New WSJ story on long haulers https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsj.com/amp/...1609772400
Here’s the text from today’s WSJ long hauler article:
A series of Wall Street Journal articles about long-haul Covid patients, who suffer from debilitating symptoms for months after their initial diagnosis, prompted readers to share their own stories. Some described their experiences with long Covid, which can include brain fog, severe fatigue and racing heart rate. Other readers shared their experiences with a disorder called POTS, a little-understood syndrome that existed before Covid but is being diagnosed more often in people with post-acute Covid symptoms.
Here are edited excerpts of their comments.
I am from Tucson, diagnosed with coronavirus on June 15. I don’t think people believe the symptoms we have are real.
The stories of the others prompted me to write. My symptoms are similar. Hard to breathe, racing heart, numbness and tingling, tight and heavy feeling in my chest, aching in various body parts, sometimes headache, ringing in my ears. Some days are better but after I go and do something—shop, cook, relax in the pool, or walk farther than the mailbox—I am done for the day. And I can’t stay focused, can’t work seated at the computer for more than 30 or 40 minutes without getting confused and frustrated.
Thank you for letting me share this. No one else is listening.
Morgan Egan-Murphy, Tucson, Ariz.
Stephanie Zeidenweber and I live maybe five minutes down the street from each other. Both of us got sick. Both of us had asthma as children but we’re both extremely active in our present lives.
Even though we have similar friends, we never met each other until we got sick. We lean on each other because nobody else understands what we are going through except for those in our support groups. We have been sick with identical stories and symptoms for the same amount of time.
Today I’m having a bad breathing day, which Stephanie dealt with for the past three days. When I get up, my oxygen levels go down and my heart rate spikes. Sometimes this will go back to normal again, and I will have a full sense of relief for a short period of time until it starts all over again.
Stephanie Bregman, Boca Raton, Fla., with Stephanie Zeidenweber, Delray Beach, Fla.
My 17-year-old daughter got Covid in early March. She mentioned that she was smelling “pad Thai” or dirty rags all the time, but I ignored her as I myself was working in the Covid ICUs during the surge as an intensivist, and felt totally overwhelmed.
My daughter still can’t smell. We had a near fire in our kitchen last month from burned popcorn in the microwave, and she couldn’t smell the smoke. She experiences a disturbing smell most of the time. Although better than it was in March, her sense of smell is altered, and she gets no pleasure from scents that used to be enjoyable.
Dana Lustbader, Great Neck, N.Y.
I’m 22 years old and I’ve had POTS for about three years. Becoming chronically ill flipped my life upside down. Now I’ve learned how to live with POTS, as well as my overlapping chronic health conditions.
There is a huge community of POTS patients who have been battling this condition for many years, pre-Covid, with little to no light ever shed on our struggle. There are still some doctors who refuse to treat it because they don’t believe it’s real.
Becoming chronically ill, especially if you were healthy before, can be one of the most isolating experiences of one’s life. It was for me. It took me years to find doctors and resources to help me feel less alone in my experience and battle with this condition. There is a community waiting to support and embrace post-Covid patients entering the realm of long-lasting illness for the first time.
Catherine Ames, Carlsbad, Calif.
Here’s the text from today’s WSJ long hauler article:
A series of Wall Street Journal articles about long-haul Covid patients, who suffer from debilitating symptoms for months after their initial diagnosis, prompted readers to share their own stories. Some described their experiences with long Covid, which can include brain fog, severe fatigue and racing heart rate. Other readers shared their experiences with a disorder called POTS, a little-understood syndrome that existed before Covid but is being diagnosed more often in people with post-acute Covid symptoms.
Here are edited excerpts of their comments.
I am from Tucson, diagnosed with coronavirus on June 15. I don’t think people believe the symptoms we have are real.
The stories of the others prompted me to write. My symptoms are similar. Hard to breathe, racing heart, numbness and tingling, tight and heavy feeling in my chest, aching in various body parts, sometimes headache, ringing in my ears. Some days are better but after I go and do something—shop, cook, relax in the pool, or walk farther than the mailbox—I am done for the day. And I can’t stay focused, can’t work seated at the computer for more than 30 or 40 minutes without getting confused and frustrated.
Thank you for letting me share this. No one else is listening.
Morgan Egan-Murphy, Tucson, Ariz.
Stephanie Zeidenweber and I live maybe five minutes down the street from each other. Both of us got sick. Both of us had asthma as children but we’re both extremely active in our present lives.
Even though we have similar friends, we never met each other until we got sick. We lean on each other because nobody else understands what we are going through except for those in our support groups. We have been sick with identical stories and symptoms for the same amount of time.
Today I’m having a bad breathing day, which Stephanie dealt with for the past three days. When I get up, my oxygen levels go down and my heart rate spikes. Sometimes this will go back to normal again, and I will have a full sense of relief for a short period of time until it starts all over again.
Stephanie Bregman, Boca Raton, Fla., with Stephanie Zeidenweber, Delray Beach, Fla.
My 17-year-old daughter got Covid in early March. She mentioned that she was smelling “pad Thai” or dirty rags all the time, but I ignored her as I myself was working in the Covid ICUs during the surge as an intensivist, and felt totally overwhelmed.
My daughter still can’t smell. We had a near fire in our kitchen last month from burned popcorn in the microwave, and she couldn’t smell the smoke. She experiences a disturbing smell most of the time. Although better than it was in March, her sense of smell is altered, and she gets no pleasure from scents that used to be enjoyable.
Dana Lustbader, Great Neck, N.Y.
I’m 22 years old and I’ve had POTS for about three years. Becoming chronically ill flipped my life upside down. Now I’ve learned how to live with POTS, as well as my overlapping chronic health conditions.
There is a huge community of POTS patients who have been battling this condition for many years, pre-Covid, with little to no light ever shed on our struggle. There are still some doctors who refuse to treat it because they don’t believe it’s real.
Becoming chronically ill, especially if you were healthy before, can be one of the most isolating experiences of one’s life. It was for me. It took me years to find doctors and resources to help me feel less alone in my experience and battle with this condition. There is a community waiting to support and embrace post-Covid patients entering the realm of long-lasting illness for the first time.
Catherine Ames, Carlsbad, Calif.
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