@sandguy

It's called zoster sine herpete. Like many conditions we have after COVID, it is a reactivation of the chicken-pox virus, minus the rash.

I had brain inflammation, Ramsay Hunt (facial paralysis and a plugged ear for a couple of years). I lost hearing in my left ear. I had nerve pain. There have been random swellings in my lymph nodes. My gut has been a disaster. I frequently required IV fluid therapy regardless of what my gut was doing. The worst has been crushing fatigue. The brain inflammation made me crazy. I couldn't think, write, remember, pay attention, or sleep.

I also thought I was getting dementia!

I've had it twice since I first got COVID at the end of 2022. The last time was in Sept. 2025. I was in the ER for stroke symptoms, but it was internal shingles again. I had sudden facial paralysis and tingling on one side of my body. I'd been to the doctor three times for leg pain. I'm still having problems with pain and deconditioning in my left leg from that bout. It started with excruciating leg pain in mid-August.

I ended up with three kinds of dysautonomia from Long COVID; fibromyalgia, Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia (IST), and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). The last two mean my heart rate is elevated most of the time, including while I'm asleep(!), and anytime I get up from sitting or lying down, or anytime I lean forward or bend at the waist. I didn't know I had those until I went to Mayo in November 2025.

Good times.