Finally going to see primary doctor (Long Covid)

Posted by da69 @da69, Sep 19, 2022

Finished TMS treatment for depression and only help i have noticed is my sleep.
Long story short i have always had depression and zoloft worked for 20+ yrs until i got covid in January and may have had it before and not known it.
My symptoms were just sneezing and runny nose.
I now have been suffering with anxiety which i have never had in my life along with terrible fatigue...I am always tired and if i do anything physical i breathe heavy.
My Meds doc at the TMS and mental health center wants me to see primary care doctor to rule out other issues.
He has switched me from viibryd to 200 mg of luvox at bed time for ocd ( ruminating thoughts)...I still take Klonopin 0.5mg at night and as needed otherwise for anxiety.
My anxiety can come up at anytime for no reason and no triggers.
He thinks i may have long covid and says he sees a couple long covid patients.
My question is...How do i approach my primary care doctor besides telling him the obvious?
If all my bloodwork and tests come back fine...Then what?
Who actually can diagnose you with long covid and how is it treated?
This cronic fatigue and anxiety has made life miserable and i am a shell of my once self.
I can function but only just enough to barely get by every day.
It is beating me down more every day.
Thanks

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You haven't had any tests yet or a conversation with your Primary care doc, so until you do I think you are getting ahead of yourself. I am also no sure why your TMS doc is speculating you have long covid? Especially since that almost means nothing in tha long covid is not a defined disease in which they have a treatment for but a classification for a chronic condition that has a wide range of symptoms which from people I know and have read about receive treatment almost as varied. I would pursue a doctor who has other patients who have "long covid" / chronic symptoms and has an interest in pursuing your situation proportionate to your need for relief. Hopefully it is your current primary doc....

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Sadly, people don't understand the is no treatment until you get it that is. Im 2.7 years sick and still have months to wait for a covid clinic appt. Wait was 8 months (plus the 1.5 years they wouldn't take me as I didn't have lab oroof of testing positive. My labs are perfect. Even tho I had a collapsed lung the Dr said I could be short of breath because I'm fat! I had a collapsed lung!

People don't get it. There is dead, alive, and sometimes wish you had died. There is no treatment. Hope someday you feel better and tell people about it though it's now announced its over - we are heading into winter and with spikes come worse variants! still 400 dying a day and long covid numbers going up as well as preexisting condition so much worse, disability rolls climbing. People never understood disability until they need it also.

Then the deniers - until they are on their Death bed.

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@bunzman

You haven't had any tests yet or a conversation with your Primary care doc, so until you do I think you are getting ahead of yourself. I am also no sure why your TMS doc is speculating you have long covid? Especially since that almost means nothing in tha long covid is not a defined disease in which they have a treatment for but a classification for a chronic condition that has a wide range of symptoms which from people I know and have read about receive treatment almost as varied. I would pursue a doctor who has other patients who have "long covid" / chronic symptoms and has an interest in pursuing your situation proportionate to your need for relief. Hopefully it is your current primary doc....

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Yes i am now going to see my primary care doc...Had you read in my post he also is treating my anxiety and worsening depression and is my meds doc for my symptoms....When you sit in a chair for 30 minutes 5 days a week for 6 weeks....You talk and things come up....Like when i had covid...Also the fact that i never had anxiety before and i am exhausted and winded from just normal activities....So yes he suggested i see my primary doc to rule out other causes.
Pardon me for not being well versed on something i didn't know exsisted till a couple months ago!.

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@da69

Yes i am now going to see my primary care doc...Had you read in my post he also is treating my anxiety and worsening depression and is my meds doc for my symptoms....When you sit in a chair for 30 minutes 5 days a week for 6 weeks....You talk and things come up....Like when i had covid...Also the fact that i never had anxiety before and i am exhausted and winded from just normal activities....So yes he suggested i see my primary doc to rule out other causes.
Pardon me for not being well versed on something i didn't know exsisted till a couple months ago!.

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I was responding to your following (s) statements.
"My Meds doc at the TMS and mental health center wants me to see primary care doctor to rule out other issues."
My question is…"How do i approach my primary care doctor besides telling him the obvious?"
So I understood you were not well-versed and there is nothing to be apologetic for. Just that being told you have long covid means literally nothing, and that I would strongly advise based on knowing and hearing from quite a few "long covid" patients that you seek out a doc that has other patients suffering from chronic symptoms and shows an interest in your case/situation from that perspective.

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My doc at the UIC long Covid center had me do a long page questionnaire as part of the long Covid study I am in. You may want to Google the survey questions below and bring completed copies to your GP to objectively lay out how your long Covid is presenting.
There’s the first page, which I attached.
2nd page is Chalder fatigue scale - 7
Next is IES - 6 about stress
Then PHQ - 9 about how you’re physically feeling
Then GAD - 7 about anxiety
Then MMRC about respiratory function
Then EQ - 5D- 5L about ability to do activities
Then one on pain and depression

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@da69

Yes i am now going to see my primary care doc...Had you read in my post he also is treating my anxiety and worsening depression and is my meds doc for my symptoms....When you sit in a chair for 30 minutes 5 days a week for 6 weeks....You talk and things come up....Like when i had covid...Also the fact that i never had anxiety before and i am exhausted and winded from just normal activities....So yes he suggested i see my primary doc to rule out other causes.
Pardon me for not being well versed on something i didn't know exsisted till a couple months ago!.

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Hi
This long COVID is real. We all know more about ourselves than any Dr. Ever could. You are doing great advocating for yourself! Being here communicating with each other is helpful! I got it before they were calling it COVID. Drs want to toss me around specialist to specialist. Want to medicate
I cut out all Pharma and alcohol a year ago. Working on healthy lifestyle!!!
My symptoms have morphed throughout my body
My healthiest in time was cranial sacral and lymph drain massage
My therapist died during COVID. I for the last three months have had unmanageable diarrhea. Colonoscopy next week. Be your best advocate. Do you research

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I have had diarrhea since i’ve recovered from Covid in September. When the extreme fatigue and brain fog lifted up, I have been having every fecal tests known to man -all negative- , had an X-ray and a CT scan of the stomach area, all ok. And now my physician wants to see me in two months. There are a few trials for using the antiviraldoctors give when you get the virus initially.
I never got it in the first place since I was abroad when I had Covid. Those trials have been successful in treating gut issues with more of the same medication, but for 15 days instead of 5. Since it is only yin te trial stages my physician will not prescribe it. I know it is the solution !!! What an be done???

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@da69

Yes i am now going to see my primary care doc...Had you read in my post he also is treating my anxiety and worsening depression and is my meds doc for my symptoms....When you sit in a chair for 30 minutes 5 days a week for 6 weeks....You talk and things come up....Like when i had covid...Also the fact that i never had anxiety before and i am exhausted and winded from just normal activities....So yes he suggested i see my primary doc to rule out other causes.
Pardon me for not being well versed on something i didn't know exsisted till a couple months ago!.

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How have you been feeling? I just wrote a post about my condition, which seems similar to yours. Just awful fatigue, fogginess, sadness, anxiety, you name it.

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I’ve had long covid since July 2022, but it wasn’t until I saw a second rheumatologist in Jan. 2023 that all of my horrible symptoms finally got diagnosed as long covid. So my advice is to see a rheumatologist — they are really the only doctors that are good problem solvers anyways so it makes sense.
I definitely believe your severe anxiety issues could be long covid related. My son has suffered from anxiety and depression off and on for several years. He got covid on the exact same day as me, but our early and long haul symptoms have been wildly different — for me, it attacked my knees and gave me widespread pain that has lasted for months, for him his very first symptoms were severe anxiety and panic attacks that were way above normal and seemingly out of nowhere at the time, and his depression and anxiety have been especially bad ever since (also got TMS treatment which unfortunately made him worse). My personal theory is that covid attacks people wherever they’re weakest and/or makes existing problems 10x worse.

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Couldn't agree more on your hypothesis that - "covid attacks people wherever they’re weakest" - and in the case of Long Covid hangs around for months - years giving them more agony / pain than they ever had with their original problem.

If they had diabetes but no neuropathy - Their Long Covid immune system will introduce them to neuropathy.

If they had orthopedic problems - their long covid will make those joint pains hurt more than ever before.

Slight gastric problems become debilitating life changers with everything in your gut knocking you to your knees. Cramps, diarrhea, acid reflux, gas, constipation, nausea .... If it can happen in your guts - it will flare up with long covid.

Fatigue, headaches, nerve pains, exhaustion, Tennis, dizziness .... Yes - if you had it before, it will come back 10X worse.
I just don't know why it is such a mystery. With all the similar symptoms - don't we know what key organs are at risk and don't we have the technology to check them to see if they are being damaged? Don't we have treatment, medicine or test to examine the sympthoms and provide even the minuscule level of care. I'm not looking for opioids' for pain just maybe a probiotic targeted for covid or an anti-inflammatory for joint pain or something as simple as apply heat or cold - anything from a medical professional other than that blank stare.

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