How Long COVID Impacts Your Respiratory System and Managing Long COVID Symptoms
Blog Health News 11th December 2024 Enquiries & appointments
More than 4 years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, millions of people continue to suffer with the effects of COVID-19. Most people with COVID-19 feel better within a few days or weeks of their first symptoms and make a full recovery, but for some people symptoms can last longer. This is called long COVID.
What is long COVID?
Long COVID is a term used to describe the effects of COVID-19. It is a complex disorder that can affect nearly every organ.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) defines long COVID as signs and symptoms that continue or develop after acute COVID-19. It includes both ongoing symptomatic COVID-19 (from 4 to 12 weeks) and post COVID-19 syndrome (12 weeks for more).
The latest update from the Office of National Statistics notes that as of March 2023, an estimated 1.9 million people in the UK reported that they were experiencing long COVID, representing 2.9% of the population. Long COVID affects people across the age spectrum, people of different races and ethnicities, sex and gender, and baseline health status.
As long COVID is a new condition, there are many unanswered questions. Research is still being carried out to better understand long COVID symptoms and how to best treat them.
What are the symptoms?
Long COVID is associated with a wide range of symptoms.
Common symptoms of long COVID can include:
- Extreme fatigue
- Dizziness
- Shortness of breath
- Heart palpitations
- Chest pain or tightness
- Memory or concentration problems (‘brain fog’)
- Sleep disturbance
- Joint pain
- Depression and anxiety
- Changes to taste and smell
- Tinnitus
- Gut problems
- Headaches
Long COVID still isn’t fully understood, so estimates of how common it is or what the main symptoms are can vary. And the severity of problems also varies enormously. Some people will have no issues continuing with their day-to-day lives, while others may struggle.
How does long COVID affect the respiratory system?
COVID-19 can infect the upper and lower part of your respiratory tract. The lining of the airways and lungs can become irritated and inflamed, so long COVID symptoms are often respiratory based. These may include a persistent cough, sore throat, a constricting or burning sensation in chest, wheezing, difficulty breathing at rest or with exercise (sense of not getting enough air in or not being able to fully breathe out).
Some people may develop persistent asthma symptoms after recovering from COVID-19. This is likely due to the long-term effects of the infection on your respiratory system. These effects can also cause people with asthma to experience worsened symptoms for months after infection.
How long will it take to recover?
Recovery from long COVID can progress at different rates and is different for everybody. Some symptoms can improve quickly and others last longer. People who had mild symptoms at first can still have long-term problems.
How is it treated?
Currently, there is no single treatment or medication that is used to diagnose or treat long COVID. People who believe they may be experiencing persistent or long-term effects of COVID-19 are advised to contact their GP or a respiratory specialist if you are struggling with any respiratory symptoms. You may be referred for individual tests to help better understand your symptoms and how they are affecting you. These tests will also help to rule out other possible causes for your symptoms.
Tips for managing long COVID symptoms
Fatigue:
- Spread activities you need to do evenly across the week. Make sure tiring activities don’t happen on a busy day.
- Build rests into your tasks and plan breaks between activities so you don’t exhaust yourself.
- Be open about how fatigue is affecting your life so others can help you. Letting others know there are things you may not be able to do while you are recovering can make things easier at home or work.
- Make sure to eat a balanced diet to help you get better and stronger. Drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration.
Breathlessness:
- Find a comfortable position to help relieve breathlessness. Leaning forward is the optimal position to be in.
- Practicing deep breathing techniques can help you to take control of your breathing.
- Feeling anxious, panicked, or rushing around can make shortness of breath worse. If you feel breathless, take your time and try to relax.
Sleep:
- Waking and going to bed at the same time each day will help maintain the body’s natural daytime and night time rhythms, and regulate good sleep patterns.
- Avoid long daytime naps if possible as this can result in a reversed sleep pattern where the body wants to be awake during the night.
- Avoiding screen time, alcohol, and caffeine before bedtime. Taking a warm bath can also help to relax the nervous system.
Physical activity:
- Maintaining activity following illness is important for health and wellbeing. With long COVID where fatigue can be a dominant symptom, it is important to listen to you body and start with realistic exercises targets e.g. stand up every hour, try some breathing exercises, try not to stay in bed or sit for too long, go for short walks if you can.
- Stretching exercises can help to improve muscle tightness, joint flexibility, joint strength and can help with relaxation and anxiety.
- Stop when you get tired, don’t push yourself until you are exhausted.
Article produced by:
KIMS Hospital