Keep getting ill after recovering from Covid? Here’s what could be going on

If you’ve had Covid-19 before, you might have noticed that even once the virus had passed and the lateral flows were showing that you were negative, you still continued to get bouts of illness. It’s frustrating, confusing and life limiting, but it isn’t uncommon. When I got Covid three months ago, I thought I’d dodged a particularly brutal bout of it and was back up on my feet after around four days. 

However, I’d perhaps celebrated the end of Covid a little too prematurely, as what followed was several months of feeling constantly unwell. I’d have a cold one week and then a stomach bug the next, followed by a urine infection and then another cold. Plus, all the while I felt a constant low-level fatigue, sniffles and found I experienced frequent headaches and muscle aches. 

On mentioning it to a friend, she exclaimed that she had also been experiencing the same and had spoken to various other people who also just could not shake a feeling of “being off”. So I began to research online and found that in fact, feeling unwell on-and-off for months after Covid was not uncommon at all and thousands of people were struggling to get a handle on what was going on.

So, with figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) are estimating that a total of 2.3 million people in private households have contracted the virus over the past week – a leap of 32% from the previous week – I decided it was time to look into it. 

I spoke to GP and women’s health specialist Dr Amina Albeyatti to find out exactly why we might all be experiencing low-level illness after getting covid and get her top tips on how to boost our immune systems. Here’s what she had to say…

Why might you get lots of low-level illness post-Covid?

“We are still early into our research and data gathering post-Covid. So far what we are learning is that although the majority of patient who contracted Covid-19 recover within 2-12 weeks there is a significant percentage who have symptoms of long Covid that can cause reduced cognition (brain fog), disturbed sleep, difficulty breathing or not having the same exercise tolerance as pre-Covid and fatigue.

“Long covid doesn’t appear to be directly related to the severity of your acute infection. 

“These ongoing symptoms got several weeks to months can impact your sleep, appetite and exercise; all of which can in turn impact your immunity and cause recurrent minor illnesses.

“We are also finding that Covid infections can also leave some chronic damage on specific organs. In many cases scarring on the lungs, inflammation around the heart, and mild renal impairment can also lead to more illnesses as your body is in repair mode to heal these inflamed areas. 

“Finally post intensive care syndrome, in which patients with severe Covid requiring admission to intensive care have a much longer road to recovery. Their isolation for family, use of strong medication, sedation and a sense of loss of control and of dignity in strange surroundings can cause a lot of post discharge PTSD, hallucinations, reduced memory and cognition as well as the medical side effects of the disease and the medication used to treat it.”

Why you might be struggling with your immune system generally at the moment

Post-covid we have become very aware of our health, mild symptoms and delayed access to your doctor can make you more concerned about your health. Health anxiety and anxiety in general has increased since the pandemic and can give the sense of a weakened immunity. There is no evidence presently that we have more patients with immunodeficiencies. It is common however to feel more unwell and under the weather when you are stressed, not sleeping well, not eating as well and generally feeling helpless. These are all symptoms which have increased in the last couple of year especially in general practice. 

5 ways to improve your immunity if you are otherwise healthy

• Sleep well: aim for 8 hours
• Drink water: aim for two litres and work your way up to three. Hydration is key to the majority of your organs functions as well as good homeostasis.
• Eat well: a varied and less restrictive diet is healthy for body and mind. Protein in take is great for immunity and repair. Colourful fruit and vegetables means lots of different vitamins and minerals
• Play well: try to be active during the day or evening. Short walks, stretching, Pilates or anything that takes your fancy is great for our mental health and keeping our joints healthy and keeping chronic pain at bay
• Be mindful of your health: keeping regular safe tabs on your health can avoid delayed diagnosis and health anxiety. Be proactive to examine breasts in women and testicles in men every month. Look at your skin in the mirror every month to review your moles, take note if your periods change or your bowel habits alter. Keep up to date with your smear tests and bowel cancer test etc.