What Is Post-COVID Syndrome? Cardiologist Indore | Dr Siddhant Jain

After the devastating second wave of covid-19 in India now we are facing many patients of post covid syndrome.

What Is This Post Covid Syndrome? 

Basically, any patient who has suffered from covid-19 whether he has had mild symptoms or severe symptoms, whether he had a short duration of disease or prolonged illness, whether he was treated home or in the hospital, after clearing the infection there can be many problems which can happen with the patient

Patients who have fought hard with the dreaded covid-19 disease and are admitted in ICU or in hospitals & with their will and with the support of their medical team have recovered may feel many difficulties in rehabilitation and gain back to normal life. These patients may require months to recover fully or they may never reach their previous level of fitness. These patients who are serious with covid-19 require special care with their doctors for their post covid symptoms .  

But today we will discuss a different type of post covid syndrome in which people who have got infected with covid-19 and have had very mild disease and uneventful course and this patient also suffer from various problems after becoming COVID negative and get unduly anxious and stressed. 

What Happens in Post Covid Syndrome? 

Patients who have recovered from covid-19 may feel various symptoms like 

• Fast Or Slow Heart Rate Causing Palpitations
• Chronic Fatigue And Weakness
• Loss Of Appetite, Nausea And Gut Disturbances
• Mild To Severe Memory Loss 
• Difficulty Thinking Or Concentrating (“brain Fog”)
• Weight Loss And Diarrhea 
• Loss Of Taste And Smell 
• Decreased Exercise Capacity
• Decreased And Disturb Sleep
• Muscular Weakness & Joint Pains
• Psychiatric Symptoms Like Insomnia, Depression, Anxiety
• Chest Pain 
• Difficulty Breathing 

Why Do These Symptoms Happen and When? 

This covid-19 virus not only affects lungs but also affects your brain, heart, gut, skin, kidneys and other organs of your body.  This virus not just directly but also affects various body systems indirectly by activating our immune system causing prolonged inflammatory response.  This constellation of symptoms is called as post covid syndrome

These symptoms especially fatigue and weakness can continue as a part of the covid illness and persist for weeks to months 

Abnormal heart rate and chest pain can happen after a few days of recovery and persist for a long time. MRI scans of the heart have shown myocarditis in some of these people, indicating that the heart muscle can remain inflamed several months post covid even if heart-related symptoms were absent during their illness.

Psychiatric and mood disturbances can occur anytime in the course of recovery and may disturb the patient significantly.

Sometimes these can be the after-effects of the medications used by the patient for covid treatment. Especially drugs like steroids can have a profound effect on body functioning.

What to Do for Post Covid Syndrome? 

Patients should identify abnormal symptoms after recovery soon and should contact their doctors within 2 weeks of recovery if problems persist.

Patients who have pre-existing chronic diseases like diabetes, high Blood pressure or heart disease need to consult their doctors on priority for re-evaluation and to readjust their medicines.

The doctor may do some tests like ECG or x-ray. Post covid tachycardia often called as POTS or inappropriate sinus tachycardia is very common and cardiologist often prescribes beta-blocker or SA node blocker drugs for them. 

Post covid blood clot formation is increased and can lead to heart attacks, strokes or clots in lungs or limbs. For this now blood thinners are routinely given to all covid patients post-discharge. they should be careful about clots and also about drug-induced bleeding. 

The most important symptoms not to miss are headache around the eyes and swelling in the area around the eye and nose. This should be reported immediately to your doctor as this can be a sign of infection by Mucor mycosis or black fungus, which is very dangerous and life-threatening if not treated. 

Will Post Covid Syndrome Go Away? 

Although these symptoms are troubling and create a lot of anxiety most of these symptoms are transient and the body heals itself slowly. Most patients can regain their normal health and active life by paying attention to their medical care, diet, exercise and rest and by maintaining a positive outlook.

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