CORONA A cause of America's labor shortage: Millions with long COVID

[Just a Nurse 2]

I had pneumonia several years ago … absolute brain fog at the time, and when I got back to work (thankfully after only a week), when I already felt a LOT better, my O2 sats were still low 90’s. I shudder to think how low they got when I was acutely ill. The fatigue was still wicked though, and a physician I worked with reassured me that it wasn’t abnormal for it to take months before one felt fully recovered. Long pneumonia, anyone??

 

[TidesofTruth]

Yours, Longbulls, somewherepress, TidesofTruth, blueinterceptor, etc. your lack of sympathy to those who have gotten permanently sick with Covid is breath taking.

Covid affects every organ in the body, and some leave scars. From unexplained skin rashes to early death from heart disease. Or perhaps you are unable to think as your brain is affected. Maybe modify your diet as your kidneys can't handle certain foods. etc.

The problem is that Long Covid can affect one or more organs, and that makes it so difficult to diagnose. Also standard tools don't work. If someone is claiming they are always out of breath, a standard lung X-Ray shows nothing. Do a gas transfer CT scan, much much more expensive, and time consuming, and their problems show up. Working lungs light up like a Christmas tree. Long Covid lungs are dark. It will take years to work out what has happened to people's bodies. We still have not worked out what causes known disease like ME or Fibromyalgia. We know what causes lyme disease, but it is difficult to diagnose.

So Long Covid will take a long time to work out,

Currently Covid kills on average 1% of those who get it. And leave 2.5% permanently disabled, which makes the 1.6 million people permanently disabled look like a small number.

Anrol

I think there is confusion of what "Long Covid" is. In its original form it was not the physiological effects of the disease having torn up the body causing pneumonia and many other physical destruction such as blood clots and etc. That was never the definition of "Long Covid". I don't blame you for being irritated with my post They keep changing the definitions as soon as anyone challenges their BS but what they had been selling as long covid has been tested and found to truly be phycological under its "original:" definition which was mainly a lethargy, brain fog etc. that existed after having covid even in asymptomatic cases. However the study that I was recalling found that it had to do with depression and in that depression it evidenced itself with true physical effects. You probably never heard of FND functional Neurological Disorder. I have a family member that suffers from this. It was originally triggered by a Traumatic early life event and now evidences itself in this disorder that mimics Multiple Sclerosis. Sort of Like PTSD. Just because the trigger is psychological it does not make FND any less "REAL". Don't put words in my mouth. I never said Long Covid wasn't real. I said it was psychological. And True Long Covid under its original definition is phycological. That has absolutely nothing to do with the physcal harm that covid does to permanently damage organs, blood vessels or the lungs. That was never called long covid.

FTR I have had test proven covid twice. Dec2020. Jan 2022 Once Asymptomatic and recently symptomatic. I have tested with PCR in both instances and now have tested antibodies in both instances. I am unvaxed.

 

[Melodi]

What are people doing? Most are probably relying on spouses (that includes men I know forced to stay home while the unaffected wife keeps working) and the other way around.

Others have to move back in with aging parents or children, still, others are in dire straights either in homeless shelters, living in their cars, or tents under a bridge.

There has always been a lot of hidden homelessness, especially in the US urban areas, in my group of close friends before I married it was pretty common to have people who were either laid off or lost their living situation (apartment sold out from under them, divorce, etc) sleeping on our sofas.

Older people would often live with a younger family in exchange for light cooking and child care, again these were personal relationships, usually "chosen family" not just strangers but it went on all the time.

Usually, the person eventually either got disability (and at least a room someplace they could rent), a new job, or found a room they could afford in another group house (or sometimes they got married, moved back with family in another state), etc. Sometimes they fell off the radar and into true homelessness, but that was rare in the early late 1980s and early 1990s unless there was some other issue like substance abuse.

Suicide was also an, unfortunate, outcome sometimes, especially with people who had painful and complex medication issues in addition to being forced to live illegally in a friend's garage or attic because back then getting Social Security Disability was nearly impossible unless you were a quadriplegic and even then it could be brutal (we had one friend in this situation).

The Dark Side of American culture is a combination of a belief that no matter how bad off you are if you have the guts and the will somehow you will get by, combined with absolutely no real safety net for older adults with no children. That has been changing somewhat, but mainly through the increase in Social Security disability payments.

Every culture has dark sides, Ireland has theirs and the UK has different ones; but this is one of the ones that in the US it is becoming harder and harder to ignore; as more and more good, honest, hard-working people fall through the cracks and COVID may be forcing a reckoning with it, sooner rather than later.

 

[Anrol5]

I think there is confusion of what "Long Covid" is. In its original form it was not the physiological effects of the disease having torn up the body causing pneumonia and many other physical destruction such as blood clots and etc. That was never the definition of "Long Covid". I don't blame you for being irritated with my post They keep changing the definitions as soon as anyone challenges their BS but what they had been selling as long covid has been tested and found to truly be phycological under its "original:" definition which was mainly a lethargy, brain fog etc. that existed after having covid even in asymptomatic cases. However the study that I was recalling found that it had to do with depression and in that depression it evidenced itself with true physical effects. You probably never heard of FND functional Neurological Disorder. I have a family member that suffers from this. It was originally triggered by a Traumatic early life event and now evidences itself in this disorder that mimics Multiple Sclerosis. Sort of Like PTSD. Just because the trigger is psychological it does not make FND any less "REAL". Don't put words in my mouth. I never said Long Covid wasn't real. I said it was psychological. And True Long Covid under its original definition is phycological. That has absolutely nothing to do with the physcal harm that covid does to permanently damage organs, blood vessels or the lungs. That was never called long covid.

FTR I have had test proven covid twice. Dec2020. Jan 2022 Once Asymptomatic and recently symptomatic. I have tested with PCR in both instances and now have tested antibodies in both instances. I am unvaxed.

We need to do definitions. My definition of long Covid is symptoms last 4 or more weeks after initial infection. This has now changed to 12 weeks after infection.

What is Long COVID? - British Lung Foundation
What is Long COVID?
Long COVID is used to describe signs and symptoms that last for a few weeks or months after having a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19.

OR Coronavirus » Post-COVID Syndrome (Long COVID)
Post-COVID Syndrome (Long COVID) What is Post-COVID syndrome/Long COVID?
Emerging evidence and patient testimony is showing a growing number of people who contract COVID-19 cannot shake off the effects of the virus months after initially falling ill. Symptoms are wide-ranging and fluctuating, and can include breathlessness, chronic fatigue, “brain fog”, anxiety and stress.
The NICE guideline scope published on 30 October 2020 defines post-COVID syndrome as signs and symptoms that develop during or following an infection consistent with COVID-19 which continue for more than 12 weeks and are not explained by an alternative diagnosis. The definition says the condition usually presents with clusters of symptoms, often overlapping, which may change over time and can affect any system within the body. It also notes that many people with post-COVID syndrome can also experience generalised pain, fatigue, persisting high temperature and psychiatric problems.

Your COVID Recovery

Want more?

Basically if someone gets sick with Covid, either asymptomatically or symptomatically; if they do not better; after 4 weeks it is called - Long Covid; and after 12 weeks it is called Post-COVID syndrome.

So those who lose their sense of smell, or it comes back as everything smells of poo, have Post-COVID syndrome. And it may mean they lose their jobs, and need disability.


I am also getting confused, as you write in your post, that Long Covid has a phycological origin. The dictionary definition of Phycology - is the study of algae. I have not been able to find any other definition. Dictionaries usually list several definitions, but they only seem to list one for phycology.


If you mean psychological, the problem I have with a psychological definition is that it allows people like 20Gauge to say all one has to do is pull oneself together and get going. A bit like telling someone who is suicidal to think happy thoughts, and they will be OK.

I have a chronic condition that occasionally flares up. At that point I need to sleep. 14 hours a day sleep is not enough. There is no diagnostic test. I am not imagining it when I can't keep my eyes open. It was incredibly frustrating, but I knew I would eventually get better. If you can't see an end in sight, that frustration would almost certainly become depression. Process of change for human beings - everyone has to go through it, but some get stuck at stage one, there is no way to see a brighter future, or depression. So does the physical damage cause depression, or does depression change the brain, and cause the damage. Chicken or egg.

Either way these people are permanently damaged.

I was just reading an article from the National Geographic, about scientists in Europe who are experimenting at a new way to look at the human body, using Particle accelerators. I assume they are using cadavers or organs from dead bodies. But they are finding the extraordinary damage Covid does to the human body. It a long way from being used on living beings, but it is interesting.

It is the same kind of step that an X-ray of lung to doing a gas transfer CT scan. Lung X-ray shows healthy lungs. Gas transfer CT scan shows that the damage to the lungs is so severe, that oxygen from the lungs cannot get into the blood stream.

At the moment we just do not have the tests that show up the physical damage Covid does. It took a year to work out why people lost their sense of smell. No tests available, but doctors have theorised why this happens. And why their smell will never return; or returns, but people smell poo all the time. That is not psychological, it is physical damage to their bodies.

What these people need is support. Disability payments would help, but as multiple posts on this board, show, that getting disability is next to impossible.

 

[Troke]

We need to do definitions. My definition of long Covid is symptoms last 4 or more weeks after initial infection. This has now changed to 12 weeks after infection.

What is Long COVID? - British Lung Foundation
What is Long COVID?
Long COVID is used to describe signs and symptoms that last for a few weeks or months after having a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19.

OR Coronavirus » Post-COVID Syndrome (Long COVID)
Post-COVID Syndrome (Long COVID) What is Post-COVID syndrome/Long COVID?
Emerging evidence and patient testimony is showing a growing number of people who contract COVID-19 cannot shake off the effects of the virus months after initially falling ill. Symptoms are wide-ranging and fluctuating, and can include breathlessness, chronic fatigue, “brain fog”, anxiety and stress.
The NICE guideline scope published on 30 October 2020 defines post-COVID syndrome as signs and symptoms that develop during or following an infection consistent with COVID-19 which continue for more than 12 weeks and are not explained by an alternative diagnosis. The definition says the condition usually presents with clusters of symptoms, often overlapping, which may change over time and can affect any system within the body. It also notes that many people with post-COVID syndrome can also experience generalised pain, fatigue, persisting high temperature and psychiatric problems.

Your COVID Recovery

Want more?

Basically if someone gets sick with Covid, either asymptomatically or symptomatically; if they do not better; after 4 weeks it is called - Long Covid; and after 12 weeks it is called Post-COVID syndrome.

So those who lose their sense of smell, or it comes back as everything smells of poo, have Post-COVID syndrome. And it may mean they lose their jobs, and need disability.


I am also getting confused, as you write in your post, that Long Covid has a phycological origin. The dictionary definition of Phycology - is the study of algae. I have not been able to find any other definition. Dictionaries usually list several definitions, but they only seem to list one for phycology.


If you mean psychological, the problem I have with a psychological definition is that it allows people like 20Gauge to say all one has to do is pull oneself together and get going. A bit like telling someone who is suicidal to think happy thoughts, and they will be OK.

I have a chronic condition that occasionally flares up. At that point I need to sleep. 14 hours a day sleep is not enough. There is no diagnostic test. I am not imagining it when I can't keep my eyes open. It was incredibly frustrating, but I knew I would eventually get better. If you can't see an end in sight, that frustration would almost certainly become depression. Process of change for human beings - everyone has to go through it, but some get stuck at stage one, there is no way to see a brighter future, or depression. So does the physical damage cause depression, or does depression change the brain, and cause the damage. Chicken or egg.

Either way these people are permanently damaged.

I was just reading an article from the National Geographic, about scientists in Europe who are experimenting at a new way to look at the human body, using Particle accelerators. I assume they are using cadavers or organs from dead bodies. But they are finding the extraordinary damage Covid does to the human body. It a long way from being used on living beings, but it is interesting.

It is the same kind of step that an X-ray of lung to doing a gas transfer CT scan. Lung X-ray shows healthy lungs. Gas transfer CT scan shows that the damage to the lungs is so severe, that oxygen from the lungs cannot get into the blood stream.

At the moment we just do not have the tests that show up the physical damage Covid does. It took a year to work out why people lost their sense of smell. No tests available, but doctors have theorised why this happens. And why their smell will never return; or returns, but people smell poo all the time. That is not psychological, it is physical damage to their bodies.

What these people need is support. Disability payments would help, but as multiple posts on this board, show, that getting disability is next to impossible.

Been over two years that I have been speculating that people that have had Covid are in for a deadly shock when their pancreas or some other organ just quits some time later. The really bad thing is for the people who had such a light case they didn't know they were sick. And then 10 yrs down the road, they find 2/3rd of their lungs are gone.

 

[Knoxville's Joker]

They are trying to cover up for the fact that the automated HR processes are now broken as many are submitting apps, but not one is getting recognized...

 

[Jackpine Savage]

Here's a Medcram video discussing a young girl that complained of persistent stomach pains 3 months after having covid. They did a colonoscopy and found evidence of covid virus in the lining of her colon. The one observation made was that she was low in vitamin D. RT 10:52

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ4rZaMMN7I

 

[y2ksurvivor]

"Long Covid" has already been studied and determined to not be a physiological condition. It is Phycological. And most likely to have been exasperated on by the constant hype of the news media and govt officials.

And the desire of many to commit fraud.