I'm far less creative, less excited about work, less interested in challenging topics, and less capable of solving complex problems.
So, just to point this out: none of those symptoms are remotely unique to Long Covid, or any other disorder. They correlate with real/known/unsurprising conditions like depression, alcoholism, aging and even stuff like poor diet even more strongly than with covid; and of course they're the kind of thing we all deal with as we go through life. No one works at peak performance through their whole career. Everyone has rough patches.
Does that invalidate your covid experience? No. I'm just saying this is the kind of thing you (and I, and all of us) were going to deal with at some point anyway.
I honestly do not know if its related to COVID or if I'm just getting older and my body / mind are finally starting the inevitable downward spiral that takes place over the next 30-40 years.
It's hard to say for sure. All I can say is, relative to who I was in 2019 I feel like I'm easily 50% of that person both physically and mentally. Maybe that's "natural" for someone in their mid-30s, but to me it feels a little accelerated.
There's nothing natural about a downward spiral in your mid-30s. I mean there will be some gradual deterioration but biologically a significant downward spiral doesn't have to hit until your 70s. There are plenty of masters athletes still turning in great performances at advanced ages. And they aren't genetic outliers; mostly they are just persistent and consistent.
Before blaming unlikely exotic causes like "long COVID" I would suggest fully optimizing the basics: sleep hygiene, body composition, nutrition, exercise, sun exposure, alcohol, etc. If you fix all that stuff and still feel worse than you did in 2019 then there may be something else going on.
Comments
So, just to point this out: none of those symptoms are remotely unique to Long Covid, or any other disorder. They correlate with real/known/unsurprising conditions like depression, alcoholism, aging and even stuff like poor diet even more strongly than with covid; and of course they're the kind of thing we all deal with as we go through life. No one works at peak performance through their whole career. Everyone has rough patches.
Does that invalidate your covid experience? No. I'm just saying this is the kind of thing you (and I, and all of us) were going to deal with at some point anyway.
Yup, that's totally fair and correct.
I honestly do not know if its related to COVID or if I'm just getting older and my body / mind are finally starting the inevitable downward spiral that takes place over the next 30-40 years.
It's hard to say for sure. All I can say is, relative to who I was in 2019 I feel like I'm easily 50% of that person both physically and mentally. Maybe that's "natural" for someone in their mid-30s, but to me it feels a little accelerated.
There's nothing natural about a downward spiral in your mid-30s. I mean there will be some gradual deterioration but biologically a significant downward spiral doesn't have to hit until your 70s. There are plenty of masters athletes still turning in great performances at advanced ages. And they aren't genetic outliers; mostly they are just persistent and consistent.
Before blaming unlikely exotic causes like "long COVID" I would suggest fully optimizing the basics: sleep hygiene, body composition, nutrition, exercise, sun exposure, alcohol, etc. If you fix all that stuff and still feel worse than you did in 2019 then there may be something else going on.
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