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Post-COVID

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Clarissa

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There were two things I suffered from really badly before I got COVID.

One was neuralgic back pain. I think I mentioned it on the blog. It was frequent and very painful.

The other problem was spells of extreme fatigue that would last between 12 and 24 hours. I even documented them trying to figure out the pattern. There was none. At least a couple of days a week I’d feel completely wiped out for no discernible reason. I even thought maybe it was early menopause.

Since COVID, I haven’t experienced either problem once. It’s been months. Does anybody have an explanation? Is it the weight loss? Or is there such a thing as a good long COVID?

11 responses to “Post-COVID”

  1. jmmatlock Avatar
    jmmatlock

    My adult son’s dog allergy disappeared after he had Covid, so there are probably plenty of others who have had similar positive outcomes.

    When I had Covid, I lost 100% of my smell and about 50% of my taste. The taste part was reduced for maybe a week at most, but it took nearly a month to get any smell back. Then, within a month of getting back to maybe 20% smell, I began smelling an acrid “overly garlicky-burnt rubber-skunk” odor, which is pretty strong, with certain things. My shampoo, Italian food, coffee, anything with mint…
    The thing is, I don’t mind it at all. I’ve lived with super-sensitivity to odors for decades, and there were places I couldn’t even stand to go anymore because the heavy odors caused terrible nausea and migraines that lasted for days. This weirdly gross smell is nothing compared to that, and frankly, I’d happily live my life with some of my favorite things having this than go back to everything making me physically ill because it’s so strong. The only odor that caused me physical distress prior to Covid that still causes me a migraine is my mother-in-law’s heavy floral perfume, but I now think that may actually be a physical allergy to the synthetic scent used in the perfume.

    Which is to say, I suppose that some things that could be considered “good long Covid” may be “in the eye of the beholder,” as it were.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      I have a similar experience with smell. I had an overly developed sense of smell my whole life and COVID reduced it to what I guess is the normal range. Why couldn’t it have happened when I had to change diapers? So unfair.

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    2. methylethyl Avatar
      methylethyl

      Oh, my gosh! I need a virus culture of whatever strain you had! I can’t even walk down the laundry detergent aisle at the grocery store without feeling ill…

      Liked by 3 people

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      1. jmmatlock Avatar
        jmmatlock

        I totally get it. I’ve so trained myself to avoid the grocery store aisles with anything scented (detergents, any aisle even close to the scented candles and air fresheners) that it took me months to even think about testing it out. I walked through those aisles on purpose a couple of weeks ago just to test it out, and other than just picking up the vague scents, nothing. No migraine. No nausea. No physical repulsion whatsoever. It was awesome!

        I think only others who have also lived with super-sensitivity to smells can truly understand why I would happily spend the rest of my life with “overly garlicky burnt rubber skunk” smell permeating a lot of normal odors if it means I don’t ever get my super-sensitivity to smells back. And that I’m actually super grateful to have gotten Covid for that reason alone, and would even be willing to get it yearly to keep it this way.

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        1. methylethyl Avatar
          methylethyl

          Oh, yeah, I totally get that, and garlicky burnt rubber skunk is 100% worth not getting a migraine from the air freshener in the car of the friend who’s giving you a ride somewhere.

          I don’t know why those things aren’t classified as chemical warfare agents, and I would love to be immune to them!

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  2. Just George Avatar
    Just George

    Short answer is that your midbrain includes a region called the limbic system, which plays a decisive role in fatigue. Limbic system disorders include chronic fatigue syndromes, which sometimes happen following viral infection.

    SARS-CoV-2 affects nerve cells including those in the midbrain, which means that the virus can alter regulation of any system that the midbrain regulates, including sleep/fatigue etc.

    Since feelings of pain depend on nerves, it follows that COVID can affect the nerves in your back and hence change feelings of pain in that area. Talking about all of the different ways that might happen goes too far.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      Fascinating!

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  3. Margaret W. Avatar
    Margaret W.

    I’m reading all of these comments with my little tin foil hat thinking, “This sure isn’t an ordinary virus. It sure sounds like bioengineering to me!”

    And I resonate with those who have strong sensitivity to smells. I used to get all the same symptoms when coming into contact with strong odors but somewhere along the way, it went away. I must have gotten a coronavirus before they were invogue. The only thing I still react violently too is cigars. And since my husband refuses to stop smoking them, well, we now drive everywhere in separate vehicles. If all of life’s problems were so easily solved…

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  4. maitreyi1978 Avatar
    maitreyi1978

    Weight loss is the most likely explanation for the improvement in your back.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      I’m thinking that, too. Which is a great restraining factor in the desire to eat a mountain of pasta.

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  5. Post Alley Crackpot Avatar
    Post Alley Crackpot

    Been checked for pancreatitis? How ’bout kidney function (eGFR, etc.)?

    “Unexplained” weight loss is often explainable with enough diagnostics.

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A conservative literary critic and college professor

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