Anesthesia with long covid

I’m a 58 year old female just entered menopause. Fairly active at the gym. Good health prior to Covid in Dec 2022. I’m 7 weeks post-op from wrist surgery. 4 months out from acute Covid infection. I had some lingering GI issues prior to surgery/general anesthesia, but was getting back to my regular routine - gym, work, etc. Then, broke my wrist - extensive rebuild - plate, pins, screws. It seems the anesthesia trigger a massive histamine dump in my body and I awoke with many symptoms - Debilitating:
Dizziness 1+ weeks. Unable to walk to bathroom. Still unsteady in shower. Still shower stool for now.
Mild to moderate diarrhea 5+ weeks. This is improving after 2+ weeks low histamine diet plus DAO enzyme prior to each meal.
Weight loss since surgery 16-18 pounds.
Fatigue. Improved not completely resolved
Headache - on right side of head - mostly resolved
Fast heart rate - much improved
Fluttering in chest - seems tied to fatigue
Trouble sleeping - improving
Anxiety - improving
Lack of concentration- mostly improved
Right calf heaviness - seems tied to fatigue. Mostly resolved.
Calves/feet very cold at times -Improving

My primary care ran bloodwork, urine, stool - all normal. I have appt with UF Health Long Covid Clinic in Gainesville, FL in 2 weeks.

Besides the low-histamine diet and DAO enzyme before each meal, I drink golden milk twice a day (ginger, tumeric, coconut oil, coconut milk drink).

All while trying to rehab this wrist. No where near able to do normal daily routine.

Hoping to sort out how much of this is long Covid, anesthesia, menopause, etc.

I’m thankful for the improvements, but it’s been a slow process.

Thanks for the response and sharing your experience, much appreciated.

You are welcome! Also forgot to mention I’m taking Allegra and Flonase daily. Personally, I’d push out any procedure that isn’t urgent.

I am on the same boat - I react funny to sedation/ antesthetic even before long COVID so I am putting off both endoscopy and colonoscopy for this reason. However, as my symptoms are mostly GI I feel pressured to do both tests as Drs are in a "wait until these results come back" phase. I feel they will be normal and a waste of time and I am tempted to just navigate this on my own with healthy diet, etc. I feel Drs dont know much about GI long COVID and they are just trying to rule out other stuff.

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For an endoscopy and colonoscopy you will most likely have propofol sedation and no anesthetic gas. I have had this for bronchoscopy and a ureteral stent placement without any post procedure issues.

Thanks so much for this. I appreciate it. I had some weird reactions to local anesthetic after having covid, so I was wondering how my body make take sedation differently.

I think you are right, it's probably propofol sedation. Good to know that you didn't have any issues. How many months out from covid were you when you had the sedation?

The bronchoscopy was just 2 months after getting off oxygen and6 months after COVID. Pulmonary function test showed diminished diffusion so I was worried about anesthesia. Propofol worked fine and no insult to my lungs.