Long COVID (Post-COVID Condition)

Long COVID means symptoms that continue or appear after a COVID-19 infection, last at least 2 to 3 months and cannot be explained by another diagnosis. It can follow a mild infection as well as a severe one.

It is a real condition but not a single disease. Different people have different mixes of fatigue, breathlessness, poor concentration and heart rate problems. There is no test that confirms it and no medicine that cures it, so care is built on excluding other causes and treating each problem.

Symptome

• Fatigue that worsens a day or two after physical or mental effort
• Breathlessness on exertion
• Poor concentration and memory, often called brain fog
• Palpitations or a racing heart on standing
• Disturbed sleep
• Chest tightness or pain
• Loss of or altered smell and taste
• Muscle and joint aches
• Low mood or anxiety

Ursachen und Risikofaktoren

The mechanisms are still being studied. Leading ideas include persisting inflammation, small blood vessel and clotting changes, disturbance of the autonomic nervous system and, in those who were in hospital, scarring of lung tissue or heart muscle injury. Risk is higher after severe illness, in women, and in people with several symptoms in the first week. Vaccination before infection lowers the risk. Most people improve gradually over months, though a minority remain limited for longer.

Wie es diagnostiziert wird

• Clinical assessment: A careful history, including how symptoms respond to exertion, is the core of the diagnosis.
• Blood tests: Full blood count, thyroid, iron, vitamin B12, kidney, liver and inflammatory markers to find other treatable causes.
• Chest imaging and lung function: X-ray or CT and spirometry with gas transfer when breathlessness persists.
• ECG, echocardiogram and rhythm monitoring: For chest pain or palpitations.
• Active stand test: Looks for postural tachycardia, a common and treatable part of the picture.

Behandlungsmöglichkeiten

• Pacing and energy management: Planning activity within your limits to avoid crashes. Pushing through with graded exercise can make some people worse.
• Breathing and pulmonary rehabilitation: Helpful where breathing pattern or lung function is affected and exertion is tolerated.
• Treatment of postural tachycardia: Fluids, salt, compression and sometimes medicines such as beta blockers or ivabradine.
• Symptom-directed medicines: For sleep, pain, headache or mood, chosen individually.
• Smell training: Structured daily sniffing of set odours for lost smell.
• Unproven therapies: Blood filtering, hyperbaric oxygen and long antiviral or anticoagulant courses are not established. Ask for the trial evidence before paying for them.

Wenn es dringend ist

New chest pain, breathlessness at rest, coughing blood, fainting, weakness of one side, or thoughts of harming yourself are not part of ordinary long COVID. Call emergency services or go to the nearest hospital.

Reisen nach Türkiye zur Behandlung

A visit can give you a structured work-up in a few days: heart, lung, blood and autonomic tests with specialist review, which is useful if you have struggled to get these locally. It cannot give you a cure, and rehabilitation is a matter of months near home. Travel itself can trigger a relapse, so plan rest days and do not book a trip around an unproven therapy.

Senden Sie Ihre Berichte, Scans und eine kurze Geschichte und eine Clinic-Y Koordinator Antworten innerhalb von 24 Stunden mit geeigneten Teams und schriftlich, All-inclusive Vorschläge nebeneinander. Die Überprüfung Ihres Falls ist kostenlos.

Häufig gestellte Fragen