Any parents think their child has long covid symptoms?

[Jstsaying123]

Hi, my son is 11 and in June he tested positive for covid, it's lasted about 10 days, tired, sore throat, hot, but nothing too serious (thankfully) . After that he did get exhausted much more often than before he had covid, but just put it down to recovery period. For a month or 2 after he seemed fine with occasional fatigue. Then in September he started saying things tasted bad, things that he loved he had to spit out, his smell has also gone. He was a great eater, not fussy at all. But now he struggles with everything even treats. His tonsils are a little swollen but not red and no white patches. He occasionally gets warm/hot but never a fever. He isn't really unwell but weeks have gone past and he isn't getting any better. He said he is getting sharp pains in his hands tonight. I have done lateral flow covid tests a month ago and again last week but negative. I am going to call the GP tomorrow but wanted to check if any parents have noticed anything different with their child after covid? Thanks in advance x

No one answered lol!... Anyway, for any mums out there who find themselves in a similar situation... I decided to go to get advice from the pharmacist since its so hard to get a GP appointment for non urgent cases. I was told it could be this awful cold that take ages to clear up, or as a side effect of long covid it does change tastes and my son may have to find new foods that he likes from now on (not easy when he was a great eater and now I'm so limited), I was also advised that some kids develop asthma a couple of months after having covid, and as his cough is a little worse at night I should take him to the GP.
Anyway, just wanted to share. I do hope it's not long covid for my child. But if anyone does have any stories I would be interested to hear.
Thanks

Thanks for the update. I'm not in this situation as somehow all three of my DC have somehow managed to avoid COVID so far, but I think this post may well prove useful for others... So have a bump.

I hope your son starts to pick up soon. One of mine got post viral fatigue after a case of scarlet fever closely followed by chicken pox. It probably took a year for him to be back to normal. Winter doesn't help.

Hi op. Sorry to hear this. My DD’s friend has long term loss of smell or altered smell. He had to hold his nose or cover it up when he eats, as the food smells different to the taste of it and it then makes him nauseous. He also can’t eat in company because of this; insists on eating alone apparently. I’m not sure what is being done to help him though.

My DD probably had COVID a year ago, with atypical symptoms (although now more recognised in teens….abdo pain and nausea, aching joints, headache and sore throat) so was declined a test at the time, even though it was rampant in her school. We assume she had it herself. Post the illness, she started to develop joint pains, disturbed sleep and overwhelming fatigue by day. Just taking a shower would lead to her sleeping for two hours. She frequently complained of hand and knee pain and aching joints. Her very mild asthma became worse; she coughed by night and still sleeps propped up. She experienced brain fog and memory problems. Couldn’t concentrate on school work. DD also developed possible absence seizures and sudden collapses, which are still being investigated. MRI brain scans etc have all been normal so far. Weirdly, she suddenly appeared to be noticeably colour blind as well.
Very frightening time but after months of being unwell, she is doing a lot better now and has started enjoying life again….maybe a little too much now, lol!
I hope your son gets better soon. I don’t have any concrete proof of what works but I’ve just implemented a regime of eat well, sleep well, gentle exercise being built up to improve stamina, rest when needed, ensuring there is no unnecessary stress etc. Not sure if this worked or if she would have improved anyway but she has, thankfully.
I know many people would disagree with me, as we didn’t have a positive PCR but her hospital consultant thinks it is a possibility, as he had seen a significant increase in similar symptoms in teens in the past year or so. So far there’s no other explanation.
This probably hasn’t reassured you but nonetheless, keep the faith. Not sure what part of the country you’re in but some areas do have Long Covid clinics now. May be worth exploring?

Oh goodness. Scary really, isn't it. We are just over one week post covid and my 4 year old has his fever back

Think there is still a long covid thread on here. If you're on Twitter, longcovidkids may be able to help.

DS had Covid at the end of September 2020 with very few symptoms at the time plus a negative PCR. By mid-October he was constantly exhausted, could no longer do any exercise and had chest & joint pain (plus other issues too).

We paid for a Covid antibody test to prove that he'd had it and have since had multiple doctors appointments (phone & F2F), seen a rheumatologist, OT and physio.

Finally in July this year his doctor referred him to the Long Covid clinic but we don't expect he'll get an appointment until next year. Interestingly when we saw the physio the following week, she said that he has classic LC symptoms.

He's done amazingly to cope with all this in his GCSE year but one year it's still ongoing. He has exercises to do every day which help with the hand/knee pain though he's still exhausted all the time.

OP - My DS had a cough, sore throat and cold when he started back at school this September (most of his year did) and it took over 3 weeks for him to get over it. Like you we did lateral flow tests but they were all negative. I'd say plenty of rest & fluids plus a GP appointment if you can get one.

Thanks for all the info and sharing your stories. I feel its something that isn't really talked about or taken seriously for children, and as parents we know when something isn't quite right with them.... I'm trying to do the sleep well, eat well but he complains how awful things taste and he almost gags so he isn't at it, plus he is the same with his favourite foods and snacks.... Im in Scotland, I will look up for long covid clinics and will get him checked over by the GP too..... I really hope all your kids make a full recovery soon, their symptoms sound awful. x

Op, a colleague lost his taste for weeks. He managed to eat by having fizzy drinks or fizzy water with each meal. He said it somehow helped to make food more palatable. Could be worth a try, maybe?

Hi op. So sorry to hear your son has had problems One of ds’s football team developed asthma after covid (previously completely healthy), it’s an absolute bugger of a virus

Ds had covid about 18 months ago and had a pretty hard time after with fatigue, pain, loss of appetite and some inflammatory system problems. Luckily most of those have cleared up, apart from the occasional flare up, but his heart is still affected.

It’s such a coincidence about the loss of appetite. Ds used to be a huge eater but now he’s like a sparrow. He just doesn’t get much enjoyment from it, even though he can taste it fine. It’s like his stomach just shrank (which probably isn’t possible!) Ds also has the swollen tonsils since covid, which is probably connected to the loss of appetite - I don’t think much can get through!

I hope your ds gets better with time. Our gp was really helpful and understanding about long covid so it’s definitely worth having a talk with them. Good luck!

Also so sorry to hear of the other kids who have gone through/are going through this. There is a quite prevalent attitude on mumsnet sometimes that “long covid isn’t real/doesn’t affect kids/is incredibly rare” but luckily I don’t see that attitude reflected in any gp/consultant we’ve seen. Every doctor has been incredibly helpful and willing to listen, and to try to make sense of all the weird and wonderful symptoms that crop up.

Also, more awareness is always a good thing for kids and parents going through this, although I’m so sorry you have to be posting (if that makes sense!)

My dd got covid mid September. She is 11 and had just started y7. She had it very mildly, would have sent her back to school after 2 days if we hadn't had to isolate. But....almost 2 months later she still has a much reduced sense of smell, less appetite than usual, is nauseous and has less energy. The less energy could be growing / starting secondary, but the other symptoms I feel could be long covid. Is there any cure other than resting?? Hope your DC are all doing ok?

There is no cure at the moment but time I'm afraid and I'm very sorry that your children have this. I'm a therapist in a hospital that has a long covid clinic. I got covid from a patient 10 days before first lockdown and have had long covid myself. I still have some mild effects which I believe are inflammatory in nature, swollen joints, allergy symptoms and a very specific headache when I've done too much plus an unusual fatigue/nausea. Although I'm old I have always been very healthy and never even picked up flu from patients. My concern is that people are pinning their hopes on these clinics which mainly are unable to help much other than talk about coping strategies which are mainly around pacing techniques and resting before you bring on the symptom/become exhausted. Hopefully being young they will recover more quickly than me (I'd say I was 16 months before completely manageable), my adult son who is a nurse felt he had symptoms for about 8 months before he could resume his usual exercise. Of course we would have received a larger viral dose being with positive patients so hopefully your children will recover quicker🤞patience and rest is the best medicine 😍

I know a friend who had post viral fatigue for a couple of years. Not covid obviously but similar symptoms. A small percentage of people do get lasting affects after a virus. I understand that many slowly get better.