We Just Got More Evidence That Long COVID Is a Brain Injury
The exact nature of long COVID is still coming to light, but we just got some of the best evidence yet that this debilitating condition stems from a brain injury.
Using high-resolution scanners, researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford have shown microscopic, structural abnormalities in the brainstems of those recovering from COVID-19.
Signs of brain inflammation were present up to 18 months after first contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
"We show that the brainstem is a site of vulnerability to long-term effects of COVID-19, with persistent changes evident in the months after hospitalization," the authors of the study conclude.
https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awae215
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Look, I know this isn't exactly the most appropriate community to post a comment like this. I do however need to say as someone that has had debilitating brain fog for a couple of years thanks to covid: "...fuck."
I mean, I don't recommend this to everyone, nor am I advocating for everyone to do this, but have you tried taking a dose of psilocybin containing mushrooms?
Not in a long time. Trying to obtain them would be stupidly dangerous for me in a lot of ways. I'd be more than down for it though.
Well depending on your state (if you're in the US) you could just grow them from spores
It sucks but the recovery is still possible. I imagine gaslighting and not taking it seriously by people is debilitating.
When you suffer a brain injury from a stroke everyone will be supportive and offer help but when it is long covid people will be like “what? you are probably imagining things” both aliments are recoverable but it must suck to be constantly denied and not treated seriously
You're fine, it's anecdotal but perspectives are still nice to see sometimes. Quite a few people around me had the same issue, a few died. (Yes, they had refused the vaccine)
I just found out recently that a friend i kinda stopped talking to as much that went down the right wing rabbit hole and went from Obama supporter to MAGA supporter(and still is today) was antivax and got covid after his father was hospitalized with it, and was also hospitalized with it, and brushed it off as not that bad. And yes the vaccine was available by the time they got it.
You do not get hospitalized for something that's not that bad. The doctors obviously thought it was bad.
But think of the economy, this is making some hospital ceo rich af
:p
And we’re back to
That makes 2 of us. Been living with brain fog, memory loss, inability to pick out words when speaking, and now I set something down on a countertop, turn around, turn back and look and I literally can't see the item I set there. I see everything else, even the countertop where the item is sitting. Generally I either panic or I get pissed at myself for being so stupid. And then all of a sudden, the item magically returns to view as a stare at it.
Oh, and just for fun, breathing is still hard. And all medical testing shows my lungs are just fine and there should be problem. My pulmonologist tells me I'm one of the lucky few to be so chosen-- in jest. (I had to search "lung doctor" because I couldn't remember the word pulmonologist just now)
The inability to see something I've literally just dealt with after a short time has been happening to me for 45 years... since I suffered a TBI as a kid. I've never heard someone else talk about not just losing things but the madness of being unable to process the sensory input of something I WAS JUST HOLDING.
Thank you for highlighting this!
I've had covid twice now, despite original vaccinations, yearly boosters and wearing a mask constantly when around others. The firsf was likely from a careless dentist and second from an anti-vaxx family member. Thankfully no long covid to make my previously smushed brain even worse.
Man, I wish I had a brain injury or something to explain why I can lose something I set down without moving from my chair. I learned long ago to just ask someone else and it's often right in the open.
not a doctor: mild doses of magic mushrooms. anything that helps promote neurological connections/growth would be worth looking into. you'll still need to retrain your brain as well but you need the cells to do their thing and you to give them the right stims.
I'm sure they will go well with my other real doctor prescriptions.
like i said Im not your doctor. I dont know what meds or what you do in your free time. but the list of negative reactions is fairly limited and shrooms are alternatives for some. I use shrooms instead of ssri's for example.
but if your suffering from brain damage, which by definition is damage to your neurons and the connections between them you want something that stimulates neurogenisis to re-establish the network connections. its an active area of research. the 2nd link discusses the areas that psilocybin impacts, basically your entire cerebral cortex. the areas you're struggling with visual perception/comprehension/language are in the cerebral cortex.
so take what I said in the intention it was given, a path for you to look at and discuss with your doctor for risks/alternatives. a path that your doctor might not be willing to bring up themselves due to legality issues.
autonomic issue?
They don't really understand the mechanism very well yet according my pulimologist. But data is being collected and studies are being done.
Not the one you responded to but it's a couple things, generally just lungs feeling inflamed, difficulty taking a full breath, way more sensitive to air quality / air temperature, and a bit of autonomic (I have to use a cpap to fall asleep now because sometimes I just stop breathing as I'm falling asleep)