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Long Covid

Agent Sparrow said:
If it’s ok, could I please ask those of you who menstruate if your long covid symptoms get worse around ovulation and/or premenstrually/your period? Particularly if any of those are migraine or appear cardiac related?

I’m not quite yet 12 weeks since COVID but I’m pretty sure I’m noticing a pattern during my my menstrual cycles since, specifically a) my monthly migraine (possibly triggered by suspected COVID back in April 2020) has moved to the pre-ovulation stage, b) they’ve got substantially worse with two day prodrome, aura etc, and c) pretty sure I’m having a type of palpitation called a PCV, largely confined to those two key points of my cycle.
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I had palpitations as part of PMS for years. Are PCV the ones where it feels like your heart skips a beat and then goes bang? Them. Harmless apparently.

I'm not really reading this thread but I got surveyed about my experiences of covid as part of some study. One of the questions was whether I considered myself as having/having had long covid, defined as any post -covid symptoms continuing for 4 weeks or more (it might have been 6, I forget).

This seems like a very OTT definition. I definitely had symptoms continuing for a couple of months, but just a dragging cough and a bit of fatigue like you might expect from any winter virus. All constantly improving. I certainly wouldn't say I had long covid and I never felt the need for medical attention.
 
RubyToogood said:
I had palpitations as part of PMS for years. Are PCV the ones where it feels like your heart skips a beat and then goes bang? Them. Harmless apparently.
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Thanks. Yeah I don’t even really notice the skipping beat just the bang. As time has going on the bang seems less bangy though - not sure if that’s a good thing or not. I had also read that they were harmless in themselves but thanks for the reassurance. I’m not sure if there’s a long term risk associated but seems maybe not.

A month ago I was having periods of feeling light headed on standing and a quicker heartbeat on standing. Thankfully that seems to have lessened/stopped. I’m not sure if that’s due to time or being more careful about not getting dehydrated/drinking alcohol more minimally.
 
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I might have said it earlier upthread, but I do hope there is enough medical academic research interest in Long Covid that findings and the surrounding attention about COVID may have a long term positive impact on the way people with similar post-viral or other forms of fatigue disorders are treated.
 
Its taken a long time but this morning, my doc told me that any doubts he might have had about my having had COVID are no more.

The reason - Over the last month I have been hit with four of the most common skin issues associated with COVID and post-COVID.

1 - Hives, all over, big patches.
2 - Dark discoloured patches, mainly on my face!
3 - Dry, scaly skin. Substantial patches, around my neck/shoulders
4 - Dermal "eruptions" ie small blisters, some of which ran together and scabbed horribly. Mostly on one hand but a few on one side of my face.

The only places that didn't suffer were the sites of minor skin irritation that I've had since childhood and only very occasionally flare-up these days.

Thankfully, the discoloured patches and the dermal eruptions settled down pretty quickly and are virtually gone but the hives and the dry skin is persisting. The cream I keep for the times my childhood skin issues flare-up helped them a lot but for the dry skin and hives, I'm just keeping them well moisturised with a very light fragrance-free moisturiser and they don't seem to be getting any worse. Having to double-rinse all washing too to help minimise sources of irritation, which is just great after the power price rises!

Also, my battered chest continues to improve steadily but slowly, so that's all fine. :)
 
pogofish said:
No, I tend to only use them for bites and as the cream/moisturiser seems to be working, the doc said to just stick with that.
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Up to you, but even over-the-counter anti-histamines like loratadine have helped a lot of people with long covid, particularly taken regularly rather than just as a one-off. If they make you sleepy you can take them at bedtime.
 
I have some prescribed anti histamines whose name I can't remember but yes, the sleepiness was an issue. I will look them out.
 
Brainaddict said:
Oof, sounds a bit of a nightmare. Are you on anti-histamines?
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Definite improvement overnight - and I got a very good sleep. Thanks!

One hand/arm is virtually clear of hives/reddening and the reddening around the scaly/itchy bits on my neck is noticeably less, plus the overall itching elsewhere on my body is much less. These patches may be larger but they aren't as bad as on my hands/upper arms.

The scabbed hand looks worse but that is only because the overall reddening is down but the reddened areas around the remaining and just healed scabs is now more obvious.

Only other possible issue is that my blood sugar level was rather high this morning - which can happen anyway but was maybe another of the reasons I had to minimise their use. It has been rather a long time and I can't remember! Will monitor it over the next couple of days.
 
Cool, you can always try out the OTC ones as well if your scrip one is causing trouble, assuming you weren't moved to this one because OTC ones cause you even more trouble! For the record I'm actually taking desloratadine, which is related to loratadine but I'm told has a more even release over 24 hrs and is less drowsy. You can buy it online.
 
I think I went on to them because of all the insect-related work I was doing at the time and I was constantly getting bitten/having reactions but I moved away from that a few years ago, so rarely need them now. I've also moved on to insulin in the interim, which may not have been a factor at the time.
 
Sorry I’ve got some other questions for the long haulers. I know that profiles are really different but it would be good to know what might be part of the covid post recovery before a GP appointment this week.

Does alcohol, or rather the day after alcohol, make things worse?
Are you noticing yourself being more susceptible to low blood sugar (before meals, middle of night)?
Who else has a worsening of insomnia?

I’m not sure if I’m ready to join the club yet but it’s got to the stage of discussing it I think, asking for blood tests etc. Am considering starting to take an antihistamine, which might be good anyway for my mild but rumbling asthma symptoms (which I suspect is hayfever related).
 
Hey AS, most people with LC that's at all serious have to drink nothing or very little (I now rarely have more than half a pint) because the effect of it is to make fatigue, brain fog etc much worse. Insomnia is very common (though I haven't had it). Not sure about being more susceptible to low blood sugar, I don't experience it in that way but it wouldn't surprise me if others have - the range of symptoms is quite large.

Just to say, it takes a lot of people weeks or months to recover from covid. A couple of my friends it took about three months. Which is annoying but not what I'd call long covid proper. So you may recover okay still, it could just be dragging on a bit. Having said that, I think it could be worth trying the anti-histamines anyway to see if you can reduce inflammation. In my experience it can take a few days of taking them continuously for the effects to fully take hold. However if they are working you'll notice if you miss a day.

If you want to try something that will help with both sleep and inflammation you could try nytol (which is an anti-histamine). However the warnings not to take it for too long should be taken seriously - it's a weird drug that can cause people to put on weight and create an anxious 'speedy' feeling if you take it too much. It's a shame about the side-effects because it makes me feel much better (better than loratadine), but I now just keep it for a treat when I'm feeling run-down.
 
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Agent Sparrow said:
Does alcohol, or rather the day after alcohol, make things worse?
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In my case, hell yeah. I think my ongoing symptoms are different. Mine's joint pain and it is very noticeably worse after a night drinking. I have to factor it in, like a hangover. It's improved now but at first I couldn't really drink if I was going to particularly need my hands the next day.
 
Also Agent Sparrow one of the main things that makes my long covid worse is lack of sleep and drinking makes sleep worse.
Brainaddict said:
most people with LC that's at all serious have to drink nothing or very little (I now rarely have more than half a pint) because the effect of it is to make fatigue, brain fog etc much worse.
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I can drink more than this, but it did make my long covid much worse earlier on. I was drinking too much before I got covid though and it meant I could no longer do that.
 
Thanks everyone, liked for your responses obviously rather than you all having rubbish symptoms :(

Brainaddict said:
Just to say, it takes a lot of people weeks or months to recover from covid. A couple of my friends it took about three months. Which is annoying but not what I'd call long covid proper. So you may recover okay still, it could just be dragging on a bit. Having said that, I think it could be worth trying the anti-histamines anyway to see if you can reduce inflammation. In my experience it can take a few days of taking them continuously for the effects to fully take hold. However if they are working you'll notice if you miss a day.
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Yeah I’ve just hit the 3 month mark so I’m definitely keeping it in perspective, but it does feel time to get checked out by the GP now. And thankfully the more worrying things (the palpitations and lightheadedness) do seem to be improving. The other stuff isn’t but might be more an exacerbation of pre-existing stuff anyway. But I am now convinced that I did have COVID right back at the beginning and that seemed to be the trigger for giving me regular migraines in the first place :mad:, even if they may have happened eventually because of the hormonal fluctuations of this stage of life.

Sleep is definitely a long standing issue so it’s hard knowing whether this is just due to normal stress or if COVID recovery is giving it an extra edge.
Brainaddict said:
If you want to try something that will help with both sleep and inflammation you could try nytol. However the warnings not to take it for too long should be taken seriously - it's a weird drug that can cause people to put on weight and create an anxious 'speedy' feeling if you take it too much. It's a shame about the side-effects because it makes me feel much better (better than loratadine), but I now just keep it for a treat when I'm feeling run-down.
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Nytol doesn’t work on me, sominex does and because sleep is an ongoing flaring issue I do have a script of zolpidem, which I take sparingly. But obviously you can’t take that stuff every night. Sominex gives me reflux if I take it too often anyway.

Bizarrely a banana in the middle of the night seems to be helping :confused:, which seems pretty unproblematic apart from what it might do to my teeth longer term.
 
Oula said:
Agent Sparrow cbd oil has massively helped my long covid and my sleep. I've had to stop taking it in the lead up to my op and I'm sleeping badly and my joints hurt again.
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I finally ordered some at 2am the other day :D I’m more going to see it as part of a variety of things I can use when necessary in rotation, to lessen any risk of regular use. If it works…
 
The anti Histamines have definitely helped - My skin issues are virtually back to normal apart from a few of the worst scabs.

I had a brief flare-up of the dermal eruptions on my left hand but this time the blisters were much smaller and have barely left any marks. The skin on my neck is still a little scaly-looking but all the redness/heat is gone.

The price was that my morning blood sugar readings were quite a bit higher than I'd like but they came down fast enough with a little adjustment of my insulin dose but after this 14 day packet of Loratadine is finished in two days I'm going to stop and see what happens.
 
Well, I was off the anti histamines for a few days and three of the issues came back, although not so badly - The eruptions on my hands (both this time!), the dark marks on my face and the reddening/scaly skin on my neck. At least there are no itchy hives on my shoulders/torso and legs, which is a plus.

www.amazon.co.uk

20220510_183345.jpg

www.amazon.co.uk

Doc has lined-up three different steroid preps and is adding the light moisturiser to my prescription to hit it with.

And yes, I'm back on the anti histamines and my morning readings are well-up! :(
 
Brainaddict said:
Some interesting looking science about inflammation in long covid New Clues To Long Covid: Prolonged Inflammatory Response
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so maybe take some anti-inflammatories? a bit of regular ibuporfen cant hurt i guess

ive started taking two piriton every day without fail for about a month now, and im the best ive ever been - i dont know how much its down to that or just the fullness of time and general recovery but im keeping on with it for a while yet. i wish id tried this sooner - for allergies piriton has always worked for me in a way that the one a day ones never seem to (like calrityn etc)
 
ska invita said:
so maybe take some anti-inflammatories? a bit of regular ibuporfen cant hurt i guess

ive started taking two piriton every day without fail for about a month now, and im the best ive ever been - i dont know how much its down to that or just the fullness of time and general recovery but im keeping on with it for a while yet. i wish id tried this sooner - for allergies piriton has always worked for me in a way that the one a day ones never seem to (like calrityn etc)
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I'm taking turmeric twice a day, cos I worry about the long term effects of daily ibuprofen. I think it helps, though hard to tell. Still taking antihistamines, sometimes doubling up on them when I get fatigued (nytol at night on top of the usual desloratadine), which I think does help fend off post-exertional malaise.
 
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