COVID-19 Long Hauler Still Suffering From Aftereffects One Year Later
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Imagine recovering from COVID-19 only to develop new symptoms and not know what's happening. Then, doctors tell you, there's no cure.
"You could see a million doctors, and no one is going to know. I was a little overweight, I had mild asthma before. Okay, it's not surprising to me I'm getting hit a little bit harder," said Jarred Arfa.
This month marks one year since 37-year-old Arfa's COVID diagnosis. He now works remotely from his New York apartment and spends time with his family, but 365 days later his journey is far from over.
"I'd get in the middle of walking a block and my heart would get to 170. There was tremendous dizziness, you'd be standing, and some ways it was vertigo, others, you'd stand up and it was just, OMG, I can't do this," Arfa said.
It turns out he now has POTS or "Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome." It's a condition that quite literally puts you on your back.
"They feel as if they are going to pass out, they feel uncomfortable, but there is no explanation that their blood pressure has dropped," said Dr. George Small with Allegheny Health Network.
Researchers estimate about three million people in the United States suffer from POTS and that number is expected to explode.
"So the most common trigger of POTS is a viral infection. This includes viruses like influenza and parvovirus and COVID-19," said Dr. Svetlana Blitschteyn, who is the director of a Dysautonomia Clinic.
Dr. Blitschteyn is one of the researchers studying this common syndrome for some long haulers.
"These patients are young people in their 20s, 30s and 40s who were healthy or had minor medical problems that didn't impact their lives before and now they are expressing extreme fatigue, dizziness, headache, inability to exercise and some are unable to work," Dr. Blitschteyn said.
To date, UPMC and AHN's neuro departments have not seen any cases of post-COVID POTS, but Dr. Blitschteyn said there are likely dozens of undiagnosed ones in our area.
"A lot of the times these patients will be diagnosed with anxiety, depression, or it's all in your head, and understand these symptoms are real and you need to be diagnosed and treated," Dr. Blitschteyn said.
In fact, anxiety was the first diagnosis doctors gave Arfa. He knew it was more than that and now encourages other long haulers to be your own advocate.
"I would say to anyone else. As much as I wanted to be in bed or as scared as I felt, push yourself to go to the doctor and find out as much as possible," Arfa said.
So, what does the future look like for these long haulers? Again, while there's no cure for POTS right now, researchers are still looking for answers.
Arfa told KDKA he is finally starting to feel better and hopes he doesn't have to live with POTS for the rest of his life.