COVID19 and Long Haulers

July 14, 2021/Comments Off on COVID19 and Long Haulers

We are all familiar with COVID19.  It has been circling our lives for the last 18-20 months.  What we know is that COVID is more infectious than the common flu.  It appears to attack individuals with comorbidities more than those that do not.  As of July 2021, COVID19 and its variants have taken more than 4,059,220 individual’s lives worldwide and that number increases daily. (Worldometers.info, July 13, 2021, COVID Live Update: 188,404,506 Cases and 4,059,220 Deaths from the Coronavirus – Worldometer (worldometers.info)).  It has affected not just people’s lives but world economies as well.

What continues to elude are the long term affects on individuals who have had COVID.  Initially, we were more concerned about those that ended up in the ICU requiring intubation.  It then became apparent, that it was not just patient’s that ended up in the ICU that we needed to be concerned with; there was another subset of individuals call Long Haulers who also appeared to demonstrate long lasting affects on the heart, lungs. Liver, brain, circulatory system, hemoglobin, and muscles.  Their complaints vary, some might be called systematic failures causing blood clotting, severe pain, fever, brain fog, severe fatigue, heart and lung difficulties (both apparent and not apparent by typical medical imaging), IBS and other gastrointestinal issues.   Some even report that COVID has reactivated previous viruses such as Mononucleosis (Mono), and Lime Disease. 

Having a family member that is a Long Hauler and reading about those with Long Hauler symptoms from various Facebook Groups, I’ve seen and heard the frustration they express.  Some who had mild to no COVID symptoms initially, now have severe post Covid Syndrome and have been dealing with this for almost a year.  They express frustration with physicians and others that don’t believe their symptoms are real or that send them on a wild goose chase in search of the magic cure to end their suffering.

What I can tell those that are reading this article, there is help out there, recovery is slow, but you will get better.

Recommendations for identifying and treating long haulers Syndrome.

The suggestions below are not meant to diagnose or treat specifically any medical condition that should be diagnosed and treated by a physician.

  1. Patients should see their primary care physician first and foremost.  Discuss with them your symptoms.  Be specific.  If necessary, a day or two before you go to the doctor’s office, make a list of all the issues that you are having.
  2. Obtain referrals to physician’s that have delt with Long Haulers Syndrome.  These referrals may include but are not limited to:
    1. Immunology
    2. GI – gastrointestinal
    3. Pulmonary
    4. Cardiac
    5. Endocrinology
    6. Rheumatologist
  3. Non-physician referrals:
    1. Speech Pathologist for cognition, voice, sensory deficits (taste/smell), dysphagia and respiration.
    2. Physical Therapy for muscle pain and weakness.
    3. Occupational Therapy for cognition, muscle pain and weakness in regard to activities of daily living.
    4. Dietician to address caloric intake.
    5. Pulmonary rehab to address breathing.
  4. Homeopathic (Some Long Haulers report that the items listed below have help; however, there is no scientific evidence or documentation to substantiate these claims in regard to COVID.  Items such as decreasing sodium levels may even be prescribed by physicians to treat other medical conditions and are normal and typical practices for treating specific disease processes.) 

The items listed below in and of themselves appear to be more of a healthy living type of lifestyle change.  Before making major changes to your diet or taking dietary supplements, it is always best to consult with your physician first.  

  1. Taking COVID vaccine
  2. Acupuncture
  3. Changing diet to a sugar and gluten free diet.
  4. Eating completely organically.
  5. Eliminating red meat.
  6. Taking a variety of vitamins and supplements.
  7. Increasing or decreasing sodium/salt intake.
  8. Increasing electrolytes.  
  9. Exercise, taking walks.

For more information regarding COVID-19 and its variants please consult the following websites and agencies:

7/13/21  Double Talk Therapy copyrighted, all rights reserved.

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