Post-COVID Conditions & Symptoms
Post-COVID (also known as Long COVID) symptoms can cause problems in multiple organs and body systems at once. Even if you had a mild case of COVID, you could have persistent Post-COVID symptoms that disrupt your daily life. Learn more about each symptom by clicking below.
Post-COVID Brain Fog
While recovering from COVID-19, you may experience cognitive impairment, also known as “brain fog.” These terms describe problems with cognition or thinking, such as trouble remembering things, focusing and concentrating, problem-solving, planning or thinking quickly. Brain fog is one of the most common Post-COVID symptoms.
BREATHLESSNESS
Breathlessness is a feeling of uncomfortable or difficult breathing.It can make you feel anxious or scared and impact your daily activities and quality of life.
Post-COVID Chest Pain
Chest pain is a common symptom of COVID-19. You may experience chest pain that lasts beyond your initial COVID-19 infection, or that starts in the weeks after you had the virus. Some common Post-COVID chest-related symptoms are palpitations, dizziness, chest pain, and shortness of breath, which may be due to heart problems, or can also be caused by COVID-19.
Post-COVID Exercise Intolerance
Returning to activity and exercise after a COVID-19 infection is an important part of recovery. You may be able to quickly return to your previous activity levels, but you may also need several weeks to months to return to your previous activity level and reach a “new normal.”
post-COVID Fatigue
Fatigue is a normal part of your body’s response to fighting a viral infection such as COVID-19. When recovering from COVID-19, you may notice you have less energy than before. Sometimes, you might be exhausted and have trouble thinking or doing light activities after a small amount of physical, cognitive or emotional effort. This is called Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM).
Post Exertional Malaise (PEM)
When recovering from COVID-19, many people notice they have less energy than before. Sometimes, people feel exhausted and have trouble thinking or doing light activities after a small amount of physical, cognitive or emotional effort. This is called Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM).
Post-COVID Headaches
Headaches are a common symptom of COVID-19. Studies show that COVID-19 can cause up to 15% to 40% of cases of headaches.
A Post-COVID headache is a persistent headache that develops after having COVID-19. These headaches can last for weeks or even months after testing negative for the virus.
Post-COVID Insomnia
Many people report sleep disturbances in their COVID-19 recovery period and these sleep deficits have an impact on your physical and mental quality of life. When you’re ill, your immune system’s response to an infection can profoundly affect your sleep. Likewise, getting adequate, good-quality sleep is crucial for your immune system to work at its best.
Post-COVID Loss of Smell and taste
Loss of smell (both good and bad odours) affects how well you can detect flavours. When you eat, the flavour of food is the combined experience of smell and taste together. There is evidence that COVID-19 can affect true taste and smell by impairing your ability to smell.
Anxiety
Having Post-COVID (also known as Long COVID) can be hard on your mental health, especially if your symptoms last an extended amount of time. Feeling stress, anxiety or depression is common when you’re unwell and as you recover. You may experience distressing images or thoughts related to your COVID-19 illness or hospital stay, or reminders that lead to intense reactions.
Depression
We all have times when we feel down, but depression is about more than feeling sad for a few days. Depression causes a low mood that lasts a long time and affects your daily life.
Muscle & Joint Pain
While recovering from COVID-19, you may experience muscle and joint pain. Muscle and joint pain are common throughout our lifetime, but some people notice they have more discomfort after COVID-19 than they did before.