Dizziness is a prevalent but misunderstood symptom in long Covid, often misdiagnosed. It arises from various mechanisms, including autonomic dysfunction, cerebral hypoperfusion, and vestibular involvement, rather than just anxiety. Effective management involves understanding these complexities, focusing on patient education, and reducing symptoms through non-invasive strategies without excessive testing.
Tag: Daily Living
People the Internet Cannot Reach: Severe Long Covid and the Proxy Layer
This article highlights the neglect of severely ill Long Covid patients who are housebound or bedbound and largely excluded from online communities and research. Their unique challenges, such as cognitive and sensory limitations, hinder participation in digital forums. The proxy layer, consisting of caregivers, navigates these patients' needs, emphasizing the necessity for inclusive support and research tailored to their experiences.
How to Stop Long Covid Getting Worse: Pacing, PEM, Reinfection and Recovery
Long COVID does not always worsen over time, but certain factors—including repeated post-exertional malaise (PEM), reinfection, pushing beyond your energy limits and returning to intense exercise too soon—may increase the risk of prolonged symptoms. While there is no guaranteed way to prevent worsening, research suggests that pacing, avoiding repeated crashes, reducing reinfection risk and managing … Continue reading How to Stop Long Covid Getting Worse: Pacing, PEM, Reinfection and Recovery
How to Survive a Heatwave with Long COVID: Practical Tips for POTS, Dysautonomia and Chronic Illness
New to this topic? This guide focuses on practical strategies to cope with hot weather. If you would like to understand why heat makes Long COVID symptoms worse, including the role of autonomic dysfunction, POTS, blood pooling and impaired thermoregulation, we recommend reading our companion article Why Heat Makes Long COVID So Much Worse: The Science Behind Heat Intolerance first. … Continue reading How to Survive a Heatwave with Long COVID: Practical Tips for POTS, Dysautonomia and Chronic Illness
Long COVID Heat Intolerance: Why Heat Makes Symptoms Worse
Long COVID heat intolerance is one of the most common but least understood symptoms experienced by people living with Long COVID, POTS and dysautonomia. Everyone else thinks the heatwave is great. You are lying very still with the curtains shut wondering why a warm sunny day feels like a physiological attack. You are not being dramatic. … Continue reading Long COVID Heat Intolerance: Why Heat Makes Symptoms Worse
Long COVID and Normal Tests: Why Results Don’t Always Reflect Reality
The article discusses the limitations of binary thinking in clinical practice, particularly regarding Long Covid. It highlights how standardized tests often fail to capture individual patient experiences and recovery patterns, leading to misinterpretation and potentially harm. Emphasizing the importance of functional assessments and trajectory-based reasoning, it calls for a more nuanced approach to patient care.
Dry Mouth, Burning Mouth, Mouth Ulcers, Taste Changes and More
The article discusses unexpected post-COVID symptoms affecting the mouth and eyes, including dry mouth, mouth ulcers, taste changes, and various eye irritations like conjunctivitis. It highlights the role of the immune system and suggests management options such as antivirals and eye drops. Understanding these symptoms can alleviate concerns for affected individuals.
Understanding Life with Long COVID
The narrator reflects on the challenges of living with Long COVID, detailing the emotional and physical toll it takes on daily life. They describe careful management of energy, the unpredictability of symptoms, and the persistent grief for their past self. Yet, amidst the struggle, they find moments of joy and resilience.
Housebound with Long COVID? How to Manage Heat Intolerance at Home
Long COVID sufferers often experience heightened heat intolerance due to autonomic dysfunction, resulting in symptoms like rapid heart rate and dizziness. Heat can trigger Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and worsen immune dysregulation. To manage these challenges, hydration with electrolytes and cooling strategies are vital, as symptoms reflect serious underlying issues.
10 Must-Have Kitchen Tools for Long COVID & POTS Relief
Living with long COVID and AUTONOMIC DYSFUNCTION conditions like POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) can turn even simple kitchen tasks into an Olympic event. Fatigue, dizziness, breathlessness and cognitive fog can make cooking challenging, but the right tools and strategies can make life a whole lot easier. Here are 10 kitchen game changers that help long-haulers stay … Continue reading 10 Must-Have Kitchen Tools for Long COVID & POTS Relief
The Impact of Chronic Illness on Friendships
Chronic illness, including Long COVID, profoundly affects friendships due to unpredictability, energy limits, and invisible symptoms. While losses can lead to grief, understanding the dynamics can ease feelings of isolation. It's crucial to acknowledge pain, foster supportive connections, and seek empathy from friends. The experience can highlight meaningful relationships.
Understanding Weight Changes with Long Covid
Long Covid can cause significant weight fluctuations due to gut inflammation, immune dysfunction, and gut dysbiosis. These factors lead to inefficiencies in digestion and metabolism, resulting in either weight loss or gain. To manage these issues, adopting anti-inflammatory diets, probiotics, stress management, and hydration are recommended for restoring balance.
Navigating Long COVID: Lessons from Sea Turtles
Living with Long COVID parallels the life of a sea turtle, emphasizing endurance and adaptability. This journey involves embracing a slower pace, managing energy wisely, and learning to navigate life's currents with resilience. The struggle teaches the importance of self-care and finding beauty in the journey, valuing moments over speed.
Men and Long COVID: Breaking the Silence
Long COVID affects men in unique ways that often remain unnoticed amid the focus on women's experiences. Men frequently under-report symptoms due to cultural stigma, which leads to misdiagnosis. Many face psychological challenges alongside physical symptoms. Increased awareness and tailored healthcare responses are crucial for supporting male patients dealing with Long COVID.
Long COVID and Weather: When the Forecast Affects Your Function
Long COVID and Weather: When the Forecast Affects Your Function One day it’s sunny, the next it’s raining sideways, and your body reacts as if it’s been through a tumble dryer on spin cycle. For many living with Long COVID, these moody weather swings aren’t just irritating—they can spark a full-on symptom spiral. Let’s explore … Continue reading Long COVID and Weather: When the Forecast Affects Your Function
POTS Hydration Explained: Why Drinking Water Is Not Enough in Long COVID
This guide addresses managing Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) alongside Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) and histamine intolerance. It offers hydration tips, low-histamine foods, electrolyte drink recipes, and lifestyle strategies. Emphasizing small meals and gentle exercise, it aims to stabilize symptoms and improve quality of life for affected individuals.
Long COVID in Pop Culture: TV & Film That Got It Right
Media significantly influences societal perceptions of chronic illnesses like ME/CFS and Long COVID, often misunderstood and underrepresented. Key portrayals in shows like "The Golden Girls" and documentaries like "Unrest" raise awareness yet reveal gaps in representation. More nuanced narratives are crucial for fostering understanding and reducing stigma surrounding these complex conditions.
How to Answer How Are You? When You Have Long COVID
The article offers practical responses for people with long COVID facing the common question, "How are you?" It suggests tailored replies for different relationships, balancing honesty and simplicity without oversharing. The overarching message encourages individuals to share their struggles when comfortable while reminding them that it's okay to keep conversations light.
Long COVID Disability: Why Rising Sickness Is Not a Mystery
Media outlets mistakenly characterize the rising rates of long-term sickness and disability as a “mystery,” ignoring clear links to COVID-19 and Long COVID. This oversight reflects a broader societal failure to address post-pandemic health challenges, while advocacy for awareness, research, and necessary workplace accommodations is sorely needed.
Can Healthy People Get Long COVID? Why Fitness Doesn’t Protect You
Can healthy people get Long COVID? Yes. Long COVID can affect anyone, including young, fit and otherwise healthy people. Learn what current research says, why fitness is not a guarantee of protection, and what we know about the risk of persistent symptoms after COVID-19.
Long COVID and “You Look Fine”: How to Respond When People Think You’re Better
“You look great” is often meant kindly, but for people with Long COVID it can feel surprisingly complicated. Explore why invisible illness changes the meaning of this common compliment and how to respond without exhausting yourself.
Air Quality and Long COVID: Why the Air You Breathe Can Make Symptoms Worse
Clean air significantly impacts the management of long COVID by reducing inflammation and enhancing overall health. Poor air quality can worsen symptoms like fatigue and shortness of breath, while clean air promotes better sleep and lung function. Strategies to improve indoor and outdoor air quality can support recovery efforts.
Finding Strength in the Slow: My Long COVID Journey
LSometimes Long COVID takes away more than your energy. But slowing down can also reveal unexpected moments of wonder. This personal story explores how sea turtles, cats and learning to embrace a slower pace became part of my recovery journey.
How Do I Explain Long COVID to My Friends? A Kid’s Guide to Talking About Long COVID
Explaining Long COVID to friends can feel difficult, especially when you look well but do not always feel well. This child-friendly guide offers simple words and relatable examples to help children describe their symptoms, ask for support and feel less alone.
Winter Holidays Long Covid: 7 Tips to Avoid Crashes and Enjoy
The article provides strategies for managing long COVID symptoms during winter holidays. It emphasizes the importance of planning, pacing, and setting boundaries to balance festivities and health. Tips include dressing warmly, staying hydrated, monitoring food choices, using air purifiers, and scheduling recovery days to ensure enjoyable gatherings without overwhelming fatigue or discomfort.
Child Long Covid Christmas: How to Protect Joy Without Causing a Crash
Christmas can be overwhelming for children recovering from Long COVID, but thoughtful planning can help maintain joy during the season. Suggestions include slowing down activities, adapting traditions, communicating needs with family, focusing on small joys, and embracing meaningful moments. A manageable, love-filled holiday is possible through careful consideration.
Wearing a Mask While Traveling: Why It’s Still Smart (Even in 2026)
In 2024, wearing a mask while traveling evokes mixed reactions, from confusion to sympathy. The author, who has Long COVID, explains that masking is a protective measure against various illnesses in crowded spaces. Despite discomfort and odd assumptions, they prioritize health, humorously navigating societal perceptions of masked individuals.
Advocating for Children with Long COVID: A Parent’s Guide
Advocating for a child with Long COVID can be challenging when symptoms are invisible or misunderstood. This guide offers practical advice for working with healthcare professionals and schools, documenting symptom patterns, and helping your child access the support they need.
Christmas with Long Covid: The Part Nobody Sees
Navigating Christmas with long COVID presents unique challenges, including fatigue and sensory overload. Balancing festive activities requires strategic planning, such as pacing tasks and prioritizing self-care. Embrace simplicity, establish boundaries, and cherish small joys while adapting holiday traditions to promote well-being. Ultimately, surviving the festive season becomes a significant personal achievement.
Long COVID GP Support Guide: Why Long COVID GP Appointments Can Feel So Difficult
Learn why Long COVID can be difficult to recognise in primary care, why normal tests do not rule it out, and how patients and GPs can work together more effectively.
Long Covid Nail Changes: What Your Fingernails Can Reveal
Nail changes, such as Beau's Lines and Mees' Lines, can signal health issues in individuals with long COVID. These alterations reflect inflammation, poor circulation, or nutritional deficiencies. Tracking these changes may aid diagnosis, and maintaining a nail diary, proper nutrition, and professional consultations can support overall health during recovery.
Perching Stool for Long COVID and POTS Relief: How a Simple Stool Became My Recovery Sidekick
The author shares their unexpected journey with a perching stool, initially viewed with skepticism due to its unappealing design. However, it soon becomes a vital tool during their Long COVID recovery, providing comfort and stability, particularly for those with autonomic dysfunction. The stool proves functional, despite its lack of aesthetics.
Homemade Electrolyte Drink for POTS Relief
The author shares their experience with long COVID and autonomic dysfunction, specifically POTS, which causes dizziness and fainting. They found electrolytes helpful for managing symptoms and offer a recipe for a homemade electrolyte drink. This drink aids hydration without added sugars, benefiting those with similar health conditions. Always consult a doctor before trying new remedies.
Living with POTS and Dysautonomia After Long Covid
Post-COVID dysautonomia, particularly POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome), leads to symptoms like dizziness and fatigue when standing. It often results from COVID-related inflammation or nerve damage. Daily life includes struggles with heat, exercise, digestion, and brain fog, requiring humor and adjustments, such as increased salt intake and hydration.
Long Covid Myths Busted: What It Is Not (With a Side of Humour)
Long COVID is a serious and misunderstood condition characterized by lasting symptoms like chronic fatigue, brain fog, and muscle pain. It is not imaginary or caused solely by stress, laziness, or a positive attitude. Awareness and understanding are vital for providing support to those affected and dispelling myths surrounding this complex illness.
Celebrating small victories: Living with Long COVID
The author reflects on the significance of small victories while living with long COVID, such as walking for a cappuccino. They highlight the emotional complexities tied to these moments, describing shifts in the perception of success and self-care. Celebrating minor achievements is emphasized as essential for resilience and finding joy amidst challenges.
Long COVID The Real Invisible Challenge
Long COVID is a complex condition distinct from simple deconditioning. It presents unique symptoms like brain fog, nerve pain, and post-exertional malaise (PEM), where exertion causes severe fatigue. Autonomic dysfunction further complicates recovery, making exercise challenging. Research indicates it’s not linked to laziness or lack of fitness but involves systemic issues needing careful management.