Insomnia? Blame it on Covid!
AHMEDABAD: The classic symptoms of patients with history of prolonged hospitalization due to Covid-19 symptoms involved breathlessness, excessive fatigue, cardiac issues in some patients, and also blood clotting.
But it’s not all – three months after the sharpest spike in cases were reported in Gujarat, city-based experts are recording several health issues which are associated with Covid infections.
Dr Manoj Singh, a city-based pulmonologist, said that they are seeing so many Covid recovered patients with complaints such as anxiety, gastrointestinal issues, blood pressure fluctuation, thyroid malfunction, stomach infection and urinary tract infection.
“Covid infection causes derangement in physiology of the patients, and we are still in the phase of understanding its short- and long-term effects. For example, the patients have snoring issues. If they had high lung involvement (pneumonic), their sleep pattern is disturbed as they find it difficult to breath,” said Dr Singh.
Dr Maharshi Desai, a city based critical care specialist, said that fatigue, hair loss, skin itching, lack of appetite, etc. are often associated with former Covid patients. “Covid had both direct and indirect impact on the patients. In some cases, older health issues get relapsed,” he said.
Temporary hair loss, identified as telogen effluvium, is also seen in several patients, said Dr Anshul Warman, a city-based dermatologist. “Earlier, of all the patients coming in in a week, 30-35% came with hair related complaints. However, this has now increased to 85% patients coming in with hair loss, thinning, balding complaint,” she said. “Majority of these patients were infected during the second wave of pandemic. Patients treated with steroids and FabiFlu are more prone to the phenomenon.” Senior doctors confessed that in the former Covid patients, it’s sometimes difficult to arrive at a specific diagnosis due to several factors involved.
Dr Pragnesh Vachcharajani, a city-based family physician, said that alike blood pressure and diabetes, all GPs have started adding Covid history in their consultations due to its implications on both diagnosis and medication.
