What exactly is Long Covid?

Long Covid entered our world as a sequalae of being infected by the Sars Cov2 virus starting in 2019. There is also evidence that many people who struggle with Long Covid also received the Covid vaccination. The mechanism of injury appears to be related to the total exposure load from the “spike protein” which is part of the virus but is also what is produced by your cells if you took a mRNA vaccine. The spike protein attaches to the ACE 2 receptors that align all the vessels of our body and can be found on many of our organs leading to a wide array of symptoms in every organ system. Long Covid is the new chronic fatigue syndrome. Chronic fatigue syndrome or myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS) requires three symptoms. The first symptom is not being able to participate in routine activities that were possible before becoming ill such as work, school, social life and/or personal life that last more than 6 months. It is accompanied by fatigue that is often serious and just started. This fatigue is not the result of ongoing activities, and is not from more than usual effort and is not made better by rest. The second symptom is post-exertional malaise (PEM). This is worsening of symptoms after physical, mental, or emotional effort that would not have caused the problem before the illness. PEM can sometimes be referred to as "crashing" by people with ME/CFS. Lastly, the third symptom is unrefreshing sleep. People may not feel better even after a full night sleep and feeling just as tired upon awakening as before going to bed. In addition to the first three essential symptoms, at least one of the following symptoms is also required: Impaired memory or ability to concentrate by having trouble learning new things or concentrating or making decisions. Or orthostatic intolerance with symptoms occurring when the patient stands up where they often feel lightheaded or dizzy when standing upright and may even faint. Reference: Institute of Medicine (IOM) report by expert committee on National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine and published in 2015: Beyond Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Redefining an illness. Many of our patients present with unrefreshing sleep and chronic fatigue as a common complaint. We have taken steps to gain expertise and knowledge surrounding the treatment of individuals with Long Covid. The literature addressing chronic fatigue syndrome is robust yet it still remains a complex illness. There has been renewed commitment to understand and treat CFS/ME due to recent added burden of Long Covid. Differentiating Long Covid from other sleep disorders as well as treating Long Covid is one of our areas of commitment and expertise.