@armalone We can certainly give new meaning to the #MeToo movement!

Long COVID Onset: 9/11/2020

To begin, I am a career bookkeeper and hobbyist writer. Yeah, I know… I’m in the process of applying for Social Security Disability. (Represented by an attorney. The ONLY way to go if you’re considering it.)

Here are some COVID Journal Entries to give you my own words as I described Brain Fog along the way…

10/4/2020
Sunday was one of my worst days. Struggled to breathe all day. Yesterday was better than Sunday. Brain in a fog - very hard to focus. Still in bed now, head swimming, chest pressure/pain, yada, yada...

10/29/2020
I’m really thinking the “brain fog” thing is a real thing. My therapist said that last week she didn’t want to freak me out, but she noticed I was missing words when I was talking to her. She knew the thoughts were there, but when I tried to put them into sentences, I missed saying some words.

3/3/2021
Traffic was slow-going down State St/HWY 44 to Middleton/I-84. So slow, I was sincerely surprised when I got to Middleton thinking I already had driven through it. :O

8/25/2021 [My definition]
“Brain Fog” - inability to focus and stay on point with regular tasks of daily living. (I am a writer and haven’t been able to write anything new in almost a year [now 4] and sometimes it can take an hour or two just to cognitively read through an article…)

12/2/2021
Brain fog has affected my ability to accurately process bookkeeping functions for our e-commerce business (selling hobby greenhouse kits). My errors have cost us at least $10,000 since symptom onset.

3/4/2022
The worst part for me with the brain fog (only one of my many persistent symptoms), is that, in the moment, I think I’m doing [the task] well and then later find I missed steps in the process. IE: Toasting air because I forgot to actually put the bread into the toaster before turning it on; forgetting to process a customer’s payment - to the tune of $3000+ - before shipping out product. Sometimes discovering the error a year later and then having to go through legal channels to collect… things like that. Very frustrating for someone with OCD tendencies and a stickler for details! I feel I’m letting people down, including myself.

5/8/2024
Brain Fog has led me to continually make costly errors in our business operations. While I have seen great improvement in the majority of the cardiopulmonary symptoms, Brain Fog remains the most debilitating. Yesterday, I couldn't even remember what 9 x 7 equals nor the process to figure it out. It was a security question for [grand]parental controls for YouTube [grand]Kids :/ Everyone advises me to "write things down so you won't forget". The problem is, in the time it would take to find something to write "it" down on, "it" is long forgotten. Literally seconds from thought in and out. My husband may ask me what I'm doing, and my response is often, "I'm wandering". I can't count the times in a day I'm staring into the refrigerator or cabinet trying to figure out why. I eventually do, but the process takes up SO MUCH TIME, my days are far from efficient or productive. I struggle to have an intelligent conversation because I'm always searching for the proper words. IE:"You know, that actor who was in that movie about, you know. He was also in that movie with that actress, you know, who was in that show..." And so it goes. Every time I turn around another week [month, year] has passed, in which I rarely knew what day it was. I have absolutely no concept of time. In general, thinking is exhausting.

I could go on, but you described it very well.

I experienced ALL of the above except the time lapses after getting Covid in 3/21 and Long Covid around December. I also would put words/phrases in the wrong order, have trouble concentrating and focusing and (a big problem for work) understanding new concepts or basic directions. Much improvement since 2021, especially in the speaking coherently vein, but the remnants are still there and symptoms are exacerbated by stress.