Struggling with Long Covid. Anybody else?

[All-Rounder]

I've been having diarrhea for over 50 days now, I've been through 6 treatments so far plus strict dieting for a long time, and it didn't help, and it's getting bad again. Getting heavy headaches too, a symptom I've had here and there.

Doctor said it might be the side effects that last after Covid was in the body, as ive gotten stool tests and nothing showed.

I read that a celeb is struggling for 2 years now with her symptoms, there is no known cure.

Vaccines only offer 15% prevention and I was recently vaxxed before it happened including 2 other doses prior. I have lowered my defenses with the mask after 28 days after vaccine and community bullying for wearing the mask. I regret it, my body immunity is not strong due to having Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), which decreases immunity, a condition many women on the spectrum deal with. Autistic people also have lower immunity.

I'm looking forward to the new omicron covid vaccine in Oct as it was announced it will be available in some countries, vaccination helps some, but makes some worse.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

I got my CoVID-19 a few years ago, before the vaccines. I had a long, hard course with it. Lost over 20lbs. Thought I was going to die in the night,...seriously,...I didn't dare go to sleep,...I couldn't.

However, after the acute respiratory symptoms went away, I had a period of prolonged inflammation,...even after 2 weeks of oral corticosteroids,...just walking around wheezing (no prior lung disease),...and wearing the masks significantly added work of breathing. This went on for months.

I had a continuous "brain fog", it exacerbated my sensory issues, and significantly effected my personality to the point where even 3, 4, 5 months afterward people I knew would walk up to me and say,..."Are you feeling OK?" By then, I was so used to my "condition" that I really didn't notice it,...but others did.

I got my infection in October of 2020,...and it was March-April of 2021 before I could say that I had "recovered",...I haven't had a follow-up chest X-ray or pulmonary functions to assess the damage,...but I suspect some degree of permanent damage occurred.

At this point, having had that sort of course, I have ZERO interest in getting CoVID again,...I have had every vaccine and booster I can get into my arm,...never again. It was horrible.

 

[LadyS]

Had covid about month ago. My symptoms aren't as bad as those but my cough lasted for a month, I also have the brain fog, joint pain, and constant fatigue and sleepiness. Lost some weight too. The brain fog is particularly bad, can't think straight at all. My head just feels like stone.

 

[MyLifeAsAnAspie]

Sorry to hear about the long COVID symptoms. I continue to mask indoors in public. I have not seen any overt bullying but am always wondering of some are giving me the stink-eye. I want to be the last one wearing a mask, but I think most don't want that and stop masking against their better judgement.

 

[All-Rounder]

I got my CoVID-19 a few years ago, before the vaccines. I had a long, hard course with it. Lost over 20lbs. Thought I was going to die in the night,...seriously,...I didn't dare go to sleep,...I couldn't.

However, after the acute respiratory symptoms went away, I had a period of prolonged inflammation,...even after 2 weeks of oral corticosteroids,...just walking around wheezing (no prior lung disease),...and wearing the masks significantly added work of breathing. This went on for months.

I had a continuous "brain fog", it exacerbated my sensory issues, and significantly effected my personality to the point where even 3, 4, 5 months afterward people I knew would walk up to me and say,..."Are you feeling OK?" By then, I was so used to my "condition" that I really didn't notice it,...but others did.

I got my infection in October of 2020,...and it was March-April of 2021 before I could say that I had "recovered",...I haven't had a follow-up chest X-ray or pulmonary functions to assess the damage,...but I suspect some degree of permanent damage occurred.

At this point, having had that sort of course, I have ZERO interest in getting CoVID again,...I have had every vaccine and booster I can get into my arm,...never again. It was horrible.

Me and Jonn also had something in late 2019, when not many knew what it was, here they said it's something new that doesnt respond to treatment. But they never said anything about global spread back then.

Ever since we've been experiencing something like asthma. Everything made me cough.

The nights when i had the severe coughs were terrifying unlike when ive been sick before, i couldnt sleep because of the severity and they didnt let me home from work and my doc didnt write any home allowance. I was going to work with barely 1-2 hours of snoozing. I thought I was gonna die.

Also lost weight visibly then and now. For years after that and still now my lungs have been having that symptom, hypersensitive and choke coughy. It's terrible. I've bought myself a breathing exercise machine but its quite hard and dry, so i sometimes work my lungs breathing slowly and deeply into blanket or pillow in hopes of recovering the lung damage. That seems to be less dry and less forceful.

Interesting about the brain fog, I have had issues at the workplace with attention and got fired bc of them. Maybe some of it was exacerbated due to it.

The masks do feel bad especially to people with a condition.

Are you better now? What do you think has helped your recovery?

 

[All-Rounder]

Had covid about month ago. My symptoms aren't as bad as those but my cough lasted for a month, I also have the brain fog, joint pain, and constant fatigue and sleepiness. Lost some weight too. The brain fog is particularly bad, can't think straight at all. My head just feels like stone.

Thats how long if not longer that my cough lasted, in 2019, im like, this flu, whatever it is, is not getting better, and im getting weaker and weaker. Scary stuff.

I feel fatigued also.

 

[All-Rounder]

Sorry to hear about the long COVID symptoms. I continue to mask indoors in public. I have not seen any overt bullying but am always wondering of some are giving me the stink-eye. I want to be the last one wearing a mask, but I think most don't want that and stop masking against their better judgement.

The mask doesnt bother me as much as people's very harsh words and judgement, but for me it's a daily thing. If I don't get talked about and laughed at for the mask I get for the hairstyle, dress style, how much my clothes cost, being different, hormonal issues.

The kinds of masks I used are washable cotton ones they feel so comfortable honestly and the FFP2 one since its so forward doesnt keep itsheaty and itchy fabric on my face so i love it, besides offering more protection than the common blue surgical masks.

I was for a long time the last one wearing the mask and it does not feel good at all lol.

I think I shouldnt of stopped despite the vaccine, the sort of skewed thinking that it "won't happen to you." Plus it's not been enough cases for them to implement mask wearing or even warn anymore but still. I thought I shouldn't be uselessly weird, but there's a use to all weirdness sometimes. xD

 

[Ella Spell]

I have Covid right now, for the first time. It's so much worse than I imagined. I'm so weak I can't even lift my head off the pillow or sit up on the edge of the bed, for three days now. I can't even feed my pets. High fever, pneumonia symptoms, breathing trouble, chest cough, sore throat, migraine with aura, shivers, sweats, dizziness, sneezing, eye pain, ear pain, and so weak I can barely roll over. Now my stomach feels weird too, like a stomach flu. The thought of this persisting into "Long Covid" is terrifying.

I'm vaxxed and I've been wearing a mask everywhere out of the house since March 2020. I never stopped using a mask.

My thoughts are with anyone suffering from Long Covid.

 

[All-Rounder]

I have Covid right now, for the first time. It's so much worse than I imagined. I'm so weak I can't even lift my head off the pillow or sit up on the edge of the bed, for three days now. I can't even feed my pets. High fever, pneumonia symptoms, breathing trouble, chest cough, sore throat, migraine with aura, shivers, sweats, dizziness, sneezing, eye pain, ear pain, and so weak I can barely roll over. Now my stomach feels weird too, like a stomach flu. The thought of this persisting into "Long Covid" is terrifying.

I'm vaxxed and I've been wearing a mask everywhere out of the house since March 2020. I never stopped using a mask.

My thoughts are with anyone suffering from Long Covid.

I was pretty asymptomatic before my long covid begun. I sneezed and headaches and sore throat sometimes mostly, I didn't know I caught something. So I had no idea it wasn't a stomach bug.

Wish you the best, get well soon.

If you'd like to try, I tried everything off the natural store shelves, spent my salary away, but the only thing that seemed to help somewhat was Echinacea, it is also known to have antiviral effects in some studies proved effective compared to most plants at least it seems to work.

The other thing I took around that time when it got better was some plant extracts specifically antibacterian plant mixes like for example cinnamon, mint, rosemary, ginger. Perhaps at home you could make a cinnamon tea, if you have it in the kitchen.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

Are you better now? What do you think has helped your recovery?

I am better now,...it's been over a year.

"Tincture of time".

 

[Ella Spell]

Thanks. I haven't been able to get to my kitchen or even sit up from bed. I've had the same giant cup of water next to me for three days, and a bag of cookies on my pillow that has put crumbs all over my sweaty sheets. That's my only food and drink. I'm a total wreck. Getting to the kitchen would be a miracle at this point. Just typing on my phone is exhausting and the light hurts my eyes. It makes me pass out for a few hours every time I look at my phone.

Can my pets catch it from me?

 

[Mary Terry]

I think I had covid in early March 2020, about the same time as the public was informed of the pandemic. I didn't go to a doctor; husband is a retired doctor so he monitored me, and most doctors were refusing to see patients then anyway because the doctors were afraid of this novel virus.

Long story short, my sinuses and lungs were bad for about a week but my stomach was a mess for several months after the initial illness. Much of our immune system is in our guts, so I assume my body/gut was trying hard to fight the virus. I've read that as many as 30-50% of Covid patients have problems with their stomachs and digestive systems much more than respiratory problems. I ate the BRAT diet a lot then - bananas, rice, applesauce and toast - and ate plain poached chicken breasts for protein.

I'm vaxed, boosted, and plan to get the new omicron booster when it becomes available. I wear a N95 mask at the grocery store and other indoor places, many other people are still wearing masks here, and I don't care what other people say about it. I don't want to get sick again.

I hope you get well soon. Hang in there, try to eat foods that don't upset your stomach, and keep wearing a mask regardless of stink-eyed old and young fools who think they are immortal.

 

[Mary Terry]

Thanks. I haven't been able to get to my kitchen or even sit up from bed. I've had the same giant cup of water next to me for three days, and a bag of cookies on my pillow that has put crumbs all over my sweaty sheets. That's my only food and drink. I'm a total wreck. Getting to the kitchen would be a miracle at this point. Just typing on my phone is exhausting and the light hurts my eyes. It makes me pass out for a few hours every time I look at my phone.

Can my pets catch it from me?

Yes, dogs and cats can catch covid.

 

[Progster]

I had Covid about a month ago. Not too bad - a cough, achy feeling, mild headache and one evening I felt dizziness. The next morning I was fine, though. No long Covid symptoms, luckily.

 

[LadyS]

Me and Jonn also had something in late 2019, when not many knew what it was, here they said it's something new that doesnt respond to treatment. But they never said anything about global spread back then.

Yes same here. It started in August 2019 and lasted through to End of November. I had throat, ear, and sinus infections, one after the other, with no respite in between. Eventually had to go see an ENT specialist who only prescribed me even more antibiotics and couldn't figure out what it was. Then got sick again with a cough that took a while to go away, in Dec-Jan.

Was pretty convinced it was Covid related even though it wasn't made known until later.

 

[Ella Spell]

Yes, dogs and cats can catch covid.

Would they have the same symptoms as humans?

A cold, lethargy? What do I need to look for?

My dog hasn't left my side and hasn't even been fed or gone outside.

 

[Orange Glasses]

My dog hasn't left my side and hasn't even been fed or gone outside.

You stated that you have been in bed for three (3) days.

Have your pets gone three days without food or water?

If so, call a friend or 911 and ask for help. Animal Control may be a temporary option.

 

[Ella Spell]

The three days were Thurs, Fri, and today. My pets were all fed on Thursday when I fell sick. There's lots of water around the house for them including water fountains for the cats and several big bowls of water for my dog.

I was able to get up and feed them all today. None of them seemed terribly hungry. My dog still won't leave my side.

 

[Aneka]

Me and Jonn also had something in late 2019, when not many knew what it was, here they said it's something new that doesnt respond to treatment. But they never said anything about global spread back then.

Ever since we've been experiencing something like asthma. Everything made me cough.

The nights when i had the severe coughs were terrifying unlike when ive been sick before, i couldnt sleep because of the severity and they didnt let me home from work and my doc didnt write any home allowance. I was going to work with barely 1-2 hours of snoozing. I thought I was gonna die.

Also lost weight visibly then and now. For years after that and still now my lungs have been having that symptom, hypersensitive and choke coughy. It's terrible. I've bought myself a breathing exercise machine but its quite hard and dry, so i sometimes work my lungs breathing slowly and deeply into blanket or pillow in hopes of recovering the lung damage. That seems to be less dry and less forceful.

Interesting about the brain fog, I have had issues at the workplace with attention and got fired bc of them. Maybe some of it was exacerbated due to it.

The mask do feel bad especially to people with a condition.

Are you better now? What do you think has helped your recovery?

Same! I had it in January 20. Covid spread globally before the pandemic got exclaimed.

 

[All-Rounder]

Thanks. I haven't been able to get to my kitchen or even sit up from bed. I've had the same giant cup of water next to me for three days, and a bag of cookies on my pillow that has put crumbs all over my sweaty sheets. That's my only food and drink. I'm a total wreck. Getting to the kitchen would be a miracle at this point. Just typing on my phone is exhausting and the light hurts my eyes. It makes me pass out for a few hours every time I look at my phone.

Can my pets catch it from me?

Not birds.

What You Should Know about COVID-19 and Pets​

What you need to know

• The virus that causes COVID-19 can spread from people to animals during close contact.
• The risk of animals spreading COVID-19 to people is low.
• Pets can get serious illness from infection with the virus that causes COVID-19, but this is extremely rare.

Some coronaviruses cause illness in certain types of animals, such as cattle, camels, and bats.

Risk of the virus that causes COVID-19 spreading between pets and people​

The virus that causes COVID-19 can spread from people to animals during close contact. Pets worldwide, including cats and dogs, have been infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, mostly after close contact with people with COVID-19.


The risk of pets spreading COVID-19 to people is low.

• Do not put masks on pets; masks could harm your pet.
• Do not wipe or bathe your pet with chemical disinfectants, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, or other products, such as hand sanitizer, counter-cleaning wipes, or other industrial or surface cleaners. There is no evidence that the virus can spread to people from the skin, fur, or hair of pets. Talk to your veterinarian if you have questions about appropriate products for bathing or cleaning your pet.

Protect pets if you are sick​

If you are sick with COVID-19 (either suspected or confirmed by a test), you should avoid contact with your pets and other animals, just like you would with people. Contact includes petting, snuggling, kissing, licking, sharing food, and sleeping in the same bed.

What to do if you think your pet has the virus that causes COVID-19​

Pets infected with this virus may or may not get sick. Of the pets that have gotten sick, most only had mild illness and fully recovered. Serious illness in pets is extremely rare.


Pets that do have symptoms usually have mild illness that you can take care of at home.


Pets sick with the virus that causes COVID-19 may have:

• Fever
• Coughing
• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
• Lethargy (unusual lack of energy or sluggishness)
• Sneezing
• Runny nose
• Eye discharge
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea

If your pet is sick and you think it might be from the virus that causes COVID-19, talk to your veterinarian.


If you are sick with COVID-19 and your pet becomes sick, do not take your pet to the veterinary clinic yourself. Call your veterinarian and let them know you are sick with COVID-19. Some veterinarians may offer telemedicine consultations or other plans for treating sick pets.

What to do if your pet tests positive​

Depending on your pet’s symptoms, your veterinarian may recommend that you isolate your pet at home.


If your veterinarian recommends home isolation and you are able to care for your pet at home, keep your pet at home, except to get medical care. Protect yourself when caring for a sick pet by following the same precautions recommended for people caring for an infected person at home.


Cats should be kept inside. Do not allow cats that have tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19 to roam outside.

What You Should Know about COVID-19 and Pets | Healthy Pets, Healthy People | CDC