Dealing with Post Covid making depression worse, anyone else?

Hi Colleen The phone appointment was OK just same old questions plus the psychiatrist they have me assigned to works remotely and lives in Chicago! They increased my Effexor to 300mg and I've only been taking that dose for a week so not sure how long before I might notice a difference, doctor didn't say? Thanks so much for responding 😊

Thanks for adding me, I am happy to have found this online help! I have had back problems and pain for 40 years. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in 2000, and I have been treated for this from an MD, ever since. I have been on various types of antidepressants for about 25 years, for major depression. Since Covid began and I was completely isolated in a small town, Anxiety came to my party and it has not left. Oh and I have PTSD from several episodes of trauma too gross to describe here. So I guess it is a fact that my Anxiety just grew worse during Covid lock down. I have had tested positive for Covid in 12/20 and in 03/21. I think those dates are correct. My brain fog, always present in Fibro, is so much worse now. I have felt that I might have Covid again, about 5 times since, but tested negative. So I guess I have long Covid. Here is a very odd fact; my Fibro body-wide pain which is usually at about 7 out of 10, with medication, completely disappeared when I had Covid the first time. My doctor thought maybe the virus occupied that part of my brain that sends out pain signals. As my Covid symptoms disappeared, my pain came back. I moved away from that area and I no longer have a doctor to take time to listen to long Covid problems.

I have heard that low dose naltrexone helps that. Look it up. If you are in the states you can get it on line.

Hello, @mamafluh.
Thank you so much for sharing your story with us.
I remember hearing the radio on one occasion, and one occasion only in my life. It happened when my child was born many years ago. I had gone through a really difficult and long delivery. I recall the nurses talking about it and saying they did not wish something similar on their worst enemies. The water had broken at dawn at 4:40 a.m. My daughter was born at 10:30 at night. I was so happy everything went well with her but to this day ... I’ll never understand WHY in the course of those many, and painful hours, I wasn’t given a C-section instead of having to go through so many hours of struggling and suffering. As a result of this, I got a hemorrhage, I nearly fainted twice, and I got a high fever. So, instead of being at the hospital for a few days only, I spent 10 days there before being able to finally go home with my beautiful newborn child.

It was while I was still in the hospital, after suffering that hemorrhage, and while in great physical pain, with very little sleep, and a high fever, that I experienced something that scared the heck out of me: I had a hallucination one night. It must have been on my sixth or seventh day at that hospital.

When I came back home my little one got colics, so I continued to get very little sleep. Nevertheless, I remember being so happy about having my baby girl. I remember also that after a week or so (after returning home) I had what you describe as an auditory hallucination. I had fallen asleep, but when I woke up it was as if the radio had been on. But it wasn't. It happened a couple of times, but I still can recall it vividly because, in the aftermath of what had happened, I remember trying to figure out how and why something like that could have happened.

As a matter of fact, before reading your message today, I believed it had something to do with my stressful job. I had been working as a freelance journalist at the radio station of a public broadcasting corporation for years. I have always thought that it must have been because of my job. Now for the first time, I hear of someone who has had a similar experience to mine. Thank you so much for allowing me to understand something I never understood. I know I had been trying to ask friends and family to find out if any of them ever had experienced anything similar, but nobody had.
Until you write about it and I happen to read it here today.

I see you wrote this about a year ago. I hope you are doing fine. I wish you all the best, and I wish you a Merry Christmas, and a very Happy New Year!

Hi. I am so sorry you are going through such a hard time. I am in a similar boat- covid x2 and long covid for over a year. It is hard enough to deal with symptoms, let alone “defend” your health time and time again. It is exhausting and invalidating. I hear and understand you. I validate the horrible illness you are experiencing. I have not worked almost for a year now and do not recognize myself anymore- 34 very active and social- I long for the day I am that person again. You will get through this- I know it feels like forever- sending positive thoughts your way. Remember- you are not alone.

I've been off work since testing positive for Covid on 12/19 due to a horrendous cough and my anxiety and depression are through the roof! I'm quite sure the social isolation has a lot to do with it as well.