Long covid skepticism

[Ohalrightthen]

According to my doctor father, "long covid" is basically nonexistent in under 18s and over 65s. He was amused by the coincidence that the only people who seem to be experiencing extended symptoms and effects of the disease are those who are "likely to want a decent reason to call in sick to work"

Not sure how much i believe that, but it does seem weird that kids (who've been off school anyway) and retired people don't seem to be getting long covid. Is there a medical reason that it's only affecting people 20ish-60ish?

I like your line of thought OP

It’ll probably also only be found in those who have Fibromyalgia as well.

@IrmaFayLear

I think calling it “long Covid” is a bit a) previous, as the virus has not been around that long to study the effects and b) another “Covid is the only disease” thing.

Anyone who has had flu -real flu, that is - knows that you can feel crap for months. Tired, weak, respiratory problems.

Many viruses can wreak damage on the body, in some cases permanent damage (raises own hand, here). But I don’t think anyone can say they have “long Covid” after a few months or even weeks. It needs repeated x-rays and scans to determine if damage is permanent.

I agree. Post viral fatigue is a well known thing, it's not really surprising that it happens in some people who have had Covid too.

But I think that it feels like some people are almost desperate for 'Long Covid' to be this huge deal, especially because it is now clear that Covid itself doesn't present with serious symptoms/death in the vast majority of the population, so there has to be something else to get dramatic about. No one really gave a shit about post viral after effects/damage before did they?

Your Dad is a twat isn't he. And since he finds it amusing, he's a nasty twat.
Feel sorry for any patients he's happy to mock.

Long covid is not just the experience of fatigue, headaches etc. Some people with covid are acutely unwell for months, with new symptoms appearing months down the line. Relapses also common.

I think I have long Covid. I had Covid in March, was quite ill. 7 months on still cannot exercise. I have chest pain and shortness of breath just going up stairs sometimes. I still worked and looked after my children. If your father researches he will find children and teenagers do get long covid. Yes it is post viral like alot of other viruses but big news at the moment because its a pandemic I guess. But to say it doesn't exist is very hurtful for the people like me who are suffering and slightly worrying if we will ever fully recover.

I dont know about 18-65s but I was quite shocked at the number of people over 65 I saw with longer term complications post covid. Yes you can argue they had underlying health conditions but I have worked in social services hospital discharge for years and have never seen anything like it before. eg much more intensive levels of delirium going on for longer, people who had been previously reasonably fit and healthy pre admission being totally knocked out for months. . So many deaths way after hospital discharge. Dont know whether these were ever recorded as covid deaths.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-long-term-health-effects/covid-19-long-term-health-effects

IceLemonLanta
Thank you for your reply.
I take a magnesium supplement but will try all the other things in your post

He's not very bright, is he? Unsurprisingly, the only people who need to see a GP to get signed off work due to long COVID, are people of working age. Doesn't mean the other groups are unaffected, just that they are a lot less likely to get recorded!
Also when you don't have to work, you suffer less from the cumulative effects of fatigue, stress, etc. It's really not that hard to comprehend...

Is your dad unpleasant in other ways too OP?

I’m guessing yes.

I ended up leaving my job in July. It's a real struggle but I just can't cope with it

It's a virus, so some people getting lengthy post viral effects isn't exactly a shocker.

DM aquired a nasty chest infection in February while in hospital with another issue. She had a DVT scare shortly after. It was a few months before she really felt herself again, but hey, she's in her 80s, illnesses do knock her back for a while these days, and she assumed that the initial condition was responsible. It's become clear that Covid was much more widespread through the population by February than was realised at the time.

It is possible that older people are reporting less Long Covid symptoms because it is masked by other conditions and their lifestyle whereas the working age population expect to be back on form sooner and have more demands affecting the logistics of managing a longer, gentle recovery.

Back in the 1950s doctors supported smoking and said there were no risks. Doctors said thalidomide was safe for pregnant women. Lots of doctors still don’t take things like CFS, PMS and perimenopause seriously.

Some doctors are crap.

Fortunately most are either good enough or bloody marvellous.

Wouldn’t surprise me if some ancient, arrogant, White, male doctor, without reading the research, or listening to the lived experience of those with it, decided he knows best.

Oooo. It’s made me quite cross that!

@CrappleUmble

It's a virus, so some people getting lengthy post viral effects isn't exactly a shocker.

It helps to keep the hysteria going though. All the hysteria does for me is make me wonder how people can be so ignorant.

I have long covid. I'm 45. I went back to work in May and struggled everyday to keep going. Im self employed, so had no option.

I am not pretending to be ill to get time off, I would rather be well.

It's a bit more than just "some people" though isnt it @CrappleUmble. It's a lot of people. Which is a worry if you're not in the position to take months off work which a lot of us aren't.

@Porcupineinwaiting

It's a bit more than just "some people" though isnt it *@CrappleUmble*. It's a lot of people. Which is a worry if you're not in the position to take months off work which a lot of us aren't.

'Some' and 'a lot' are both sufficiently imprecise terms that an argument about which of them applied better would be pointless even if we had any concrete idea about their prevalence.

I agree with @AtrociousCircumstance your dad does not sound pleasant.

As I understand it long Covid seems to be appearing in people who had really bad symptoms. Children generally don’t get Covid badly, and those over 65 who got it badly have probably died so it would make sense that it’s the younger people that are reporting it the most. I have to admit, there are a couple of people I know who I just knew would have it, (bearing in mind Covid was never actually confirmed for them) and I did a slight eye roll (yes horrid of me). I believe there are lots of other issues going on for them and they’ve conveniently put it down to LC. However I also know previously very fit and well people who have genuinely not recovered after bad Covid (they work in a care home so v. High viral load).

Please tell me your father is retired - and so not dealing with patients anymore....

www.statnews.com/2020/07/21/chronic-fatigue-syndrome-keys-understanding-post-covid-syndrome/

In spite of the paucity of knowledge about this new syndrome related to Covid-19, British adherents of the unhelpful-beliefs-and-deconditioning hypothesis for ME/CFS have been advising patients with post-Covid symptoms to resume regular activities as soon as possible and to avoid resting too much — exactly the wrong-headed advice given for decades to legions of people with ME/CFS, leaving many worse off than before.

Had U.K. and U.S. medical authorities not been so invested for years in fruitless psychological and behavioral interventions for ME/CFS, perhaps they would have listened over the years when patients told them that exercise and psychotherapy did not get them “back to normal.” Perhaps they would have pursued essential biomedical research instead.

I guess one good thing might come out of this ordeal. Post viral fatigue might be taken more seriously. Given longcovid is so important and bad and has a spotlight on it right now, it would be quite ridiculous to conitnue to ignore other PVS and to keep telling people its all in their head and such which is common at the min and has been for a long time.

As I understand it long Covid seems to be appearing in people who had really bad symptoms.

Most I have seen on the topic states the opposite and thats why it has many confused, that it seems unrelated to how bad people had covid, and that its showing up in those who were asymptomatic with the original virus.

Truuuuummmmppppp

Wow okay so your dads a cunt. I know a few people with long COVID. They are visibly unwell, struggling to breathe, they could lose their jobs, it’s destroying their lives. They don’t just want a day off sick

I know adults with Long Covid. Some still managing to work, some not. I also know some kids with it & by it, I mean potentially life-limiting organ damage as a result of what seemed mild Covid infection. It is heart breaking & not in the slightest bit amusing. I suggest your father finds a different career.