What would happen to your body after having COVID-19?
Many Coronavirus recovered patients report symptoms they continue having after the virus. Scientifics and health experts recognise COVID-19 as a multi-organic disease. Also, Covid has a large broad spectrum of manifestations with effects that can last for weeks (4 or more) or even become chronic. In addition, Scientifics and doctors continue working together to know why Coronavirus has these long term effects. On the other hand, it is hard for them to study Coronavirus because it mutates all fast creating new variants, for example Omicron. But what it’s certain is the fact that Coronavirus affects your immune system so bad that if you have some hidden condition it could manifest while having Covid and persist as a long term effect.
What produces these effects?
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the pathogen responsible of COVID-19. After having Coronavirus you may have residual effects of SARS-COV-2 infection. This is due to the cellular damage which is an innate immune response with inflammatory cytokine production and a procoagulant state caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection. In short, all these characteristics together may contribute to these long term conditions, at least is the hypothesis for now.
What symptoms may I present as long term effects?
- Fatigue (it could be extreme).
- Muscular aches and pains.
- Skin problems (dry skin, rashes, hair loss).
- Dyspnea (When you can’t get enough air in your lungs)Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing.
- Arthralgia (joint stiffness and pain).
- Cognitive issues (brain fog, bad memory, difficulty reading and concentration).
- Depression and increased anxiety.
- Generally feel unwell .
- Swollen lymph nodes .
- Diffuse or general myalgia.
- Non-restorative sleep or insomnia.
- Cough.
- Chest pain.
- Fast or pounding heartbeat.
- Loss of smell or taste.
- Fever.
- Dizziness when you stand.
- Worsened symptoms after physical or mental activities.
Let’s go deeper:
Some of the side effects are:
Lungs
Covid-19 survivors have shown decreased lung capacity in different ways. Dyspnea, decreased exercise capacity, and hypoxia (there isn’t enough oxygen in the tissues to maintain body functions) are symptoms and signs that are often persistent.
Besides, there is a type of pneumonia often associated with COVID-19 that can cause lasting damage to the tiny air sacs (alveoli) in the lungs. The resulting scar tissue can lead to long-term breathing problems.
Neuropsychiatric
Most patients describe fatigue, headaches, myalgia, and cognitive impairment (brain fog). In addition, almost 40% of the patients have reported anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance and post-traumatic stress. Each case is different, some of them can involve inflammation, microvascular thrombosis and psychosocial impacts, among others.
Guillain-Barre syndrome. It is a condition that causes temporary paralysis.
Hematologic
Blood clots can occur. Large clots can cause heart attacks and strokes. On the other hand, experts think that much of the damage to the heart caused by COVID-19 comes from very small clots that block the tiny blood vessels in the heart muscle.
There are more body parts that can be affected by clots, for example: lungs, legs, liver, and kidneys.
Also, there is a characteristic hyper-inflammatory effect caused by the virus, but it is uncertain how long it could last.
Cardiovascular
The most persistent symptoms may include heart palpitations, dyspnea and chest pain. Furthermore, an increased demand of the heart’s metabolism, arrhythmia, tachycardia, among others are present, too.
Renal
When having COVID-19, most patients develop acute kidney injury, but improves after some weeks. In addition, some patients infected with the African variant of SARS-CoV-2 show nephropathy (kidney disease).
Gastrointestinal
Diarrhea, one of the most common symptoms in COVID-19 patients, can persist for quite some time, even after a negative test. Besides, the virus can alter the microbiome of the gut, affecting bacteria that are beneficial to stomach health.
Endocrine
Some conditions are: new or deteriorating diabetes mellitus, inflammation of the thyroid gland or acute thyroiditis, and demineralization of the bones.
A final word
There are different manifestations of the COVID-19 sequels, so it is important that even when you think Coronavirus is over, you should continue visiting your GP in order to keep everything under control. Keep a healthy lifestyle, improve your health habits, rest, introduce massage in your routine, and start Manual lymphatic drainage sessions to release toxins out of your body sooner, allowing your immune system to recover faster.
We hope this information is useful for you. If you need advice or have any questions about our treatments, please contact us. You can find us in Mill Hill Broadway and Islington. We are always happy to help. If you like this blog, please share!
References:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/es-es/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavir
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01283-zus-long-term-effects/art-20490351
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/
