Depressed, sleepless after recovering from COVID? Seek help now—Teelucksingh

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Months after recovering from COVID-19, people are continuing to struggle at home with sleeplessness, anxiety, depression, fatigue, cough, joint and muscle pain as well as heart palpitations.

The symptoms are consistent with long COVID in which COVID survivors suffer lasting and debilitating symptoms beyond the first bout of infection.

Speaking to Guardian Media on Thursday, Consultant Physician and host of CNC3’s Ask the Doctor Dr Joel Teelucksingh said it was time to set up a hotline for long COVID patients.

Last year, 10 per cent of 45,000 COVID survivors were suffering from the complication.

But rather than suffer at home, Teelucksingh called on long COVID patients to access the hospitals’ clinics.

“A healthy diet, gradual exercise with self-pacing, deep breathing techniques, physiotherapy, stopping smoking, limited alcohol or caffeine, rest and spirituality if so-inclined, expedite recovery,” he said.

He called on patients to seek medical attention immediately for worsening breathlessness (a home pulse oximeter measures oxygen saturation and levels above 96 per cent are reassuring), chest pain, confusion or weakness on one side of the body.

Noting that research in the United States suggests that vaccination may improve symptoms, Teelucksingh recalled a patient who confessed to wanting to commit suicide after surviving COVID.

“Many people require extended sick leave and may suffer family bereavements, job losses, financial stress and food poverty. Local research seems non-existent and outpatient clinics require patient-centred multidisciplinary support. The relevant ministries, mental health and social support services have to assist these voiceless individuals as we learn of the mysterious intricacies of long COVID,” Teelucksingh said.

Meanwhile, COVID survivor and former medical director at the San Fernando General Hospital Dr Anand Chatoorgoon, who has treated over 500 COVID patients at home said some of his patients have also been suffering from long COVID.

“It varies from person to person. Some have a lingering cough. Some have a reduction in exercise tolerance. Loss of taste and smell can also remain with the patients,” he said.

He added, “Reassurance is what these patients need, that in time the symptoms will go away. I encourage them to get back to exercise, do what they can do and be aware that it will take time to get back to their pre-COVID state.”

He said people must be patient as they recuperate.

“They have to live with it and be patient. Cough mixtures don’t help much. Don’t expect visits to doctors to give much relief as there are no drugs that doctors can give them to improve exercise tolerance. I say to them, be grateful to be alive and rest assured that with time, not drugs you will eventually return to your pre-COVID state,” Chatoorgoon added.

He said he has been left with a lingering cough since he recovered from COVID.

“I take nothing for it. But I am coughing less as time goes by. I have not encountered memory loss. People do feel tired more easily than before but it does get better with time and that varies from person to person. Some men do get erectile dysfunction which also gets better with time,” he added.

Contacted for comment about long COVID, Health Minister Deyalsingh said, “This is a clinical question to be posed to the CMO (Chief Medical Officer of Health).

However, CMO Roshan Parasram could not be reached and did not return calls.

A recent study, published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, found that people who go on to develop long COVID have lower levels of certain antibodies in their blood soon after they are infected with the coronavirus.

If confirmed through larger studies, the findings could help scientists develop a test to predict who may continue to suffer from symptoms weeks, months and even years following infection.

In an article written by Reuter’s Nancy Lapid it was said that the bacteria living in the small intestine may contribute to the risk for long COVID after infection with SARS-CoV-2.

Researchers analysed the “gut microbiome” in 116 COVID-19 patients in Hong Kong in 2020 and found that six months after the most common symptoms were fatigue, poor memory, hair loss, anxiety and sleep disturbances.

What is long COVID?

The World Health Organization (WHO) explains: “Post COVID-19 condition occurs in individuals with a history of probable or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, usually three months from the onset of COVID-19 with symptoms that last for at least two months that cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis.”

A study by the University of the West of Scotland identified more than 100 symptoms associated with post-COVID conditions. The most common symptoms include fatigue, persistent cough, shortness of breath, brain fog, headache, heart palpitations, joint or muscle pain, pins-and-needles feeling, and anxiety that usually impact an individual’s everyday functioning.