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Long Covid brain fog may be due to damaged blood vessels in the brain

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121–130 of 163 posts

Re: Long Covid brain fog may be due to damaged blood vessels in the brain

#121
post #101
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not that this it's a good excuse, but it stressed doctors out when they are not able to diagnose something. So when all the tests and checks look good they are quick to dismiss the problems as psychosomatic as a way to cope with the stress of being unable to diagnose you. It's a dysregulation of the ANS/sympathetic nervous system which is likely caused by auto antibodies - so it's very much physiological and outside…

While you are right, there is a common misconception that psychosomatic means that the patient is making up its symptoms and that it’s in his mind. That’s not what a doctor means by psychosomatic, but rather than the symptoms are totally real but that they are originating from stress. So, any good doctor will try to heal your symptoms regardless of the cause. The only difference when they think it’s psychosomatic is…

Or perhaps 'the patient is creating symptoms using their mind' eh?

The symptoms exist, they are originating due to thoughts/beliefs in the mind.

Re: Long Covid brain fog may be due to damaged blood vessels in the brain

#122
post #35

Recently read an article suggesting that we should drop the term Long Covid, as it implies that there is something unique about it, when the research seems to show that the impairment post-Covid is very similar to that from Influenza: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/15/long-covid-s...

When you look at the Epstein-Barr virus we call the result of the infection all kinds of syndromes. Personally I had Long Epstein-Barr for almost a year. So I know it's no joke. Most virus infections can cause long term problems.

How did you diagnose you had Long Epstein-Barr?

Re: Long Covid brain fog may be due to damaged blood vessels in the brain

#123
post #54

I’ll share an abridged long COVID story about myself since it dearly affected me. Just so other people can kind of know what the experience was like. I got sick in October 2020 before vaccines were available. After the initial 10 days which I would describe as moderate, borderline severe (6/10, where 7/10 is hospital and 9/10 is ICU) I had all manner of absolutely weird things happen to my body. I won’t go into the d…

Precisely what happened to me. Doctor botched the disgnosis, my department in local government did everything in their power to push me out immediately upon sharing an honest assesment of how I was feeling, asserting that I was voluntarily resigning rather than genuinely ill - which came across as retaliation for some of them having to return to the office in my stead, as prior to catching covid-19 and suffering the…

Don't mention health issues in an interview, ever. It's unfortunate and really should be illegal to discriminate (not to mention passing up on people who have learned a lot of resilience traits and recovered function) but it's pretty much the kiss of death to mention any kind of sickness or chronic issue.

Re: Long Covid brain fog may be due to damaged blood vessels in the brain

#124
I had this, but not too badly.

I started taking a brain-support supplement and it has made a dramatic improvement. Kind of like my senses, reflexes, energy have all been enhanced basically back to what they were before I got infected with this crap.

Edit - I'll just say what I'm taking. It's called "Sharpmind - Brain Formula" by Solaray. I don't have any hard evidence, but I started feeling pretty close to the "before times" after a few days of taking it. ymmv

Re: Long Covid brain fog may be due to damaged blood vessels in the brain

#125
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been getting this since having kids and I called it brain fog too because I didn't know how else to describe it as well. Tests all came back negative. I now just attribute it to exhaustion and lack of sleep, but I find as I get older the symptoms come fast if I don't sleep enough or I get sick and my body isn't 100%.

Did you get your Testosterone checked? There are studies showing men lower T levels when babies are born, if you were already low it could be a issue.

Yes, testosterone was checked and came back normal.

Re: Long Covid brain fog may be due to damaged blood vessels in the brain

#126
post #85
post #77

I was affected by this "brain fog" after getting Covid, but I didn't put two and two together. I called my doctor's office to schedule an appointment and when the receptionist asked what the appointment was for, I simply said "brain fog". I had no other way to describe it. It was intense and disturbing. I often couldn't put cohererent thoughts together, I was constantly forgetting what I was doing, forgetting where I…

Not that this it's a good excuse, but it stressed doctors out when they are not able to diagnose something. So when all the tests and checks look good they are quick to dismiss the problems as psychosomatic as a way to cope with the stress of being unable to diagnose you. It's a dysregulation of the ANS/sympathetic nervous system which is likely caused by auto antibodies - so it's very much physiological and outside…

Yup. Most doctors are basically glorified pigeonholers. Grab pigeon (patient), find matching hole, put pigeon in hole and read the directions on the hole.

Unfortunately, when there isn't an obvious matching hole they tend to stuff them in wrong holes (there are conditions for which getting the right diagnosis often takes years), or when they don't see any appropriate hole they stuff them in the "crazy" hole. And the doctors are very reluctant to take a pigeon out of a wrong hole, especially if it's the crazy hole.

I recall a thread on here from some years back, diagnosis: anorexia. Real diagnosis: partial gastroparesis. She didn't want to eat because her body wasn't pushing the food on down the system properly and eating was very unpleasant!

Re: Long Covid brain fog may be due to damaged blood vessels in the brain

#127

I’ll share an abridged long COVID story about myself since it dearly affected me. Just so other people can kind of know what the experience was like. I got sick in October 2020 before vaccines were available. After the initial 10 days which I would describe as moderate, borderline severe (6/10, where 7/10 is hospital and 9/10 is ICU) I had all manner of absolutely weird things happen to my body. I won’t go into the d…

Thank you for sharing your story. What people don’t realize is that long covid is a fate worse than death, and that’s not very well represented well in the statistics. So we look at the death statistics and say Covid really isn’t that scary. Wrong, it’s worse than that. I wouldn’t wish long covid on anyone (except long covid deniers).

Re: Long Covid brain fog may be due to damaged blood vessels in the brain

#128

The last para suggests that this is not reversible. But does anyone have any treatment options or supplements/nootropics to recommend?

I'm using something called "Sharpmind - Brain Formula" by Solaray. I don't have an hard-evidence that the ingredients are working against this particular issue, but I can say that it has made me feel a lot better/more present in my mind than I ever was post-infection. I have recommended it to a few others, one of which who has actually tried it and seems to feel similar to me about its effects.

Re: Long Covid brain fog may be due to damaged blood vessels in the brain

#129
post #92
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you look at the Epstein-Barr virus we call the result of the infection all kinds of syndromes. Personally I had Long Epstein-Barr for almost a year. So I know it's no joke. Most virus infections can cause long term problems.

> Most virus infections can cause long term problems. This is very, very false. Your body is currently fighting off a very large number of virus and bacterial infections. Most are innocuous, and don't even raise the symptoms of a cold. Now, going out on more of a limb and moving into speculation: There is a tiny minority of diseases -- most very new and poorly-understood -- which do this. There's some evidence that p…

Fundamentally, prior to civilization there was not a sustainable host population for human diseases. Anything that could only target humans would quickly burn out as everyone around would either be dead or resistant from prior infection.

As our population grew and contact grew there were enough people around that a disease could sweep through a population then go elsewhere while a new generation grew up to be vulnerable when it finally came back.

Even with that, though, most of our disease are minor variants on stuff from the animal world. Covid appears to be simply the latest iteration of something that has periodically spilled into the human population in the past--except with the extremely nasty trait of asymptomatic spread. HIV is simply a minor variant on the already-existing SIV. It learned to target the immune system long before it targeted humans.

Re: Long Covid brain fog may be due to damaged blood vessels in the brain

#130
post #70
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious: Do you spend much time reading news, watching podcasts, or YouTube videos? I've noticed a similar thing in myself and I'm not sure if it's due to COVID or if it's because of this news addition.

Depression and isolation maybe?

No isolation, no depression, definitely :)
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