Susceptibility to Stress and Depression

Jim - It is so hard with long Covid when the medical community can’t offer assistance. Been there too. I have found that sleep and structure are helpful. I take Trazodone for sleep and it really helps. And every day I have structure so I have purpose and something to focus on. Some days are really bad and I cannot complete my “structure,” however. I also find walking helps. And I watch my thoughts, and work to reframe the negative into positive.

Congratulations to both of you for attempting to turn a bad situation into something positive. I have been at this challenge for over 3 years. Like you, both, I have good days that are so encouraging and then, bad that are depressing. One day of activity and fun really picks me up, so I schedule things even though it doesn't always work out. I try to stay active but my shortness of breath and accompanying symptoms often prevent me from full participation and/or I crash afterwards. I, too, have emotional ups and downs that affect my husband and family. They have been super supporters, though. I know I have depressive symptoms but try to think them away. Journaling daily has been a life-saver. Structure and staying in touch with others is my strategy, too. I'm going through yet another set of tests with a new Neurologist. All the results so far are normal, except elevated B6. One more test this week - Tilt Table Test. I know better than to hope for a quick cure. Appreciate both of your thoughts.

I can relate. I'm lucky to live in Rochester , close to Mayo Clinic. I was hospitalized with Covid in February, and admitted to their post-covid rehab program 3 months later. It's been a struggle all along. Progress has gone.in fits and starts but now I'm very glad to be functioning at about 40% of what I used to be able to do before Covid.

I've had PT, OT, a sleep consult, and CBT therapy to help me adjust to the devastating life changes. There was a synergy among all of them. I'm now at a point where I've made good progress and learned coping techniques to keep the progress going. I don't need to have any more appointments unless I want to. I still practice everything I was taught and it's still helping

Three things are helping me remarkably with both physical stamina and mental acuity. They 're totally free and I can do them on my own. They're easy to describe but trickier to learn and do consistently.

The first is setting my fitness watch for a reminder every hour for a 15 minute break. The second is taking 5 of those minutes for a brain break, eyes closed, all electronics and sounds turned off, my mind completely empty. The other 10 minutes are just sitting and resting. The third thing is breaking work and exercise into 45-minute tasks, while truly listening to my brain's and body's messages to me, and doing what feels good and adjusting the work/rest/sleep/thinking as needed while keeping the good principles I've learned in mind.

It often seems like a waste of time, like nothing is happening, and yet on the days I'm able to do all these, I find I actually accomplish more, and have more stamina and mental acuity and energy. If I get lazy about them for a few days, the mental and physical fatigue come back and I crash. The real burst of progress for me came a couple of months ago, when I started taking all three seriously and doing my best to practice them every day.

@Lucy,
I just wanted to give you pre-warning on the "tilt table test" which I wish someone provided me.

I merely thought it was a table that would tilt up/down monitoring my heart rate - not the case! They attach these many probs to your leg to test the amount of sweat disbursed, or something of that nature, and when they turn them on it's absolutely brutal! I was unprepared for this, and doctor never told me about it.

The tech said, "you will feel a slight burning sensation when I turned them on." For me, it was absolutely brutal and it last about 8 min and feels like 8 hours! When I was done, I had to be taken out in a wheelchair. I WISH I NEVER DID THE TEST.

In an effort to change topic on the test, I'm hoping others can chime in and let us know what anti-depressants they are taking to help. I've been suffering now for 3 very long years and been down the path of practicing relaxing, yoga, tai chi, etc., all to no avail. Because of the EXTREME stress and what Covid does to our nervous system, I'm down to 90 lbs. Normal weight is 127 lbs. And this includes eating every hour to include high calorie protein shakes, etc.

Hugs

My understanding is that like our bodies, our emotions are impacted by central sensitization, which is basically a physical version of PTSD, where the central nervous system is stuck in the “fight or flight” phase. This, in turn, is causing massive inflammation, including, for me, inflammation in the region of the brain responsible for processing (confirmed via PET scan). So, for me, when I experience stress, I can’t quite get to the place where my rational brain is in control due to this processing speed deficit and it makes my emotions much more raw and my responses much more emotional. Then because this takes so much effort by my brain when it’s already inflamed, I am quite exhausted and if I need to keep dealing with the stress, my responses turn in to something like a 12 year-old would do. At this point, I’m not working and taking steps to minimize stress and working at keeping my central nervous system balanced (which is really hard to do) to try to get that inflammation down. So, my thought is that you’re probably dealing with something like this too, but every situation is unique, and I don’t know if the brain inflammation is the same for everyone, so this is just my two cents. Fun times 🙄😩

I think the overall fatigue lends to feeling like I can’t keep up with my life. This certainly makes me feel overwhelmed and depressed. Couple that with isolation from normal social activity and it’s a perfect storm for anxiety and depression. To combat this, I have tried to plan something fun each month. I have something to look forward to and it keeps me motivated. So far it is working, but I still have my moments.

I just had an EMG which is not pleasant either. I felt the after effects for at least a day. Interesting, my granddaughter had a tilt table test and did not mention the pain you felt. I'm going through with it, though. Will report back.

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the responses immensely. I had not thought of CBT, something my wife found very helpful in another context, and I like the concept of integrating various physical and mental approaches. I will also start a detailed journal of symptoms occurrences and the circumstances to see if I spot any patterns. I know, I know, I should have been doing that all along.

The remaining physical tests for me are likely a simultaneous colonoscopy and endoscopy to see if I have contracted some sort of infection in my digestive system, something I have read can happen with the reduced immunity from Covid/long Covid. After that doctors have run out of suggestions.

One study is trying microdoses of Naltrexone, aka Narcan. I decided against joining that study.

As a final note, along the way I have been misdiagnosed as having lost half my lung function (I haven't) and told by a prominent specialist that long Covid was nothing more than a figment of my imagination. Super annoying.

Jim

Check out this YouTube tonight at 7 PM:
https://cbs12.com/watch-sharyl-attkisson-explores-long-covid-vax-side-effects-in-town-hall-tuesday-september-12-2023-dr-pierre-kory

As promised, I am reporting back after my Tilt Table Test. It brought back my Covid symptoms (blurriness, dizzy, some nausea, weak tingling legs and feet, and SOB), was not fun but didn't have probes attached to my legs. Took me all day to recover. I do not have POTS (good news) but given my symptoms, the suggestion was to drink more fluids and add more salt to my diet. Surprise, surprise - not anything earth shattering, just like the other "medical experts" comment.