What is long covid?

Long Covid describes a cluster of ongoing symptoms that persist weeks or months after initial infection with the virus. People with long Covid would typically have recovered from their acute symptoms and even tested negative for the virus.

It is worth pointing out at this point that chronic fatigue and related symptoms are not unique to Covid-19 and have plagued millions of people for years following infection with other viruses.

Unfortunately, conventional medicine has largely dismissed this cluster of symptoms, explaining them off as anxiety, depression, or sadly as 'all in the mind'.

What are some of the typical symptoms?

• Physical and mental exhaustion, typically affecting daily activities like walking, housework, gardening, and so on.

• Breathlessness

• Ongoing flu-like symptoms-"I've got this flu that never seems to go"

• Brain fog-"I feel like my head is full of cotton wool"

• Low mood, anxiety, and depression.

• Insomnia

• Constant headaches or migraines

• Joint pain and muscle pain.

• Heart problems like palpitations and low blood pressure

• Gut symptoms ranging from bloating, diarrhoea, constipation, and indegestion.

Why long covid?

At this point you might be asking yourself many questions:

Why do only some people end up with long Covid or how does it happen?

How long does long Covid last if you were to have it?

Do people fully recover from long Covid?

These are all important questions, and to answer some of them we need to briefly understand how covid-19 interacts with our bodies. This is a rapidly evolving area, and our knowledge about the virus increases daily.

In fact, a study showed Covid-19 may be present in the cells of some affected up to six months after the initial infection. This is not unique to Covid-19, and is a quality shared by other viruses or bacteria like chickenpox, herpes, HIV, or hepatitis.

A virus' main goal is to survive inside the host that it inhabits, so to cause fatality is not what is expected. We know that infection with Covid-19 causes an exaggerated immune response, leading to widespread or systemic inflammation. It may then affect people with compromised immunity or physiological function more severely, causing an immune overreaction and inability to recover. This would explain why people with underlying health conditions have been more vulnerable. This systemic inflammation can then potentially affect different body systems to various degrees, depending on the individual.

The damage by Covid-19 doesn't stop at the immune system, however, and as the virus replicates, it leads to oxidative stress thus depleting the body's antioxidants like glutathione and others, while also disrupting the body's detoxification pathways. The resulting damage can potentially lead to mitochondrial damage (causing fatigue) and also negatively impact the gut microbiome, potentially leading to leaky gut and brain inflammation. Systemic inflammation could potentially trigger a wide variety of autoimmune disorders, potentially also explaining the varied symptoms seen.

How can I improve my long Covid symptoms?

Like many similar chronic diseases like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and fibromyalgia, to name a few, long Covid does not fit into the diagnostic mould of conventional medicine.

As already mentioned, Covid-19 affects everyone differently. Successful treatment of long Covid, therefore, lies in appreciating the body as a whole, while adopting an individualised approach and personalised support. Practically speaking, this means exploring not only symptoms of long Covid, but digging deep to explore your medical history starting from birth.

In some cases, functional tests might be required to help get a clearer picture. Please get in contact if you would like more information or interested in booking in for a consultation. I offer a free 15 minute call to discuss your case and symptoms.