COVID recovery timeline among athletes

[Caballero]

Originally Posted by Duende

I caught a severe case of Covid over a year and a half ago. Ever since then it's been an uphill battle, where I think I'm finally back... only to have another setback.

The latest being jaw infection stemming from Covid doing a number on my gums... Five bone graphs later... I'm soon to get an implant to replace what was an excellent tooth.

Besides that... the usual stuff... memory fog... way better than it was. Headaches much better now... etc... etc... (still can't smell worth a darn, or taste many things)

The biggest drag is how hard it's been to rebuild muscle mass. Injured my rotator cuff recently lifting something that I thought I should be able to have done with ease.

Anyways.... I've stopped complaining to friends about it. Nothing anyone can do about it... including doctors.

My friends brother-n-law who was a fitness trainer had to give up his business.. the headaches and physical issues were just too much.

My brother (who was on a vent for 9 weeks) is now back to skiing and riding... but only at 40% of what he was. No more black diamonds for him. He has to drag along an oxygen machine when he exercises. He lost a tooth as well... he also lost hearing in one ear.

So counting my blessings.

What age bracket are you guys in ?

[Hilltopperny]

Had it late December. I was exhausted for 4 days, stomach issues no appetite and then started recovering on day 5. It took me a few weeks to get my strength back to normal, but overall it was not too serious of a case. Tried to go fat biking a few days after recovery and it was relatively tough. I did some short rides at low to moderate pace. It was approximately 3 weeks later until I felt normal again. No lingering effects to report at 41 years old.

[cgates66]

I'm well under 65, got COVID in early Feb. (rapid and PCR confirmed, everyone in traceable chain of contraction Pfizer vaxxed). Noticed mildly elevated heart rate about 3 days before positive test maybe 10%-ish, and a few days of mild symptoms (fatigue, somewhat runny nose, no cough, no temperature, no loss of appetite etc.). Secondary attack rate in household was 100%, although no one had symptoms beyond above.

Did at least two rides and drank some alcohol when positive, with "normal" performance / response, and post-diagnosis did a week of taking it real easy. Back to normal maybe a week after that, so call it 1 week to recovery and 1 week to recover lost time? No longer-term effects. Likely positive for 3 days prior to positive test.

Symptoms / performance loss from Pfizer vaxx were more pronounced but shorter in duration by a day or two (resting HR doubled for about a day and progressively declined back to normal over a week or so, and I did some easier rides in that time which may have been very stupid/dangerous).

[paredown]

Originally Posted by bironi

I agree with your last sentence, and that is the reason I posted the NYT opinion piece.

I was going to post it as well--one of the best I have read about the physical effects, and why starting activity again is fraught...

A second good NYTimes piece is about a conductor recovering from long COVID--

An enormous research effort is underway to determine exactly what long Covid is and how to treat it. The main hypotheses are that it is related to persistence of the virus in parts of the body, and to continuing inflammation related to the body’s immune response to the virus. Until there are clearer answers, treatment at post-Covid clinics for broad symptoms like fatigue and brain fog varies widely. Some patients are offered physical therapy. Others get reassurance and practical tips: Stay well hydrated; do daily, low-level exercise.

Dr. Rany Condos, a pulmonologist and the director of the Post-Covid Care Program at New York University, said about one-third of the patients at her clinic test normally on conventional measures despite debilitating fatigue or breathlessness. She said one of her most important roles is to make these patients feel heard, even though science does not yet have all the answers to what is wrong with them.

“Over the course of months, most patients slowly do improve,” she said. “Whether we have anything to do with this is not clear. In many of these cases we are not really intervening.”
....
As treatment, a cardiologist prescribed an intensive aerobic program, known as the Levine Protocol, that is often used to treat another kind of dysautonomia, POTS — postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome — a disorder in which sufferers can get lightheaded just standing up. She also gave him a beta blocker because of irregular heartbeats she noticed on a scan.

Mr. Fram started walking 30 minutes a day, then 40, up to 70. Eventually he hired a personal trainer and started doing situps and planks. But although he was getting through the exercise, he found that over all, his fatigue, headache and depression were getting worse.

His fatigue, which he put at about a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10 before, skyrocketed to a 13. “I was getting more and more upset, anxious and depressed,” he said. Late last March, he had dinner with a friend who happened to be married to a doctor at Mount Sinai. They asked him how it was going, and he burst into tears.

“What does Dr. Putrino say?” the doctor, Brian Kopell, asked him. He was referring to Dr. David Putrino, who had been heading up long-Covid rehabilitation for Mount Sinai. “I don’t even know who he is,” Mr. Fram replied.
....

Mr. Fram soon learned that Dr. Putrino and his team — who were working for a separate center treating long Covid at Mount Sinai — do not recommend long-Covid patients jumping into aerobic rehabilitation, as it tends to be too taxing and aggravate symptoms. A growing body of research is behind him; but even within the same hospital system, not everyone knew.

“We are not pushing people like we would with pulmonary rehab or cardiac rehab,” Dr. Putrino, the director of Mount Sinai’s Abilities Research Center, said in an interview. “Pushing people will categorically make them worse.” Instead, his goal is to retrain the autonomic nervous system very gradually to respond as it did before Covid threw it off balance.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/24/n...way-covid.html

I know with my Lyme recovery (which has unexplained knock on effects like Covid) I had to 'listen to my body'--for the first while, if I flogged myself doing a hard ride or a hard day of physical work--I would really relapse. It seemed to take years before my body seemed like my own again. By default I ended up doing the slow retraining version as described in this article.

[Duende]

Originally Posted by Caballero

What age bracket are you guys in ?

Just turned 55!

[kgreene10]

I really appreciate all of your posts. I’m heartened by everyone who has recovered well and feeling strong, and I’m terribly dismayed at how many are struggling.

After three weeks of feeling like I have a belt cinched over my chest, my breathing improved markedly today. It’s still inconsistent, but for most of the day, the air felt thin, I didn’t have to think about breathing, and I could stand without wondering if the gravity-dial was inadvertently turned to 11. I hope improvement continues but I recognize that it may be a roller coaster.

Since someone asked - 52

[ChannelZ28]

I'm 39, I got at the end of December. I would consider myself an athlete, I work a physical job, ride close to 200 miles a week and keep myself in excellent shape.

It was the sickest I've ever been. While my lungs were fine, I was in bed for 6 days, basically I had enough energy to get up to use the bathroom and get more water. I didn't eat for almost a week and lost a ton of muscle.

I was back to feeling 100% in about 3-4 weeks, but I'm only really just getting my body back to 100% now. At 39 I feel like I can still rebuild muscle pretty quick, but that was the longest I've ever been down in my life.

[kgreene10]

OP here. It’s been a month since symptoms started. Just before, I was doing hard four-hour training rides. Now im exhausted all the time and struggle to walk a flat one-mile loop in my neighborhood. The doc tells me that kidney and liver markers are off.

Has anyone had similar symptoms for a similar duration and found success in returning to normal? Did time heal you or did you use drugs? Any advice you can give would be much appreciated. Feel free to PM me if you don’t want to share publicly.

[Duende]

Originally Posted by kgreene10

OP here. It’s been a month since symptoms started. Just before, I was doing hard four-hour training rides. Now im exhausted all the time and struggle to walk a flat one-mile loop in my neighborhood. The doc tells me that kidney and liver markers are off.

Has anyone had similar symptoms for a similar duration and found success in returning to normal? Did time heal you or did you use drugs? Any advice you can give would be much appreciated. Feel free to PM me if you don’t want to share publicly.

Don’t give up. When I started getting better I could only walk a block…. Just keep at it.

I suspect you may be in for a long road to recovery. Unfortunate that means recalibrating and accepting the challenge.

Feel free to PM if you like.

[jimcav]

Originally Posted by kgreene10

OP here. Now im exhausted all the time and struggle to walk a flat one-mile loop in my neighborhood. The doc tells me that kidney and liver markers are off.

He didn't do labs. After each round of COVID, I've had MONTHS of inability to exercise due to high HR, shortness of breath, and feeling as if I'd pass out if I pushed it.
Round 1 was 8 months and at the start, I couldn't go up one flight of stairs without resting a bit.
Round 2 was 4.5 months, and I could walk flat terrain from the start.
Round 3 is ongoing and I could/can jog a 12 min mile. It has been 2 months, and I've tried to push a little bit, which has NOT worked.

My advice is listen to your body, stay hydrated, get good sleep/rest. Give it time, as frustrating as it is.

[kgreene10]

Originally Posted by jimcav

He didn't do labs. After each round of COVID, I've had MONTHS of inability to exercise due to high HR, shortness of breath, and feeling as if I'd pass out if I pushed it.
Round 1 was 8 months and at the start, I couldn't go up one flight of stairs without resting a bit.
Round 2 was 4.5 months, and I could walk flat terrain from the start.
Round 3 is ongoing and I could/can jog a 12 min mile. It has been 2 months, and I've tried to push a little bit, which has NOT worked.

My advice is listen to your body, stay hydrated, get good sleep/rest. Give it time, as frustrating as it is.

Did you eventually return to normal after each round, or maybe recovery was cut short by getting covid again? Three times sounds atrocious.

[jimcav]

I got 85% better with the 1st two instances--1st time I broke my ankle and was just about recovered/building fitness from that when got Delta breakthrough in August 2021

I'd say I was about 85% again and building fitness when Omicron hit our house (my wife, then me). I'm still in the post-covid high heart rate phase of that, but better than last month.

The issue is there is nothing to do. Last year (2nd bout for me) I saw results of a small study in UK on using antihistamines (both Claritin and Pepcid) and tried it, but no change for me. Getting frustrated and trying to "train or push through it" just sets me back. So far, time is the only thing that helps.

I try to be grateful I can walk, hike, and jog (feels more like a shuffle), as there are many that can't. I can also MTB, just have to avoid (or walk) hills I used to do without issue.

[bikerboy337]

Ugh… reading through this is making me a little nervous. I came down with Covid yesterday after making it 2 years safely. Feel absolutely horrible at the moment. J&J vaccine and Moderna booster so I’m happy for that. My doctor seems to think it should run it’s course by tomorrow but I see a lot of instances here sickness and weakness after. Hoping I can feel better by the end of the weekend and get back to some normalcy.

I ended up with the swine flu back in 2007/8 or whenever that was going around and I literally was extremely weak for a good 6 months after (including a trip to the hospital a few days in due to extreme fever and dehydration). Had to start slow and took a long time to be able to run and bike normally again.

Hoping for the best here as I’m isolated in my bedroom.

[Louis]

Best of luck BB.

Are you into NCAA basketball? Lots of that to watch on TV...

[thwart]

Yeah, a frighteningly unpredictable disease. Odds are you'll do 'OK', but...

Age, vaccine status, genetics, underlying illnesses, obesity, and many other factors apparently play a role in how you experience this virus.

I do think we're all eventually going to get COVID... but as someone mentioned above, yes, I'm also still masking indoors and doing all the things we've learned to put that day off as long as possible.

Successive boosters and allowing more time for the virus to continue to mutate and (hopefully) continue to become less invasive... that's my plan.

From what we know about long COVID and post COVID cardiomyopathy I'd recommend taking it easy on the recovery path. Moreso than after a bout with influenza, for example.

Once again, odds are you'll do 'OK', but...