I'm like 99% sure I have some kind of postviral thing or long covid, but it can't really be confirmed because even if I can find a doctor who thinks that's a real thing I wasn't able to be tested back when I got sick (March) so there's no way of definitively knowing if I had covid or not

but my symptoms line up and I had exposure (that I didn't know about until much later) two weeks prior

overall September and October have been better for me. July and August were the worst

I started seeing doctors in July and went through a whole string of tests and appointments that ultimately turned up nothing. My current clinical diagnosis is "atypical chest pain" but my pcp insists I have some kind of seasonal rhinitis even though I have no allergies and it's been ongoing since march and I'm not responding to treatments

he's also having me treat it as a kind of acid reflux to rule that out, but that doesn't seem to be the thing either

July and August were the worst because I went through periods of EXTREME fatigue. As in, walking to my kitchen meant I had to sit down and recover before I could move again. This is within weeks of me doing near daily mile long walks

thankfully that hasn't persisted. Otherwise I get really high heart rate, fluctuating blood pressure, and various gi issues that all come and go

the most consistent symptom is low grade chest pain. Sometimes it's exacerbated by breathing, sometimes it isn't. Sometimes it's sharp and in one specific location, sometimes it's dull and just feels like I've been punched. Usually a flare-up lasts a day or two and then I get a few days of relief, and this cycle doesn't seem to respect any medication or

anything I'm actually doing in my life

but overall I've been having more good days than bad ones, and my symptoms seem manageable whereas earlier this year I was pretty much unable to work or keep any kind of normal schedule

my symptoms and experience track pretty clearly to long covid. I don't have any "brain fog," thankfully, but I can pretty much check everything else off the list all while every scan and panel I've done come back normal

I think the prevailing theory is that the body is still misfiring inflammatory signals long after the virus is gone, which is why symptoms change day in and day out and don't respond to treatment while tests fail to show anything that would normally cause these symptoms

my doctor isn't trying to convince me it's just anxiety, so that's nice. But every time we talk he insistently refers to my symptoms as "the rhinitis" and is being really conservative about treatment

I want to try a steroid and he's like "well first I'd like you to try these lifestyle changes for three months"

the worst thing about trying to talk about it though is that sometimes my chest pain presents in such a way that it FEELS like shortness of breath but I don't think it actually IS a shortness of breath, if that makes sense

like my lungs are expanding in a way that feels bad, but I'm still getting air normally

and I'm never sure if that actually qualifies as SOB or not

fuck, that sounds pretty bad... Although at least it's getting better, so that's a relief

I'd consider seeing a different doctor if possible? just, get a second opinion

march to november is not very seasonal

god, I’m so sorry

Yikes I’m sorry this has been ongoing.

yeah it's been rough. Hopefully I'll keep improving but I feel like I can at least live my life more or less normally at this point

I hope, in all the research they’re doing for vaccines they try and find a way to help people in your situation

that's one thing I'm holding out hope for at this point. Though in other types of postviral fatigue people do usually get better but it can take like. A year lol

I'm not sure if the vaccine would actually help my symptoms but I'll definitely be getting it as soon as it's publicly available

another thing is that while long covid is becoming more widely acknowledged, the basis for support has been and is still communal rather than clinical

and while it's great that community support is there and all it makes it difficult to find the help vs the like

you know

'wellness" minded homeopathy posts

yeah... :/

This does sound like a description of post-viral thing or long Covid. I'm glad your symptoms are improving, though!

If it's possible, maybe you would want to get a second opinion?

Also, did your doc give you the antibody test? I don't know whether all people who've had Covid have the antibodies in their blood, but it might be worth testing for.

they did not. Are those still effective this far out?

I think that's an unknown. But if you have the antibodies, then that's proof you had Covid.

yeah, seems like you might as well get one and see what shows up