Self-reported Tinnitus and Vertigo or Dizziness in a Cohort of Adult Long COVID Patients, 2022, Degen et al

Tinnitus, vertigo and dizziness are symptoms commonly reported among Long and Post COVID patients, however the severity of these symptoms has not been assessed in large trials. Therefore, in this study a large cohort of Long COVID patients was surveyed about the presence and severity of tinnitus and vertigo or dizziness symptoms. The online survey was completed by a German cohort of 1,082 adult Long COVID patients after a mean period of 43.2 weeks ± 23.4 weeks after infection. Eighty percent were not fully vaccinated (at least two vaccinations) at the time of their first COVID symptoms and 9.8% were hospitalized in the course of their acute SARS-CoV-2 infection.

At the time of the survey, 60% of patients reported the presence of vertigo or dizziness with a mean severity of 4.6 ± 2.7 on a scale of 1 (least severe) to 10 (most severe) and 30% complained of tinnitus with a mean severity of 4.8 ± 3.0. Approximately one fifth of the participants with tinnitus and vertigo or dizziness, rated their symptoms to be severe. The data shown in this study confirms that tinnitus and vertigo or dizziness are common symptoms in Long COVID patients and demonstrates, that a compelling number of patients rate their symptoms as severe. The self-reported severity highlights the need for Long COVID clinics to address these symptoms effectively. We suggest a multidisciplinary diagnostic and therapeutic approach to prevent further morbidity and socioeconomic burden for Long COVID patients suffering from severe vertigo, dizziness or tinnitus.

Open access, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2022.884002/full

 

I'm baffled by that reference to "self-reported tinnitus" in the title of this paper. Who else could possibly report that I have tinnitus except me?

I know when I get my hearing tested that there are always certain points in the test where things get a bit "difficult", and the audiologist told me that I was confusing my tinnitus with the sounds she was putting through the headphones. But anyone interested in my tinnitus still has to rely on what I tell them, and actually believe me.

 

Tinnitus, vertigo, and dizziness are also commonly reported adverse reactions to the covid vaccines. I am one of those people.

 

If I had a dollar for every time I've seen a physician dismiss "self-reported symptoms", as if there's any other kind... I'd have many dollars. I mean it's literally self-reported by definition, what kind of weird argument is that?

It seems to be in line with how Edwards explains that medicine doesn't look at symptoms. So when all they deal with symptoms being dismissive is the natural response. It's super weird when you see it for what it is, how self-defeating it all is.

Even weirder is the idea that this is because of the biomedical model, as if it forced to ignore symptoms unless there is a full gap-free explanation for how a biological process explains the symptoms, nevermind that in almost all cases at best there is mere correlation. Lots of finger-pointing at anything but self.

 

A thoughtful person might wonder why physicians think people come to see them, if it's not to get help with symptoms, that they are seemingly trained to dismiss/ignore, as not being what medicine is about.

It might explain their obsession with CBT et al. as they are trained to dismiss symptoms, as not being what medicine is about, then surely training patients to dismiss/ignore symptoms must be the way to go?

Or some other claptrap.

 

Of course, though symptoms are subjective, signs are objective. A doctor may recognize signs that you are unaware of.