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Long-Haul Covid and Asthma Diagnosis (anyone)?
I was horribly sick for a several months last year (Nov, Dec and into Jan) with severe Covid-like symptoms. My PCP would not see me in person because of the Covid symptoms and only offered pep talks through video chat … so I suffered through it all at home. Finally got to a pulmo in Jan and after testing he immediately diagnosed me with moderate persistent asthma (I am 57).
Fast forward to today and I am doing much better. Still working with pulmo group and through addition testing they have ruled out COPD, Bronchiectasis, lung cancer, ILD’s, etc. And my current spirometry results show “stunning” improvement per my pulmo. So he remains adamant in his asthma diagnosis.
Now he agrees that I likely had severe Covid late last year and the asthma is my gift that keeps on giving from Covid. He also says that at this point it really doesn’t matter what triggered my asthma (Covid or whatever) because my lungs are fundamentally fine and suggests that it’s pointless to dwell on what might have caused this. Anyway, my asthma is seemingly improving, very slowly, over time … I have a few good days, and then a bad one where my chest tightens-up, breathing feels labored, and I produce sticky, white phlegm (annoying and tiring). Has anyone else received an asthma diagnosis post-Covid, and if so … do you see it improving over time?
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I was diagnosed with an asthmatic reaction post-Covid back in August 2022. I had Covid in late July and went on paxlovid. Then about five days or so after the last dose of that started with shortness of breath. Upon going to urgent care and my doctor for a couple of weeks trying to to get it figured out, I then went to pulmonologist and was told by him that I have had an asthmatic reaction post-Covid. I do not have a history of asthma though, but have had some episodes of bronchitis a few times. Just wondering if anybody else has had this happen. I am on a steroid inhaler for at least until I see him again after Thanksgiving.
@avc529 With as serious as Covid can be for the lungs, it makes sense that it can cause asthma. Years ago, I had numerous respiratory infections within a year, and the doctor said that it may have been pneumonia after a chest X-ray. That left me with permanent asthma, and as I developed allergies to seasonal pollen and molds, it became allergic asthma. This might not be what you want to hear, but since Covid causes a type of pneumonia, it can scar the lungs. That diminishes lung function, so prevention of illnesses that can induce more scarring and fibrous tissue in the lungs is important. If the lungs don't expand properly and move, it can trap phlegm causing more problems and loose efficiency for absorbing oxygen.
I knew that I would be high risk for Covid because of asthma and my age, so I have taken a lot of precautions. When your lungs are reactive, it helps to identify and reduce your triggers. I do allergy shots which lowers my body inflammation. I have identified foods that trigger asthma and avoid them. I use antihistamines and expectorants if I have phlegm. An inhaler works too, but an expectorant can prevent needing an inhaler if used when the problem begins. I also use HEPA filters in my home. Those need to be maintained and media changed, as well as high quality furnace filters, and keeping the home clean. Your lungs have to deal with everything that is inhaled including dust, smoke, air pollution particulate and any chemical exposure from fragrances, cleaning products, solvents, or formaldehydes in building materials. There are safer cleaning products. It becomes a big problem when your lungs are reactive. It does help if the bedroom is a "clean room" with HEPA air filtration while you sleep , so your lungs get a break.
What steps do you think will help you by making changes in your home environment?
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1 ReactionRead today Fauci says the new ones are evading the antibodies
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1 Reaction@avc529 Absolutely asthma is being seen after Covid. With luck, as your body heals, it will stop. The steroid inhaler is good for trying to open and relax the airways. We're you also given a quick-acting "rescue" inhaler of albuterol or levalbuterol for those times when you are very short of breath?
Sue
Yes. Albuterol as a rescue inhaler. I don’t have to use it much. Doctor said he thought I’d recover 100%, but I still have a hard time sometimes getting deep breaths. I yawn more than normal at times trying to catch a deep breath. Walking doesn’t bother me. I wonder if I catch a cold even if it will set me back, so I try to be careful where I go. Thank you for your response.
I am starting to notice these things. I painted a bathroom with latex water-based paint and noticed I needed my inhaler at night because of trying to catch deep breaths. I have been vaccinated and boosted. My primary doctor asked if I had asthma as a child, or grew up around secondhand smoke. No asthma as a child, but my dad was a heavy smoker and I grew up in the 60’s with that issue. Bad for developing lungs. Thank you for your response. I plan on changing more cleaning products and will assess other household contributors. Thanks, again.
Yes, me too. My story is on here somewhere, but quickly; I had Covid BAD a bit less than two years ago and persistent asthma was my long-Covid gift. A notable pulmonary group here in Atlanta has given me every imaginable test and they have been resolute in their diagnosis. Fast forward one year and ten months, I am GREATLY improved; no SOB ever and there is nothing physical that I can’t handle (which is remarkable considering that I could barely walk 10-feet at one point). Yet I still produce excess mucus at times (this still comes and goes). And I’ve weaned off most of the meds, save for a steroid inhaler (that I now use only every other day). So yes … Covid can yield asthma and I suggest that it could take some time to settle. I was told up to two years (and that seems to be the case for me).
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4 ReactionsThank you for your response.
I'm new tonight so I may be posting something that belongs somewhere else.
I had covid in February 2020 ("before the pandemic hit the US"). I never fully recovered.
In the summer of 2021, I ended up in the ICU on oxygen for over a week with triple pneumonia. My pulmonologist was "frankly baffled." About two weeks after my release, he called me into his office and showed me all my lung scans. He said he was still a bit bewildered but the best conclusion he could come to was that I had a "rare reaction to mold, type unspecifiied" because it appeared that I had fungal growth actually in my lungs.
I had never tested positive for covid. Even though, on March 3rd, 2020 I begged my primary care doc for one of the new "novel coronavirus" tests. She said I couldn't have one because I "hadn't been to China" (remember those days?) So, I have no diagnosis of covid in my medical record. Which means doctors don't believe me when I tell them things like: "I have been bedbound since I was sick in February 2020" and "I can't walk more than 10 feet without sitting down" and "when I try to pay my bills or organize my finances, I feel like I've had six shots of tequila" etc. So my pulmonologist last summer never made the connection between my weird fungal thing/pneumonia and covid.
I bring this up because, literally, a week ago someone on Twitter mentioned "strange fungal infections" as a possible post-covid thing.
So, yeah, I have asthma now. Among other things.
Just sharing that in case you folks haven't heard about it. I am still bedbound and have multiple air filters running because I worry about mold now.
Good luck everyone. <3
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3 ReactionsReply to otter 2154: This is very encouraging. I was diagnosed with asthma 3 months after covid. Thank you!
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3 Reactions