Long Covid Impact

Long COVID is known to cause many symptoms affecting the entire body, but not everyone with Long COVID has the same symptoms. Some people may have several symptoms, while others only have a few. A person’s Long COVID symptoms can improve after a few months or years, stay the same over time, get better and then get worse again, or keep getting worse over time. If someone with Long COVID gets COVID again, their symptoms often return or get worse.

Some of the most common symptoms of Long COVID:

constant exhaustion that does not improve with rest or sleep
severe headaches and pain
difficulty breathing
very high heart rate
trouble thinking, reading, writing, and keeping up with mental activities that were previously easy (often described as “brain fog”)
nausea and vomiting
insomnia
loss of taste or smell
new problems with vision
-new food or environmental allergies
-symptoms that get worse with exercise or other activity (post-exertional malaise)

Long COVID is devastating. Although death is uncommon, thousands of people have died of Long COVID. Others have taken their own lives because their symptoms were unbearable. While some people with Long COVID have mild enough symptoms that they can continue working, going to school, spending time with family and friends, and doing other activities they participated in before getting sick, many others have symptoms that keep them from doing the things they need to do and the things they love most. They may be in severe pain, physically unable to walk or get out of bed, and sometimes even unable to eat solid food.