‘Brain, nerve behaviour changes after Covid’
Anew picture is now emerging, as some former Covid-19 patients with a negative RT-PCR report have started coming back with different types of symptoms. This suggests prolonged non-viral illness. These involve various organs of the body and are thought to have immunological basis, it is like the aftermath of a cyclone. In such patients, symptoms should not be taken lightly.
Some patients with pre-existing headaches have come with new type of headaches and shown abnormal bright spots in brain MRIs, which were normal before they had Covid. Patients have also reported many behavioural changes such as apathy, depression or agitation, overactivity, hallucination, changes in recent memory, brain fogging or attacks of anxiety and mood swings. After Covid, many patients who had controlled epilepsy reported a recurrence of seizures. A few had a burning current-like pain in limbs.
Mrs X, a 40-year-old woman, came three months post-Covid recovery, with a negative RT-PCR report. She had progressive symptoms of three weeks duration such as walking difficulty, weakness and body pain, recurring new onset
of seizures, prolonged behavioural changes resulting in total apathy and unresponsiveness. A month before contracting the virus she had a brain MRI for frequent headaches, and the report was normal. For the new symptoms, another brain MRI done showed bright spots in various sensitive areas. Her immune parameters were abnormal but RTPCR and autoimmune-encephalitis were normal. She was treated for dysimmune encephalopathy postCovid with immunomodulation, resulting in total recovery. Similarly an 80-year-old woman, a controlled Parkinson’s disease patient, became extremely weak with body pain three moths after recovering from Covid. Her clinical examination, immune dysfunction results and neurophysiological computerised examination, confirmed it to be a case of nerve swelling in all four limbs, a variety of inflammatory neuropathy. She responded to immunomodulation.
Symptoms post-Covid should be evaluated thoroughly despite Covid tests being negative. Are these symptoms post-Covid or did they start with it and are getting unmasked with time?