Coronavirus - Strange times

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all new Phil
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I feel quite insensitive asking this but I’m going to anyway. Is Long Covid actually a thing?
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rob
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all new Phil wrote: Thu 05 Aug, 2021 11.20 I feel quite insensitive asking this but I’m going to anyway. Is Long Covid actually a thing?
I thought I had Long Covid until a few weeks ago. I was still showing signs of the symptoms 6 months on from having Covid, so I was sent for blood tests, and it turned out I was Type 2 diabetic.
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bilky asko
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all new Phil wrote: Thu 05 Aug, 2021 11.20 I feel quite insensitive asking this but I’m going to anyway. Is Long Covid actually a thing?
Long Covid is not well-defined yet because it's still a condition that hasn't been well-studied. Having long-lasting effects, or sequelae, of a disease is not a new thing - what isn't known is what actually comes under the umbrella of Long Covid.

As Rob rightly points out, there are some cases where Long Covid will be presumed when it's actually another condition altogether. Long Covid is currently used to cover a massive range of symptoms across many categories, so it's not surprising that conditions that have relatively generic symptoms, can be missed - diabetes being among them.

The ONS have found that approximately 10% of Covid infections result in symptoms that go beyond 12 weeks. It would be absolutely incredible if every single one of them, or even a majority of them, weren't actually Long Covid and were something else. So yes, it is most definitely a thing. But as time goes on and our knowledge improves, the definition will be refined.
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all new Phil
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Thanks both and you’ve kind of got to the bottom of my concern. It’s become such a catch-all term with undefined symptoms that I fear it’s become both a diagnosis for what turns out to be something else, or (and possibly the same thing) a label to put onto generally feeling low. There was someone being interviewed on the news earlier about it, and how she has brain fog and feels tired all the time etc, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was just the consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle that she was describing. Am I a bad person for thinking that? It’s not a criticism or a judgement, and I’m definitely not saying that this is what all cases are, but sometimes we allow people to have easy answers rather than the right ones.
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Beep
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all new Phil wrote: Thu 05 Aug, 2021 15.49 Thanks both and you’ve kind of got to the bottom of my concern. It’s become such a catch-all term with undefined symptoms that I fear it’s become both a diagnosis for what turns out to be something else, or (and possibly the same thing) a label to put onto generally feeling low. There was someone being interviewed on the news earlier about it, and how she has brain fog and feels tired all the time etc, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was just the consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle that she was describing. Am I a bad person for thinking that? It’s not a criticism or a judgement, and I’m definitely not saying that this is what all cases are, but sometimes we allow people to have easy answers rather than the right ones.
It's a fair point to be honest; for instance we are subject to annual fitness testing at work (at varying levels for various roles) - on a recent refresher for a particular skill a colleague failed the fitness test at a level far below the standard for normal duties, which she passed 2 weeks before... She blamed Long Covid, citing dizziness and lethargy, as well as a shortness of breath and I'm not for a second saying it's not a possibility - it could be as simple as she isn't exercising and is leading an unhealthy lifestyle. She had Covid in March last year, and had 2 weeks off and was back afterwards, obviously enough isn't known about Long Covid as to whether or not it would be affecting you 14 months down the line.

I suffered from Covid in March last year, and every now and then I suffer from shortness of breath - is that long Covid or because I've not been going out and exercising as much as I used to?

Coronavirus in general has become an excuse to many; delays in healthcare - Covid, can't get through to customer services - Covid, delays in the Criminal Justice System - Covid. Is Long Covid going to be the excuse of the future? I don't know.
cdd
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I get the impression that it’s the same as people not getting better after any illness. In that a proportion have some complication (pretty easy to see and explain), a proportion have mental health issues (hardly surprising), and possibly a tiny number have a weird complication. As opposed to the ongoing furore in which a majority have a weird complication, a minority have a nice ordinary complication, and zero have mental health issues.
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Finn
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all new Phil wrote: Thu 05 Aug, 2021 15.49 There was someone being interviewed on the news earlier about it, and how she has brain fog and feels tired all the time etc, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was just the consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle that she was describing. Am I a bad person for thinking that? It’s not a criticism or a judgement, and I’m definitely not saying that this is what all cases are, but sometimes we allow people to have easy answers rather than the right ones.
I fail to see how this can't be read as critical or judgemental, to be honest.
Jonwo
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Ive always wondered if other illnesses affect people more than others but simply don’t reported about
Jonwo
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It will be interesting if antiviral drugs like Paxlovid and Lagevrio will have an impact on both transmission and cases once they're rolled out. Paxlovid in particular is very promising although I suspect it'll be targeted at people who are elderly or at risk.
cdd
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Oh goody. I’d missed this cheerful thread.
cwathen
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cdd wrote: Fri 03 Dec, 2021 23.50 Oh goody. I’d missed this cheerful thread.
The give an inch, take a mile approach from Covid obsessives is already in force. I was strongly against reimposing mandatory masks because, aside from it being demonstrably obvious that they don't do anything, they are a restriction. And whilst it may be a restriction of minimal inconvenience, the Covid obsessed can never be trusted to leave it there. Once they get any restriction through, they will always want more which is why they cannot be permitted to have any. That's before starting on the travel restrictions that will doubtless also be tightened further as soon as any are agreed.

And less than a week into the restrictions this pressure to do more is already happening. This morning The Guardian is reporting that SAGE are pushing for WFH to be reinstated as a precautionary measure before there has been any evidence published on the effect of Omicron because apparently we don't have time to wait for the evidence...umm they tried that excuse last year over their hospitality curfews and substantial meals. Did we ever get the evidence that supported that? I don't remember seeing it. It'll be the same with this if they give in and require WFH with no evidence it will do anything and then the need for evidence being quietly forgotten about. And whilst I support the booster programme, the BBC is reporting that some routine services at GP surgeries can be postponed to give more resource to the booster programme. Is that really a good idea given the backlog that already exists?

It is now quite some time since you very eloquently put that we are not treating NHS overload as a terrible outcome that we should try and prevent, but as something of infinite importance that cannot be allowed to happen, ever, regardless of how long this goes on for or how dramatic interventions to prevent it get.

What I did imagine might happen is that by now the bar for taking action would have been raised, and keep being raised until a Western country finally says enough is enough and does not reintroduce any measures even when the Covid obsessed say they are necessary (and believe me, once one country does everyone else will quickly follow). Instead the bar seems to have been lowered over time, to the point we've now taken action against the ailing travel industry and damaged their Christmas business, as well as created a general mood of concern which will impact hospitality as people feel going out is 'risky'. And we're doing that all as a 'just in case' precaution without knowing if the risk is even there? This is all fine apparently because if interventions are later found not to be necessary we can just roll them back and it doesn't matter what damage they caused because better 'safe' than sorry...Umm is that really a precedent we want to end up with? That's just as bad as setting the precedent that lockdowns are now an acceptable thing to do in a public health emergency.

We'll now crash through March 2022 and started entering year 3 of fighting the pandemic being deemed more important than normal life. It's madness.
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