Will COVID-19 Lead to "Chronic Coronavirus Syndrome"

(Disclaimer, I am just thinking about long term TMS complications of COVID-19, and in no way trying to minimize the deadliness of the disease).

Just a thought I've been slightly worrying about...Does anybody else wonder if months or years from now there will be a small group of people who fell ill from COVID-19, "recovered", but never feel better? After developing "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" following mono, I worry about people for whom COVID-19 will become a trigger for chronic TMS symptoms. Maybe some will be lumped into Chronic Fatigue Syndrome like me, or if there are enough such people, maybe doctors will create a new syndrome name. Hopefully the pandemic doesn't lead to a lot more TMS sufferers!

 

Yes, I think we can expect this. For some, CV19 seems to cause long-term damage. Little has been studied as to the exact "damage" which can be caused. And most probably won't have long-term damage. But the experience of having the infection, and then reading about others suffering longer term things ---whether or not they are truly physically damaged will stimulate a barrage of "post Covid19" syndrome TMS experiences in my estimation. It will be an opportunity for those so affected to "dig deep" and learn about themselves, I suppose.

 

This exact thought has been on my mind as well. The circumstances surrounding this entire pandemic are perfect for setting up long term chronic symptoms. Based on this story, it seems to have already begun. No rhyme or reason regarding symptoms from day to day...: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/10/world/europe/coronavirus-italy-recovery.html?referringSource=articleShare (Surviving Covid-19 May Not Feel Like Recovery for Some)

 

So discouraging to read...these stories make me want to scream. I remember reading one about how Chronic Fatigue Syndrome can be deadly and there are no known treatments. I wish the authors knew about TMS so they could at least mention it. It will certainly be interesting, albeit depressing too, to see how this progresses with Covid-19.

 

If you also consider how much money has been spent on research of CFS on molecular level and all the clinical studies of the drugs that supposedly could work - but would not.... It gets even more depressing.

 

Here is another article on "long term Covid 19 symptoms."

I think as a community we need to be aware of this, and continue to ask ourselves how much of this is possibly mind-body. I don't have an opinion yet. This article does bring in some "stress aspects." With the virus, clearly there is damage, much of it thrombosis (clotting) type, and there is immune responses which are not fully understood.

https://www.businessinsider.com/long-term-coronavirus-symptoms-patients-sick-for-months-2020-7 (Meet the 'long-haulers': A growing chorus of coronavirus patients have had symptoms for more than 100 days)

 

Ugh...it is so sad to read about people who feel like they have no hope and no doctors to help them.

I've read about COVID-19 causing structural long-term lung damage. For most people though it seems it would be largely unrecognizable, but I'm sure for some it can do some serious damage. My understanding is that pneumonia can do the same thing. That aspect is scary when you read about people having prolonged breathing problems.

Even so, breathing is tricky. I had asthma as a kid, and remember having asthma attacks where it felt like my bronchial tubes closed. I have not had one in over twenty years. My brain tried to recreate it when I had "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome." I thought my asthma was back, but now I know the new shortness of breath feeling was actually just muscle tension in my chest making my lungs feel compressed. Thankfully, I eventually learned that difference, but to someone not familiar with TMS, it is probably impossible to distinguish between tension creating the feeling of breathing problems and actual lung inflammation. Tricky indeed.

As for the other symptoms discussed in the article, like fatigue, chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, heart palpitations, persistent cough, these are all things I had when I believed I had CFS. So, I am highly suspect of these being structural issues for most of the patients mentioned. Also of note, the article said most of the people they spoke with were in their 20s and 30s. In theory, older people should be more subject to the longer recoveries. It reminds me of studies Dr. Sarno and Dr. Schubiner cited that state back pain is much more of a problem in middle aged people (stressed with families and careers) than it is with retired people.

I also think it is still too early to tell. When I had mono doctors told me it can take six months to feel normal. Symptoms longer than that start to fall under the diagnostic criteria for CFS. Hopefully a lot of these people are able to feel normal before a doctor labels them with something chronic, because we all know what ugly road that leads down.

 

Oh yes, 100%. Experts expect a huge increase in cfs. I have cfs myself, how is your recovery?

 

Quite good. I had CFS symptoms for 16 months, starting after a very stressful few months that culminated in getting mono. Most of my CFS symptoms disappeared within days of learning about TMS. However, by then I was so weak and frail, it took about five months to build my strength back up. It took longer for me to get my IBS-C symptoms under control (I had those for 12 years, long predating my CFS, so they are more ingrained in my brain). Feel free to message me if you have any questions or just want to swap stories.

 

My recovery is decently good as well. Been struggling for almost a year now. I was mostly better but I’m in a flare up or relapse of some sort this weekend. Really struggling with a sore throat tho it’s very hard for me to get my attention off of it and to let the symptom let go.

 

Yes. When I didn’t know I had tms I had cfs. No doctors told me anything I think my 9 year old sister knew more about it than the medical community. So much money wasted on medical research of it as well.

 

the cough and the fatigue have come back with no warning. I expect to see more of this. He has tested negative and has antibodies. This has the mark of TMS all over it. https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/07/health/richard-quest-covid-wellness-intl/index.html (Richard Quest: I got Covid-19 two months ago. I'm still discovering new areas of damage - CNN)

 

Especially since the poor guy's cough left and came back. It's one thing if the symptoms just persist - that can be harder to see the ruse. But if your lungs recover and your cough stops, there seems to be no logical "structural" reason for it to return some time later. If the lungs suffered long term damage from the disease, I don't think they would turn a cough on and off.

Since the medical community generally believes that recovery from things like mono, COVID, the flu, and other bad infections can "take some time" even after the virus is gone, I wonder if that worsens things. If you go to the doctor saying why don't I feel better one month out from recovery and they reply "some people feel tired, sick, or just off for up to six months," then your brain has a perfect excuse to keep the symptoms going.