I had covid 6 months ago and it lasted 2.5 months.<p>But it was partially psychological: whether that partial was 10% or 50% or 80%, you can judge.<p>The acute phase lasted two weeks. I had a very strong mix of what was a bad cold and allergy symptoms, progressing to a dry cough from a very bad wet cough. I also had dizziness, forgetfulness, and at one point everything in the world smelled of orange for a week. I had terrible, terrible health care, I was given steroids that spiked my resting heart rate to 110-120 (normally 55-60), told nonsense advice ranging from "it's just a cold" to "here's a Z-PAC in case it gets worse" (I never took it), and of course I never qualified for the antivirals for reasons best left not mentioned here without causing a political argument, the part that makes me the angriest of all.<p>Anyway, after that for two months I had shortness of breath, strange sleep issues, dizziness, and chest tightness. I went to see a lung specialist in a long covid specialty part of a famous hospital chain in the first two weeks of that period. I was told I was at risk for mitochondrial dysfunction, that I should never do strength training again, that some of the other patients became crippled after one year. That POTS was a risk, etc. That athletes have the highest risk for permanent disablement from long covid.<p>I became distraught, and during this time had some of the darkest thoughts of my life. Can't exercise? Risk for POTS? Disabled? That's it for me. I had dark circles under my eyes and fell into a sort of depression. Dysautonomia is the generalized name for the disorder. Anxiety was triggered, and it played its role.<p>I remember I'd taken an Uber at one point who told me that the vaccine gave him symptoms, and he described all the same stuff as me: shortness of breath, waking up at night sweating randomly, dizziness. He was wide-eyed as I explained long covid / dysautonomia. He had had covid prior to the vaccine, and I told him that was the cause.<p>Then one day I went back to the specialist and I brought with me a printout of an endoscopy I'd done a few months prior that showed esophageal inflammation and a GERD diagnosis. I also had a detailed printout of exercise attempts, and notes and dates for what I experienced that night, the next day and the day after, rating the shortness of breath, sleep disturbances, etc. I did a stress test with a cardiologist that showed I was exceeding the markers at every level, was cleared. After that both cleared me for exercise.<p>Overnight my mood change, my physical body felt more healed, and I went full speed ahead in revamping my exercise regimen.<p>Literally everything was fine, then.<p>Well. This weekend I was exposed to covid and today, day 4, I'm testing negative but experiencing some cold symptoms and some chest congestion.<p>How much of the above is in my head versus actual is open to debate. I honestly don't know the answer.<p>But sometimes I wonder, if no one ever told me anything about covid, and ignorance were bliss, how much healthier I'd probably be and how much better the last six months would have been!