and it’s all going to go away and you’ll be hunky-dory,” Hope said. “You’ll have to deal with multiple visits to different physicians. It’s much more complicated.”


Quote:
Chen called the issue of insuring long-COVID patients a “major concern.”

“Patients tell us their insurance itself is expiring, either through their work because of loss of work, or because they’re on COBRA,” Chen said. “Depending on how this pandemic turns and patients’ ability to work, their ability to get care is really going to be affected.”

And long-term symptoms still aren’t widely viewed as part of the disease, in part because some patients, especially ones infected in the early days of the crisis and at its height, were never tested for the coronavirus. Many “long haulers” say they’ve also test negative for antibodies long their initial illness, despite their symptoms.

“What’s really challenging is [the patients] look completely normal,” said Stiles, who has an autonomic disorder herself.

“It’s hard sometimes even for doctors to understand. And it doesn’t lead to a lot of compassion for [patients].”’

Both Hope and Chen said they were concerned about the capacity of hospitals in New York to treat long-haulers as the number of patients they treat continues to grow. Mount Sinai’s center struggles to staff enough doctors to meet patient demand, Chen said.

“That’s going to be a very, very large burden, to the health system, to the economy,” said Chen, “And at some point, it’ll be unsustainable.”


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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2020 11:35 am 
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Yes, the US Healthcare system is an embarrassment...

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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2020 8:56 pm 
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It has just struck me that the US is very quiet on Long Covid and i can't help wonder why?... there is enough information to suggest that Long Covid effects just as many people in the US (per capita) as it does in the rest of the world.

All the voices on Long Covid appear to be from the UK and the EU which seems very odd for a country like the US that is historically health mad...

Either my perception of the US has been very wrong or the US centre of attention is focused elsewhere?... a certain election??

Whatever the reason, it does seem to me that the US is unusually (in the online world) quiet on this.


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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2020 9:28 pm 
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I have seen some coverage on Long COVID here in the US, but certainly not much. Of course, the US media attention is focused on politics these days...

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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2020 10:20 pm 
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sboots wrote:
I have seen some coverage on Long COVID here in the US, but certainly not much. Of course, the US media attention is focused on politics these days...

The sooner that which we are not allowed to talk about here is over the better.

That said, i'm finding it striking that the US media and population of the US aren't screaming from the rooftops for help with Long Covid... it's just not like you guys to be so reserved... it's almost like you've become British!

In decades past your countryfolk would have been all over websites and forums etc at every opportunity demanding action from every government possible when your government wasn't giving you what you demanded, whether or not they could do anything.

The silence on this issue from the US is almost deafening.


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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 6:03 pm 
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I found this very encouraging...

NICE (The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence), a respected UK organisation published the following on 30th Oct.

Quote:
NICE, SIGN and RCGP set out further details about the UK guideline on management of the long-term effects of COVID-19

NICE, the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) have today (30 October 2020) given more details about the forthcoming guideline on post-COVID syndrome.

The guideline scope published today defines post-COVID syndrome (also known as Long COVID) as signs and symptoms that develop during or following an infection consistent with COVID-19 which continue for more than 12 weeks and are not explained by an alternative diagnosis. It says the condition usually presents with clusters of symptoms, often overlapping, which may change over time and can affect any system within the body. It also notes that many people with post-COVID syndrome can also experience generalised pain, fatigue, persisting high temperature and psychiatric problems.

Paul Chrisp, director of the Centre for Guidelines at NICE, said: “Recovery from any infectious illness can take time and although most people with COVID-19 will recover completely within a few weeks from the onset of symptoms, we know that a sizeable minority will continue to have symptoms for 12 weeks or more afterwards, regardless of how ill they were initially or whether they were hospitalised.

“This is a new condition and there is still a lot we don’t know about it. Our aim is that the post-COVID syndrome guideline will begin by setting best practice standards of care based on the current evidence but, as our understanding of the condition grows, be adaptable and responsive to new evidence as it emerges.”

Safia Qureshi, Director of Evidence for Healthcare Improvement Scotland, of which SIGN is a part, said: “We understand that Long COVID is creating great distress and uncertainty for those affected, and that the NHS requires the best available advice to support people effectively, even as we continue to seek to understand it. The scope report is a first and vital stage in the production of a guideline which aims to identify symptoms and outline treatment options. We’re delighted to work with NICE and the RCGP on this important piece of work.”

Professor Martin Marshall, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “Before we can effectively diagnose, treat and manage a condition, we need to know what we’re dealing with, so it’s encouraging to be making such rapid progress in this regard as we work with NICE and SIGN to develop this important guidance. The prolonged health effects that some patients experience after contracting COVID-19 can have a terrible impact on their lives – and as GPs, we want to do what we can to help them.

“Now that we are clear about its scope, we can move forward in developing guidance, based on the latest evidence, to support GPs to deliver the most appropriate care and support to patients suffering with the long-term effects of Covid-19 in the community. This guidance will need to evolve as our understanding of the condition grows through clinical experience and robust research”

The scope outlines what areas the guideline will cover. These will include, among other things, what symptoms or signs should prompt a referral for specialist assessment or management, what pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions improve physical or mental health symptoms following acute COVID-19, and how best to deliver post-COVID syndrome recovery and rehabilitation services.
Source: https://www.nice.org.uk/news/article/nice-sign-and-rcgp-set-out-further-details-about-the-uk-guideline-on-management-of-the-long-term-effects-of-covid-19

Quote:
COVID-19 guideline scope: management of the long-term effects of COVID-19
NHS England and the Chief Medical Officer of the Scottish Government have asked
NICE and SIGN to develop a guideline on the long-term effects of COVID-19. This
UK-wide guideline is being developed collaboratively by NICE, SIGN and the RCGP.
We acknowledge that there is still uncertainty in what is known about the long-term
effects of COVID-19. Therefore, this guideline is being developed using a ‘living’
approach, which means that targeted areas of the guideline (including the case
definition) will be continuously reviewed and updated in response to a developing
and emerging evidence base.

The scope can be read in full here [pdf]:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/gid-ng10179/documents/final-scope


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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 9:13 pm 
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As if all of the above wasn't enough evidence, confer the following

What is Long COVID?
https://youtu.be/VDNCFCXg3Vg


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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 9:58 pm 
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Here's an article via MSN news -- https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/health-news/doctors-begin-to-crack-covid-s-mysterious-long-term-effects/ar-BB1aAS6V?li=BBorjTa

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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 10:19 pm 
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sboots wrote:

Thank you for sharing Steve, much of what's in that article is what's happening in the UK, there is of course a more widespread persepective that seems to relate in US but that shouldn't be discounted to what i see in the the UK.
Quote:
It still isn’t known whether the new coronavirus gets into the brain itself, or if Covid-19’s neurological symptoms stem from a body-wide inflammatory response, scientists say

I'd say it does on both counts if my experience is anything to go by.

Much is not known about this virus so nothing should be ruled out.


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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 10:27 pm 
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This virus is evil and only time will tell how evil it actually is in the US, sadly a certain election is clouding the full impact of the virus on your side of the pond... i hope that proves to be wrong.


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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 10:42 pm 
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Let me put that another way, i'm 57, i don't run hundreds of miles a day, i used to be able to to carry out daily routine activities like cleaning and dusting around the house, taking the trash out, go to work etc... all the normal activities that any man would assume normal.

All that ended in August when i hit a brick wall due to Covid... i can no longer do anything, to try to do anything leaves me exhausted, even the simple matter of making a meal for myself leaves me exhausted.

I now rely on my wife to do everything for me and it really hurts, when i once independently did everything for myself, i now can't do anything.


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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2020 5:13 pm 
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Nursing Times in the UK commented on the scope i linked to earlier, it appears that "Long Covid" will be known as "Post-Covid-19 syndrome" when it's published:

Quote:
A definition of the phenomenon commonly known as long Covid has been published today as part of the development of the first UK guideline for health professionals on managing the newly emerging condition.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) and the Royal College of General Practitioners, have been tasked by NHS England and the Scottish Government with creating guidance to help clinicians respond to people with enduring Covid-19 symptoms in a consistent and evidence-based way.

They said for the purpose of the rapid guideline, which is due to be published by the end of the year and will be shared internationally, they would using the term “post-Covid-19 syndrome” in place of long Covid.

Post-Covid-19 syndrome would be defined as “signs and symptoms that develop during or following an infection consistent with Covid-19, continue for more than 12 weeks and are not explained by an alternative diagnosis”, according to a guideline scope document released today.

It said post-Covid-19 syndrome "usually presents with clusters of symptoms, often overlapping, which can fluctuate and change over time and can affect any system in the body".

“This includes but is not limited to the cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, neurological, musculoskeletal, metabolic, renal, dermatological, otolaryngological, haematological and autonomic systems, in addition to psychiatric problems, generalised pain, fatigue and persisting fever,” it added. ...


Most interestingly the Nursing Times article went on to say:
Quote:
Post-Covid-19 syndrome was listed as the final of three Covid-19 stages.

The others were “acute Covid-19 infection” (signs and symptoms of Covid-19 for up to four weeks), and “ongoing symptomatic Covid-19” (signs and symptoms of Covid-19 from four weeks up to 12 weeks).
[Highlighted for emphasis.]

Source: https://www.nursingtimes.net/news/coronavirus/nice-defines-long-covid-as-symptoms-lasting-more-than-12-weeks-30-10-2020/

I'd never thought of this virus as coming in stages before, but it does make sense, my timeline doesn't fit especially neatly into what's being dicussed but it's not that far out...

Stage 1: Acute Covid-19 infection, contracted in late February, albeit i was never tested and it only lasted a few days.

Stage 2: Ongoing symptomatic Covid-19, i started to have breathlessness, severe fatigue, very sore knee joints, and more in late March.

Stage 3: Post-Covid-19 syndrome (aka Long Covid), i had to stop work in late August due to a plethora of never before experienced symtpoms, along with Stage 2 symptoms getting worse.

Sadly there doesn't appear to be a definitive end to Stage 3 but i do feel, and i say this with great hesitation because i've thought this before, my symptoms are somewhat easing...

a. The joint and muscle pain appear to have ended, but without the ability to do any form of excercise (including walking any sort of distance) i'm keeping an open mind on that.

b. The fatigue, or sleeping as i prefer to call it, is almost back at 'normal' levels... reduced from 16+ hours per day to around 8-9 hours... still high considering i'm not doing anything to tire myself out but it's going in the right direction... my main concern with this is how far out of kilter my body clock is (i'm not able to sleep at night so instead sleep during the day, meaning i rarely see daylight)... presumably because i haven't been outdoors in over 10 weeks my body can't register when daylight hours are so it's guessing, and getting it horribly wrong? The change in DST can't have helped with that.

c. Nausea, the real killer for me, also seems to be easing in that when it hits it's not not nearly as debilitating... it still stops me from doing day to day tasks but at least it no longer makes me think 'will i wake up from this?' when i go to sleep.

d. Brain fog has almost gone, i still struggle with this sometimes especially during periods of nausea, but i can now communicate, at least on a basic level.

Only time will tell what happens to me next but i have to stay positive.

Compared to where i was and am now, along with where the scientific community is now, when compared to late August, the gulf is rapidly closing... that HAS to be good news.


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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2020 7:00 pm 
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I don't expect the following will make much of a difference but if i don't try then i have no right to complain that not enough is being done...

Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland have launched a campaign calling on the Scottish Parliament to launch a scheme to support Long Covid sufferers similar to that available in England.
https://campaigns.chss.org.uk/ask-your-msp-support-long-covid-care-now-campaign

I filled in the form and it was sent to 8 MSP's (Members of the Scottish Parliament), i got 6 autoreplies, i don't expect a meaningful reply from any of them so i emailed the content to a local councillor that always replies... i don't expect him to be able to do anything but he was a former health convenor for my local area so may have the ear of some in the Scottish Parliament within his political party... don't ask and you won't get, at least i tried.


Last edited by Doddie on Thu Nov 05, 2020 7:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2020 7:11 pm 
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:(

Quote:
Everyone has had to search for that glimmer of light in 2020, but Oonagh Cousins is one of those for whom it hasn't been easy to find.

Cousins could have been rowing at the Olympics this summer.

Instead, 'long Covid' - the term often used to explain lasting effects of Covid-19 - has had a debilitating effect on her body and mind, and though she is well on the road to recovery, a return to the water is some way off.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rowing/54702500

When a potential olympian feels like that at 25, it's no wonder i feel like i do at times.


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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2020 9:12 pm 
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Wow!

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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2020 6:43 pm 
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sboots wrote:
Wow!

Indeed :cry:

A BBC Scotland correspondent wrote about her ongoing experience of Long Covid today, it's remarkably similar to my experience if you strip out she has children and i do not:

Quote:
BBC correspondent: 'Long Covid has left me exhausted for seven months'

By Lucy Adams
BBC Scotland social affairs correspondent
cf. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-54793726

As an aside i thought i'd attach a pic of how my illness is being reported on my sick notes by sharing my latest one with you, not because it'll make any difference, more so that you can see how it's being communicated to my employer... for it to be related to Covid-19 it's mentioned in the 'comments' section when it really should be under 'conditions'... hopefully that'll change when it's officially recognised/named?

Btw, I feel like i rant about this at times, if anyone would rather i stop please say so and i will stop.


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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2020 9:11 pm 
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There is no need to stop. Besides caring about you, I am learning from what you are sharing!

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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2020 9:16 pm 
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I have no issue with your posts, Doddie. I don't respond a lot but that is just due to my not having a lot to say. ;)

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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2020 9:46 pm 
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Doddie, so sorry for what you are going through. I thought you might find this to be an interesting and applicable article:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-tragedy-of-the-post-covid-long-haulers-2020101521173

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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:17 pm 
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bbarry wrote:
I thought you might find this to be an interesting and applicable article:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-tragedy-of-the-post-covid-long-haulers-2020101521173

Thanks Barry, it's always very encouraging to read that recognition of the long term effects of Covid (no matter the label) are at long last being recognised and investigated.

When i started this thread on 21st August next to no-one was talking about it outside of self help groups, heck, even my GP had never heard of it!

Now look where we are... GP's know about it (though they don't have treatments, yet), the WHO & CDC along with the mainstream media all recognise it exists (even though it's yet to be officially named) and talk openly about it.

On a personal level, i hope that sooner rather than later "long Covid/Long Hauler Covid" is relabelled into a universally accepted medical term so that it can stand on it's own.

I'm sick to the back teeth of reading from people who don't suffer from this condition yet who 'claim' to be experts on it.... like people who (whether academic or not) don't suffer from it claiming it must be some form of ME or PTSD etc... i don't have and never have suffered from ME, then it must be PTSD then... for this to be PTSD i surely must have suffered from a "Traumatic event" but that could not be further removed from the truth.

The truth is i caught what i thought to be a cold in February, during March, April, May and June i suffered symptoms that i had no reason to believe were related to anything let alone each other... i was able to function and carry on working... then in August a door was slammed in my face when a plethora of new symptoms hit me.

I had to stop working immediately and here i am, 11 weeks going into 12 weeks later and i'm still unable to work due to an ongoing and ever changing set of symptoms that seem to come and go as they please.

Fwiw, this week i seem to have 'acquired' two new symptoms, tinitus and... i think i now know the difference between exhaustion and fatigue?

The tinitus is really weird, i can hear what sounds like my PC tower running 24/7 in my left ear but if i close the ear off (e.g. by placing it on the pillow, or by sticking my finger in it) it's silent and i hear no tinitus.... i don't have the medical understanding to even begin to understand how that's possible but because it's so low level i seem to be able to 'filter' it out anyway... i.e. it's only when i focus on it that i notice it.

Exhaustion v Fatigue is interesting, as i've said in another thread i've never really understood what the difference is... that is until yesterday... oh my word!!

I was sitting on the couch having just got out of bed thinking i was good for the day, only to be overcome by an indescribable wave of tiredness that forced me back into bed for 3 hours.
The same thing happened this afternoon, i got up after 10 hours in bed, sat on the couch and despite doing nothing more than watching TV, two hours later
i was overcome with fatigue that forced me to go back to bed and sleep for another 2 hours.

Whilst i've felt exhausted before and gone to bed, this 'new' wave of 'fatigue' has been coming out of nowhere and is a wholly new experience for me.

Fwiw, it's very difficult for me to relate my experience because in almost all instances i've never experienced anything like what i'm living with now... since Feb/March i've gone from reasonably fit with no health issues, to one of nothing but health issues that no-one can explain.

It is at times scary when i let it get to me like that, i cling onto the fact that this is an unknown disease, along with the fact those that should know are discussing it, and that answers will be found.


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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2020 5:12 pm 
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Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2013 4:13 pm
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Location: Dunedin, Alba.
A quick follow-up on my last post:

The fatigue i explained in that post went on to hit me really hard...

I'm not exactly sure what happened or the timings of anything, all i know is i woke up yesterday at 20:30 GMT having gone to bed at some time during Sunday night or in the small hours of Monday morning...

I remember my wife waking me at 17:00 asking if i was okay and going to get up, i replied that while i didn't feel particularly unwell i felt exhausted and would let my body decide when to get up and went back to sleep...

I woke up at 20:30 feeling physically and mentally drained, i spent the rest of Monday night on the couch watching TV trying desperately to fall asleep... my wife (who's on annual leave this week "to keep an eye on me") woke up at 08:30 this morning asking if i was going to go to bed.
As much as i wanted too i knew all i'd do was toss and turn and get up again, at 10:00 i felt like i might be able to sleep so i went to bed, no joy, i lay in bed unable to sleep for two hours.... tried again at 14:00 and managed to get 3 hours sleep.

The disturbing thing is i have no recollection of making any of my posts here on Sunday night, the bagpipe link i remember but that's all, i have no memory of how or when i went to bed on Sunday night, i have no idea how long i slept for other than i went to bed some time after 10pm on Sunday when my wife went to bed and i woke up at 20:30 on Monday.

I've read that others with Long Covid can suffer from memory loss but i don't believe that i ever have... until now.

I've got to contact my GP in the next day or two for a sick note extension so i'll be adding 'memory loss and tinitus etc' to the growing list of symptoms into that discussion.

One other question i'll be asking is "Has the Pfizer (or any other) vaccine been tested on Long Covid patients?", the last thing i need is for a vaccine to antagonise whatever is causing Long Covid.


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 Post subject: Re: Long Covid.
 Post Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2020 5:25 pm 
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Location: Dunedin, Alba.
I thought i'd mentioned the "Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland" campaign that called on MSP's (Members of the Scottish Parliament) to set up clinics to help patients suffering from 'Long Covid' similar to those already set up in England, if i did i can't find the post so instead i'll add it to this thread... probably the most relevant place for it anyway.
cf. https://campaigns.chss.org.uk/ask-your-msp-support-long-covid-care-now-campaign?

In a nutshell, it was a campaign run by CHSS where i entered my contact details along with a brief explanation why it matters to me and this was then forwarded onto MSP's in my local area.
I got two replies earlier this week from MSP's who thanked me for contacting them and who pledged their support... one of them said that a question was scheduled to be asked during First Ministers Questions in the Scottish Parliament yesterday (Thursday 12th Nov).

The question being asked and answered can be viewed in the following link:
(Timeline of the relevant Q&A in the otherwise over 1 hour video is from 38min 45sec to 42min 24sec)
https://youtu.be/5Lf1HP4suIg

Whilst the answer didn't exactly light me up with hope i did understand the cautious approach, i also took comfort from the knowledge that it's on pubilc record that people like me need help and that it's being looked at seriously.


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