Both highlighted the mental fog they suffer from. In fact, several studies highlight the loss of gray matter and the alteration of cognitive functions in the aftermath of covid-19. Now, almost a year after that conversation, they explain that they still have cognitive problems.
Sheila Lozano: “I find it difficult to read a four-line email”
Sheila Lozano does not advance She has two years patient with persistent covid, immersed in a kind of brain fog, among many other symptoms. She contracted coronavirus in March 2020. “When I got infected I was 23, now 25. I still have all symptoms: asthenia, very intense fatigue, joint pain, cardiac sequelae and headaches, dizziness and vertigo”, tells this nurse who has been unable to work since then.
In the brain, the virus can cause everything from inflammatory reactions to alterations of taste and smell. “I lost my sense of smell and taste and, although I have recovered them, I have them distorted. It is dangerous because, for example, I don’t smell the gas” tells this neighbor of El Vendrell (Tarragona).
This young woman lives with these symptoms every day, although sometimes they are less intense than others. She highlights, among all of them, her mental nebula. how much find it hard to concentrate the difficulties in dealing with “several things at once”, the “slowness” when processing information. And the memory loss.
“I forget things that I have to do: the mobile agenda is my savior”, This young woman says that, long ago, before becoming a nurse, she obtained a Nursing degree and two master’s degrees with excellent grades. “It was not at all difficult for me to concentrate or do extensive work. And, overnight, I have a hard time reading a four-line email.
They are symptoms, he says, “incapacitating” that prevent him from fully living his youth. “The table games, for example, they cause me great cognitive fatigue. I can’t always go to the movies, depends on the day. It is enough invalidating”, Sheila laments. She does more than a year that she does rehabilitation every day from Monday to Friday. He says he notices a slight improvement thanks to her, but everything is very slow.
Her mental strength makes her not fall into discouragement or depression, despite He doesn’t know if or when he will recover. “It’s like a roller coaster. Because after two years without even treatment, all this takes its toll”, concludes.
Tim Py: “If I focus too much, cognitive fatigue returns”
Tim Py, 28 years old, he has been with persistent covid for two years. She has managed to recover but only up to 80% or 90% because there recurring symptoms especially in times of stress. “For example, when I’m working on a project that requires a lot of attention, cognitive fatigue returns and a very great exhaustion”, Tim recounts. Above all, he explains, he has had the cognitive symptoms.
Tim is water sports instructor. Also, like protestant Missionary, works on social projects of Christian education. “If it requires a lot of stress, Two hours later I can’t concentrate anymore. It is like stay blank I run out of mental energy,” says this young man from Barcelona. Like Sheila, Tim highlights the “concentration resistance” you had before you got covid-19.
Otherwise, it does “normal life”, As long as the activities are not “very demanding on an intellectual level”. What things can Tim no longer do? “Well, for example, writing an article like you do now, or doing text analysis, or research,” he replies.
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acknowledge that the disease has changed his lifestyle. He used to teach at a school, now he can’t. And, emotionally, he says, it “fits in”. Like many affected by persistent covid, Tim has learned to slow down the pace of work to dedicate time to meditation, to go for a walk in the countryside and to take some vitamin supplements.
In July, when he was talking to EL PERIÓDICO, Tim confessed that in recent times, due to illness, he had not been able to be the same. A year after that conversation, he is still not 100%. “I easily reach a high saturation point”, summarize to define how you feel due to persistent covid.