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I am so sorry— how frightening for you! So I hesitate to suggest this, as you may have tried it already? But you are in a terrible situ, completely without medical support, and you need it. Have you looked into telehealth? There are practioners in your state who could see you via zoom for your mental health needs, and that is vital! I access NP ( nurse practitioners) for as many telehealth appts as I can. They’re often better than Drs. Also: you don’t mention which state you are in, but there are often Long Covid clinics in-state, depending on where you are at. If you call and explain you are desperate for help, often you can get someone to refer you to the next practitioner; this is not to say you won’t be calling Dr. A, who refers to Dr. B’s office, who suggests Dr.C… etc. BUT— you must keep at it until you find someone— anyone— who will help. You may also call a clinic (Mayo? John Hopkins? Mt. Sinai?) and ask for assistance. They may be able to connect you to a clinic/individual who can help you. If your insurance allows— and many do because it is cheaper for them— see if you can connect with a nutritionist. IF you have insurance ( BOOOOO! Can’t stand em’!) they may be able to help you connect to mental health help and nutritionists at the very least.
This is long, I know: but.
Long haul Covid is exhausting. It is SO hard to do all the calling/coordinating I mentioned above… but you must. I’m in an urban area and still I have really struggled to find anyone who doesn’t just pat me on my head and send me on my way. You must hang in there. Do it in small segments, but DO IT— for you!!
Replies to "I am so sorry— how frightening for you! So I hesitate to suggest this, as you..."
I didn’t mean to sound like I’m in need of an MD. I have one and I’m seeing him in 2 days. I have a psychiatrist and a “talk” therapist. I have a case manager who picks me up every other week to go out to a quick meal, a quick trip to Walmart or a ride to the bank to take some cash out. I have a cardiologist, I have a cardiovascular surgeon, a pulmonologist, a gastroenterologist, All of them make me realize that I have all these people. Some have Telehealth instead of a 15 minute ride to their office. So my State has one of the best Medicaid plans in the country (blue state).
Rhode Island is extremely blue. Plus I have Medicare and social security. I’m also disabled. I can’t complain about what is available to me. We have three major hospitals plus a trauma hospital. All free for me. We have Brown University that turns out doctors and other medical professionals.
I did have covid last summer. There are 48 residents here. Two passed away and I spent months in quarantine because most of us are high risk and most of us got covid. Mild for me because I took two vaccines and two boosters. I know, my sister is an anti-vaxxer and we don’t talk about our differences. We’ll go out for lunch and leave out politics and vaccines. She never got covid though.
I happened to have gone to hospital #1 ER for something unrelated but they did a CTscan like most ER visits entail and the ER doctor came into the exam room where I was laying down in and said “ we are going to have to transfer you to #2 hospital for emergency surgery " (a trauma hospital). Reason?
They found an aortic aneurysm and it was torn!
Great, they packaged me and ambulanced me to #2 hospital. When I got there they checked and probed me and said “we’ll, you are going to need to come back to the hospital but right now it isn’t bleeding so we feel you are stable enough to be discharged.” They strongly advised me to see my cardiovascular surgeon (yes, I actually have one).
I told him the hospital wants me to see you ASAP. He said “all hospitals say that “ and was clearly annoyed that I messed up his patient schedule.
They did an echo and he said “I didn’t see anything “ this doctor has been following me yearly because of the aneurysm. He claimed 2 years in a row that I had one and now says he didn’t see it. Smelled fishy to me. Two hospitals seeing 2 cardiovascular surgeons said I had one and it had a tear in it. I asked him as he was rushing out the door if it could burst. He said “it could!” I said I thought you said you didn’t see anything and now you’re saying it could burst?” He said “oh we have ways to deal with that.”
I know that if my aneurysm burst, it’s usually fatal! I’m on blood thinners and a torn aneurysm bursting is more likely to happen than not. Thin blood flows out quicker. A 5cm aneurysm is the surgery baseline. Even if it’s not torn. Mine was at 4cm as of last year.
I’m looking for a second opinion as this surgeon was a jerk. I have a mechanical heart valve. The reason for my thinner.
Anyway, I have really gone off topic but once I get going I can’t be stopped LOL. So yes, I’m a mess. Pardon me for the long post.
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I live in on the south side of Wisconsin. I've seen so many Doc's and specialists all to no avail and told the same thing, "we don't treat LT Covid." I was even at Mayo! Unfortunately, left to only see an internal MD at Mayo who was terrible and of no help. I've been doing it and fighting for 3 long years ago with so many Doctors, unbelievable number of tests to include spinal tap (awful) MRI's, CT, Scans, Ultrasounds, tons of blood work, all to no avail.
I would love to find someone who is knowledgeable about treating LT Covid. I know I need medication for the unbelievable anxiety/depression which is off the charts. I just tried Zoloft which made things worse.
That's why I'm interested in knowing what others are taking for anxiety/depression. I realize meds will differently for everyone, but there might be a common denominator.
Yesterday and today is such a terrible day, I don't know how I can continue like this. I'm literally withering away at 90 lbs.
Hugs & Love to all