What is Long COVID Disease or Long Haul Syndrome?
Long COVID Disease, also called Long-COVID Syndrome or COVID Long Haul, refers to any symptoms following a SARS-CoV-2 infection that persist for an extended time. Long COVID is suspected when symptoms persist beyond 4 weeks after clearing the infection and are not explained by an alternative diagnosis. Symptoms of the disease are variable and unique in their manifestation in each individual. Having current medical illness such as diabetes, obesity, or autoimmune disorder is a risk factor, however, healthy people with no prior medical problems can still develop Long COVID.
What are the symptoms of Long COVID?
Long COVID symptoms can fluctuate or change over time, often overlapping, and can affect any system in the body. Fatigue, exertional malaise, brain fog, headache and insomnia are the most common ones. The other Long COVID signs and symptoms might include:
- Fatigue
- Ongoing shortness of breath
- Vision changes
- Loss of smell and/or taste
- Altered smell and/or taste
- Digestion disruption
- Insomnia
- Anxiety
- Mood disorder
- Brain Fog
- Headaches
- Chest Pain
- Palpitations
- Dizziness upon standing
- Changes in Blood Pressure
- Exercise intolerance
How is Long COVID treated?
The treatment of Long COVID is based on a detailed clinical history, initial evaluation, symptoms and a physical examination. Selected laboratory testing is generally ordered primarily to exclude other medical conditions.
Because of the variable presentations, Long COVID is best addressed by a holistic and personalized approach, taking into consideration the context of the specific patient, their preferences and other factors. Depending on presentation, therapy might include prescription and recommendations for over-the-counter medications, natural therapies, dietary and lifestyle modification, vitamins and supplements and advanced diagnostic tools. Screening tests might be ordered to in order to rule out other conditions.
Since Long COVID is a newer disease, the availability of evidence-based guidelines for treatment of the condition is limited, so additional guidelines based on expert opinions and other clinical resources available from specialty health care professionals will be implemented for better assessment, diagnosis and managements of the disease.
Do I have Long Haul?
If you are unsure if you have Long COVID or where to go for help in making diagnosis of Long COVID, you should ask yourself the following questions:
- Am I constantly exhausted, cannot think straight, and have a widespread muscle pain three months after the initial SARS CoV-2 infection?
- Am I more breathless now than I was before my COVID-19 infection?
- Do I have a cough? (Different from any cough that you had before)
- How is my physical strength? (Do you feel so weak that it is still limiting what you can do?)
- Do I have a diminished sense of smell or taste or have I lost my sense of smell or taste?
- Is my sleep disturbed? (More than it was pre-COVID?)
- How is my mood? Am I feeling lacking in motivation/no pleasure in anything?
- Am I feeling anxious? (Worrying more than you used to?)
- Have I lost weight since my COVID illness?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions and your symptoms have lasted at least three months and are significantly interfering with your life, it’s time to take action.
Book an appointment with our U.S. board-certified health care practitioner.
Our seamless online booking system and our secure communication platform allows you to receive a personalized treatment that can be accessible from your home or office. Should a prescription be necessary, it will be electronically sent to the pharmacy of your choice, using our E-prescribing software.