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

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

#71

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

Vinpocetine is known to increase bloodflow to the brain, and it possesses neuroprotective effects.

"Vinpocetine, a derivative of the alkaloid vincamine, has been clinically used in many countries for treatment of cerebrovascular disorders such as stroke and dementia for more than 30 years. Currently, vinpocetine is also available in the market as a dietary supplement to enhance cognition and memory..."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5766389/

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

#72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Experts react: https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/expert-reaction-long-covid-m... > It is because of these specific factors as well as inherent limitations of the study methodology itself, that their conclusion that it is “time to stop using terms like ‘long COVID’” is overstated and potentially unhelpful. Long COVID has been a global phenomenon, recognised by WHO. > Unfortunately, this question cannot be simply answere…

> "Long covid is not a thing" plays into the "Covid is not a thing" conspiracy theory; it's probably a harmful trope, rather than meaningfully helpful for the people suffering symptoms. That something plays into a harmful trope doesn’t speak to its veracity though, and diminishing smaller inconvenient truths so as to not lead people astray in my opinion exacerbates rather than diminishes conspiracy theories. Could pr…

If the potential effect of a message is rather harmful, it's reasonable to hold the veracity of that message to a higher standard of scrutiny than if a message is benign.

This wasn't a good study, scientifically. Scrutiny was not applied before reporting on it, and now we have a harm on our hands. The fact that we're discussing it attests to that, since its a sideshow leeching attention away from the main topic of long covid's effects.

Agree that public messaging could have and should be a lot better on the topics you mentioned, but disagree that harm should not be at least a part of the calculus.

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

#73

For me, it's like the volume of my inner voice is decreased, and no sign of recovery after 2 years, though no significant cognitive function decline can be observed.

I'm fascinated by people's inner monologues (I don't have one), so forgive my curiosity: is what you describe a bad thing? Have you noticed changes in your patterns of reasoning?

No, not much. It may make you feel foggy for a while, but when you get used to or just ignore it, nothing actually changed. My understanding is inner monologue is just some side effect rather than necessary part of thought.

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

#74
post #33

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

This is a bit out there but I read some books on polyvagal theory that suggested I could induce the "rest & digest" state by leaning into and completing the "fight or flight" and "shutdown" states. There are many nervous system calming techniques that help e.g. rubbing my coat hanger area (if you draw a coat hanger between your neck and shoulders on the front & back), chanting om or making sighing noises, and taking…

Calming the sympathicus is one of the very few things that somewhat works for me. It helps to relax and get good sleep.

One technique I'll add to the list: skin massage (literally pinching it with your fingers) around the sympathicus area: along the lower ribs, up the sternum and into a V-shape around the neck (roughly following the collarbones). The nerve endings on the skin literally stimulate the sympathetic system, allowing it to "reset". I don't know the exact mechanism, but I can vouch for it actually working.

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

#75
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I didn't write the parent comment, but I'd note that being unemployable is a great reason to start your own business, and if you do it right you'll never need to answer to anybody again. (Besides customers, that is, but customers are usually a lot friendlier than HR departments.) Another option would be to pick up freelance work. This can often lead to fulltime employment, particularly when a company hires you for a…

People generally see work because they need money, and meanwhile a business is one of the biggest money sinks when starting out. I don't really understand why people suggest this as general advice. If you're not already extremely experienced and established in your field, or if you don't have years of savings to live off, I can't imagine starting a business impromptu going well. You need a plan.

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

#76

Perhaps then we should stop ignoring the potential effects of the ongoing airborne pandemic. But no, keep f*king around with COVID, and we keep finding out.

There is no ongoing pandemic. There is now an endemic virus that's part of the regular rotation of pathogens that cause colds and flu, and covid doesn't seem particularly more dangerous than the rest (NB: influenza can be very nasty too! I'm not minimizing the harm of covid).

The pandemic was a unique situation because the entire world population was immuno-naive to covid. This is no longer the case; we all get exposed dozens of times per year and keep our natural immunity up.

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

#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 had just put something.

Over the coming weeks it slowly receded, but there's no doubt it is real.

I've had people dismiss it as "it's all in your mind". They're right on some level ... it was in my mind. But it was very real, and I have no doubt it was SARS-CoV-2 related due to the timing and sheer intensity of it.

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

#78

[flagged]

HSV, VZV, HIV, CMV, Zika, and Ebola are all viruses that are known to potentially damage blood vessels in the brain. I don't think it's correct to assume a virus cannot just by nature of being a virus.

[flagged]

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

#79

[flagged]

>I doubt a virus can damage blood vessels in the brain.

An autoimmune response of the body is capable of damaging everything in the body. A pathogen is able to trigger any immune response in the body depending on what it is.

I don't know how your reasoning works but I can't follow it.

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

#80
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…

Do you still feel like this? Is there anything that helped you?
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