Increasing anger, impatience, grumpiness and brain fog after 2.5 years

I had Covid pneumonia in November 2021. Hospitalized for one week. It’s been a horrible year! I am thankful that the only symptom I am still dealing with is the brain fog/lighthead. I’m not dealing with all that you are-but I get the “Am I ever going to feel better” feeling. Every time something happens with my body-I freak out. I recently caught a cold and panicked. I hope you find some relief soon!!

How did the neuropsych evaluation go? Help any? I know you said only 2 years + Covid patients reply but I'm into month 7 and am 74 years old and might not be around for two more years if someone doesn't start treating the ailment. No not treating it but at least start documenting and identifying the ongoing damage. I continually tell my family doctor that I have all the normal symptoms and a few rare like covid tongue and intense pain in my replaced hip. So he finally gave me a referral for an x-ray to my hip, a PT referral and a referral to a neuronal psych. Of course the X-Ray won't show infections (Need MRI) but it did pick up bone deuteriation, so he did a scan for autopoiesis which came back negative - So one would think the next step is an orthopedist and a MRI but not so. I still have my PT referral but with the excruciating pain in my hip, I think I'll wait until the psych cures me.

I do have neurological symptoms like migraines, radiating nerve pains, spinal deuteriation, brain fog and double vision as I assume you do too - I just don't see how a psych can talk me out of them. However, since it took 3 months to get the appointment - I'll try anything. I would have hoped for a real neurologist though.

I just don't understand the run around we are getting. You can't get diagnostic test, most covid treaters won't take walk-ins without a referral and appointments are months out, and family doctors refuse to even supply placebos.
I know there are some promising probiotic studies out there - why not flush the gut since it's been accepted that he covid virus loves that host community and reintroduce new bacteria with new probiotics? We should have data on our past colonoscopies' (They are filmed) why not run another for long covid to see and compare what damage Covid may or may not have done to the intestines?

My concern is the insurance industry (with government help) is prohibiting care due to the volume of patients that have long covid. If they treated it as an illness - the massive volume of care - claims would overwhelm the industry. If this is true, they are trading months - years of my life for a few dollars savings for the insurance industry.

I have dealt with Post-COVID syndrome twice now according to my Mayo doctor starting in January of 2020, so close to three years, following a re-infection in January of this year. I am on long term disability and in pain nearly round the clock now. The only way I have been able to deal with this emotionally is to rely on my determination, my medical teams and actively try each day to appreciate simple joys, meditate (I recommend the FitMind app), be grateful for increasing medical knowledge of post-COVID treatments, and cultivate patience, as hard as that is to do. Focusing on what you can do and telling yourself that you are in charge is empowering, and it works wonders, while we wait for effective treatments. If you are spiritual, praying helps. And try doing anything that is artistic - without judging your talents - it seems to balance out the left brain challenges we are all dealing with. I hope this helps - it isn’t easy having your life capsized but it is somehow oddly comforting knowing so many of us are going through this new post-viral existence together. I hope things get better for you.

Sue I'm more of a professional and like to solve problems rather than ignore them but the medical profession is sticking their head in the sand on this one. They shut down testing, they ignore treatment for long covid, you can't get an appointment for months and even then, you must have a referral from your primary care physician even though my insurance doesn't require it, and the only treatment they will prescribe is wait and it will go away if you don't think about it.

I would think that if you had gastric symptoms such as the nasal drips, covid tongue, gas pains, nausea, cramps and diarrhea one would flush the intestines as though you were prepping for a colonoscopy and resupply with probiotics - that might cost $100 and provide some help. Why not do a colonoscopy and compare it to your last one (They do film them) to see if there is any deuteriation since the last one or even take a stool sample to see if the virus still remains in your system. No not a single attempt to document, investigate or provide any relief - something is not smelling right in Denmark.

Post covid is just brain and other organ injuries. It’s not a lingering virus or something like Lyme. I’m 2/20 too and 63 years old. My symptoms are mostly severe fatigue.

I don't think so - I understand they are finding the virus months after the infection in the gastric system. There is speculation that you could be harboring it in the lungs, heart, brain and nervous systems and it could be moving through your body by penetrating the various linings or barriers like your intestinal walls. I know that after a good bowel movement and a partial emptying of that section of the intestines, my nausea immediately recedes, and I feel better for 10 to 15 minutes - small satisfaction that indicates bloating, and the removal of the irritant may reduce leakage and nausea. Who knows - the doctors are not weighting in on it. What I do know is that the virus is more common and more infectious than ever before and if you're still feeling symptoms months and years later - you need to push for care. This virus will kill you much quicker than old age.

I’m so sorry Covid has affected your life like this. It’s like an alien demon taking over your body. I react the same way you do when I’ve gotten sick. I totally freak out, too. I recently had a lung infection that’s lingering and I’m now worse so I think it’s forever. Thank you for your support. For the well-being of all of us, I hope research finds real treatments with positive outcomes for us. Good luck to you and try to stay in good spirits. I think being grateful for what we do have helps.

Same to you! Hang in there!!

I’m glad your only symptom
is fatigue. Lots of us aren’t as lucky. Did you research long covid on reputable medical websites and/or read all the posts we post on the Mayo Clinic website?

Yes, I am very lucky to only have mostly that symptom and although it is a chronic life altering condition for me there are so many people in the support groups I am involved in that have many more and worse symptoms.

I have been a voracious researcher since this journey began for me 2.5 years ago. I work with data on a daily basis and am lucky enough to also be surrounded by supportive medically inclined people. I've been down the IncellDx road and have full cooperation with my doctor clinically diagnosing me with PCS (Mayo has declined me care even with this and excellent insurance).

If you follow the information and links surrounding the similarities between long COVID and traumatic brain injury you should be able to see where I derived my opinion from. Strange thing is it made so much sense to me after searching for 2.5 years that there is a certain freedom to the conclusion.

An overreaction to inflammation caused be the virus damages the brain tissue for the on/off signals marshaling resources that cause the fatigue. It feels like I'm just getting or getting over the flu, all the time.

Hoping for the best for you and everybody else fighting this!

Bill