Anyone with long covid had surgery since being ill?

[BadgerToes]

Hello
I have had long covid for coming up for a year now. I am not back at work as too tired, brain fog etc.

A long awaited NHS op has finally been scheduled (was due in 18 months ago) and I had my pre assessment last week. I said I had long covid and they were a bit non-plussed.

Because of the brain fog (can't always find the words, or concentrate, plus my memory is really bad now), I'm worried about having a general anaesthetic, in case it makes things worse.

I've done a quick google, but can't find out much info. I asked at the hospital, but apparently I will only be able to talk to the anaesthetist on the day, so I won't have time to evaluate the risks. Obviously if I then decide not to go ahead, then I've taken up an operating space that someone else could have had, plus got myself all ready for nothing.

I emailed my GP for advice, and he said he couldn't help. So, any ideas for where I can find out if having a GA has a bad impact on long covid brain fog, or whether sedation/ regional anaesthesia might be better? Or any advice really! TIA

I was listening to dr Jarvis on the radio yesterday and she was saying how long Covid, with fatigue & brain fog etc, is the same that sufferers experience with M.E/CFS.

Som although I don’t have long Covid, I just wanted to give my experience. I do have M.E/CFS & fibromyalgia. The anaesthetist did say that anaesthetic could make fibromyalgia flare up but didn’t see that it would affect the M.E/CFS in anyway.

Tbh, after waiting 13 months for surgery I was willing to risk a flare up and happily went ahead. I didn’t experience negative affects at all, other than the usual tiredness which you experience after anaesthesia and morphine. I don’t suppose there will be many studies of the affects on long Covid tbh so they may not be able to reassure you but I wanted to say it didn’t increase my brain fog or memory issues.

Wishing you a successful procedure and a speedy recovery

Oh, thank you so much @Blankblankblank
I am sorry to hear about your health issues, so really appreciate you taking the time to post your experience.

There does seem to be a paucity of information about long Covid and anaesthesia, which given how many people have had it now is a bit surprising!

My long Covid does appear to be the ME/CFS subtype, so your experience is really reassuring.

Out of interest, can you recall what programme Dr Jarvis was on yesterday - that sounds like it might be an interesting listen.

to you, and I hope you are doing ok at the moment.

Thank you BadgerToes I plod along.

It was the Jeremy Vine show, I don’t know what time his show starts but it must have been around 1:30-2 ish when I heard the show, it was his Medical Monday feature. Dr Jarvis is often on & I find her really interesting so I listen for her rather than Jeremy.

I hope they find something that helps long Covid sufferers soon so you, and many others, can get back to normal life. I know it may take years but there are trials, such as this one below, so have hope! I’m also hoping if they discover something to help long Covid they may offer it to ME suffers too! Take care.

weather.com/en-IN/india/coronavirus/news/2021-07-07-this-experimental-heart-drug-may-cure-long-covid-19