Post-"mild"-Covid: ongoing symptoms?

[miimblemomble]

I tested positive for Covid 3 weeks ago. I only ever had "mild" symptoms: headache, sore throat, blocked nose, stomach cramps and upset stomach. No fever, no coughing, no breathing difficulties.

I was officially "cured" 7 days after my positive test. I was at home to isolate, and worked from home all the way through that. I wasn't signed off at any point because I wasn't really ill (and I only work 20 hours flexible each week).

But it's now a couple of weeks since I left isolation, and I still feel rubbish! All the symptoms are still there - I'm waking up at night with a headache / migraine, my stomach is constantly upset, I have indigestion and heartburn. My brain feels foggy and confused and I can't concentrate on anything. I'm tired and lack energy. Again, it's nothing major, nothing to get signed off for or to really put me out of action, but it's really starting to get me down.

I have read around this and I see that it's quite common to have ongoing symptoms. Should I be going to the Dr about this? OR do I just have to keep it till it gets better? Any fellow mild-but-debilitating sufferers out there?

Welcome to long Covid. There are support groups online.

In my experience th doctors can't do much. Mine has prescribed me medication for heartburn, migraines etc but they can only treat the symptoms not the cause. Rest while you can and don't push yourself. I also follow an anti-inflammatory diet now - makes a big difference.

I was very tired and unable to go for walks of more than about 10 mins for about 3 weeks. The other thing that’s really hung on is smell/taste issues - nothing tastes right and I get phantom smells! I do seem to have more frequent migraines than before too.
Should say I was ill at the start of April so no test as you had to be hospitalised back then, but a full set of (mild) classic symptoms.

@shoofle

In my experience th doctors can't do much. Mine has prescribed me medication for heartburn, migraines etc but they can only treat the symptoms not the cause. Rest while you can and don't push yourself. I also follow an anti-inflammatory diet now - makes a big difference.

Do you have any links for the anti-inflammatory diet you are following?

Just my opinion, but I would think it was worth talking to your dr even just to get a diagnosis. Might be better to have it on the record.

I'm sure I had it in april and I've had ongoing sore throats, heartburn and chest pain ever since. Doctor has treat me for silent reflux but hasn't helped so is now doing blood tests etc. Said could well be lingering symptoms. It's not debilitating at all, more annoying!

Welcome to long Covid

I thought Long Covid was more people with more serious symptoms?

What a PITA. It's like having a constant, low-grade hangover all the time. And I'm getting into a cycle where I wake up in the night with a migraine, can't get back to sleep, so am even more tired the next day, with even less energy.

Maybe I need to break down the symptoms are try to treat them individually? So paracetomol and fluids for headaches / sore throat. Omeprazole / gavicscon for indigestion / heartburn. Not sure what to do for the stomach cramps - maybe avoid gluten (I used to have IBS and this was a major trigger)?

And yes, smell has gone though taste has returned slightly.

The mental fog is hard. The only thing I seem to have energy / focus for is scrolling endlessly on my phone. Cooking, shopping, meal planning, kids homework - all the usual things I do at the weekend, everything has fallen by the wayside.

I had what was likely a mild case of covid in early March. Considering how mild it was the symptoms all persisted for a remarkably long time and took to coming and going towards the end.
But I was back to normal by six weeks so hopefully that will be the case for you.

"Long Covid" doesn't have a definition.

Tbh you've only had it 3 weeks. If it was a flu or bad gold you'd expect to have lingering symptoms. Perhaps covid is the same.
Hope you feel better soon

@ssd

You know, you are absolutely correct. I hadn't thought about it like that: I was just wallowing in not feeling 100%. I genuinely thought that the longer-lasting symptoms of "Long Covid" applied to those who had had serious illness - fever, lung problems, heart arrythmia etc - not this low-grade, feeling-a-bit-crappy-ness.

It's a bore, I know, and your experience is not unusual. Rest as much as you can, water, vitamins... I hope you feel better soon . I got sick in mid-March: your symptoms plus fever, cough, shortness of breath. I felt worse days 7-14 and still felt like crap with exhaustion/low-grade fever/weakness/heart palpitations after 3 weeks. Didn't feel like I was consistently making progress, like you do with shaking off a normal cold or flu iyswim, until about 6 weeks had passed. Lingering battered feeling around my lungs for months afterwards. You'll get there, OP.

Years ago, when I was still feeling awful 3 months after flu ('Long Flu' if you like), I went to my GP for help/advice. She gave me a sympathetic look but said 'You've had a nasty dose of flu, you shouldn't be suprised.'

She's actually an excellent GP but was clear that there wasn't anything she felt she could do and I would just have to wait for my poor battered body to recover.

@miimblemomble, dh currently has covid and we're all self isolating. He has a really dry cough and I got him a cough bottle which he says helps a bit.
I think remembering this is a virus and treating it like a virus is important, don't keep thinking it's a thing we've no clue about. I feel like we know some of it, eg it might make us feel crap for a while, like virus's do.

@amicissimma

Years ago, when I was still feeling awful 3 months after flu ('Long Flu' if you like), I went to my GP for help/advice. She gave me a sympathetic look but said 'You've had a nasty dose of flu, you shouldn't be suprised.'

She's actually an excellent GP but was clear that there wasn't anything she felt she could do and I would just have to wait for my poor battered body to recover.

I had flu years ago when I was in my early 30s, I was slim, fit and healthy. I spent 2 weeks in bed feeling like I was going to die and it was a good three months before I felt properly better. I didn’t go to the doctor at the time as I knew that post viral effects just take time and tlc to improve. When I had COVID earlier this year as a fat 50 something I was a lot less ill but I was very careful to eat properly and get loads of good quality sleep and it took me a lot less time to recover fully. In my 3os with small children it was a lot more difficult to get lots of rest which I suspect had a bearing on my recovery time.

You're body has been working hard fighting off a nasty virus. Even if you felt ok your immune system was busy. Keep nurturing yourself with rest, healthy food, lots of liquids and gentle exercise/fresh air when you can.

I had a strange virus in March. Mild but very long lasting with ongoing headaches, sore throat etc. It lasted about 12 weeks which I felt was ridiculous for what seemed to be a mild cold. In fact to feel back to normal again took about 6 months and even now I seem to still get a frequent sore throat.

I don't know if it was Covid as there were no tests available in March.

Viruses can linger. I hope you feel better soon.

• Your not you're!

OP, I’m still struggling six months after having covid. I was only hospitalised for 4 days and only on oxygen for 24 hours, so not a severe case, although I’d been having breathing problems at home for two weeks prior to the ambulance arriving.
I’ve been left with damaged lungs, breathless at 100 yards on the flat, waking at night breathless with my oxygen saturation dropping, very little energy for normal activities, muscles weak with strange fizzing and burning sensations in them.
My lungs are heavy, I have chest pain, my airways keep filling up with fluid that takes up to an hour to cough clear, despite no evidence of continuing infection.
Every time I think I’m beginning to improve I have yet another relapse a few days later.
I was previously so fit that I’d never met any of the GPs at my practice in ten years. Never smoked, normal weight, no other health conditions. This virus is horrendous - surviving the acute phase is only the beginning. There are over 60,000 long covid patients in the UK just from the first wave. The NHS is setting up covid rehab clinics in all areas but there is no specific treatment, just breathing exercises and advice on limiting exertion to 60% over resting heart rate etc.

Did you take lots of ibuprofen when ill by any chance? I've noticed Ibuprofen makes my IBS flare up, especially if I don't take it with food. Just worth considering for the stomach issues? Maybe try some buscopan.

@Babdoc

See, your case is what I think of when I hear "Long Covid" and I'm reluctant to put myself in the same group as you or claim to have the same condition (and it's why I didn't join the other Long covid / burning lungs thread). It sounds awful and I'm so sorry that you have been left with this to deal with.

My experience is nowhere near that level - like I said, it's like a low-grade hangover. I had a slight heaviness in my chest for a day or two during it, and I am able now to cycle back and forward to work - albeit I'm a bit knackered by the end, which I wasn't before.

Clearly I am not very good at giving myself permission to feel a little bit shit, when I have had such a "mild" dose.

I hope you find some relief or improvement soon.

@JS87

I didn't take any ibuprofen: I'm in France and the health authorities here have strongly recommended not taking it as a covid treatment, though I can't remember why now.

I think my stomach is just sensitive - I used to have IBS before I did a long gluten-free period, and the symptoms I have now are very similar. And I've been on and off omeprazole / gaviscon for heartburn / reflux ever since being pregnant with DS 12 years ago. It seems to have aggravated all these underlying tendencies / sensitivities that are already there.

I would say mild Covid can be followed by mild long Covid, although less talked about and less obvious than the more debilitating version. More moderate Covid that a lot of people on support groups had = worse long Covid, it would seem.

I had what I think was mild Covid in mid-March, I worked from home through the first 5 days, then was off work for a few days then back to WFH. During the infection I had a weird taste, extreme thirst especially at night, fatigue and body aches. Afterwards it affected my stomach mostly from mid-April to mid-July, with heartburn/reflux symptoms, took gaviscon especially at night. I also remember some days the aches coming and going, recovery was not linear like with a cold. All that went on until 4 months after initially getting a dry cough in mid-March. Also had brain fog from time to time and was hard to focus.

Hope you're feeling better soon. Take it easy.

OP, it’s not a competition, and you are just as entitled to support for post viral health problems as anyone else! Many viruses can do this - post viral fatigue was well recognised long before Covid reared its ugly head.
All you can do is convalesce gradually. Limit your exercise to avoid triggering relapses- gentle walking is safer than trying to run long distances or have tough gym workouts. Treat symptomatically where you can, eg omeprazole or antacids for reflux. Eat a good balanced diet, with flavinoids, probiotics, plenty of veg and lean protein. Keep well hydrated and rested, avoid too much caffeine if it’s causing palpitations. You just have to accept that it will take time to recover, and you will need to work within the limits of your energy reserves.
I’m still having to take it a day at a time even after 6 months - I vary from breathless even chatting, and spending all day on the sofa, up to walking a slow two miles or being able to mow my lawn. I’ve learned not to push it, and just to be grateful for the “good” days.

Okay. I have (currently) recurrent bouts of similar symptoms to what you’re describing, and have on-and-off for eight years. From what we can tell, I have an overactive innate immune system. Obviously, you don’t have the same thing as me, as I (cross fingers) haven’t had COVID, but thought I’d post anyhow in case it helped.

I’d recommend writing a task list, so you don’t get caught up scrolling on your phone, and then proceeding through it slowly. If you forget what you were supposed to be doing, check the list. Also, find what times of the day you are most clear-headed and focus on doing ‘brain work’ then. Focus on doing housework and other mindless tasks when you can’t concentrate - you’ll feel a huge sense of achievement without thinking about it too much. Regardless of how hard you try, you probably have to adjust to being a bit rubbish and lean on a partner for assistance - don’t beat yourself up about that. The sooner you accept that this is the way things are right now, the better your mood will be and the more mental energy you have to work out what you can do.

If you’re struggling to sleep, I find that paracetamol helps, but my symptoms are mostly low-grade fevers and night sweats, not migraine/headache. If this is an immune system dysfunction, may need to take paracetamol three times a night to get a good night’s sleep, but it is SOOOO worth it.

Anti-inflammatory diets don’t help, in my experience. Neither does limiting exercise if you don’t get post-exertion fatigue (and I don’t). If this is your immune system continuing to fight a virus that is no longer there, vigorous exercise helps suppress the immune system and (temporarily) improves symptoms. If you get really desperate, my symptoms cleared up entirely with Humira and IVIG, although you’re some way away from begging a doctor to give you off-label rheumatoid arthritis drugs.

Post viral syndromes and symptoms are not exclusive to covid sadly. Hope you feel better soon op