Long COVID is a newly recognized infection-associated chronic condition. It occurs in about 6% of people after infection with SARS-CoV-2 (COVID19). Symptoms begin days to months after acute COVID19 and can last months to years. Common symptoms of Long COVID include severe fatigue, “brain fog,” headaches, muscle aches, dizziness, rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, and many others. Long COVID can be quite disabling if the symptoms are severe.

You can find a full definition and detailed information about Long COVID in this report from the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine.

At present, there is no cure for Long COVID. Some patients recover over time, while others have persistent symptoms. The RECOVER Initiative from the National Institutes of Health is researching causes and treatments for Long COVID. You can track new studies and findings on their web site.

Although there is no cure for Long COVID, there are many ways to manage the symptoms so as to improve a quality of life and functional ability. These treatments include behavioral measures such as rest and pacing; rehabilitation techniques such as breath training and symptom-titrated physical therapy; cognitive rehabilitation; and medications such as low-dose naltrexone, modafinil, gabapentin and others.

In addition, some patients with Long COVID can be diagnosed with known conditions such as postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), small fiber neuropathy, mast cell activation syndrome, and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). There are established treatment pathways for all of these conditions.

The combination of behavioral measures, rehabilitation and targeted medication therapy is termed multimodal therapy. All of the clinics listed on this site offer multimodal therapy, which has been shown (i.e. here) to improve quality of life for patients with Long COVID.