Tldr:
Changes T and B cells which can cause a response to “dormant” viruses and makes the immune system a little wonky.
Also how the brain regulates hormones, specifically cortisol which is why they’re kind of “hazy” mentally.
At least, that’s what the blood tests show, it may be more going on.
To me it more sounded like the immune system STOPPED policing dormant viruses, allowing them to emerge from their slumber
I have folks in my extended family with long COVID and it suuuuuuuucks. Hopefully this is a step towards being able to treat it.
I have both a pre-existing endocrine disorder that I (partly) actively manage, and long covid (and some other stuff that isn’t relevant). This aligns with my experiences extremely well.
Completely anecdotal, I know, but I’ve had to deal with hormonally-attributed brain fog and fatigue for decades. Covid fatigue made the normal fog markedly worse, to the point where It was terrifying knowing that I might not be able to rely on my own judgement to know if I needed to call an ambulance, because simple actions like making food were extremely difficult. I would forget what I was doing halfway through anything simple eg. “Get spoon from drawer”, for every single action. It was what I imagine Alzheimers feels like. Thankfully the peak of that only lasted for a few days, but it also never completely stopped.
Additional hormonal disregulation would also explain the early pandemic numbers showing people with my condition were at much higher risk of hospitalisation, severe infections and death. People really underestimate how much hormones influence everything in our bodies.
I wonder how long this can be detected in the blood afterwards. I’m glad I might be getting some answers, maybe even help later on.
