tessa grace
yeehaw
Hello everyone! So I'm really not sure how many people have gotten Covid-19 on this forum in general, but I thought I could make the Covid-19 Long Hauler Support Thread for people who happen to be like me and have long-lasting symptoms. So, this thread is for anybody who has had long term physical effects because of the virus, or for people who just happen to pass by and want to show support.
Basically an overview of what Covid-19 long haul is: Most people get a bit of a brain fog and just normal 2 week symptoms when they experience Covid-19 and catch the virus. However, some people have had lasting effects ever since catching the virus. Some of this includes heavy brain fog, which could be any range of a cognitive impairment, shortness of breath, chest pain, newly diagnosed or worse diabetes, lost or change of taste and smell, an irregular menstrual cycle, and even PTSD, depression, and anxiety. The list is truly endless. I made this thread for people to share their stories, so I could connect. This is mine:
Back in October my mom got diagnosed with Covid-19 so we all had to quarantine, and after a week we all had it. During this period of time I had pretty normal symptoms; a sore throat, loss of taste and smell, headaches, and overall tiredness. Soon I recovered, and had a very happy halloween, Coronavirus free. A couple months later I had a difficult menstrual cycle, and so I because of that I went on birth control to regulate the bleeding and such. At first I didn't connect any of this to Covid-19, and there should be no reason for me to, however what happened soon after explained otherwise. Very soon after I started taking birth control, my tastes began to change. My taste had mostly come back before when I recovered from the virus, and I had only heard of other people not regaining their taste. However, my taste began to change rapidly, making many foods disgusting and unlike anything I had tried before. Recently it has gotten so bad that I even get nauseous after eating some foods. A short list of some of the things that taste different, but mostly bad, is:
All meats, to the point where I will get really sick and want to throw up after eating it by itself in normal amounts. This excludes fish
Onions and garlic
Many fruits and vegetables, the most notable being apples, oranges, tomatoes, carrots, and cucumber
Spices
Anything artificially flavored a certain way, so think watermelon candy and things like that
Tons of nuts like peanuts and cashews
Beans
Eggs
so so much more-
This is just a couple of many, many things that have changed, and istg it just gets progressively worse each day. After a long time convincing my parents that this does happen, and realizing that I wasn't just fooling myself, we decided to go to a doctor. Of course, there was nothing he (he being my doctor) could say about it. Instead my doctor reccomended me to a neurologist, so about a month later we decided to make sure that nothing neurological was going on. I passed all the responsive tests and such, and so just in case the neurologist scheduled an MRI, which I received last week. I was terrified. I had my first IV drip in my arm, and it wasn't too bad, but still, it was kinda traumatizing. Since it was a holiday we haven't gotten results, but so far and most likely it's just COVID, which according to them is "unexplainable".
Mentally this has been draining. My anxious habits, stress, and overall negative behavior has spiked a ton, and it's been like this for around 6 months now. If I had anyway to explain what I'm going through, I would have to say that I'm just tired. I keep on waiting for the day when I wake up and everything is normal, and I can taste again, and things are okay, but it's not happening. I wouldn't go as far to say that I have an eating disorder, but I cry almost everyday because I am not eating. I'm losing weight and getting nauseous constantly. I'm so awfully tired and sick of what I've been through. It's been such an indescribable experience. I didn't realize how much I took food for granted. Along with that, my periods are still irregular, and I'm just feeling miserable. And half the time I convince myself I'm lying. I think I'm making it up and then I question my sanity. I just have been through so much recently. This is probably one of the hardest things I've ever been through.
Personally, I understand that most people may not fully get what I'm going through, which is okay, ofc. However, people might be thinking, "well Tessa just lost her taste and it's funky now, no biggie, why is she freaking out about this," However, it's been a huge problem. I didn't realize until recently how terrible it's been for me. I've lost a lot of weight and I'm rarely eating. And until my and my family looked online and through facebook groups, I didn't know that it's not just me. Other people are going through this, so I made this thread to empathize, and show my support. So, if anyone is out there and can understand how taxing something like this is, please, say something. I want to empathize, and I want to make sure it's not all in my head. Even if you're going through something different then me, whether it be better or worse, I would love to be here to listen and to understand.
Basically an overview of what Covid-19 long haul is: Most people get a bit of a brain fog and just normal 2 week symptoms when they experience Covid-19 and catch the virus. However, some people have had lasting effects ever since catching the virus. Some of this includes heavy brain fog, which could be any range of a cognitive impairment, shortness of breath, chest pain, newly diagnosed or worse diabetes, lost or change of taste and smell, an irregular menstrual cycle, and even PTSD, depression, and anxiety. The list is truly endless. I made this thread for people to share their stories, so I could connect. This is mine:
Back in October my mom got diagnosed with Covid-19 so we all had to quarantine, and after a week we all had it. During this period of time I had pretty normal symptoms; a sore throat, loss of taste and smell, headaches, and overall tiredness. Soon I recovered, and had a very happy halloween, Coronavirus free. A couple months later I had a difficult menstrual cycle, and so I because of that I went on birth control to regulate the bleeding and such. At first I didn't connect any of this to Covid-19, and there should be no reason for me to, however what happened soon after explained otherwise. Very soon after I started taking birth control, my tastes began to change. My taste had mostly come back before when I recovered from the virus, and I had only heard of other people not regaining their taste. However, my taste began to change rapidly, making many foods disgusting and unlike anything I had tried before. Recently it has gotten so bad that I even get nauseous after eating some foods. A short list of some of the things that taste different, but mostly bad, is:
All meats, to the point where I will get really sick and want to throw up after eating it by itself in normal amounts. This excludes fish
Onions and garlic
Many fruits and vegetables, the most notable being apples, oranges, tomatoes, carrots, and cucumber
Spices
Anything artificially flavored a certain way, so think watermelon candy and things like that
Tons of nuts like peanuts and cashews
Beans
Eggs
so so much more-
This is just a couple of many, many things that have changed, and istg it just gets progressively worse each day. After a long time convincing my parents that this does happen, and realizing that I wasn't just fooling myself, we decided to go to a doctor. Of course, there was nothing he (he being my doctor) could say about it. Instead my doctor reccomended me to a neurologist, so about a month later we decided to make sure that nothing neurological was going on. I passed all the responsive tests and such, and so just in case the neurologist scheduled an MRI, which I received last week. I was terrified. I had my first IV drip in my arm, and it wasn't too bad, but still, it was kinda traumatizing. Since it was a holiday we haven't gotten results, but so far and most likely it's just COVID, which according to them is "unexplainable".
Mentally this has been draining. My anxious habits, stress, and overall negative behavior has spiked a ton, and it's been like this for around 6 months now. If I had anyway to explain what I'm going through, I would have to say that I'm just tired. I keep on waiting for the day when I wake up and everything is normal, and I can taste again, and things are okay, but it's not happening. I wouldn't go as far to say that I have an eating disorder, but I cry almost everyday because I am not eating. I'm losing weight and getting nauseous constantly. I'm so awfully tired and sick of what I've been through. It's been such an indescribable experience. I didn't realize how much I took food for granted. Along with that, my periods are still irregular, and I'm just feeling miserable. And half the time I convince myself I'm lying. I think I'm making it up and then I question my sanity. I just have been through so much recently. This is probably one of the hardest things I've ever been through.
Personally, I understand that most people may not fully get what I'm going through, which is okay, ofc. However, people might be thinking, "well Tessa just lost her taste and it's funky now, no biggie, why is she freaking out about this," However, it's been a huge problem. I didn't realize until recently how terrible it's been for me. I've lost a lot of weight and I'm rarely eating. And until my and my family looked online and through facebook groups, I didn't know that it's not just me. Other people are going through this, so I made this thread to empathize, and show my support. So, if anyone is out there and can understand how taxing something like this is, please, say something. I want to empathize, and I want to make sure it's not all in my head. Even if you're going through something different then me, whether it be better or worse, I would love to be here to listen and to understand.
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