What one Texas doctor has learned about long COVID

More than 4.8 million COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Texas, and that number will likely keep growing quickly as the omicron variant spreads.

For some patients, COVID-19 has been little more than a cold and several days of isolation. But the virus has plagued others with what is known as long COVID, a range of debilitating symptoms that continue for months after someone’s initial infection.

Dr. Michael Brode, medical director at University of Texas Health Austin’s POSTCOVID-19 Program, said in a recent webinar that some COVID-19 symptoms that aren’t often spoken about, like dizziness and high heart rate, can make it difficult for people to return back to their PRE-COVID selves. Here is some of what Brode has learned after caring for coronavirus patients for the last two years.

What symptoms should I watch for related to omicron?

The omicron variant is different from its predecessors in that it seems to cause milder illness, especially for people who are vaccinated against the virus. It can also present with some different symptoms.

While the first few strains of COVID-19 caused about 50 percent of people to lose their sense of taste and smell, Brode said only about 15 to 25 percent of people lose them with omicron.

The symptoms people should be watching for during the omicron surge are cough, fatigue, congestion and a runny nose. And even though the new variant is supposedly milder than other strains, that doesn’t mean it will feel mild to those who are infected.

“Milder does not necessarily mean mild,” said Brode, who is an assistant professor in the Dell Medical School Department of Internal Medicine. “There’s still a lot of people who feel quite sick or like they’re having the worst cold or flu they’ve ever had.”

What are some additional long-term COVID-19 symptoms?

People infected with COVID can also experience other, less-often-talked-about symptoms, Brode said.

Some people may experience gastrointestinal symptoms, like diarrhea, vomiting or abdominal cramping, in the first few days of their illness. “What we’ve seen is that the virus can disrupt how the gut moves food throughout the GI tract, and in a lot of cases, slows it down,” Brode said.

It’s important for people recovering from gastrointestinal symptoms to stay hydrated and keep up electrolytes. Eating small meals more frequently throughout the day can also help those who feel like their gut is functioning at a slower pace than normal.

Many people feel extreme fatigue, dizziness and rapid heart rate during and after having the virus. For those experiencing dizziness, it’s important to stay hydrated and take it slow when going from lying down to sitting or sitting to standing.

When should I be worried about long COVID?

It’s hard to determine if someone is just recovering slowly from COVID-19 or if they have long COVID.

“Right now the difficulty is that long COVID is not clearly defined,” Brode said.

He considers someone to have long COVID if at three months post-infection they still aren’t getting better. Symptoms can range from fatigue to brain fog to dizziness when changing position.

If you think you’re developing long COVID, he said, it’s important to see a primary care physician to rule out other health problems that could be exacerbating your symptoms. Once you’ve reached the three-month mark, it may be time to go to a clinic specifically targeting POST-COVID illness.

Physical therapy is important to increase your stamina for daily activities when experiencing long COVID, Brode said. Equally important is listening to your body.

“If you feel like you are hitting a wall, respect that wall,” he said. “Try to build up to that and once you feel yourself getting to that point, take a rest and slowly build a routine so you can get back to your usual pre-illness capacity.”