Comment by mikewarot | Hacker News Reader

Comment by mikewarot | Hacker News Reader

I'm in the US, so I should be fine now, right? Nope. I got sick last March, before testing was a thing, the case was mild, I lived upstairs in isolation from my family for a month. However, ever since I'm short of breath.

It's been a year, I went through all the tests, heart, lungs, and even had an invasive probe of the pressures inside my heart. They had no reasons. Then I got laid off and insurance went away. Recently I found that If I stand, my heart rate rises 15 beats per minute, and goes right back down when I sit. Nobody knows how much damage this has done to those who are "over it". This is "long covid".

I've been physically tired for a year. To know there are so many people like me, to see the pollicization, and subsequent complete disregard for the tools of science, is heart crushing.

Sure, go ahead, think it's over... but what is over is a normal world. We HAD the chance to stop this, but blew it.

What we're going to find we are collectively left with is the most horrid words anyone can hear in medicine, "a new normal".

FYI I'm no doctor but an internet search suggests heart rate rising 15 beats per minute when someone stands is normal:

"Normally, the heart rate increases by 10 to 15 beats per minute when standing up, and then it settles down again."

https://www.google.com/url?q=https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic....

It's encouraging to see some reason right there. I figured portions of the population would find, sense, and think of all sort of post diagnosis symptoms that simply aren't related to an infection. Given the talent media have shown on scaring everyone, it wouldn't surprise me that some people catch a flu-like disease simply out of stress, fear, and paranoïa. All it takes is a weaken immune system for a random bug to cause the well known common consequences, now systematically blamed on the craze virus. Fever, nausea, soar throat, difficulties to breath perhaps, probably diarrhea.

What if the "cases" of infection were in fact, for the most part, patients impacted by random bug, directly caused due to their heigher than usual stress levels, due to totally virtual fears. Diagnosed as such because of the constant obsession to identify hosts.

I do wonder how often "confirmed" cases are taken a blood test sent to a lab among other non infectious blood samples for actual confirmation of the virus presense.

Have you been tested for POTS? If you're afraid of heart rate issues and fatigue, especially when combined with small amounts of exercise, that's the syndrome to look for.

Buuttt.. POTS is when you have an increase of 30+ beats, not 10-15, I'm pretty sure that's a very normal amount of increase. Going from sitting down to standing up is weirdly enough a very difficult exercise for your body. A Lot of blood needs to rush to your thighs in a very short amount of time, body compensates for that by just pumping a little bit harder for a short amount of time.

Ask for a tilt table test. POTS usually takes a while to diagnose because tests are done to rule out fatal conditions.

I have POTS, you feel like shit a lot of the time but it’s very manageable.

It’s usually caused by a viral infection.

> Recently I found that If I stand, my heart rate rises 15 beats per minute, and goes right back down when I sit.

This is absolutely a normal rise. Standing is a lot of work!

This says nothing about your other symptoms, but your standing pulse is fine. Mine is about 58-65 while resting, about 80 while standing, and 90-100 while walking.

>Sure, go ahead, think it's over... but what is over is a normal world. We HAD the chance to stop this, but blew it.

At what point did we have a chance to stop this?

Right about when the CDC said NOT to wear masks for political reasons.

Seems like the cat was out of the bag at that point as the virus had already traveled across the world.

If there was ever at all a chance at stopping it, it was in November and December of 2019 when Chinese doctors were sounding the alarm but were silenced and punished by their government for "creating disturbances".

is this "long covid" or is it just the result of a year of physical inactivity?

It happened right away, and hasn't improved, even after getting completely vaccinated. I'm not in the greatest shape, but I was able to walk long distances before, the only limiting factor being a bum ankle.

Have you gotten the vaccine? I've heard it relieves symptoms in some (not all) people with long covid.

Sorry you’re going through this. I have a close loved one with long Covid related issues and it’s been a miserable year for them, with a lot of uncertainty about the future. A young, otherwise healthy person. I understand your sentiment — while people are ready to move on, a lot of people are still working through either the trauma or continued physical effects of this disease.

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