1. < Post-COVID Recovery & COVID-19

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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da69 | @da69 | Mar 29, 2023

It is all a Joke...My primary doc don't believe in it and basically said it is all depression.
Not one single med/Supplement..TMS therapy has worked.
Tried switching docs and can't even find one that is accepting new patients.
The work to get into Mayo and get it approved by insurance is exhausting and everytime
we think we have enough to send a referral the insurance wants something else.
Part of my referral requirement is to have a appt scheduled at Mayo.
So i made a appt that i may not be able to keep if insurance denies out of network
referral....If and when they ever stop demanding this or that.
Now i have to see my primary doc again as a requirement
Even though nothing has changed over the many times i have seen him
as well as the mental health center who is managing my symptoms.
My last med prescibed gave me Akathisia so now i am down to .05 milligrams
of klonopin at bed time and as needed for anxiety attacks
and vitiman B-50 complex.
Being off of everything but the above mentioned has not changed anything for the worse or for the better
so why at this point take all the crap the does nothing for me?
I pray insurance covers me for Mayo visit as i have been working for 6 months
to make it happen.
I am sick and tired of my new normal and the hoops you have to jump through
to get the care you need and actually have it help you.

REPLY
1 reply
jforth | @jforth | Mar 31, 2023
In reply to @lbyrd02 "Couldn't agree more on your hypothesis that - "covid attacks people wherever they’re weakest" - and..." + (show)
@lbyrd02

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.

Jump to this post

I hear you. I’ve gotten that “blank stare” along with “this is what happens to you when you turn 50” rubbish from all of the doctors and specialists I’ve seen (with the exception of my second rheumatologist and my naturopath). I was running 3x/week and rock climbing 3x/week before COVID hit me!

REPLY
lindy48 | @lindy48 | Apr 1, 2023
In reply to @da69 "It is all a Joke...My primary doc don't believe in it and basically said it is..." + (show)
@da69

It is all a Joke...My primary doc don't believe in it and basically said it is all depression.
Not one single med/Supplement..TMS therapy has worked.
Tried switching docs and can't even find one that is accepting new patients.
The work to get into Mayo and get it approved by insurance is exhausting and everytime
we think we have enough to send a referral the insurance wants something else.
Part of my referral requirement is to have a appt scheduled at Mayo.
So i made a appt that i may not be able to keep if insurance denies out of network
referral....If and when they ever stop demanding this or that.
Now i have to see my primary doc again as a requirement
Even though nothing has changed over the many times i have seen him
as well as the mental health center who is managing my symptoms.
My last med prescibed gave me Akathisia so now i am down to .05 milligrams
of klonopin at bed time and as needed for anxiety attacks
and vitiman B-50 complex.
Being off of everything but the above mentioned has not changed anything for the worse or for the better
so why at this point take all the crap the does nothing for me?
I pray insurance covers me for Mayo visit as i have been working for 6 months
to make it happen.
I am sick and tired of my new normal and the hoops you have to jump through
to get the care you need and actually have it help you.

Jump to this post

I feel for you! I battled long Covid for months and started feeling somewhat better after 5 months. I went to different doctors and they have no idea how to treat it and basically just write out prescriptions as a guess which can have side effects that you need another prescription for. Not blaming them as covid is unknown. I had a lot of digestive problems and my chiropractor gave me digestive enzymes which helped me within two days. I did some acupuncture which I believe helped kick start the healing process. I currently go to reflexology which is getting me back to 100 percent. Eastern medicine has a power that I never expected nor would have I believed in until I was desperate. I had called Mayo and pretty impossible to get in with long covid, at least it was last fall. The problem is that accupuncture nor reflexology are covered by insurance but I am fortunate that I can afford it. Finding a reflexologist might be another issue but I did and I now know the power of eastern medicine. I will always have a medical doctor but a combination of both has helped me. Hope you can find relief and healing.

REPLY
MrWolf | @mrwolf | Apr 1, 2023

You need to find a sympathetic doctor to the cause, easy to say and not easy to do.
What l am bothered by the medical profession is, they are only treating the symptoms, and that brings other side effects. I am done with all the anxiolytics, sleeping pills and antidepressants. I feel “better” from not taking them, but not from my neuro Covid. I am now accepting this is my new norm and is better than being drugged out of my mind and detached.
Exercise, eat right and try sleep as much as you can.

REPLY
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