COVID Long Haul Syndrome

 

Common Symptoms

  • Fatigue

  • Decreased memory or concentration

  • Sleep Problems

  • Joint pain

  • Shortness of breath or cough

  • Loss of taste or smell

  • Hair loss or rash

What is COVID Long Haul Syndrome?

After illness or infection with COVID, some people are slower to recover and continue to have symptoms such as fatigue. The virus that causes COVID illness is known to increase inflammation in the body resulting in “cytokine storm”.

Cytokines are chemical that our body makes to fight infections. The problem is that some people’s immune systems get turned on to fight an infection but never get turned off. The result of this immune system imbalance is continued symptoms even after the infection is resolved.

How is Long Haul Syndrome Diagnosed?

This syndrome is new but the concept of immune imbalance is not new to Functional Medicine. There are markers of inflammation that Functional Medicine Providers are seeing across the world that can be tested to aid in the diagnosis and direct relief of symptoms.