The Office for National Statistics said in December 2020 that an estimated one in five people testing positive for COVID-19 exhibit symptoms for five weeks or longer, with one in 10 exhibiting symptoms for 12 weeks or longer.  This is described as Long Covid.

 

Common Long COVID symptoms include:

• extreme tiredness (fatigue)

• shortness of breath

• chest pain or tightness

• problems with memory and concentration ("brain fog")

• difficulty sleeping (insomnia)

• heart palpitations

• dizziness

• pins and needles

• joint pain

• depression and anxiety

• tinnitus, earaches

• feeling sick, diarrhoea, stomach aches, loss of appetite

• a high temperature, cough, headaches, sore throat, changes to sense of smell or taste

• rashes

Source NHS

 

Symptoms of Long Covid are similar to those experienced by people who have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) known also as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). CFS is different for every individual who contracts it.  The main symptom that is shared amongst all is the extreme tiredness that is not relieved by resting or sleeping.  This isn’t just an experience of being weary. The feeling can be overwhelming and sufferers say that they can’t see an end to it. 

 

From a Chinese medical perspective, any type of post-viral fatigue can be interpreted, diagnosed according to the principles of Chinese Medicine and patients often come for acupuncture when other more traditional medical routes cannot help.