Connect
Emotional Volitility
I'm 75, winding down..or maybe up toward not so sick anymore. After two separate two year bouts of Long Covid, starting with an original infection in March 2020.
I had the virus twice (tested positive the second time) but did not get very sick. The long covid aftermath was a different story.
I had most of the usual symptoms: foggy brain, fatigue, rashes (beginning only), PVC and Atrial Fibrulation heart palpitations (now gone), debiliataing insomnia (now gone) and Tinnitus, which is still with me. And Emotional Volitility.
As an adult ,over most of a lifetime, I gradually learned now to hide and to surpess some but not all emotions. As an adult male I had not cried in decades. Now I cry frequently. Out loud. Almost audibly. I love more openly. And fight and get mad as a hornet at the drop of a hat. Some of this is good and some is not so good.
It is what it is. I sometimes think I'm suddenly like a 75 year old high school boy emotionally, layered over on top of a lifetime of wisdom and experience.
I see the term "emotional volatility" mentioned here and there, with zip to none discussion of explanatioin.
Like
Helpful
HugInterested in more discussions like this? Go to the Post-COVID Recovery & COVID-19 Support Group.
Connect
Does or has anyone else experienced cmotional changes from Long Covid?
Perhaps what is happening is unchanged emotions, that now more easily bubble up into high level awareness.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
4 ReactionsI have undergone a complete metamorphosis, although I’m not certain to what I attribute it to. It did begin just before my covid, but grew exponentially afterwards.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
3 ReactionsThis is a brutal virus and I know that I have experienced depression, agitation and anxiety. Having this has been a life changer and I try to take it a day at a time. I warn my family when I am not in a good place, so I don't take out my negative feelings on them. I also try to look at the fact that I am not lying in a hospital and can function. After two years, I am getting better, but I am no where near the way I was. That is traumatic for anyone, Hang in there.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 Reactionsexactly
FWIW, in terms of a Long Covid wrapup discssion (I am getting better, rapidly),. the two symptoms I didn no tmention above were Colitis (1 fyear chronic diarrhae) and I forget now..........Ah. Short term membory problems.
A Neurologis diagnosed my memoryh issues a "memory retrieval mechanism" problem, because once I did rember even a little a flood of details come back. On the surface thts sounds a bit like the names and places trouble all geezers have. But it was worse. More widespread. That symptom is still weith me now, but not as bad as it was a year ago.
People mention liquid runs here occassionally, but not often. Perhaps it is hard to talk about.
I FINALLY saw a gastro guy, who did a colonoscopy. He diagnosed "moderately severe" Colitis.
She actually, gave me a prescription for criminally expensive Butesonide pillls ($1400 for a month), $600 of which I had to pay. It fixed my diarrhea instantly. It is apparently a steroid that somehow targets teh gut.
Once gone it did not come back, which leads to the punchline. Is all of Long Covid a form of auto-immune inflammation, as a feedback loop where inflammation causes inflammatino? Where....at the right time...strong anti-inflammatory drugs can break the viscious positive feedback loop of new inflammation caused by old inflammation.
I will award myself the No Bell prize?
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 ReactionsYes, me too. What are we to do? I feel almost like a different person.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionThe Long Covid Demon has made me hyper sensitive emotionally to things that pre-Covid would not bother me at all or I would just shrug off. Now, I find I feel "weepier" and more easily frustrated and irritated. Being aware of the changes helps with my understanding the "why" and sometimes being able to use positive self-talk to move through it, but it doesn't make the emotional sensitivity go away. I find it annoying having to use my limited Long Covid energy reserves to deal with the emotional hyper sensitivity (sigh).
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
3 ReactionsAgree...I describe my changed brain as feeling "chemical." I feel depressed in ways I've never experienced. It's not triggered by anything situational, just an overall grimness, sadness, and anxiety. I simply can't find my happiness. I'm also angrier than ever with a short fuse and no patience for BS. Is this a function of brain inflammation? I'm waiting for my Long Covid appointment at NYU to see if they've got any answers. I feel like a different person I barely recognize...
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 ReactionsI need to clarify my comment. I do feel like a different person and in a good way. That’s because I totally changed my diet and lifestyle and have lost over 75 pounds. However, I also felt like a different person when I got post covid. That part wasn’t good. The weird and random things that happened to me were traumatizing. I had longterm congestion, smell/taste disorder (still have terrible bitter taste ), body wide fasciculations, skin rashes, tingling in feet and hands, internal tremors, etc. I was seeing a neurologist fearing the worst. I felt it took years off my life it was so scary. Thank goodness some of the symptoms have dissipated, though some still linger. Some I fight everyday. I believe my good health status exists despite my post covid syndrome. I guess I’ll always have to fight it. I won’t allow it to prevent me from living my best life, though. I am in therapy and that has helped me a lot. I can’t imagine what I’d do if not for that. I realize many people are in much worse shape than me with their LC.
Perhaps we are all different.
I am at a stage where hard sweaty physical work is mind clearing and physically invigorating.
A year ago not possible. It is medicine now .