The lingering impact of a COVID infection

COVID has been a prevailing part of population health since 2020, but the long-term effects are still being studied. Among them is long COVID, a serious illness that can result in chronic, debilitating conditions.

About 7% of U.S. adults, or 18 million people, have had long COVID, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Anyone who has had the virus that causes COVID can experience long COVID in the weeks, months or even years following their initial infection.

Symptoms of long COVID

“While symptoms vary, most cases of long COVID are characterized by extreme, debilitating fatigue,” says Dr. Julie Sheehan, a family medicine and lead virtual COVID recovery clinic physician at Aurora Health Care.

Dr. Sheehan says other symptoms include:

• Brain fog
• Cognitive impairment that may negatively impact memory and word-finding ability
• Headache
• Chronic joint pain
• Idiopathic hypersomnia, an uncommon sleep disorder that causes fatigue during the day even after a full night of quality sleep

Dr. Sheehan says virtual care is a welcomed option for patients with long COVID who often have physical difficulty attending in-person appointments because of their symptoms.

“Living with long COVID can be difficult and isolating, especially when there are no immediate answers or solutions,” she says. “The virtual clinic is a way to meet patients where they are and provide access to care they may not otherwise receive.”

Recommended treatment options

Dr. Sheehan says common treatment options include lifestyle changes related to diet and hydration, along with prescribed medication to address symptoms, when appropriate.

Along with dealing with physical pain, Dr. Sheehan says it is often a big relief for patients just to have their experiences validated.

“It’s a tremendous relief for them to hear that other people had similar experiences and that there are proven options to help them,” she says. “This is not in your head. This is real. Science just hasn’t caught up with this disease, but we are seeing it, we are hearing it, and we’ll try to help you get back to some sense of life and normalcy.”

Contact your health care provider to learn whether you are a candidate and to garner a referral for the virtual COVID recovery clinic.

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