The LONG HAUL

Brain fog, sleeplessness and debilitating fatigue can linger months after contracting coronavirus, but researchers are closing in on the Long COVID puzzle.

- EVA-MARIA BOBBERT

When my little girl caught COVID, she was struck down with a curious symptom: exhausted as she was, she couldn’t lie down because it made the room spin like the Luna Park Rotor (without the giddy delight of a thrill ride, just with the pesky nausea). We took turns to sit up with her, night after night, plumping her pillows so she could stay fully upright and offering everything from chamomile tea to foot massages and soothing sleep meditation apps to at least try to help ease her angst that the persistent spinning meant she would be sucked into some kind of other-worldly vortex at any given moment. More than three months later, her circadian rhythm hasn’t recovered and debilitating fatigue and dizzy spells occur at random, unofficially making her one of the estimated 400,000 Australians (and counting) who meet the current clinical criteria for Long COVID.

In 2020, the World Health Organisation formally recognised Long COVID which, under its definition, requires symptoms to last for more than two months and continue to linger more than three months after a confirmed COVID infection. The data varies wildly – between 5 and 54 per cent of COVID patients, depending on the study, have lingering symptoms, of which there are more than 100. The most common include fatigue (especially after activity), shortness of breath (in which, curiously, the lungs can appear normal in tests but sufferers are left feeling totally oxygen-drained), brain fog (making simple tasks difficult), sleep problems, chronic cough, muscle aches, loss of smell or taste, headaches, depression and anxiety.