Long Covid. A support thread for those who take a while to recover from Covid-19

[zand]

17 months on and, although I am mostly well, any extra exertion seems to tire me out for several days.

Yes me too. I guess it's progress as at least I can do a bit more now, even though I suffer for a while afterwards.

 

[Annb]

Me too. Had this unidentifiable virus (because there were no tests available, in Scotland anyway) back in March 2020, ie 19 months ago. Was pretty poorly for a few weeks but eventually came back to normal - apart from breathlessness which wouldn't go away. Doctors have said it "probably was" covid but noway of telling at this stage. No obvious signs of damage to my lungs, and it eased off considerably for a while, but came back a couple of weeks ago. Now I've caught a cold and it is much worse. Doctors are happy to leave well alone - especially since they don''t have an answer. It's very wearing - not made any easier by exhaustion any time I do anything - literally anything, even just standing up. Reminds me of years ago when ME was considered to be a middle class imaginary condition - until they discovered a reason for it and started calling it a "post viral" condition.

 

[Kyambala]

Me too. Had this unidentifiable virus (because there were no tests available, in Scotland anyway) back in March 2020, ie 19 months ago. Was pretty poorly for a few weeks but eventually came back to normal - apart from breathlessness which wouldn't go away. Doctors have said it "probably was" covid but noway of telling at this stage. No obvious signs of damage to my lungs, and it eased off considerably for a while, but came back a couple of weeks ago. Now I've caught a cold and it is much worse. Doctors are happy to leave well alone - especially since they don''t have an answer. It's very wearing - not made any easier by exhaustion any time I do anything - literally anything, even just standing up. Reminds me of years ago when ME was considered to be a middle class imaginary condition - until they discovered a reason for it and started calling it a "post viral" condition.

Good afternoon Annb,
This thread has gone on a long time - but then so has Long Covid.
After about 18 months I still have little energy - but then I am almost 80 years old now.
My blood sugars are good - between 5 and 6 and my HbA1c was 46 a few weeks ago - but after mainly sitting watching the TV or on my Laptop all day (even the Churches have been closed) my legs hurt whenever I go for a short walk.

I long for Summer and the energy to go outside again regularly. My wife does everything around our home and all I do is wash dishes.

I wish everyone on this site well, good health, and the energy to get those limbs working again.

If I don't speak to you again before then - Happy Christmas.

 

[Annb]

Good afternoon Annb,
This thread has gone on a long time - but then so has Long Covid.
After about 18 months I still have little energy - but then I am almost 80 years old now.
My blood sugars are good - between 5 and 6 and my HbA1c was 46 a few weeks ago - but after mainly sitting watching the TV or on my Laptop all day (even the Churches have been closed) my legs hurt whenever I go for a short walk.

I long for Summer and the energy to go outside again regularly. My wife does everything around our home and all I do is wash dishes.

I wish everyone on this site well, good health, and the energy to get those limbs working again.

If I don't speak to you again before then - Happy Christmas.

Maybe the long term exhaustion has something to do with age - I'm 76 and do almost nothing. My son has even started dealing with the dish washer in the last couple of days - that's something I always felt I could handle - and maybe will in a few days, who knows? It could also be high bg - that's a constant struggle for me. That's part of the trouble - exhaustion could be caused by anything. But I don't think the breathlessness has anything to do with diabetes.

Edited to add: I actually just drove to our local pharmacy - about 1/4 mile away but no way I could even think of walking it. But I needed a prescription and my son is also unwell at present, so I had to really push myself. And it just about killed me!

 

[Kyambala]

Maybe the long term exhaustion has something to do with age - I'm 76 and do almost nothing. My son has even started dealing with the dish washer in the last couple of days - that's something I always felt I could handle - and maybe will in a few days, who knows? It could also be high bg - that's a constant struggle for me. That's part of the trouble - exhaustion could be caused by anything. But I don't think the breathlessness has anything to do with diabetes.

Edited to add: I actually just drove to our local pharmacy - about 1/4 mile away but no way I could even think of walking it. But I needed a prescription and my son is also unwell at present, so I had to really push myself. And it just about killed me!

Thank you for your reply Annb,

Yes, perhaps age is a factor. I have a brother at 89 and a sister at 87 and another brother st 85 and another sister at 83 and they all seem to move around quite freely.

My father died aged 79 and my mother died aged 86, my oldest brother died some years ago aged 81 (too much whiskey) and an older sister died of cancer at 79.

I am the 7th of 10 siblings. My great grandfather died aged 98 - he was working as a Blacksmith shoeing a horse and fell over backwards and split his head open - otherwise he might still be alive - he would be about 200 years old now.

I do hope that you get your strength back soon and that your son makes a good recovery.

Have a nice day.

 

[Vegan Bear]

Hello everyone,

I had covid in the first wave and fell ill on 23rd March 2020.

I now have long covid with a long list of symptoms. I now live with my Partnerin Shetland Scotland as I could no longer look after myself living in Edinburgh.

I know my type 2 diabetes was effected by covid as I felt unwell and had some blood tests, I have brain issues that are effecting my memory, but do remember the digesting me to redo the bloods as he said they were ‘funky’ (new medical term) I redid the bloods and they said they needed to keep an eye on me. Move on a few months and I moved to Shetland, I again had to have my bloods done twice as they thought there was an issue with the lab, again I was told it was high and they needed to keep an eye on it.

The dr I had at the time was beyond incompetent, calling me a week later to see if my long covid symptoms had gone and was shock when I said no! I soon changed doctors and the first one left the practice a few weeks later.

Moving along to last October and I had my boost jag, the first two jags I was unwell for about a week after (this would in no way stop me having more jags) I was called in for my booster and flu jag combined. Well this knocked me on my bum, I was sleeping for 18 hours a day and all my long covid symptoms seemed to increase. In the middle of January I decided I would start doing my bloods, fasting in the morning, before dinner, 2 hours post dinner and then before bed.

I’ve just been in to have a full range of blood tests yesterday (it will take just over a week to come back as they have to go to the Scottish mainland fore some)

I have had type 2 for 9 years though it has been diet controlled on a long term vegan diet (20+ years) I have tried medication but it left me with leg pains and unable to walk. I have had me/cfs for over 20 years but until covid had that under control.

My question would be, does anyone else have high glucose reading? Has it been put down to long covid?

Thank you for your time.

Jayson

 

[lucylocket61]

Hello Jayson. I am a long covid survivor too. Do you know how many carbs you are eating a day, and are you on any meds for your diabetes?

If you can give us an idea if what you eat and drink, we may be able to help you identify something you can change to help your blood sugar levels.

Do you have the results of the blood sugar tests your GP did?

Best wishes.

 

[zand]

Well done on controlling your diabetes with a vegan diet for over 9 years. Can you specify please. Is it simply a vegan diet? Or is it a low carb high fat vegan diet? Or a High carb low fat vegan diet? I believe both of the last 2 have been used by some to treat T2, although the LCHF version seems to be more straightforward and popular on this site.

I had covid around the same time as you. The debilitating fatigue has mostly gone now thankfully but my fasting blood glucose levels haven't recovered, although my last HbA1c showed a little improvement.

I have been eating low carb but am now embarking on a keto, very low carb diet to see if I can get my FBGs to drop back down to their pre-covid levels. I don't enjoy keto as I love my veggies but I am hoping this will help me lose a few pounds and help my FBGs too.

Oh, I forgot to say...Welcome to the forum.

 

[Vegan Bear]

Hello Jayson. I am a long covid survivor too. Do you know how many carbs you are eating a day, and are you on any meds for your diabetes?

If you can give us an idea if what you eat and drink, we may be able to help you identify something you can change to help your blood sugar levels.

Do you have the results of the blood sugar tests your GP did?

Best wishes.

No results yet as it will not be back in til later next week.

my carbs on an average day is about 136g fat 17g and protein 31g

 

[Vegan Bear]

Well done on controlling your diabetes with a vegan diet for over 9 years. Can you specify please. Is it simply a vegan diet? Or is it a low carb high fat vegan diet? Or a High carb low fat vegan diet? I believe both of the last 2 have been used by some to treat T2, although the LCHF version seems to be more straightforward and popular on this site.

I had covid around the same time as you. The debilitating fatigue has mostly gone now thankfully but my fasting blood glucose levels haven't recovered, although my last HbA1c showed a little improvement.

I have been eating low carb but am now embarking on a keto, very low carb diet to see if I can get my FBGs to drop back down to their pre-covid levels. I don't enjoy keto as I love my veggies but I am hoping this will help me lose a few pounds and help my FBGs too.

Oh, I forgot to say...Welcome to the forum.

I follow Dr Neil Bernard reversing diabetes book and cookbook it seems to be quite balanced.

my carbs on an average day is about 136g fat 17g and protein 31g

I have looked at the vegan keto cookbooks but I love my veg so much I would struggle.

Jayson

 

[Kyambala]

Hello everyone,

I had covid in the first wave and fell ill on 23rd March 2020.

I now have long covid with a long list of symptoms. I now live with my Partnerin Shetland Scotland as I could no longer look after myself living in Edinburgh.

I know my type 2 diabetes was effected by covid as I felt unwell and had some blood tests, I have brain issues that are effecting my memory, but do remember the digesting me to redo the bloods as he said they were ‘funky’ (new medical term) I redid the bloods and they said they needed to keep an eye on me. Move on a few months and I moved to Shetland, I again had to have my bloods done twice as they thought there was an issue with the lab, again I was told it was high and they needed to keep an eye on it.

The dr I had at the time was beyond incompetent, calling me a week later to see if my long covid symptoms had gone and was shock when I said no! I soon changed doctors and the first one left the practice a few weeks later.

Moving along to last October and I had my boost jag, the first two jags I was unwell for about a week after (this would in no way stop me having more jags) I was called in for my booster and flu jag combined. Well this knocked me on my bum, I was sleeping for 18 hours a day and all my long covid symptoms seemed to increase. In the middle of January I decided I would start doing my bloods, fasting in the morning, before dinner, 2 hours post dinner and then before bed.

I’ve just been in to have a full range of blood tests yesterday (it will take just over a week to come back as they have to go to the Scottish mainland fore some)

I have had type 2 for 9 years though it has been diet controlled on a long term vegan diet (20+ years) I have tried medication but it left me with leg pains and unable to walk. I have had me/cfs for over 20 years but until covid had that under control.

My question would be, does anyone else have high glucose reading? Has it been put down to long covid?

Thank you for your time.

Jayson

View attachment 53188

Good afternoon Jayson,

Welcome to the Forum.

I had Long Covid about the same time as you and I have been Diabetic for about 30 years and on Insulin for about 10 years.

Regarding your memory problems - are you on Statins? I was on Statins for a number of years and my memory gradually worse and worse so that I could no longer hold a conversation - so I STOPPED taking Statins and gradually my memory started to return to normal.

A new Doctor tried to put me back on Statins so I asked my Doctor to write on my file: THERE IS NO WAY THAT THIS MAN WILL EVER GO BACK ON STATINS. This is called TAKING CONTROL.

I also vary my Insulin according to my morning Fasting Blood Sugars. If my FBS is above 6 on my Meter I increase my Insulin units - if it is below 5 on my Meter I lower my Insulin units.

Years ago my FBS was 10 and 24 and I had frequent Hypos.

Now my FBS will vary between 5 and 6.

I hope this information helps.

 

[Antje77]

my carbs on an average day is about 136g fat 17g and protein 31g

I have looked at the vegan keto cookbooks but I love my veg so much I would struggle.

There's a lot of room between keto and 136 grams of carbs. Perhaps you can go somewhere in between?

 

[zand]

I follow Dr Neil Bernard reversing diabetes book and cookbook it seems to be quite balanced.

my carbs on an average day is about 136g fat 17g and protein 31g

I have looked at the vegan keto cookbooks but I love my veg so much I would struggle.

Jayson

I guess that's Moderate Carb then, so would probably be difficult for you to up the protein without increasing fat too?

 

[Annb]

Although I have had some issue with my lungs since covid in March 2020, tests showed nothing wrong but I had a pre-op assessment on Monday during which they used a test to meaqure my lung capacity - first time I'd had that. I am 76 and they told me my lungs perform like those of a 90 year old. Due to covid? Who knows.

 

[Alexandra100]

I am 76 and they told me my lungs perform like those of a 90 year old.

@Annb Are you aware of being limited by your lung capacity in everyday life?

 

[Alexandra100]

I have looked at the vegan keto cookbooks but I love my veg so much I would struggle.

@Vegan Bear (LOVE your pseudo !!!) Could you nudge your vegetable intake towards the lower carb ones? See Diet Dr: "Vegetables with less than 5 grams of net carbs may be eaten relatively freely. If you’re on a moderate low-carb diet (20-50 grams of net carbs per day), you can probably eat all you want of all these low-carb vegetables." Lots more info. and lovely pictures of low carb vegetables here: https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/vegetables

 

[Alexandra100]

I guess that's Moderate Carb then, so would probably be difficult for you to up the protein without increasing fat too?

@zand I'd have thought the problem with a low carb vegan diet is not keeping the fat low, but limiting the carbs. All the beans, lentils, peas, soya contain low fat and reasonable protein but all contain carbs. This is the reason I have, sadly, abandoned my vegetarianish diet.

 

[Kyambala]

Although I have had some issue with my lungs since covid in March 2020, tests showed nothing wrong but I had a pre-op assessment on Monday during which they used a test to meaqure my lung capacity - first time I'd had that. I am 76 and they told me my lungs perform like those of a 90 year old. Due to covid? Who knows.

hello annb,

I am so sorry - but I hope that you will make a full recovery. My main problem is a lack of energy and stamina. I never went into Hospital because my wife is a retired nurse and she gave me "Intensive Care" at home. I am now 80 so I guess that I don't have many years left anyway.

Have a nice day.

 

[zand]

@zand I'd have thought the problem with a low carb vegan diet is not keeping the fat low, but limiting the carbs. All the beans, lentils, peas, soya contain low fat and reasonable protein but all contain carbs. This is the reason I have, sadly, abandoned my vegetarianish diet.

Yes it is. I was unsure whether Dr Barnard's advice favoured HCLF or LCHF as Vegan Bear's diet is moderate carbs. I myself favour LCHF but I know others (not many on this forum!) favour HCLF. I am told either will do the job (though I am unconvinced as I found HCLF impossible for myself) and that it's the half carbs half fat western diet that is most problematic.

 

[Alexandra100]

it's the half carbs half fat western diet that is most problematic.

@zand Yes, I've seen this too. Jenny Ruhl mentions research showing that people who HAVE BEEN on a LC diet and then fall off it do badly. She hypothesises that this is because, having overcome their fear of fat, when they start to add in many more carbs to their diet without diminishing the fat, it is a catastrophe!