ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — More than two months later, Lauren Wallis is still suffering from lingering, debilitating effects from COVID-19.
“Just this unbelievable fatigue, I can sleep and do sleep generally between 15 and 16 hours a night,” she said. “And then when you’re up, it’s muscle aches, constant sweating, forgetfulness.”
Some who have survived COVID-19 are still suffering months later from persistent fevers, headaches and brain fog.
Now, post-COVID care clinics are starting to pop up around the country.
Wallis’ doctor believes she’s what’s called a long-hauler. Researchers estimate about 10% of all COVID-19 survivors are like her, and still suffering with no clear reason why.
“It’s just hard to function like a normal person,” Wallis said.
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That’s why some hospitals around the country are opening post-COVID clinics. Long-haulers have access to a team of specialists like cardiologists, pulmonologists and neurologists who work together to hopefully figure out what’s wrong faster.
So far, doctors at Mount Sinai’s post-COVID clinic in New York City have seen more than a thousand patients, mostly people younger than 50 years old who were relatively healthy before getting COVID-19.
AdventHealth said it is exploring options to open a long-hauler clinic in the near future.
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Cox Media Group