Guidelines in practice: Draw on expert opinion to optimise care for long COVID

[Sly Saint]

Dr Harsha Master, Dr Ashish Chaudhry, Dr Nicholas Gall, Dr Louise Newson, Dr Sarah Glynne, and Dr Paul Glynne present their experiences of diagnosing, managing, and referring patients with long COVID and associated conditions

Read this article to learn more about:

• the definition, prevalence, and symptoms of long COVID
• exclusion of alternative diagnoses, and identification of red-flag symptoms
• the authors’ experiences of managing long COVID and its complications.

Expert commentary by Professor Trisha Greenhalgh

Rehabilitation and recovery
Barriers to recovery from long COVID include stress,12 poor sleep,19 poor gut health,20 and menstrual hormone imbalance in women.13 Overexertion (both mental and physical) may cause an exacerbation of symptoms,12 termed the ‘boom-and-bust’ phenomenon (see the Holistic management of long COVID section below). We have observed that intercurrent infection can also trigger flares of long COVID symptoms.

https://www.guidelinesinpractice.co...care-for-long-covid/456989.article#Commentary

 

[rvallee]

Two years ago, long COVID was a new and strange disease of unknown cause, and many primary care clinicians felt underconfident to manage patients suspected of having this condition. While many unanswered questions remain, there are also now evidence-based pathways we can follow for assessing, investigating, and managing patients with long COVID.

That would be quite surprising to hear from the vast majority of long haulers who report exactly the opposite, that they are completely let down and those "pathways" are an insult. Although in a sense what they are reporting is exactly this pathway, you don't even need to try, just say you succeeded already, then you don't even have to do anything at all.

Pretty amazing that she puts effects as causes. Because why not, clearly it doesn't matter in BPSland so uphold the tradition. Notable: overexertion. Because brushing your teeth is just a boom of activity. I've rarely seen people so stubborn and incapable of learning. Success to them is failure for us, and vice versa. Historically absurd by all standards.