Thank you for sharing. Your experience as a patient through the eyes of a doctor is immeasurable. I can't tell you how scary it is when you are so sick but then not feel heard or taken seriously😢
Psychedelics are just an exceptional mental health breakthrough. It's quite fascinating how effective they are against depression and anxiety. Saved my life.
Can you help with the reliable source I would really appreciate it. Many people talk about mushrooms and psychedelics but nobody talks about where to get them. Very hard to get a reliable source here in Australia. Really need!
Yes, dr.porassss. I have the same experience with anxiety, depression, PTSD and addiction and Mushrooms definitely made a huge huge difference to why am clean today.
I wish they were readily available in my place. Microdosing was my next plan of care for my husband. He is 59 & has so many mental health issues plus probable CTE & a TBI that left him in a coma 8 days. It's too late now I had to get a TPO as he's 6'6 300+ pound homicidal maniac. He's constantly talking about killing someone. He's violent. Anyone reading this Familiar w/ BPD know if it is common for an obsession with violence.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I just had COVID and it was NASTY. I am still struggling to get over it, despite now finally testing negative for more than a week now.
You're describing the second week cytokine storm that occurs with covid, often mistakenly called "Paxlovid rebound" even though it also happens for people who don't take Paxlovid. This Week in Virology's weekly Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin discusses the different phases of the covid infection, and advises doctors on treatment recommendations for each phase.
For me, I was feeling better by day 6, or so I thought I went to work per protocol at my place of work. Had to go back home at noon because I was exhausted, panicky, especially getting up from sitting. For the next week and a half, I could not concentrate or function properly at works. It took about three weeks to feel almost baseline.
I think this is my favorite video of yours! I’ve been watching you since 2020 and felt so supported during that time. I’ve been a serious meditator for over 30 years and behavioral health provider for over 25 years.,Your experience reminds me of Ram Dass when he had his stroke. He didn’t have a single spiritual thought. It’s so humbling to have experiences where we truly can’t get present, feel our breath, etc. I always feel comforted when smart, spiritual folks share like you did today. Thanks for your honesty, ability to laugh and humility. I hope you continue to feel better
Two most important lessons I learned from covid years 1. No institution should do a gain of function research. 2. Vaccine companies are like any other companies, main business driver is getting more profits.
I am also an ER nurse and had the exact same experience! The brain fog was real and it really scared me. Of course I googled Covid brain fog and I read that it could stick around for eight months.😮 Luckily it has since gone away. Also agree with the equilibrium being off. I hit my head like four times in two days and I never do that. Lol it was such a strange 9 days of being sick, and I’m usually very healthy.
I have a chronic disorder, dysautonomia / POTS and this sounds like my symptoms long before covid. It isn't psychological. These are real effects. It took 20 years to diagnose
Don't forget - there is no Long Covid specifically - there is long viral or bacterial symptoms which are common to all. For example my wife has long viral symptoms since contracting Thyroiditis 2 years ago. She isn't getting better - but it comes in waves. Lethargy, muscle pain, brain fuzz/disorientation, headaches, sickness, chronic tiredness...there are many other possible symptoms.
I'm a retired psychologist, so I would never deny that your psyche could have played a role in your feelings of panic. But you mentioned tachycardia and wondering if you might have orthostatic hypotension. Here's my relevant experience: 20+ years ago, I had a tilt table test to rule out POTS in which I was strapped to the table so I couldn't move and put in an upright position. I don't believe they measured O2, and I can't recall if they measured BP. But they measured heart rate, and it was normal the 1st 30 min. and they were getting ready to end the test. But then it started to change, so they kept going. They said my heart rate should have been going up, but instead it went down until it reached the mid-low 40's. While I stood transfixed watching the monitor, I broke out in a full-out sweat and had a panic attack, which I never had before nor since. As POTS isn't life threatening and I was fairly young, I wasn't afraid of dying. My emotional reaction to this was to beg them to "Get me out of here!" (which they kept delaying), but at the same time, I clearly recall thinking to myself, "So this is what a panic attack feels like. This will increase my understanding and empathy of people with panic attacks." I say this to let you know I definitely wasn't worried about dying. So my takeaway is that the autonomic nervous system can have a powerful impact on emotion even in the absence of any pre-conceived concept of danger. For what it's worth, I developed intermittent vertigo around that time and have had it ever since, although not that often, but my worst episode with vomiting was a few weeks ago. I've never had Covid that I know of, and don't want to get it in case it would exacerbate my POTS. I've also recently developed intermittent tachycardia while standing or walking and hr can vary over 60 bpm within seconds based on multiple heart rate monitors. Hmmm....but still no panic attacks! :)
Wow, Same exact feeling. Thought I was dying. However, that was only when I had Covid the first time. The second time I was less symptomatic. The weird feeling was exactly that. "Weird". But I have read that this feeling is actually that lovely storm going on in your body. I do have panic attacks, and everything is always fight or flight, I take Celexa for that, however, during Covid times, it basically took a vacation and didn't work. After I felt better, I wanted to hug everyone I knew as I was grateful to have gotten through my first bout and lived to tell the story. So happy you kept us updated. I was waiting for this video, as I knew you would report back. Bottom line. Covid sucks... but hey we made it! Many blessings XO
I am now realizing that my daughter and myself are phenomenally bad ass women bc we had Covid (yes, full on pneumonia symptoms) in January of 2020. Before and vaxes or immunity. We had so many symptoms and lingering weirdness. It’s a (badass) miracle we kept our jobs, sanity and housing. Looking back I see now that we surged on through gaslighting, moving targets of medical advice, and confusion, through sheer determination and will to heal physically, mentally and emotionally. You are not crazy Z. I’m glad you are healing. Been listening to you and Dr. V Prasad the whole time and you have really helped me to feel sane. Thanks for sharing. We stayed away from urgent care bc we knew we wouldn’t get the help that was needed, choosing instead to drink a lot of water, sleep as much as possible, and dig deep into tools for mental health. I’d say the POTS and long Covid symptoms lasted 2-3 years. 💕💪🏽
"Moving targets of medical advice"... are you not aware that medical science is like a weather forecast? IT takes times to assess the effectiveness of things when you are dealing with a virus that is NEW. When the AIDS crisis first came about, many of the people who TODAY think Covid is fake or no big deal wouldn't even be in the same room with an AIDS patient. Are the medical experts supposed to qualify EVERY sentence they utter? "Now... we're not sure of this... but..."
"When existential terror hits." ... Been there when I had Covid very late in the game like you. Thanks for sharing this! Your feelings AND the explanation of the bio/psych/social aspects. Makes a lot of sense. I guess we are all human! Thanks for sharing your experience so honestly...
my mother never wanted to get vaxxed during the pandemic, and never got sick. But in february of this year, i was convinced she had gotten covid. she kept complaining about feeling "very tired" and "weak" and I just straight up told her "well, maybe you just have covid". I assumed she had gotten it during the pandemic and just shrugged it off asymptomatically, and I think that was my biggest mistake. By the time she wanted to finally go to the hospital, because my ex (who is a doctor) checked on her and told her she had pneumonia, and that we should go there immediately it was already too late. She got nervous and i'm pretty sure that played a part in it, and before we headed off there, she decided to go to the bathroom and got a heart attack right then and there. Her last words were "I feel very bad" (that's the literal translation from spanish) she collapsed, i picked her up but she never regained consciousness again. I never actually found out if she had covid or not, and I don't care to find out since she passed away, and nothing will change that. But i'm almost sure that's what happened, is that actually, she hadn't gotten covid at all during the pandemic, and it was only earlier this year that she finally got it. I do feel regret that I didn't act sooner (it had been days with her complaining about feeling weak) but then when I asked her if she had trouble breathing, she never said she did. In hindsight, the signs were obvious - she was walking very slowly, and wouldn't even put her seatbelt on after getting in the car (it would take her a while). it was only on the last 5-10 minutes of her life that I actually got very scared, because it became obvious to me that she was having trouble breathing. (at that point you could clearly notice it) She had just turned 70 about about a week and a half before she passed. Anyway, long story short: This shit is as dangerous as ever, and don't assume "you're fine" and actually check your oxygen levels.
Omg. Your pure human reaction is so reassuring to me. You are SO BEAUTIFULLY honest about your reaction. You have NO idea how comforting this is to me and probs many others. You are one n a million. 🙏💙
hahaha you wanna pay for such a healthcare practitioner who will tell you it is all in your head, who can not even believe his own eyes and a device! boy you deserve to be ripped off all over again and again
He laughed at a dad who was trying to inform public about his child he lost to vax. Scott and Paul offitt. Disgusting. So should we Mock his experience? why not.
You had a short window into what it’s like to have Long Covid. The real fear is not death, but rather the feeling of dying never ending. 4+ years for me. You gradually got better and I did not. It can cause serotonin crashes which cause anxiety and worse moving into uncontrolled suicidal ideation. Not fun, not psycho social, uncontrollable.
Don't forget - there is no Long Covid specifically - there is long viral or bacterial symptoms which are common to all. For example my wife has long viral symptoms since contracting Thyroiditis 2 years ago. She isn't getting better - but it comes in waves. Lethargy, muscle pain, brain fuzz/disorientation, headaches, sickness, chronic tiredness...there are many other possible symptoms.
I had Delta Covid. It was a nightmare. Ended up in the ICU. I was confused most of the time but I remember the Dr saying that I needed to fight. I swear I heard Covid itself, no I’m not crazy 😂, telling me to give up, it had won, to accept I was dying. I never knew how much work every single breath could be. But I made it, I have a chunk of memory just gone. I have long covid but I feel stronger each day. I think it seriously messes with people neurologically and for some it’s mild, and others it’s really bad. Being socially conditioned to fear it…idk how much that factored in.🤷🏻♀️ I had it last winter again and it was nothing like it, just a cold.
I had the delta, too! I also, heard covids voice. It said, no matter how you fight one symptom, they'll be another one and I'll get you. I have been convinced ever since, there is something about this virus that's demonic.
I went to the ER because I was reading my Pulse Ox backwards. When I called the nurse and told her my oxygen level was at 70, she said I needed to call 911. 70 was my heart rate, my oxygen level was 97.
I did that, too. My daughter was feeling poorly, and when I checked her O2, I read it as 65, and went into full panic mode. I called my husband, who is in the medical field, and found out quickly I was reading it backwards. Some of the Pulse Ox’s are confusing, if you don’t use them all the time.
Dr Z, you’re describing my week this week to a T. I felt a few times I was going to faint while standing a few times; impending doom; heightened anxiety and extreme fatigue, then felt better, then back again. Equilibrium- legs and or body felt disconnected from my head at times..!? Strange. Glad to see you’re doing better and just pushing through the work week. I had it only once before and it wasn’t quite like this. This time has been humbling.
Years ago in my early thirties I had Parvovirus. I was in and out of the ER because of terrible panic symptoms with myalgia pain. My family doctor ran a titer that revealed the virus. I completely understand that strange panicking feeling with the brain fog and vertigo those were exactly my symptoms. It took a full year for the myalgia pain especially in my neck to fully leave my body. I’m glad you are feeling better. Thank you for always sharing with intelligence and integrity.
I got ME/CFS from parvovirus in 2000. The vertigo that isn’t vertigo, the brain fog that feels like your head is stuffed with cotton, and the panic when the room tilts like a funhouse. And thinking I had MS or ALS from the muscle twitching and spasming. All I got from doctors was antidepressants for anxiety. Thank god for the internet.
You’re in good company I saw a documentary about Ram Dass. He told the story of his stroke. He said that when he was being pushed through the hallways at the hospital, he felt all his training, all his enlightenment, all his psychological and spiritual strength desert him. He was just a suffering, terrified man ❤️❤️❤️
why??? casue he never cared to understand his patients and learn! you can not be that ignorant 4 years into COVID, this guy never read a thing, never updated his old/fake knowledge to reality
I have been through it. I was vaccinated. I didn't think I would get it. The third time I was tested positive was the worst. At first it was classic covid. Cold symptoms. Then it was GI symtoms. Three days of n&v. I did not have a panic attack. I was so dehydrated I couldn't hear, i felt underwater. I also started hallucinating. That's when I wnt to the hospital. My cmp was all off. My k+ went down to 2.7. I was admitted because the doctor saw me walk and said I was a little wonky. They saved my life. I never thought of covid being anything but respiratory. Shout out to doctors who look at the big picture❤
I’m so glad you had this conversation! That’s basically how I felt with Covid. I felt foolish for worrying but didn’t want to be foolish and die over it lol. This shows with all your training and knowledge of many things- you’re still a human 🙂 so glad you’re better. You kept me sane during Covid. Thanks
I love that you shared this story. I wish people understood the power of the brain more thoroughly. I was sidelined for YEARS, fully bedbound with CFS/ME and I had more symptoms than I can ever name. My experience was also, psycho-bio-social with elements of stress, trauma, a low grade physiological infection in my jaw, upper cervical neck misalignment, etc.... and the key component in all of this was my BRAIN. You have no idea how many symptoms the brain can turn on due to perceived danger. I thought for years that my illness was ONLY physical but nothing ever really showed up on testing. Yes, I had inflammation and all the other markers of a body under stress, but I also had symptoms that could turn on and off in response to all kinds of "triggers". You feel a sensation, your brain tries to figure out what it is and the fear that has been taken in by the brain (unconsciously and consciously) starts to emerge as symptoms. It's WILD. I used to live by my oximeter and would watch my O2 stats dive and then I'd get totally freaked out. YES, the brain can do that! I've had Covid twice and fortunately, I was reading stuff that gave me more ease around it. I decided that my body was strong enough to cope and it did. It was a gnarly illness and it's the sickest I've been since I was a kid and it took me 6 weeks to fully kick it, but I swear to god I came out of Covid stronger than before. Each time I had it, I sort of gained confidence in my body to handle really hard stuff. Long Covid could have been predicted .... the amount of fear that was spread everywhere really set people up to experience strange and lingering symptoms. Talking about Long Covid as much as they have has also perpetuated it. It's REAL, people's symptoms are legitimately physical, but what people don't truly understand is that the brain can turn on REAL physiological responses in the body. After healing from CFS/ME, I became a coach and I now support people with chronic pain and illness including Long Covid, CFS/ME, Chronic Lyme and all kinds of other Mindbody driven illnesses. It's NOT all in the head, it's just part of being human. We have wiring that predisposes us to these kinds of things and they can be true hell on earth. Nothing is worse than feeling real symptoms and being written off as crazy. It's real and there are ways to support the body and brain to better communicate and reverse these symptoms. Thanks for sharing your experience and being open and brave enough to do so. I'm glad you are on the other side of Covid. It's a doozy for sure.
My first experience with absolute panic disorder was shortly after my gall bladder was removed. Flat out, I’m dying. Call 911. Then about 10 minutes went by and I slowly recovered. It lasted about a year until a doctor, on a whim, prescribed Inderal, off label. The next attack was about a week later. It stopped as fast as it began. I was so shocked I laughed, but then cried, realizing it was real, but brought on by my illness. My blood pressure was lowered too much so I had to stop the meds. Luckily, like you, I had meditation to fall back on and could forever after, be more able to control the initiating/cause. I just wanted to say I understand and empathize with all you explained. I think I had Covid in late 2019 with a 3 day 103 fever and flu like symptoms. No tests were yet available. I’ve had 5 vaccines and no further symptoms. My daughter on the other hand is 50ish, a lab scientist and has now had Cv19 seven times. We believe she has Long Covid as well. Her lab mates often go in sick and work sans masks. If there is a way to study the after effects and share information to help others we’re all about it. It’s horrrid to not be believed or to have your symptoms downplayed when you continue to feel like you’re just not well enough to keep working. The other issue is government health care systems that are in denial and no longer gathering statistics or bothering to check which variant people have as the ERs fill up again. Just an FYI, DD’s last three infections tested negative at least 3 times. Can anything be done for these folks?
I had Covid last summer after avoiding it for a couple of years. Felt invincible. I remember not being able to sleep, and having waking nightmares. I knew I was awake and that the dream was just a dream, but was panicking about getting back to sleep to sorth things out. I was dreaming that I was stacking chairs while balacing on them and they kept falling. When I would I wake I knew I was back in reality, but somehow my brain was still trying to resolve the problems from the dream. I had this a few nights in a row, and TONS of anxiety. I am convinced the COVID causes the anxiety. Everyone I know that had COVID had that too.
Always interesting to hear a physician talk about having tests that they routinely order for their patients. I've always thought that docs should have to undergo a wide variety of tests that they order for their patients. Never underestimate how this affects the way you discuss these things with your patients.
I don't remember the name of the movie but I believe it had William Hurt as a Doctor who got, I think throat cancer and at the end of the movie he orders all his residents to undergo a bunch of different tests so they can understand better what it's like to be a patient as he finally had that realization.
@@TRUTHisTRUTH70 Yet you won't tell me the name????. Lol I mean, I guess I can look it up. In fact, now I want to see if it's on any streamer. I recall liking it.
from a Redditor: "Just over a week into this--my second time with Covid (that I know of)--and oh my goodness... The mental and emotional side effects are really getting to me. I have random, sometimes completely unprovoked bouts of weepiness/sadness/dread/panic. I'll just randomly burst into tears and feel dizzy and out of place. It's awful! "
Dr. Damania thank you, again, for expressing your vulnerable, common, self. Your 2 recent covid videos are invaluable. Wishing you good fortune & I'm eager to here you speak with Dr. Prasad, if that's appealing to you, regarding your most heartfelt experience. May you continue to share with us for a long, long time.
My family (husband, son, myself) had Covid in March 2020 - my husband was on a vent for 24 days and in the hospital for over three months. We are all healthy and in good shape - needless to say I now have Covid PTSD. Thank God you’re feeling better Dr Z!!!
I had it in March 2020after teaching many college students from Italy. Missed 5 days of work. The only illness I've had in 40-50 years. Got it again summer 2022.. two days coughing then it disappeared. Im a former covid vaccine trial member. The vaccine saved my life!
My hubby was in the hospital with it too. Scariest time ever! I woke up each day wondering if it would be our last. I truly believe Covid ruined what little sanity I had left. I can totally relate to this. 😢
Yep, just shared this with my 75 year old (Covid denier) husband who came down with a tough case of covid after flying to Alaska. I had it first, for about 4 days, was vaxed, and had it before 2 years ago. He feels better knowing being feeling crudy after 10 days is normal! And I will keep babying him! Get Well Soon ZDogg!
@SafeEffective-ls2pl the poor husband being called a covid denier. . . God love him. Sounds like he has seen through all the BS and avoided the clotshots
I got covid for the first time in mid-April, 2024. It was a mild case. However, it put me into kidney failure and I ended up in the hospital for three days during the the third week in May. I hadn’t even had a cold in almost 10 years prior to that. My kidneys are still in Stage 3 kidney disease. My nephrologist from Temple Hospital told me that in the early days of covid, this was not uncommon.
What a timely video for me. The day I watched your first video was day 2 for me and my symptoms were EXACTLY as you described. It was certainly helpful. At day 7 (today). I woke up with what I thought might be vertigo and a clear sense of doom and panic. I have felt that I would die. You described the whole body weirdness perfectly. I made it to 3 days on Paxovid then quit because I was worse and had a bitter ugly taste in my mouth. Having a rare blood cancer has been bad but this brought me to a new level of weakness and fatigue. This video. gave me hope and a sense of normality- I'm not going crazy! What a strange disease. Odd thing is, my husband hasn't contracted it- he must have a natural immunity. The most bothersome thing is a feeling of "disconnectedness" from reality.. Like I'm walking in a bubble and ca't get out. This is so nuts!
I had SEVERE anxiety and panic attacks shortly after infection. The attacks did dissipate as the MONTHS went on. In the begging of the attacks, my heart rate would make nearly 150 and blood pressure close to 180/120. It was extremely terrifying. I also lost taste and smell, fever mild for 4 days. I change diet 2 months after and started to golf on a vigorous and regular schedule. Almost a year later and I'm back to normal, lost weight , and do not deal with the panic any longer. It was the worst feeling I'd ever felt, and i hope I never deal with the panic crap again. Sheesh... I feel you brother.
On day 7 of original COVID in 2020, I had a panic attack. I feel like I developed PTSD after that. Recently, I recovered from my third infection. I am still here.
I would say I would close. Everyone told me that COVID "made breathing difficult" but I didn't feel like that, I felt like I was breathing fine but I had altitude sickness and dizziness like it didn't matter how much I was inhaling it didn't matter. That was disturbing.
Thanks for being so genuine about this. I caught COVID in the first round in Aug 2020, had bad flu symptoms but no worse than other flu.. I knew it was COVID when I completely lost my sense of smell, that was crazy. My wife, on the other hand, was in hospital twice (in her thirties) and waited two years to tell me that she collapsed trying to get to the bathroom and her O2 went down to 66%!! She was in isolation in hospital and certain she was not coming out or going to see me or our (then) 3-year-old again. Harrowing doesn't do it justice. We still have an oxygen bottle at home bought in response to that.
Covid is a strange one. You start to feel better and you think you’re about to recover and then all of a sudden you feel like crap. It’s this weird rebound. Covid’s last stand before you finally heal.
Agree. Many also jump back into routine/exercise as they feel better after like 4-5 days, which is the worse time to do that because it can increase likelihood of long covid. Even the good doctor here talked about lifting weights while he was still positive, which is a mistake.
I never experienced any of that. I also took vitamin D, B12, mushrooms, immune support, zinc, olive leaf extract, and some other natural stuff. I did get sick, but my body never reacted like that at all. Covid is definitely a strange virus.
@@dawnowens2345 Same here. In my case it was nearly asymptomatic so I didn't even know I had covid, then BAM! The day after a workout I felt like a bomb went off.
❤ Yes, I'm on day 7..I thought I was on the road to recovery then today bam..I feel as if I have a cold now..Really bad running nose and a little sore throat again..
Doc! I guarantee I can explain what happened to you better than that doctor. I’ve been through this for 4 years. Pots caused by dysautonomia causes poor vasodilation so blood pools in lower extremities causing low o2 and it also increases your HR to compensate. Now you’re only in the cytokine storm phase so you only had a touch of what is LONG COVID. It is NOT psycho social. You are only looking at your own perspective. Talk to people who actually suffered long Covid.
@@DrTomMD There are peer reviewed papers showing reactivated EBV but I don’t think that’s everyone. There are also peer reviewed papers showing viral persistence, micro clotting, endothelial damage and nervous system damage.
Thanks for sharing your experience,I have had Covid 4 times,felt vertigo like symptoms and shortness of breath every time during the sickness and some time after no longer testing positive
It wasn't in your head, I had a first time COVID infection in mid-June and had almost the exact same experience as you did. I also had the weird dizziness experience you describe and wondered what it was but I didn't get nearly as concerned about it out of ignorance that it could have been some kind of clot. I also had the tiredness experience where I had to go lie down which is also something I never do. The only difference of my experience is during my 3-4 days of feeling horrible is that I got the worst headache of my life and I never get headaches.
I came down with Covid (first time also) just as you dropped your first video. I'm also a meditator and your discussion about sitting with it was very helpful. Ditto on body equilibrium issues; I chalked mine up to recurring inner ear stuff like BPPV. I stopped testing after the first "I'm still positive" result because I had enough people in my life advising to just relax and let the body do its thing. The fatigue was ridiculous and three weeks later I'm still not entirely 100%. I didn't get to a panic state because I was able to body scan my way into a more balanced emotional place and just watch what was going on. Which means I might have just watched myself expire...who knows? :)
I was admitted to the ICU with Covid in 2021 and my oxygen level was 68. I ended up with sepsis, covid, double pneumonia and ARDS. I have Long Covid now and have tons of scarring in my lungs.
PT here, worked in ICU through the panda. So many patients had desaturations when getting up which was reasonable with their pneumonias. Some folks had some horrible anxiety whenever their sats plunged. Crippling anxiety. Made it very hard to get much done as you could not get them past it to work on conditioning... sitting in the chair. Crazy.
I’m a nurse who worked in the hospital during the pandemic. Never got Covid. I’m retired and had a mild case last November, except for the cough that lasted 6 weeks! Went on an Alaskan cruise at the end of June. Next to last day I had that feeling you tried to describe, a body fog. I felt so weird and suddenly exhausted. Went to dinner and no appetite. Went back to the room and slept. I had a fever the first night. Just slept the next day. Had to get up to pack to depart early the next day. Felt a little better. Then N/V that night. Left the ship feeling ok, but on the 5 hr flight home I wanted to sleep but couldn’t! I knew it must be Covid. Tested positive when I got home, day 2 of symptoms. Tested 2 more times the following week and still positive. I felt better and in 10 days started my normal activities. I know what you mean by that weird feeling!
I had Covid exactly once, traveling home from family Thanksgiving 2023. Mild, felt like allergies, except taste went wonky. Coffee tasting soapy was the main thing. No weird stuff. Zubin, obviously your problem is the $10 pulse oximeter. You have to spend AT LEAST $18.95 to get a good one 😂😂😂
Several years back I bought a home blood pressure testing kit on special at Aldi for the equivalent of US$25. It gave me blood pressure readings that were all over the place, and I assumed it was a piece of junk. When I developed a mild heart condition I bought a much more expensive Omron one, and no, it gave pretty much the same readings. But the Aldi one was a much better consumer product! It actually told you what to do in a clear American accent, and gave a spoken diagnosis based on WHO guidelines, plus an LED "Severity scale" from green through orange to red "("SEVERE" hypertension it dolefully announced). Plus it keeps a record of your last 100 readings.
If I listed all of the ways that my anxiety in 2016 manifested into physical symptoms you'd scratch your head and say that there's no way anxiety could do half of those things. Yet one visit to a psychologist and they all went away. You definitely put yourself into an altered state.
Definitely a legitimate feeling. When I had Covid my oxygen sat went to 89% and I felt that same panic! I couldn’t breathe well. I had a good pulse ox by the way. I thought I was gonna die too. When I first got Covid I thought I’m a young healthy woman and I’m good I’m in health care I’ll live. And NO it just suuuuucked. I LIVED BUT THE SYMPTOMS ARE REAL AWEFUL. Oh man I’m glad you’re feeling better tho.
I had the Covid rebound both times I had Covid. The first time it started around day 6 and lasted a week of feeling awful near the point of going to the hospital. The second tome the rebound came in around day 3, and I took (gasp) ivermectin on recommendation of a friend, and the next morning I was nearly fully recovered.
Thanks for sharing your story, as a doctor. I personally wear a mask in stores, when I see the amount of covid virus in my area has risen in the waste water and when I go into a medical facility. I check that water waste report when I hear of multiple people I know of, have covid. I have no issues with wearing a mask and am comfortable wearing one and wherever I go, no one says anything to me about it. Also, I still wear a mask when around the elderly, when visiting my Mom in her memory care facility. You never know if people around you are going to have an operation soon, or are more compromised. Just my own thought process.
My mother-in-law has what is called white coat syndrome. She cannot have her blood pressure taken at the doctor's office because it always spikes. Your mind can do crazy things.
I am so glad you are talking about this experience, especially since you are a healthcare provider. I had a similar sensation when I took a medication too close to bedtime without enough liquid and probably burned my esophagus. Woke up in the middle of the night with intense pain and dread. All the cardiac worries in the brain. Had to call 911. A lido cocktail made a big difference.
Thank you so much for sharing this experience! I feel reassured. I had something similar happen and it’s very difficult to explain to people and to my doctor. My second case of covid happened 9 months after my first case. The second one was milder. I felt like I was recovering much faster. I had zero respiratory issues. But, I had that very strange sensation like the one you are talking about. My second day of covid, I was able to do yoga, like normal. But on the third day, I couldn’t at all. One minute in, I felt a tightness in my neck and my head. Then my heart started to race. This happened every time I tried to exercise. After 2 weeks of this, I saw a physical therapist who couldn’t figure it out. It would happen one minute into riding an exercise bike. But my heart rate would drop on the treadmill. It always started with the feeling of tightness in my neck and then, a fullness in my head. Then, after that, my extremities felt weak like I had been lifting heavy objects. This went on for 3 months. I had to slowly increase my time on the exercise bike one minute every couple of days. And no one could explain to me what was going on. I heard some theories. Microclots was a theory. And hormones was another. Vagus nerve malfunctioning. It’s now been about 9 months since the last time I had covid and I still get that strange sensation on occasion. Usually, if I try to exercise after eating or if I go for a walk when it’s hot outside, it will happen. I’ll feel the tightness in my neck and I know it’s about to start. Sometimes, my heartrate will spike to about 156 for a minute, then fall. Sometimes, I can stop it by resting and taking breaths I learned from meditating. I feel like there might be a neurological component to it. But I also think there is a physiological too. Just don’t know what yet.
I had the EXACT same symptoms in November of 2019. A director at my company had been to China in October, and had visited our site right after. It started feeling a bit sick for a week, then massive dizzy spells, out of breath, and feeling disconnected. I went to the doctor, and they said it was probably vertigo. Went to the eye doc... nope, not eye related. Then one morning went into the doctor again, and when they said it was nothing I went to work. A coworker started talking to me, and 15 minutes into the conversation I knew he was talking, but none of it was clicking at all. It was a... disconnected feeling. Decided it would be best to go back home. About 5 minutes away from my house I had to pull over- I was not in a condition to drive at all. When it passed, I went into the ER. ER doc was on a 36 hour bender (small town), and said I had a TIA and to see my doctor for a follow up. I remember passing out on my couch, and thinking that I was going to die. I wore a holter monitor for a month (they thought it was my heart). Then the week of Christmas I got extremely sick- I didn't eat anything, slept on the couch all day. I don't remember any of it. I woke up three days after Christmas, and I started feeling better. Dizziness gone, disconnected feeling gone. Still a little short of breath, but not as bad. Three months later, COVID was officially recognized, and to this day I am 100% convinced I had COVID in November 2019.
I had a similar thing happen at the end of 2019. All of the people I work with in the ER had respiratory symptoms. My body decided to freak out while I was in a patient’s room. Started getting SOB & my heart rate jumped up to 150s. I sat down at the nurse’s station to chart & my coworker looked at me & immediately knew something was wrong. I must’ve looked awful. I showed him my Apple Watch clocking my HR in the 150s & he made me get an EKG & check in to be evaluated. I got some fluids,, symptoms resolved. Nothing came of it. Went to cardiology & Holter was ordered. That showed nothing except sinus tachycardia. I’m convinced it was Covid & we weren’t testing for it then. I think we all had it & passed it around to everyone working in the ER.
I'm convinced I had it when I started losing my voice on Christmas Dat in 2019. Never been so sick in my life. High fever, lung congestion, the worst headache, no sense of smell or taste. Had lung x-rays, Dr gave me antibiotics, and an inhaler. Lasted about 10 days. The cough lasted 2 months. I live in the mountains not far from where the first death was in California. We get a lot of tourists going through here from China on their way to lake Tahoe or Reno. The buses stop for food along highway 80 in my town. Whether that was COVD or not, I don't know. But I do know I've never caught it officially.
Had a similar experience.Housekeeper and my client’s entire family flew out to NYC for a week. The entire family came down with respiratory issues. Caught whatever they had, and nearly became hospitalized with pneumonia. Also had massive dizziness and headaches. Luckily was able to get to an urgent care where I was put on a Nebulizer, Zpac, and antibiotics. Went home with Nebulizer and the Urgent Care doctor called me at home for a follow up. After about 2 weeks, fully recovered. This was November 2019. Somewhat convinced it was Covid!!!
I had CV the first time in Oct 2023. I had vertigo, muscle aches cough and exhaustion. But I didn't think I would die. Perhaps it's because I was in WA when known patient zero walked in and I was dressed in hazmat gear. And the next two years were probably the worst years of my 40 year career as a nurse; long hours, bruised face, morgue trucks and more deaths than I've ever experienced. While I do think I have some PTSD from those days my fear subsided after the vaccine. And working with current COVID patients...I am not afraid. I'm not seeing the deaths. BUT with that said I'm always waiting for 'the rest of the story' related to COVID such as long term affects yet to be known.... May the force be with you.
The insomnia accompanied by extreme restlessness & anxiety during the worse days of my symptoms where I could literally feel the virus replication going on inside my corporeal being……. Weird and not okay! Love you, Z. 🧡
THANK YOU!! So glad you posted this. Glad it's not just me. Im a hypochondriac and EMT/FF . Bad combo. I caught covid after it was around for 2 yrs. It really only lasted 3 days. On day 4 I stood up and saw I went tachy. I was wearing a pulse ox the entire 3 days just from seeing what the virus had done to others. As soon as I stood up and saw that immediately I was like. OMG I HAVE POTS!! My life is over. I'll never be able to work again. Video chatted with my cardiologist and he knows me pretty well. He got a kick out of it. He's like you do not have POTs. You're sick! Lay back down. Turns out he was right. Even though I felt much better. The virus was still wearing me out. And doc. No need to worry about CTs. I can't even count how many CTs and MRIs I've had. Sure MRIs aren't a concern. But the contrast. . I've been getting them constantly since I was 19. I'm now in my 40s. Its all related to my hypochondria. In fact I just had a chest CT a few months ago and a MRI in the same day back to back. The chest CT was for chest pn which turned out to be heart burn. MRI of knee which keeps getting agitated when I snowboard or mountain bike. And in a couple months I'll probably have another chest CT for a calcium score. Which was 0 five years ago. So I wouldn't worry to much about them.
Thanks Z-Dog. You’ve been great during all of this and I’ve been tuning into you regularly . I have a daughter with CF and the pandemic and Covid has been very worrying. She’s now on the precision medicine for CF and has had covid twice and it hasn’t morphed into the usual CF complications. Me on the other hand - still novid and am hoping I won’t get a dose like you have had.
I have POTS and I'm currently still sick with COVID for the first time in this pandemic and that "odd" bodily sensation is very similar to how I feel most of the time anyways, just more severe than usual. I wonder if a bunch of people are suddenly getting The POTS Experience for the first time haha (horrible, but interesting nonetheless). What's funny is I don't have particularly bad anxiety, I'm just used to feeling like my nervous system is being weird. The knowledge that POTS is generally benign probably helps. I find the dysautonomia annoying and frustrating more than anything else, not necessarily panic-inducing.
My 39yo F friend had 100% occlusion to LAD from clot right after COVID. Woke her up in the middle of the night. Thankfully she was a previous heart nurse and now supervisor in OR. Told her husband call 911 and all the right people. She was one of the lucky ones.
Disequilibrium, mild vertigo, fatigue, and feeling “off” has afflicted me quite a bit in the past six months. The doctors have not suggested COVID as a reason, but it’s been a couple years since I was tested and I don’t know if I’ve gotten it since then. I’ve had vestibular therapy and things have improved but I’m still not myself. I get fatigued more easily and I’m still having mild vertigo, but also way more frequent headaches than I’ve ever had in my life. Oxygen, blood pressure, and heart rate all steady and normal when they tested me and during dizziness. At this point I’m not sure if more therapy would help or if there is something else going on. I’m glad you are feeling better.
11:17 To hear you even mention POTS brought tears to my eyes. My symptoms began in 2016. I was a mom of two pre-schoolers and I thought I was dying. I would have these crazy episodes of tachycardia, pre-syncope, nausea, tunnel vision, chest pressure, etc. (Total endocrine response, sympathetic adrenaline rush.) No one could help me. I was so weak. I was bed-bound and had to be moved by a wheelchair. I could not breathe without oxygen, I couldn’t lift my arms to put on a shirt without my heart going crazy. I saw a primary doctor, consulted a OBGYN, saw multiple cardiologists, a pulmonologist, a gastroenterologist, a neurologist, and multiple ER doctors. No one could give me an answer for why I had these episodes and also had daily symptoms of MS. Their best guess was that I was “stressed” and had “anxiety.” (Sexism in medicine is real. I worked as an OT. I knew my symptoms were real). The cardiologist finally decided to do a heart cath to look for a hidden blood clot. They didn’t find one, but they found a PFO, which 25% of the population has. The cardiologist told my family, “we closed that, but I don’t think it will solve her problem.” I refused to give up and the only thing I could do was revert back to my training as an OT. I knew I had to move!!!! I set goals: 5 steps, 10 step, 30 feet, etc. I would still occasionally have episodes, but I learned how to better control the adrenaline response, learned how to control that impending sense of doom my body would want to jump into when I went into tachycardia. Finally, we moved to a small city in East TN. I had another large episode about a month and half after we moved. I saw a family practice doctor there who listened to my entire story, looked at all my paperwork, and said, “I think you have something called POTS. We mainly see it in teenagers, but it is not unheard of in women.” I cried. Finally. An answer. It didn’t come from a specialist, who brushed me off as “stressed.” It came from a doctor who listened to me. A doctor who asked me about illnesses before my symptoms started. With young kids, that year we had had strep multiple times, flu, mono in the house, never ending colds, and a horrendous stomach bug about a month before the symptoms started. He said, my body’s nervous system was “out-of-whack” from all the viruses I had in 2015 and the beginning of 2016. He ordered a tilt table test and it confirmed is diagnosis. No doctor in 2016 had heard of POTS or Dysautonomia. There are many of us out there who have struggled to get our symptoms recognized and not brushed off. I have friends of friends with similar symptoms referred to me regularly for encouragement and direction. I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to hear you even mention POTS and Dysautonomia in such a declarative way. Thank you, Dr. Z!!!! I don’t wish COVID or POTS on anyone, but one thing COVID has done is sounded an alarm in the medical field that POTS is real. I can’t mention it to a medical person now who hasn’t heard of it. Most say they learned about it after COVID.
This is my story exactly!! It took 20 years for me to be diagnosed! All tests show normal because its nervous system dysfunction. Doctors wanted to give me anti depressants. Didnt work. It is not mental! Its a real thing and only now doctors are learning about this illness because of long covid. I was just so happy to hear an explanation.
That just happened to my best friend ever (since we were 4) last week, with the impending doom! It wasn't covid, though. She had 2 massive blood clots in her pulmonary veins, and when she got to ER she was in VTach. She definitely was on the way out! Those clots were like a foot long! I'm so glad she survived!!😮
Thank you for a very genuine discussion of your symptoms and your results. I've had that dizziness and fatigue for a couple of weeks now and you've made me feel so much better. I will discuss it with my doctor just to make a note of it, but I think just like you I'll push through
I would encourage you to investigate NAC and it's therapeutic benefits for lung rehabilitation. At the very worst it's going to be a little bit of an expense and not much help. However, I did have a long-standing sinus issue after the second time I had covid, and that resolved fairly quickly once I started taking NAC on a regular basis.
My heart rate goes up the moment you try to measure it. My doctor always has to wait for me to calm down before getting an accurate reading. It's like the observer effect in physics.
I was just like you Dr. Z. I had covid in April 2021. I had the same weird head thing for at least 2 years afterwards. I also had inside tremors in my upper torso and arms. I felt them at any time of the day. VERY strange feeling!! Glad you're doing much better! 😊
With me after it seemed to be over, I noticed my mental responses had slowed down considerably. And I slept a lot. Finally I healed and felt normal again.
Oh yes, the internal tremors! That began intensely the week before l became sick and tested covid positive. It eased in intensity and it's no longer consistent. I'm 6 weeks past the initial positive covid test. What a unsettling feeling are those internal vibrations/tremors. I will say that l wasn't afraid of having covid this time. And l did not have the internal vibration/tremors at all the first covid infection two years prior.
I was going through exactly the same thing almost at exact same time as you. Mine went into episodes of palpitations/cytokine storms? I was dx with POTS. I’m still hopeful. Glad you are getting better. Thank you for sharing!
First time catching it and the two weeks of July was nuts. The disequilibrium, fog, discombobulation was real, I even feared driving to work ... not that I missed commuting . Sense of tasted was almost lost for over a day.
You are not crazy. I really enjoyed this video and I related deeply to your covid experience experience. Thank you.(I think I will sleep better tonight.
You are describing exactly how I felt. I called it Waves of fatigue. Felt like weights were tied to my arms. I’m a nurse! Seen it, done it but never got it until a month ago. MyO2 dropped to 85. No fever, no cough. Just the panic feeling you are describing.
I imagine the panic feeling is when your kidneys detect the low O2, pumping out adrenaline to raise the heart rate to counter the hypoxia. Maybe some serious vasodilation and constriction at the same time.
Super similar experience! The disequilibrium was nuts at times yet has become better now that I’m 14-15 days out. Overall symptoms better than my last 3 colds… and I’m prone to orthostatic hypotension so at one point standing up during this, I couldn’t hardly put one foot in front of the other. Super bad. And I 1000 percent believe the physio-mind connection is there for C. It’s the unknown, the stories out there etc. that keep you on edge, even if subconsciously throughout the time you are symptomatic…
I have COVID now and day 2 today. Started Paxlovid last night because my fever was going up even with Tylenol. It got to be 102.3 F and I was miserable. It’s finally coming down a bit but I was having chest pains yesterday felt like a muscle spasm. It was scary! I hope I don’t end up sick for 2 weeks!!
Both times Ive had covid, i wasnt super duper ill. No fever or anything. But uniquely to covid IMO was the fact that I felt like I was developing alzheimers. My brain no longer worked and I was aware of it in the moment and it was very unsettling.
When I had it last year, that “disequilibrium” happened the day I lost my sense of smell. Anytime I would inhale through my nose or even try to smell something I would get nauseated and a feeling like I was hungover. It makes me wonder if the olfactory bulb is somehow to blame, at least in my case!
What a great story, total truth telling from the heart. I do think it's a good example of why doctors generally are advised against treating themselves or family members. Your wife was terrific, and probably would have been equally terrific about getting you to another doctor even if she weren't a physician herself. I love hearing your perspective on things, especially when I don't agree with you or don't initially agree with you. You are one of the few sources I have that can give me a different opinion that's based on actual reality and scientific information rather than misinformation
I especially love following you because I"m a retired RN..Love that you are sharing with your Medical background and bring in the psychological aspects!
You're calling your terror of death conditioning.. but. My dementia Chinese mom who never watches television. Had covid in 2021. And did have thoughts of death. Do she absolutely impossible to have been conditioned.. It was funny.. She'd walk up to my dad. Her 89 him 91.. And say..if I die you die..lol.. mom is that a threat lol.. but she kept thinking she was going to die.. Today she's still alive and 92 dad soon to be 94
I had Covid for the first time last week too. The health anxiety was real! I didn’t even feel that bad but I did not trust it. Glad you’re better Doctor ❤
Just a guess. Your oxygen saturation went down, because it’s peripheral. I have Raynaud‘s, if I put a pulse ox on my finger, my oxygen is 80. I feel totally fine. I’ve had all kinds of testing done, including arterial blood gases. I’m pretty sure it’s just some kind of peripheral thing where you’re not getting adequate blood flow to your fingers.
I have long Covid and POTs I still get it. Some days are worse than others. Covid 3 times 3 Jabs. High heart rate and low oxygen levels. Standing for long periods of time can make me feel really unwell and I often pass out when I stand up. I often get excessive yawning after I pass out or try to exercise then get light headed. It’s been hard to get help because it’s not every time. I had Covic last at Xmas. I hate it when people try and pass it off as just anxiety as trust me I am not in control of it. It can hit me at random times. I have good and bad days. So many things can trigger it hormones, food, stress.
I had to get my second booster for work 2 years ago. I really didn't want to do it because the first booster made my BP crash, down to 80/50. So I get the second booster a year after the first booster, I go home and just feel flu like symptoms. The next day in the afternoon I fell asleep and woke up at 8:00 p.m. (This was in early July). However, I thought it was 8:00 a.m. the next day, Thursday, and I couldn't think why it was 90° out. I was panicking because I needed to water the garden and I didn't want to be late for work, I'm a therapist and I had to open the office at 8:30. I looked at my phone, my phone said it was Wednesday 8:00, but I didn't believe my phone! I restarted the phone at least three times and still in a panic. The brain fog was very disturbing. It lasted over 45 minutes until I realized that my phone was right, it was Wednesday at 8:44 p.m. by that time. It was a truly awful experience. I'd hate to see what would happen to me if I ever do get COVID. Never getting another vaccine though although I still recommend it to other people. I just had a crazy immune response.
This is how I feel everyday. I have GAD and I have daily anxiety and panic attacks. All the horrible physical symptoms that go with it. It drains the life out of you. Medicine doesn’t help. I was on meds for 25 years. Imagine what you went through with this lasting forever.
Just letting you know you are not alone. I had to leave medical school due to terrible, unrelenting panic attacks. I wish we could talk more. I do understand.
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Thank you for sharing. Your experience as a patient through the eyes of a doctor is immeasurable. I can't tell you how scary it is when you are so sick but then not feel heard or taken seriously😢
Exactly!!!
Psychedelics are just an exceptional mental health breakthrough. It's quite fascinating how effective they are against depression and anxiety. Saved my life.
Can you help with the reliable source I would really appreciate it. Many people talk about mushrooms and psychedelics but nobody talks about where to get them. Very hard to get a reliable source here in Australia. Really need!
Yes, dr.porassss. I have the same experience with anxiety, depression, PTSD and addiction and Mushrooms definitely made a huge huge difference to why am clean today.
I wish they were readily available in my place.
Microdosing was my next plan of care for my husband. He is 59 & has so many mental health issues plus probable CTE & a TBI that left him in a coma 8 days. It's too late now I had to get a TPO as he's 6'6 300+ pound homicidal maniac.
He's constantly talking about killing someone.
He's violent. Anyone reading this
Familiar w/ BPD know if it is common for an obsession with violence.
Is he on instagram?
Yes he is dr.porassss.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I just had COVID and it was NASTY. I am still struggling to get over it, despite now finally testing negative for more than a week now.
You're describing the second week cytokine storm that occurs with covid, often mistakenly called "Paxlovid rebound" even though it also happens for people who don't take Paxlovid. This Week in Virology's weekly Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin discusses the different phases of the covid infection, and advises doctors on treatment recommendations for each phase.
Yay TWIV!
Can you share the specific videos please?
Thank God you are better now 🙏🌹
For me, I was feeling better by day 6, or so I thought I went to work per protocol at my place of work. Had to go back home at noon because I was exhausted, panicky, especially getting up from sitting. For the next week and a half, I could not concentrate or function properly at works. It took about three weeks to feel almost baseline.
Yes!
I think this is my favorite video of yours! I’ve been watching you since 2020 and felt so supported during that time. I’ve been a serious meditator for over 30 years and behavioral health provider for over 25 years.,Your experience reminds me of Ram Dass when he had his stroke. He didn’t have a single spiritual thought. It’s so humbling to have experiences where we truly can’t get present, feel our breath, etc. I always feel comforted when smart, spiritual folks share like you did today. Thanks for your honesty, ability to laugh and humility. I hope you continue to feel better
Two most important lessons I learned from covid years
1. No institution should do a gain of function research.
2. Vaccine companies are like any other companies, main business driver is getting more profits.
I can tell you it may be easier to recognize a heart attack in someone else. Glad that you got competent help.
Yes - it sounds a lot like my heart attack.
I felt mentally and bodily foggy. My automatic nervous system went haywire. I am an ER nurse and the shame/pride thing is real.
I am also an ER nurse and had the exact same experience! The brain fog was real and it really scared me. Of course I googled Covid brain fog and I read that it could stick around for eight months.😮 Luckily it has since gone away. Also agree with the equilibrium being off. I hit my head like four times in two days and I never do that. Lol it was such a strange 9 days of being sick, and I’m usually very healthy.
It can stick around a lot longer than 8 months- many people with long covid symptoms are suffering for years now.
I have a chronic disorder, dysautonomia / POTS and this sounds like my symptoms long before covid. It isn't psychological. These are real effects. It took 20 years to diagnose
and it should be, because you are all scams, western medicine! you lie to people every single day of your life
Don't forget - there is no Long Covid specifically - there is long viral or bacterial symptoms which are common to all. For example my wife has long viral symptoms since contracting Thyroiditis 2 years ago. She isn't getting better - but it comes in waves. Lethargy, muscle pain, brain fuzz/disorientation, headaches, sickness, chronic tiredness...there are many other possible symptoms.
I'm a retired psychologist, so I would never deny that your psyche could have played a role in your feelings of panic. But you mentioned tachycardia and wondering if you might have orthostatic hypotension. Here's my relevant experience: 20+ years ago, I had a tilt table test to rule out POTS in which I was strapped to the table so I couldn't move and put in an upright position. I don't believe they measured O2, and I can't recall if they measured BP. But they measured heart rate, and it was normal the 1st 30 min. and they were getting ready to end the test. But then it started to change, so they kept going. They said my heart rate should have been going up, but instead it went down until it reached the mid-low 40's. While I stood transfixed watching the monitor, I broke out in a full-out sweat and had a panic attack, which I never had before nor since. As POTS isn't life threatening and I was fairly young, I wasn't afraid of dying. My emotional reaction to this was to beg them to "Get me out of here!" (which they kept delaying), but at the same time, I clearly recall thinking to myself, "So this is what a panic attack feels like. This will increase my understanding and empathy of people with panic attacks." I say this to let you know I definitely wasn't worried about dying. So my takeaway is that the autonomic nervous system can have a powerful impact on emotion even in the absence of any pre-conceived concept of danger. For what it's worth, I developed intermittent vertigo around that time and have had it ever since, although not that often, but my worst episode with vomiting was a few weeks ago. I've never had Covid that I know of, and don't want to get it in case it would exacerbate my POTS. I've also recently developed intermittent tachycardia while standing or walking and hr can vary over 60 bpm within seconds based on multiple heart rate monitors. Hmmm....but still no panic attacks! :)
Wow, Same exact feeling. Thought I was dying. However, that was only when I had Covid the first time. The second time I was less symptomatic. The weird feeling was exactly that. "Weird". But I have read that this feeling is actually that lovely storm going on in your body. I do have panic attacks, and everything is always fight or flight, I take Celexa for that, however, during Covid times, it basically took a vacation and didn't work. After I felt better, I wanted to hug everyone I knew as I was grateful to have gotten through my first bout and lived to tell the story. So happy you kept us updated. I was waiting for this video, as I knew you would report back. Bottom line. Covid sucks... but hey we made it! Many blessings XO
I am now realizing that my daughter and myself are phenomenally bad ass women bc we had Covid (yes, full on pneumonia symptoms) in January of 2020. Before and vaxes or immunity. We had so many symptoms and lingering weirdness. It’s a (badass) miracle we kept our jobs, sanity and housing. Looking back I see now that we surged on through gaslighting, moving targets of medical advice, and confusion, through sheer determination and will to heal physically, mentally and emotionally.
You are not crazy Z. I’m glad you are healing. Been listening to you and Dr. V Prasad the whole time and you have really helped me to feel sane. Thanks for sharing. We stayed away from urgent care bc we knew we wouldn’t get the help that was needed, choosing instead to drink a lot of water, sleep as much as possible, and dig deep into tools for mental health. I’d say the POTS and long Covid symptoms lasted 2-3 years. 💕💪🏽
"Moving targets of medical advice"... are you not aware that medical science is like a weather forecast? IT takes times to assess the effectiveness of things when you are dealing with a virus that is NEW. When the AIDS crisis first came about, many of the people who TODAY think Covid is fake or no big deal wouldn't even be in the same room with an AIDS patient. Are the medical experts supposed to qualify EVERY sentence they utter? "Now... we're not sure of this... but..."
"When existential terror hits." ... Been there when I had Covid very late in the game like you. Thanks for sharing this! Your feelings AND the explanation of the bio/psych/social aspects. Makes a lot of sense. I guess we are all human! Thanks for sharing your experience so honestly...
Do you use tobacco products? Nicotine?
my mother never wanted to get vaxxed during the pandemic, and never got sick. But in february of this year, i was convinced she had gotten covid. she kept complaining about feeling "very tired" and "weak" and I just straight up told her "well, maybe you just have covid".
I assumed she had gotten it during the pandemic and just shrugged it off asymptomatically, and I think that was my biggest mistake. By the time she wanted to finally go to the hospital, because my ex (who is a doctor) checked on her and told her she had pneumonia, and that we should go there immediately it was already too late.
She got nervous and i'm pretty sure that played a part in it, and before we headed off there, she decided to go to the bathroom and got a heart attack right then and there. Her last words were "I feel very bad" (that's the literal translation from spanish) she collapsed, i picked her up but she never regained consciousness again.
I never actually found out if she had covid or not, and I don't care to find out since she passed away, and nothing will change that. But i'm almost sure that's what happened, is that actually, she hadn't gotten covid at all during the pandemic, and it was only earlier this year that she finally got it.
I do feel regret that I didn't act sooner (it had been days with her complaining about feeling weak) but then when I asked her if she had trouble breathing, she never said she did.
In hindsight, the signs were obvious - she was walking very slowly, and wouldn't even put her seatbelt on after getting in the car (it would take her a while). it was only on the last 5-10 minutes of her life that I actually got very scared, because it became obvious to me that she was having trouble breathing. (at that point you could clearly notice it)
She had just turned 70 about about a week and a half before she passed. Anyway, long story short:
This shit is as dangerous as ever, and don't assume "you're fine" and actually check your oxygen levels.
I'm so sorry for your loss.
My sincere condolences. My mom passed in 2021 so I sympathize with you. 🫶
I’m so sorry for your loss. May God bless you and give you peace.
Sounds like heart failure were the covid symptoms. Believe what you will
I’m so very sorry! It can be very serious, yes.
Omg. Your pure human reaction is so reassuring to me. You are SO BEAUTIFULLY honest about your reaction. You have NO idea how comforting this is to me and probs many others. You are one n a million. 🙏💙
This comment nails it. 🙏👍
hahaha you wanna pay for such a healthcare practitioner who will tell you it is all in your head, who can not even believe his own eyes and a device! boy you deserve to be ripped off all over again and again
Why is my comment being deleted??? haha he just displayed the full spectrum of ignorance he is living in
He laughed at a dad who was trying to inform public about his child he lost to vax. Scott and Paul offitt. Disgusting. So should we Mock his experience? why not.
Zdogg
You had a short window into what it’s like to have Long Covid. The real fear is not death, but rather the feeling of dying never ending. 4+ years for me. You gradually got better and I did not. It can cause serotonin crashes which cause anxiety and worse moving into uncontrolled suicidal ideation. Not fun, not psycho social, uncontrollable.
Have you read about microdosing? I hope you have an excellent recovery, best regards from belgium
@@orgonewarrior1604Microdosing ketamine or mushrooms?
yep! This is the reality and these kinds of docs...would never be able to help you, there is help! you have to kill the virus
Don't forget - there is no Long Covid specifically - there is long viral or bacterial symptoms which are common to all. For example my wife has long viral symptoms since contracting Thyroiditis 2 years ago. She isn't getting better - but it comes in waves. Lethargy, muscle pain, brain fuzz/disorientation, headaches, sickness, chronic tiredness...there are many other possible symptoms.
@@pauladime6307 mushrooms
I had Delta Covid. It was a nightmare. Ended up in the ICU. I was confused most of the time but I remember the Dr saying that I needed to fight. I swear I heard Covid itself, no I’m not crazy 😂, telling me to give up, it had won, to accept I was dying. I never knew how much work every single breath could be. But I made it, I have a chunk of memory just gone. I have long covid but I feel stronger each day. I think it seriously messes with people neurologically and for some it’s mild, and others it’s really bad. Being socially conditioned to fear it…idk how much that factored in.🤷🏻♀️ I had it last winter again and it was nothing like it, just a cold.
I had the delta, too! I also, heard covids voice. It said, no matter how you fight one symptom, they'll be another one and I'll get you. I have been convinced ever since, there is something about this virus that's demonic.
hope you have continued healing.
@@MargaretCutt-um8iq TY🙏🏻❤️
I went to the ER because I was reading my Pulse Ox backwards. When I called the nurse and told her my oxygen level was at 70, she said I needed to call 911. 70 was my heart rate, my oxygen level was 97.
😆
I did that, too. My daughter was feeling poorly, and when I checked her O2, I read it as 65, and went into full panic mode. I called my husband, who is in the medical field, and found out quickly I was reading it backwards. Some of the Pulse Ox’s are confusing, if you don’t use them all the time.
@@Gukworks 😜
Learn how to read your pulse oximeter!
😂 I’m sure it was scary! But kinda funny either way hindsight, eh?
Dr Z, you’re describing my week this week to a T. I felt a few times I was going to faint while standing a few times; impending doom; heightened anxiety and extreme fatigue, then felt better, then back again.
Equilibrium- legs and or body felt disconnected from my head at times..!? Strange.
Glad to see you’re doing better and just pushing through the work week.
I had it only once before and it wasn’t quite like this. This time has been humbling.
I was this way from dec 2023. It’s lingered on and off. Doctor says it’s impacting me neurologically now since I’ve had it many times.
Years ago in my early thirties I had Parvovirus. I was in and out of the ER because of terrible panic symptoms with myalgia pain. My family doctor ran a titer that revealed the virus. I completely understand that strange panicking feeling with the brain fog and vertigo those were exactly my symptoms. It took a full year for the myalgia pain especially in my neck to fully leave my body. I’m glad you are feeling better. Thank you for always sharing with intelligence and integrity.
I got ME/CFS from parvovirus in 2000. The vertigo that isn’t vertigo, the brain fog that feels like your head is stuffed with cotton, and the panic when the room tilts like a funhouse. And thinking I had MS or ALS from the muscle twitching and spasming.
All I got from doctors was antidepressants for anxiety. Thank god for the internet.
You’re in good company
I saw a documentary about Ram Dass. He told the story of his stroke.
He said that when he was being pushed through the hallways at the hospital, he felt all his training, all his enlightenment, all his psychological and spiritual strength desert him. He was just a suffering, terrified man
❤️❤️❤️
why??? casue he never cared to understand his patients and learn! you can not be that ignorant 4 years into COVID, this guy never read a thing, never updated his old/fake knowledge to reality
“Day 8” is a critical day when people would take a turn for the worse.
Every day matters. This isn’t 2020 though. Hospitals are no longer overflowing.
@@johnnelson3665 Hospitals will be overwhelmed soon.
@@johnnelson3665 Correct, but long-term complications are on the rise. It's not all acute threat any more.
Exactly what Dr Chetty in South Africa says
That's not the same for everyone. Everybody's different
I am so glad to hear you are like the rest of us!!!
I have been through it. I was vaccinated. I didn't think I would get it. The third time I was tested positive was the worst. At first it was classic covid. Cold symptoms. Then it was GI symtoms. Three days of n&v. I did not have a panic attack. I was so dehydrated I couldn't hear, i felt underwater. I also started hallucinating. That's when I wnt to the hospital. My cmp was all off. My k+ went down to 2.7. I was admitted because the doctor saw me walk and said I was a little wonky. They saved my life. I never thought of covid being anything but respiratory.
Shout out to doctors who look at the big picture❤
And you probably think it would have been worse if you did take the clot shots??😂😂
that jab really works, just not what you expected. I never got covid, never got the jab, that's how it works
If you are worried abput gastric symptoms DO NOT EAT RESTAURANT FOOD. COOK FOR YOURSELVES LISTERIA ( FROM A RESTAURANT) WAS WORSE THAN COVID!
I’m so glad you had this conversation! That’s basically how I felt with Covid. I felt foolish for worrying but didn’t want to be foolish and die over it lol. This shows with all your training and knowledge of many things- you’re still a human 🙂 so glad you’re better. You kept me sane during Covid. Thanks
I love that you shared this story. I wish people understood the power of the brain more thoroughly. I was sidelined for YEARS, fully bedbound with CFS/ME and I had more symptoms than I can ever name. My experience was also, psycho-bio-social with elements of stress, trauma, a low grade physiological infection in my jaw, upper cervical neck misalignment, etc.... and the key component in all of this was my BRAIN.
You have no idea how many symptoms the brain can turn on due to perceived danger. I thought for years that my illness was ONLY physical but nothing ever really showed up on testing. Yes, I had inflammation and all the other markers of a body under stress, but I also had symptoms that could turn on and off in response to all kinds of "triggers". You feel a sensation, your brain tries to figure out what it is and the fear that has been taken in by the brain (unconsciously and consciously) starts to emerge as symptoms. It's WILD. I used to live by my oximeter and would watch my O2 stats dive and then I'd get totally freaked out. YES, the brain can do that!
I've had Covid twice and fortunately, I was reading stuff that gave me more ease around it. I decided that my body was strong enough to cope and it did. It was a gnarly illness and it's the sickest I've been since I was a kid and it took me 6 weeks to fully kick it, but I swear to god I came out of Covid stronger than before. Each time I had it, I sort of gained confidence in my body to handle really hard stuff.
Long Covid could have been predicted .... the amount of fear that was spread everywhere really set people up to experience strange and lingering symptoms. Talking about Long Covid as much as they have has also perpetuated it. It's REAL, people's symptoms are legitimately physical, but what people don't truly understand is that the brain can turn on REAL physiological responses in the body.
After healing from CFS/ME, I became a coach and I now support people with chronic pain and illness including Long Covid, CFS/ME, Chronic Lyme and all kinds of other Mindbody driven illnesses. It's NOT all in the head, it's just part of being human. We have wiring that predisposes us to these kinds of things and they can be true hell on earth. Nothing is worse than feeling real symptoms and being written off as crazy. It's real and there are ways to support the body and brain to better communicate and reverse these symptoms.
Thanks for sharing your experience and being open and brave enough to do so. I'm glad you are on the other side of Covid. It's a doozy for sure.
My first experience with absolute panic disorder was shortly after my gall bladder was removed. Flat out, I’m dying. Call 911. Then about 10 minutes went by and I slowly recovered. It lasted about a year until a doctor, on a whim, prescribed Inderal, off label. The next attack was about a week later. It stopped as fast as it began. I was so shocked I laughed, but then cried, realizing it was real, but brought on by my illness. My blood pressure was lowered too much so I had to stop the meds. Luckily, like you, I had meditation to fall back on and could forever after, be more able to control the initiating/cause.
I just wanted to say I understand and empathize with all you explained. I think I had Covid in late 2019 with a 3 day 103 fever and flu like symptoms. No tests were yet available. I’ve had 5 vaccines and no further symptoms. My daughter on the other hand is 50ish, a lab scientist and has now had Cv19 seven times. We believe she has Long Covid as well. Her lab mates often go in sick and work sans masks.
If there is a way to study the after effects and share information to help others we’re all about it. It’s horrrid to not be believed or to have your symptoms downplayed when you continue to feel like you’re just not well enough to keep working. The other issue is government health care systems that are in denial and no longer gathering statistics or bothering to check which variant people have as the ERs fill up again. Just an FYI, DD’s last three infections tested negative at least 3 times.
Can anything be done for these folks?
I had Covid last summer after avoiding it for a couple of years. Felt invincible. I remember not being able to sleep, and having waking nightmares. I knew I was awake and that the dream was just a dream, but was panicking about getting back to sleep to sorth things out. I was dreaming that I was stacking chairs while balacing on them and they kept falling. When I would I wake I knew I was back in reality, but somehow my brain was still trying to resolve the problems from the dream. I had this a few nights in a row, and TONS of anxiety. I am convinced the COVID causes the anxiety. Everyone I know that had COVID had that too.
Always interesting to hear a physician talk about having tests that they routinely order for their patients. I've always thought that docs should have to undergo a wide variety of tests that they order for their patients. Never underestimate how this affects the way you discuss these things with your patients.
I don't remember the name of the movie but I believe it had William Hurt as a Doctor who got, I think throat cancer and at the end of the movie he orders all his residents to undergo a bunch of different tests so they can understand better what it's like to be a patient as he finally had that realization.
@@pat2562 Exactly what made me bring this up :)
@@TRUTHisTRUTH70 Yet you won't tell me the name????. Lol
I mean, I guess I can look it up. In fact, now I want to see if it's on any streamer.
I recall liking it.
@@TRUTHisTRUTH70 The Doctor, 1991
@@pat2562 Yes!! Love that movie!
from a Redditor: "Just over a week into this--my second time with Covid (that I know of)--and oh my goodness... The mental and emotional side effects are really getting to me. I have random, sometimes completely unprovoked bouts of weepiness/sadness/dread/panic. I'll just randomly burst into tears and feel dizzy and out of place. It's awful! "
Yep. Damages the brain and fuses neurons.
Dr. Damania thank you, again, for expressing your vulnerable, common, self. Your 2 recent covid videos are invaluable. Wishing you good fortune & I'm eager to here you speak with Dr. Prasad, if that's appealing to you, regarding your most heartfelt experience. May you continue to share with us for a long, long time.
My family (husband, son, myself) had Covid in March 2020 - my husband was on a vent for 24 days and in the hospital for over three months. We are all healthy and in good shape - needless to say I now have Covid PTSD.
Thank God you’re feeling better Dr Z!!!
Thank God he survived!!😮🙏🏻
Glad he survived. Where (what region) we you all?
I had it in March 2020after teaching many college students from Italy. Missed 5 days of work. The only illness I've had in 40-50 years. Got it again summer 2022.. two days coughing then it disappeared. Im a former covid vaccine trial member. The vaccine saved my life!
My hubby was in the hospital with it too. Scariest time ever! I woke up each day wondering if it would be our last. I truly believe Covid ruined what little sanity I had left. I can totally relate to this. 😢
Are you sure you were not the placebo?
Use nicotine?
Yep, just shared this with my 75 year old (Covid denier) husband who came down with a tough case of covid after flying to Alaska. I had it first, for about 4 days, was vaxed, and had it before 2 years ago. He feels better knowing being feeling crudy after 10 days is normal! And I will keep babying him! Get Well Soon ZDogg!
My 51 year old brother took the jabs and ended up in ER after catching covid. I never took the jabs and had a mild case.
@SafeEffective-ls2pl the poor husband being called a covid denier. . . God love him. Sounds like he has seen through all the BS and avoided the clotshots
@@SafeEffective-ls2pl Doesn't mean anything
I'm also a covid denier
I'm also a covid denier
My wife was taking her temp every five minutes when she had Covid. Her fear and anxiety went into overdrive. It was a very eye-opening experience.
Funny. I have one mercury termometer in my house, and I have not used it in the last 15 years.
Did you take the jab. 😢😢
I got covid for the first time in mid-April, 2024. It was a mild case. However, it put me into kidney failure and I ended up in the hospital for three days during the the third week in May. I hadn’t even had a cold in almost 10 years prior to that. My kidneys are still in Stage 3 kidney disease. My nephrologist from Temple Hospital told me that in the early days of covid, this was not uncommon.
Serious Q...how many shots did you get before you got covid?
What a timely video for me. The day I watched your first video was day 2 for me and my symptoms were EXACTLY as you described. It was certainly helpful. At day 7 (today). I woke up with what I thought might be vertigo and a clear sense of doom and panic. I have felt that I would die. You described the whole body weirdness perfectly. I made it to 3 days on Paxovid then quit because I was worse and had a bitter ugly taste in my mouth. Having a rare blood cancer has been bad but this brought me to a new level of weakness and fatigue. This video. gave me hope and a sense of normality- I'm not going crazy! What a strange disease. Odd thing is, my husband hasn't contracted it- he must have a natural immunity. The most bothersome thing is a feeling of "disconnectedness" from reality.. Like I'm walking in a bubble and ca't get out. This is so nuts!
Does your husband use nicotine?
@@astromob1 No
I had SEVERE anxiety and panic attacks shortly after infection. The attacks did dissipate as the MONTHS went on. In the begging of the attacks, my heart rate would make nearly 150 and blood pressure close to 180/120. It was extremely terrifying. I also lost taste and smell, fever mild for 4 days. I change diet 2 months after and started to golf on a vigorous and regular schedule. Almost a year later and I'm back to normal, lost weight , and do not deal with the panic any longer. It was the worst feeling I'd ever felt, and i hope I never deal with the panic crap again. Sheesh... I feel you brother.
On day 7 of original COVID in 2020, I had a panic attack. I feel like I developed PTSD after that. Recently, I recovered from my third infection. I am still here.
Yes me also
I would say I would close. Everyone told me that COVID "made breathing difficult" but I didn't feel like that, I felt like I was breathing fine but I had altitude sickness and dizziness like it didn't matter how much I was inhaling it didn't matter. That was disturbing.
Thanks for being so genuine about this.
I caught COVID in the first round in Aug 2020, had bad flu symptoms but no worse than other flu.. I knew it was COVID when I completely lost my sense of smell, that was crazy.
My wife, on the other hand, was in hospital twice (in her thirties) and waited two years to tell me that she collapsed trying to get to the bathroom and her O2 went down to 66%!! She was in isolation in hospital and certain she was not coming out or going to see me or our (then) 3-year-old again. Harrowing doesn't do it justice.
We still have an oxygen bottle at home bought in response to that.
Covid is a strange one. You start to feel better and you think you’re about to recover and then all of a sudden you feel like crap. It’s this weird rebound. Covid’s last stand before you finally heal.
Agree. Many also jump back into routine/exercise as they feel better after like 4-5 days, which is the worse time to do that because it can increase likelihood of long covid. Even the good doctor here talked about lifting weights while he was still positive, which is a mistake.
Yep it happened to me. Ran 2 miles when i thought i was better. The next day i couldnt get out of bed. And was sick for 18 months.@blinddog1212
I never experienced any of that. I also took vitamin D, B12, mushrooms, immune support, zinc, olive leaf extract, and some other natural stuff. I did get sick, but my body never reacted like that at all. Covid is definitely a strange virus.
@@dawnowens2345 Same here. In my case it was nearly asymptomatic so I didn't even know I had covid, then BAM! The day after a workout I felt like a bomb went off.
❤ Yes, I'm on day 7..I thought I was on the road to recovery then today bam..I feel as if I have a cold now..Really bad running nose and a little sore throat again..
Love this commentary- we need more medical professionals like you! Thank you for your honest portrayal of your experience.
Thank you for sharing your story and insights, Dr. Z!
Thank you for your courage in sharing your experience which makes it safer for others to be more open with sharing their fears and experience. ❤️
Doc! I guarantee I can explain what happened to you better than that doctor. I’ve been through this for 4 years. Pots caused by dysautonomia causes poor vasodilation so blood pools in lower extremities causing low o2 and it also increases your HR to compensate. Now you’re only in the cytokine storm phase so you only had a touch of what is LONG COVID.
It is NOT psycho social.
You are only looking at your own perspective.
Talk to people who actually suffered long Covid.
Wrong. Long covid only exist for vaxers.... unvaxed dont get any symptoms when infected now.
Ditto
Let me add a piece to your puzzle. Long-C is reactivated EVB, is not caused by the coronavirus itself, it is triggered by it.
@@isissophieandandreea interesting supposition. Do you have a peer reviewed reference for that? Not joking. Asking.
@@DrTomMD There are peer reviewed papers showing reactivated EBV but I don’t think that’s everyone. There are also peer reviewed papers showing viral persistence, micro clotting, endothelial damage and nervous system damage.
Thanks for sharing your experience,I have had Covid 4 times,felt vertigo like symptoms and shortness of breath every time during the sickness and some time after no longer testing positive
It wasn't in your head, I had a first time COVID infection in mid-June and had almost the exact same experience as you did. I also had the weird dizziness experience you describe and wondered what it was but I didn't get nearly as concerned about it out of ignorance that it could have been some kind of clot. I also had the tiredness experience where I had to go lie down which is also something I never do. The only difference of my experience is during my 3-4 days of feeling horrible is that I got the worst headache of my life and I never get headaches.
Thank you for aaying all of these things that we all feel!! Glad to have you up to par 🎉❤
I came down with Covid (first time also) just as you dropped your first video. I'm also a meditator and your discussion about sitting with it was very helpful. Ditto on body equilibrium issues; I chalked mine up to recurring inner ear stuff like BPPV. I stopped testing after the first "I'm still positive" result because I had enough people in my life advising to just relax and let the body do its thing. The fatigue was ridiculous and three weeks later I'm still not entirely 100%. I didn't get to a panic state because I was able to body scan my way into a more balanced emotional place and just watch what was going on. Which means I might have just watched myself expire...who knows? :)
My panic came early, I couldn’t feel my throat, but I could feel myself swallow, odd, so I hung on to that sensation and my panic subsided.
I was admitted to the ICU with Covid in 2021 and my oxygen level was 68. I ended up with sepsis, covid, double pneumonia and ARDS. I have Long Covid now and have tons of scarring in my lungs.
yea covid is no joke and most of my family has long covid from repeat infections
Stop getting vaccinated
@@OtakuGunsoNY I do too. Not vaccinated but have Long Covid.
@@jenniferw1595 none of my family vaccinated either and all have long covid
PT here, worked in ICU through the panda. So many patients had desaturations when getting up which was reasonable with their pneumonias. Some folks had some horrible anxiety whenever their sats plunged. Crippling anxiety. Made it very hard to get much done as you could not get them past it to work on conditioning... sitting in the chair. Crazy.
I’m a nurse who worked in the hospital during the pandemic. Never got Covid. I’m retired and had a mild case last November, except for the cough that lasted 6 weeks! Went on an Alaskan cruise at the end of June. Next to last day I had that feeling you tried to describe, a body fog. I felt so weird and suddenly exhausted. Went to dinner and no appetite. Went back to the room and slept. I had a fever the first night. Just slept the next day. Had to get up to pack to depart early the next day. Felt a little better. Then N/V that night. Left the ship feeling ok, but on the 5 hr flight home I wanted to sleep but couldn’t! I knew it must be Covid. Tested positive when I got home, day 2 of symptoms. Tested 2 more times the following week and still positive. I felt better and in 10 days started my normal activities. I know what you mean by that weird feeling!
This video came in the perfect time. I have covid and a 10 dollar cheap oxygen meter I legit thought I was going to die.
I had Covid exactly once, traveling home from family Thanksgiving 2023. Mild, felt like allergies, except taste went wonky. Coffee tasting soapy was the main thing. No weird stuff.
Zubin, obviously your problem is the $10 pulse oximeter. You have to spend AT LEAST $18.95 to get a good one 😂😂😂
Several years back I bought a home blood pressure testing kit on special at Aldi for the equivalent of US$25.
It gave me blood pressure readings that were all over the place, and I assumed it was a piece of junk. When I developed a mild heart condition I bought a much more expensive Omron one, and no, it gave pretty much the same readings. But the Aldi one was a much better consumer product! It actually told you what to do in a clear American accent, and gave a spoken diagnosis based on WHO guidelines, plus an LED "Severity scale" from green through orange to red "("SEVERE" hypertension it dolefully announced).
Plus it keeps a record of your last 100 readings.
lol
Mine cost 29.00
If I listed all of the ways that my anxiety in 2016 manifested into physical symptoms you'd scratch your head and say that there's no way anxiety could do half of those things. Yet one visit to a psychologist and they all went away. You definitely put yourself into an altered state.
Definitely a legitimate feeling. When I had Covid my oxygen sat went to 89% and I felt that same panic! I couldn’t breathe well. I had a good pulse ox by the way. I thought I was gonna die too. When I first got Covid I thought I’m a young healthy woman and I’m good I’m in health care I’ll live. And NO it just suuuuucked. I LIVED BUT THE SYMPTOMS ARE REAL AWEFUL. Oh man I’m glad you’re feeling better tho.
I had the Covid rebound both times I had Covid. The first time it started around day 6 and lasted a week of feeling awful near the point of going to the hospital. The second tome the rebound came in around day 3, and I took (gasp) ivermectin on recommendation of a friend, and the next morning I was nearly fully recovered.
Well the ivermectin had zero percent to do with your recovery, but I guess if you had wormy parasites, then you’re cured of those, too.
Thanks for sharing your story, as a doctor. I personally wear a mask in stores, when I see the amount of covid virus in my area has risen in the waste water and when I go into a medical facility. I check that water waste report when I hear of multiple people I know of, have covid. I have no issues with wearing a mask and am comfortable wearing one and wherever I go, no one says anything to me about it. Also, I still wear a mask when around the elderly, when visiting my Mom in her memory care facility. You never know if people around you are going to have an operation soon, or are more compromised. Just my own thought process.
My mother-in-law has what is called white coat syndrome. She cannot have her blood pressure taken at the doctor's office because it always spikes. Your mind can do crazy things.
I feel so validated. I went through this same exact thing and nobody knew what the hell I was talking about. Incredible share, thank you DR. Z!
Just curious, were you vaccinated too, like Z was? How many times?
I am so glad you are talking about this experience, especially since you are a healthcare provider. I had a similar sensation when I took a medication too close to bedtime without enough liquid and probably burned my esophagus. Woke up in the middle of the night with intense pain and dread. All the cardiac worries in the brain. Had to call 911. A lido cocktail made a big difference.
Thank you so much for sharing this experience! I feel reassured. I had something similar happen and it’s very difficult to explain to people and to my doctor. My second case of covid happened 9 months after my first case. The second one was milder. I felt like I was recovering much faster. I had zero respiratory issues. But, I had that very strange sensation like the one you are talking about. My second day of covid, I was able to do yoga, like normal. But on the third day, I couldn’t at all. One minute in, I felt a tightness in my neck and my head. Then my heart started to race. This happened every time I tried to exercise. After 2 weeks of this, I saw a physical therapist who couldn’t figure it out. It would happen one minute into riding an exercise bike. But my heart rate would drop on the treadmill.
It always started with the feeling of tightness in my neck and then, a fullness in my head. Then, after that, my extremities felt weak like I had been lifting heavy objects. This went on for 3 months. I had to slowly increase my time on the exercise bike one minute every couple of days. And no one could explain to me what was going on. I heard some theories. Microclots was a theory. And hormones was another. Vagus nerve malfunctioning.
It’s now been about 9 months since the last time I had covid and I still get that strange sensation on occasion. Usually, if I try to exercise after eating or if I go for a walk when it’s hot outside, it will happen. I’ll feel the tightness in my neck and I know it’s about to start. Sometimes, my heartrate will spike to about 156 for a minute, then fall. Sometimes, I can stop it by resting and taking breaths I learned from meditating. I feel like there might be a neurological component to it. But I also think there is a physiological too. Just don’t know what yet.
I had the EXACT same symptoms in November of 2019. A director at my company had been to China in October, and had visited our site right after.
It started feeling a bit sick for a week, then massive dizzy spells, out of breath, and feeling disconnected. I went to the doctor, and they said it was probably vertigo. Went to the eye doc... nope, not eye related. Then one morning went into the doctor again, and when they said it was nothing I went to work. A coworker started talking to me, and 15 minutes into the conversation I knew he was talking, but none of it was clicking at all. It was a... disconnected feeling.
Decided it would be best to go back home. About 5 minutes away from my house I had to pull over- I was not in a condition to drive at all. When it passed, I went into the ER. ER doc was on a 36 hour bender (small town), and said I had a TIA and to see my doctor for a follow up. I remember passing out on my couch, and thinking that I was going to die.
I wore a holter monitor for a month (they thought it was my heart). Then the week of Christmas I got extremely sick- I didn't eat anything, slept on the couch all day. I don't remember any of it. I woke up three days after Christmas, and I started feeling better. Dizziness gone, disconnected feeling gone. Still a little short of breath, but not as bad.
Three months later, COVID was officially recognized, and to this day I am 100% convinced I had COVID in November 2019.
I had a similar thing happen at the end of 2019. All of the people I work with in the ER had respiratory symptoms. My body decided to freak out while I was in a patient’s room. Started getting SOB & my heart rate jumped up to 150s. I sat down at the nurse’s station to chart & my coworker looked at me & immediately knew something was wrong. I must’ve looked awful. I showed him my Apple Watch clocking my HR in the 150s & he made me get an EKG & check in to be evaluated. I got some fluids,, symptoms resolved. Nothing came of it. Went to cardiology & Holter was ordered. That showed nothing except sinus tachycardia. I’m convinced it was Covid & we weren’t testing for it then. I think we all had it & passed it around to everyone working in the ER.
I'm convinced I had it when I started losing my voice on Christmas Dat in 2019. Never been so sick in my life. High fever, lung congestion, the worst headache, no sense of smell or taste. Had lung x-rays, Dr gave me antibiotics, and an inhaler. Lasted about 10 days. The cough lasted 2 months. I live in the mountains not far from where the first death was in California. We get a lot of tourists going through here from China on their way to lake Tahoe or Reno. The buses stop for food along highway 80 in my town. Whether that was COVD or not, I don't know. But I do know I've never caught it officially.
Had a similar experience.Housekeeper and my client’s entire family flew out to NYC for a week. The entire family came down with respiratory issues. Caught whatever they had, and nearly became hospitalized with pneumonia. Also had massive dizziness and headaches. Luckily was able to get to an urgent care where I was put on a Nebulizer, Zpac, and antibiotics. Went home with Nebulizer and the Urgent Care doctor called me at home for a follow up. After about 2 weeks, fully recovered. This was November 2019. Somewhat convinced it was Covid!!!
I'm one of the lucky ones. I felt a little off for a day or two, and that was that. I've had colds that were much, much worse.
Influenza A was much worse for us.
I had CV the first time in Oct 2023. I had vertigo, muscle aches cough and exhaustion. But I didn't think I would die. Perhaps it's because I was in WA when known patient zero walked in and I was dressed in hazmat gear. And the next two years were probably the worst years of my 40 year career as a nurse; long hours, bruised face, morgue trucks and more deaths than I've ever experienced. While I do think I have some PTSD from those days my fear subsided after the vaccine. And working with current COVID patients...I am not afraid. I'm not seeing the deaths. BUT with that said I'm always waiting for 'the rest of the story' related to COVID such as long term affects yet to be known.... May the force be with you.
The insomnia accompanied by extreme restlessness & anxiety during the worse days of my symptoms where I could literally feel the virus replication going on inside my corporeal being……. Weird and not okay! Love you, Z. 🧡
THANK YOU!! So glad you posted this. Glad it's not just me. Im a hypochondriac and EMT/FF . Bad combo. I caught covid after it was around for 2 yrs.
It really only lasted 3 days. On day 4 I stood up and saw I went tachy.
I was wearing a pulse ox the entire 3 days just from seeing what the virus had done to others. As soon as I stood up and saw that immediately I was like. OMG I HAVE POTS!!
My life is over. I'll never be able to work again. Video chatted with my cardiologist and he knows me pretty well. He got a kick out of it. He's like you do not have POTs. You're sick! Lay back down. Turns out he was right. Even though I felt much better. The virus was still wearing me out.
And doc. No need to worry about CTs. I can't even count how many CTs and MRIs I've had. Sure MRIs aren't a concern. But the contrast. .
I've been getting them constantly since I was 19. I'm now in my 40s.
Its all related to my hypochondria. In fact I just had a chest CT a few months ago and a MRI in the same day back to back. The chest CT was for chest pn which turned out to be heart burn.
MRI of knee which keeps getting agitated when I snowboard or mountain bike.
And in a couple months I'll probably have another chest CT for a calcium score. Which was 0 five years ago.
So I wouldn't worry to much about them.
Thanks Z-Dog. You’ve been great during all of this and I’ve been tuning into you regularly . I have a daughter with CF and the pandemic and Covid has been very worrying. She’s now on the precision medicine for CF and has had covid twice and it hasn’t morphed into the usual CF complications. Me on the other hand - still novid and am hoping I won’t get a dose like you have had.
I have POTS and I'm currently still sick with COVID for the first time in this pandemic and that "odd" bodily sensation is very similar to how I feel most of the time anyways, just more severe than usual. I wonder if a bunch of people are suddenly getting The POTS Experience for the first time haha (horrible, but interesting nonetheless). What's funny is I don't have particularly bad anxiety, I'm just used to feeling like my nervous system is being weird. The knowledge that POTS is generally benign probably helps. I find the dysautonomia annoying and frustrating more than anything else, not necessarily panic-inducing.
My 39yo F friend had 100% occlusion to LAD from clot right after COVID. Woke her up in the middle of the night. Thankfully she was a previous heart nurse and now supervisor in OR. Told her husband call 911 and all the right people. She was one of the lucky ones.
Disequilibrium, mild vertigo, fatigue, and feeling “off” has afflicted me quite a bit in the past six months. The doctors have not suggested COVID as a reason, but it’s been a couple years since I was tested and I don’t know if I’ve gotten it since then. I’ve had vestibular therapy and things have improved but I’m still not myself. I get fatigued more easily and I’m still having mild vertigo, but also way more frequent headaches than I’ve ever had in my life. Oxygen, blood pressure, and heart rate all steady and normal when they tested me and during dizziness. At this point I’m not sure if more therapy would help or if there is something else going on. I’m glad you are feeling better.
11:17 To hear you even mention POTS brought tears to my eyes. My symptoms began in 2016. I was a mom of two pre-schoolers and I thought I was dying. I would have these crazy episodes of tachycardia, pre-syncope, nausea, tunnel vision, chest pressure, etc. (Total endocrine response, sympathetic adrenaline rush.) No one could help me. I was so weak. I was bed-bound and had to be moved by a wheelchair. I could not breathe without oxygen, I couldn’t lift my arms to put on a shirt without my heart going crazy. I saw a primary doctor, consulted a OBGYN, saw multiple cardiologists, a pulmonologist, a gastroenterologist, a neurologist, and multiple ER doctors. No one could give me an answer for why I had these episodes and also had daily symptoms of MS. Their best guess was that I was “stressed” and had “anxiety.” (Sexism in medicine is real. I worked as an OT. I knew my symptoms were real).
The cardiologist finally decided to do a heart cath to look for a hidden blood clot. They didn’t find one, but they found a PFO, which 25% of the population has. The cardiologist told my family, “we closed that, but I don’t think it will solve her problem.”
I refused to give up and the only thing I could do was revert back to my training as an OT. I knew I had to move!!!! I set goals: 5 steps, 10 step, 30 feet, etc. I would still occasionally have episodes, but I learned how to better control the adrenaline response, learned how to control that impending sense of doom my body would want to jump into when I went into tachycardia. Finally, we moved to a small city in East TN. I had another large episode about a month and half after we moved. I saw a family practice doctor there who listened to my entire story, looked at all my paperwork, and said, “I think you have something called POTS. We mainly see it in teenagers, but it is not unheard of in women.” I cried. Finally. An answer. It didn’t come from a specialist, who brushed me off as “stressed.” It came from a doctor who listened to me. A doctor who asked me about illnesses before my symptoms started. With young kids, that year we had had strep multiple times, flu, mono in the house, never ending colds, and a horrendous stomach bug about a month before the symptoms started. He said, my body’s nervous system was “out-of-whack” from all the viruses I had in 2015 and the beginning of 2016. He ordered a tilt table test and it confirmed is diagnosis.
No doctor in 2016 had heard of POTS or Dysautonomia. There are many of us out there who have struggled to get our symptoms recognized and not brushed off. I have friends of friends with similar symptoms referred to me regularly for encouragement and direction. I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to hear you even mention POTS and Dysautonomia in such a declarative way. Thank you, Dr. Z!!!! I don’t wish COVID or POTS on anyone, but one thing COVID has done is sounded an alarm in the medical field that POTS is real. I can’t mention it to a medical person now who hasn’t heard of it. Most say they learned about it after COVID.
This is my story exactly!! It took 20 years for me to be diagnosed! All tests show normal because its nervous system dysfunction. Doctors wanted to give me anti depressants. Didnt work. It is not mental! Its a real thing and only now doctors are learning about this illness because of long covid. I was just so happy to hear an explanation.
I could totally see that happening. I think if I got Covid back when it was really crazy I would have panicked.
Got covid back in December 2021 and I'm STILL dealing with exhaustion. Hopefully it'll go away eventually. Hope you're feeling better.
That just happened to my best friend ever (since we were 4) last week, with the impending doom! It wasn't covid, though. She had 2 massive blood clots in her pulmonary veins, and when she got to ER she was in VTach. She definitely was on the way out! Those clots were like a foot long! I'm so glad she survived!!😮
@@emilyanderson6915 clots from the vax
Thank you for a very genuine discussion of your symptoms and your results. I've had that dizziness and fatigue for a couple of weeks now and you've made me feel so much better. I will discuss it with my doctor just to make a note of it, but I think just like you I'll push through
It’s been months and I still struggle with shortness of breath
its all in your head
I ve seen exercise helps with that. it could help.
Same w me, it's in my vascular system, autonomic dysfunction 🙏❤️
I would encourage you to investigate NAC and it's therapeutic benefits for lung rehabilitation. At the very worst it's going to be a little bit of an expense and not much help. However, I did have a long-standing sinus issue after the second time I had covid, and that resolved fairly quickly once I started taking NAC on a regular basis.
@@ASH-su6nb Exercise can make long covid symptoms worse.
My heart rate goes up the moment you try to measure it. My doctor always has to wait for me to calm down before getting an accurate reading. It's like the observer effect in physics.
I was just like you Dr. Z. I had covid in April 2021. I had the same weird head thing for at least 2 years afterwards. I also had inside tremors in my upper torso and arms. I felt them at any time of the day. VERY strange feeling!! Glad you're doing much better! 😊
Same w me, still going on 3 years.. like bugs crawling under skin, no Drs here understand, keep faith 🙏❤️
With me after it seemed to be over, I noticed my mental responses had slowed down considerably. And I slept a lot. Finally I healed and felt normal again.
Oh yes, the internal tremors! That began intensely the week before l became sick and tested covid positive. It eased in intensity and it's no longer consistent. I'm 6 weeks past the initial positive covid test.
What a unsettling feeling are those internal vibrations/tremors.
I will say that l wasn't afraid of having covid this time. And l did not have the internal vibration/tremors at all the first covid infection two years prior.
Wait yes!!!! I felt like bugs were crawling on my face and also had the tremors which now are just like small muscle spasms and i get them everywhere.
I was going through exactly the same thing almost at exact same time as you. Mine went into episodes of palpitations/cytokine storms? I was dx with POTS. I’m still hopeful. Glad you are getting better. Thank you for sharing!
First time catching it and the two weeks of July was nuts. The disequilibrium, fog, discombobulation was real, I even feared driving to work ... not that I missed commuting . Sense of tasted was almost lost for over a day.
3yesrs in long cov, just lost taste + smell again!
You are not crazy. I really enjoyed this video and I related deeply to your covid experience experience. Thank you.(I think I will sleep better tonight.
You are describing exactly how I felt. I called it Waves of fatigue. Felt like weights were tied to my arms.
I’m a nurse! Seen it, done it but never got it until a month ago. MyO2 dropped to 85. No fever, no cough. Just the panic feeling you are describing.
Same. It's long covid if it lasts for months or more.
I had the same and the entire week I had covid my 02 levels wouldn't go over 85 at all. I was so frightened the entire time!
I imagine the panic feeling is when your kidneys detect the low O2, pumping out adrenaline to raise the heart rate to counter the hypoxia. Maybe some serious vasodilation and constriction at the same time.
Super similar experience! The disequilibrium was nuts at times yet has become better now that I’m 14-15 days out. Overall symptoms better than my last 3 colds… and I’m prone to orthostatic hypotension so at one point standing up during this, I couldn’t hardly put one foot in front of the other. Super bad. And I 1000 percent believe the physio-mind connection is there for C. It’s the unknown, the stories out there etc. that keep you on edge, even if subconsciously throughout the time you are symptomatic…
so did you not get your 10th booster?
He's not 75 years old. You guys seem to have trouble understanding how things work.
I have COVID now and day 2 today. Started Paxlovid last night because my fever was going up even with Tylenol. It got to be 102.3 F and I was miserable. It’s finally coming down a bit but I was having chest pains yesterday felt like a muscle spasm. It was scary! I hope I don’t end up sick for 2 weeks!!
I like the way you frame your experience.
Both times Ive had covid, i wasnt super duper ill. No fever or anything. But uniquely to covid IMO was the fact that I felt like I was developing alzheimers. My brain no longer worked and I was aware of it in the moment and it was very unsettling.
When I had it last year, that “disequilibrium” happened the day I lost my sense of smell. Anytime I would inhale through my nose or even try to smell something I would get nauseated and a feeling like I was hungover. It makes me wonder if the olfactory bulb is somehow to blame, at least in my case!
What a great story, total truth telling from the heart. I do think it's a good example of why doctors generally are advised against treating themselves or family members. Your wife was terrific, and probably would have been equally terrific about getting you to another doctor even if she weren't a physician herself.
I love hearing your perspective on things, especially when I don't agree with you or don't initially agree with you. You are one of the few sources I have that can give me a different opinion that's based on actual reality and scientific information rather than misinformation
YES!!! More Covid talk from ZDogg...I love it ❤
I especially love following you because I"m a retired RN..Love that you are sharing with your Medical background and bring in the psychological aspects!
You're calling your terror of death conditioning.. but. My dementia Chinese mom who never watches television. Had covid in 2021. And did have thoughts of death. Do she absolutely impossible to have been conditioned.. It was funny.. She'd walk up to my dad. Her 89 him 91.. And say..if I die you die..lol.. mom is that a threat lol.. but she kept thinking she was going to die.. Today she's still alive and 92 dad soon to be 94
I had Covid for the first time last week too. The health anxiety was real! I didn’t even feel that bad but I did not trust it. Glad you’re better Doctor ❤
Covid is linked to a number of mental health issues and can fuse neurons in the brain.
Sorry you were sick with Covid. It is a known thing to be worse around d day 8. Please continue to rest and heal. Long Covid sucks.
Just a guess. Your oxygen saturation went down, because it’s peripheral. I have Raynaud‘s, if I put a pulse ox on my finger, my oxygen is 80. I feel totally fine. I’ve had all kinds of testing done, including arterial blood gases. I’m pretty sure it’s just some kind of peripheral thing where you’re not getting adequate blood flow to your fingers.
I have long Covid and POTs I still get it. Some days are worse than others. Covid 3 times 3 Jabs. High heart rate and low oxygen levels. Standing for long periods of time can make me feel really unwell and I often pass out when I stand up. I often get excessive yawning after I pass out or try to exercise then get light headed. It’s been hard to get help because it’s not every time. I had Covic last at Xmas. I hate it when people try and pass it off as just anxiety as trust me I am not in control of it. It can hit me at random times. I have good and bad days. So many things can trigger it hormones, food, stress.
I experience the same sensations: anxiety, a sense of impending doom, rapid heartbeat, coughing, and a sore throat.
Uk physician that predicted a ramping up of covid. Holiday time ,No entry into my house until your covid negative. 😅
I had to get my second booster for work 2 years ago. I really didn't want to do it because the first booster made my BP crash, down to 80/50. So I get the second booster a year after the first booster, I go home and just feel flu like symptoms. The next day in the afternoon I fell asleep and woke up at 8:00 p.m. (This was in early July). However, I thought it was 8:00 a.m. the next day, Thursday, and I couldn't think why it was 90° out. I was panicking because I needed to water the garden and I didn't want to be late for work, I'm a therapist and I had to open the office at 8:30. I looked at my phone, my phone said it was Wednesday 8:00, but I didn't believe my phone! I restarted the phone at least three times and still in a panic. The brain fog was very disturbing. It lasted over 45 minutes until I realized that my phone was right, it was Wednesday at 8:44 p.m. by that time. It was a truly awful experience. I'd hate to see what would happen to me if I ever do get COVID. Never getting another vaccine though although I still recommend it to other people. I just had a crazy immune response.
This is how I feel everyday. I have GAD and I have daily anxiety and panic attacks. All the horrible physical symptoms that go with it. It drains the life out of you. Medicine doesn’t help. I was on meds for 25 years. Imagine what you went through with this lasting forever.
Just letting you know you are not alone. I had to leave medical school due to terrible, unrelenting panic attacks. I wish we could talk more. I do understand.
Covid ruined me. I’ve suffered panic attacks for 30 years now. They totally suck! And having Covid made them SO much worse!