My 40 year old daughter was an early Covid long-hauler (infected March 2020) when nothing was known about the full effects. At first she was a major puzzle to her docs, but slowly the news of long-Covid began to emerge. Her health system has an extensive post-Covid assessment and treatment program, and when she first contacted them and asked "How do I know what is from Covid and what is from something else?" they responded "It doesn't make any difference, we need to get you back to your life..."

That said, she was diagnosed post-Covid with rheumatoid arthritis, new to her, but rampant in out family. The rheumatologist said "You probably would have gotten this anyway, just later in life. Covid just revved up the process." On the other hand, she has neurological symptoms that we now know are clearly the result of her severe and prolonged Covid infection.

The philosophy is similar at Mayo - you can learn a lot here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/post-covid-recovery/

Right now, due to the exponential demand for post-Covid services, waits for an appointment just about everywhere are months, not days or weeks. Some programs have even had to close their enrollment. So, if your symptoms can be diagnosed and treated through typical channels, it is a very good idea to move forward, even if you are awaiting a post-Covid appointment. If on the other hand, everyone shakes their heads and says "the tests look normal" it's time to pursue the post-Covid avenue.

I think the bottom line is that you are right! There is a kind of blurry line between what is caused by Covid, what is accelerated by Covid, and what is caused by something else. Time and research may answer our questions.
Sue