Long COVID with fatigue and brain fog, now somewhat better but they persist
- Condition
- Long COVID
- At worst
- Mild (working or studying, with limits)
- Ill before improving or writing
- 13 months
- Last post
- Mar 2021
In their words
- Condition: Long COVID
Every symptom I have experienced during my 13 month long haul.
In context ↗ - At worst: Mild
I’ll go weeks where the fog and dizziness are crippling and then a week or two where it’s there but manageable.
In context ↗ - Now: Somewhat better
It’s better than when it was at its worse though. Still sucks.
In context ↗ - Began after: COVID
that is pretty much every symptom I have experienced at one point or another during this post covid long haul
Read from 17 of their posts and comments; links to the 9 this page draws on
Summary
Thirteen months into long COVID they still had persistent fatigue, brain fog and poor sleep among dozens of symptoms that came in waves. Physical therapy and NSAIDs eased joint and nerve pain, omeprazole helped reflux and breathlessness, Xanax calmed panic attacks and Cymbalta lifted their mood; steroids, antihistamines and muscle relaxers did not help. By March 2021 most symptoms had resolved or greatly improved, but fatigue and brain fog persisted and still came in waves.
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What they tried
What they credit
Also tried
Their words about each treatment
- exercise · Not said
exercise gives me really mixed results
In context ↗ - Xanax · Helped
Xanax for panic attacks. I started taking this when the panic attacks started and it helped GREATLY.
In context ↗ - NSAIDs · Helped
long term, max dosage NSAIDs helped with jaw pain, joint pain, and headache.
In context ↗ - omeprazole · Helped
omeprazole for acid reflux and SOB. This helped greatly with both issues
In context ↗ - Cymbalta · Helped
It did nothing for the nerve pain and sleep issues, but greatly increased my mood and helped with depression.
In context ↗ - physical therapy · Helped
physical therapy greatly helped with joint and nerve pain. It completely fixed my shoulder pain and lessened my sciatic nerve pain from a 7 to a 2
In context ↗ - massage · Helped
(massage greatly helped)
In context ↗ - various muscle relaxers · Worse
my brain fog would be 10x worse the next day and I would be a zombie
In context ↗ - therapy · No change
Unfortunately, therapy didn’t work well for me
In context ↗ - various antihistamines · No change
so far I have not had any luck with various antihistamines
In context ↗ - steroids · Worse
sometimes made insomnia and anxiety worse. And my symptoms would sometimes get worse after the course of steroids was over.
In context ↗ - caffeine and other stimulants · Worse
caffeine and other stimulants: seems to almost always make things worse
In context ↗ - diet and eating · Not said
eating sometimes makes me feel better and sometimes worse. I can’t pin down which foods help and which hurts
In context ↗ - CoQ10 · Not said
CoQ10: hard to tell if it’s made a difference, but taking it anyways
In context ↗ - multivitamin · Not said
multivitamin: same as CoQ10
In context ↗ - vitamin b complex · Helped
this surprisingly had good results at first but was short lived. It seems to help for the first day or two, and then doesn’t work at all.
In context ↗
Approaches: Other drugs and medicines
Their path
What they say at each step doesn’t fit the worst point or outcome above on the severity scale, so the steps are listed as they describe them. Dates are when they posted.
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| onset | COVID-19 followed by dozens of symptoms; intrusive ear worms and constant tinnitus early onIt was actually one of my very first symptoms and it was really bad for the first month.In context ↗ |
| March 2021 | Early symptoms faded; fatigue and brain fog plateaueda lot of my early symptoms have dissipated to the point where they are barely around anymoreIn context ↗ |
| March 2021 | Recurring wave of crushing fatigue and severe brain fog after weeks of improvementEvery time I start to slowly improve, improvement will continue for a few weeks. And then BAM!In context ↗ |
| March 2021 | Tinnitus now extremely mild; most other symptoms greatly improved or resolvedthen another 3 months to become extremely mildIn context ↗ |
Adverse events
- “Although they did help me fall asleep and stay sound asleep, my brain fog would be 10x worse the next day and I would be a zombie.” In context ↗ Made symptoms worse
- NSAIDs (unspecified)“It wasn’t great for stomach issues” In context ↗ Gut side effects
- Corticosteroid pulses“sometimes made insomnia and anxiety worse” In context ↗ Insomnia from treatment
- Corticosteroid pulses“And my symptoms would sometimes get worse after the course of steroids was over.” In context ↗ Made symptoms worse
- Caffeine and coffee“caffeine and other stimulants: seems to almost always make things worse. Short term benefit is always short lived.” In context ↗ Made symptoms worse
- Everyday exercise and activity“other times it seems to make things worse for a day or more” In context ↗ Made symptoms worse
Symptoms mentioned
Their words about their symptoms
- Brain fog
brain fog, trouble concentrating, and short term memory loss (persistent).
In context ↗ - Sleep problems
difficulty sleeping (persistent).
In context ↗ - Tinnitus
It finally went away for the most part.
In context ↗ - Headaches & migraine
Major headache but that’s it.
In context ↗ - Gut problems
excessive gas and stomach issues (persistent).
In context ↗ - Pain & fibromyalgia
sciatic nerve pain (persistent).
In context ↗ - Breathlessness
Still experience some SOB.
In context ↗ - Anxiety & low mood
I no longer experience anxiety or panic attacks.
In context ↗ - Loss of smell or taste
-loss of smell.
In context ↗
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