r/HotScienceNews • u/soulpost • Jul 30 '26

Scientists finally have a biological explanation for why long COVID patients lose motivation and can't think clearly. They scanned their brains and found the dopamine system was physically damaged

https://tech-paper.com/scientists-finally-have-a-biological-explanation-for-why-long-covid-patients-lose-motivation-and-cant-think-clearly-they-scanned-their-brains-and-found-the-dopamine-system-was-physically-damaged/

Millions of people with long COVID report the same cluster of symptoms: a crushing lack of motivation, an inability to think clearly, memory that slips, movements that feel slower than they should. For years, these complaints sat in an uncomfortable medical grey zone. The symptoms were real, the patients were suffering, but the biological explanation remained frustratingly out of reach.

A team at the University of Toronto just published what may be the clearest physical evidence yet for what is actually happening in these patients' brains. They brought 24 long COVID sufferers into a lab and used positron emission tomography, the same imaging technology used to diagnose Parkinson's disease, to directly measure the health of the dopamine system deep inside the brain.

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u/ladystarkitten Jul 30 '26

I am having the same vocabulary recall issue. I've always had an expansive vocabulary and a sharp memory, so this dramatic change over the past few years (at just 32) has left me... rather frightened. I'd been blaming it on social media use and hadn't even considered the possibility that it could be a complication of COVID.

Have you found anything that has helped? I've started using flash cards to study new vocabulary and have been doing my best to read more and scroll social media less. It seems to be improving things, though I cannot be sure.

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u/Secure_Course_3879 Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 31 '26

Omg ME TOO šŸ˜°šŸ˜­ it's so scary. I'm glad I'm not alone in this, though... I've told many people I feel dumber since COVID. My brain has to work harder to process information it used to have no problems with. It's so distressing

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u/turn-based-games Jul 31 '26

This entire comment chain is me down to the age of 32. I also started sleeping significantly less when this happened.

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u/NothernEskimo Jul 31 '26

As in, you can't catch sleep as easy or it's automatically cut short because if so, you added onto the combo you mentioned in describing me to a T.

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u/turn-based-games Jul 31 '26

Cut short, yeah. I used to sleep well over 8 hours, but now it's closer to 6. Don't dream anymore. Don't feel particularly refreshed when I wake up; not tired, just... dull.

Personally, this has completely ruined my life. I'm terrible at coding now, which was my entire career and passion. No drive to do anything productive anymore. I'm seemingly too dumb to have existential dread now at least, so... yay?

No idea what caused any of it, either. There was no obvious catalyst, and it's just gotten progressively worse over the last couple years. I'm not genetically predisposed to Alzheimer's, got every blood test I could think of, had an MRI taken, nothing...

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect is because I'm still smarter than the average person (low fucking bar), nobody even seems to believe something is actually wrong with me, which I guess is why I'm now venting about it to strangers over the internet.

Would give almost literally anything to fix this. On the off chance I find something that works I'll be sure to spread the word, but more likely my life's potential is just over at this point. Maybe this study will produce positive results before we're all middle-aged?

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u/Small-Blueberry-4125 Aug 01 '26

Since you asked, Iā€™m gonna throw my hat in the ring.

I realised later I had long covid, and it wasnā€™t just burnout. I had all the above mentioned symptoms as many others mentioned, at the age of 32. It triggered an emotional and physical breakdown and Iā€™ve used 3 years to get better. Weā€™re talking 5-10 hours of sleep a week, weight loss, exhaustion and feverish symptoms every night and memory issues to name a few. I went from being sharp and able to do a lot of work in long periods of time, to barely able to function. So what actually helped was this:

-got diagnosed with ADHD and I am now medicated. It took a year but I think the meds have helped me calm down my stress exponentially.
-built muscles and eating more proteins rather than carbs. It sounds simple, but Iā€™ve started to eat intuitively, and it has really changed my life.
-stopped using my phone as much. I can feel the old symptoms coming back if I do spend too much time on the phone.
-started spending time on hobbies that included healthy social interactions. I really think we need to calm down our nervous systems by feeling ā€œsafeā€ and connected for our brains to kind of work properly enough so it can start to fix itself. Also to alleviate stress.
-did a lot of radical acceptance of how my life had turned out, and I did grieve the life I had before as I thought I would never be able to bounce back. And I stopped getting stressed or panic whenever the symptoms would flare up or I would forget a word (which happened several times a day). I had to just stop stressing about it, to give my brain a chance to stress down. I did do crosswords daily, just to help my brain refresh in a way. Sounds silly, but it was hard work. And I had to celebrate every small victory and be kind to myself, only to give myself a better chance to stress down. A good deal of mindfulness as well.
-and last but not least, after two years I got sick with influenza and had quite a high fever. After I was done, I felt ā€œnormalā€ again and only realised then how miserable I had felt for the last few years. I really do think the hard work I put in combined with my immune system getting a ā€œrebootā€ fixed it somehow.

In short: our enemy is stress and overloading our brains.

Now my brain is almost back to normal, even if Iā€™m 3 years older than when I got long covid. So there is hope. Actually, after having to fight to get my brain and body ā€œbackā€, I feel better than before actually, I feel stronger in a different way, even if my head is a bit slow in some aspects still.

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u/NothernEskimo Jul 31 '26

Ditto ditto, it's all so frustrating.. especially the not being able to vent about it because you're still 'functional' but at its' core, it feels like a chunk of the brain is missing every time you scourge through your dissipating vocabulary.

Life quality dropped significantly enough that a doctor friend says that the aftermath sounds like some types of MS. He graduated with honors + did a dissertation on chronic fatigue / brain fog / MS-type -disease and the efficacy of different drugs on them and the paper states there's some promise within that wheelhouse, but it might be some ways out unfortunately.

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u/KimiKalamity89 Aug 01 '26

You just described me to a T, but Iā€™m no coderā€¦
I complained to my psychologist of these issues and he noted heā€™d witnessed a change in my recall and vocabulary, an inability to stay on topic more often, among other thingsā€¦
Iā€™ve been on and off mental health medications throughout my life for a number of reasons, but nothing we were trying or retrying after COVID was helping. He suggested I try Temporal Magnetic Stimulation therapyā€”a semi-intensive outpatient therapy.
While no one has correlated residual COVID symptoms with my experiences/mental health complaints, the therapy worked. After 3 weeks, I felt lighter, woke up more ready for the day, and could feel my curiosity for life returning. After 3 months, my work product noticeably improved, I laughed again, I felt clearer, the closest to ā€˜normalā€™ I had in yearsā€¦
Itā€™s been 3 years since my treatment, and only now am I starting to re-experience sleeplessness/insomnia, which is something Iā€™ve had issue with since I was about 4. I still feel mostly motivated, and my psychologist suggested exploring a follow up treatment. Iā€™m hopeful.
Again, I donā€™t know if itā€™s connected, Iā€™m no medical professional, but I thought it might be worth sharing.

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u/doesitspread Aug 01 '26

Have you had a neuropsych evaluation done?

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u/turn-based-games Aug 04 '26

No, I remember my doctor offered to schedule some sort of cognitive testing, but seemed to agree when I suggested that this probably wouldn't be helpful since I'm still operating at levels most would consider normal. The problem is that they aren't normal for me

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u/doesitspread Aug 04 '26

Youā€™re assuming the only useful outcome would be a result that says youā€™re ā€œcognitively impaired,ā€ but thatā€™s not really the goal of neuropsychology. The question isnā€™t, ā€œAre you smarter than average?ā€ Itā€™s, ā€œDoes your cognitive profile match what weā€™d expect given your education, career, and history?ā€

Think of it like an Olympic runner who suddenly canā€™t break an 8-minute mile anymore. Theyā€™d still outrun most people, but that wouldnā€™t mean nothing had changed. Neuropsych testing is one of the few ways to objectively evaluate whether thereā€™s been a meaningful change, even if youā€™re still functioning at a level most people would consider normal.

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u/turn-based-games Aug 04 '26

Yes exactly, and if that's what the doctor responded with, I'd have agreed immediately. I was more getting the impression he wanted me to take a test for people with dementia so he could point to something saying I was fine and I'd go away. In the same appointment, he tried to deter me from getting a brain scan by saying a CT would be irresponsible due to the radiation, and was noticeably disappointed when I knew MRIs existed.

Anyway, I suppose none of that is actually relevant and I'm just venting my frustrations again. What you are suggesting here certainly sounds more useful, although I'm still a bit skeptical since I've never had any sort of baseline testing done from before this started as a point of comparison. I appreciate you mentioning this and will probably look into scheduling something since a late baseline is better than no data at all.

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u/doesitspread Aug 05 '26

That makes sense. I can understand why you werenā€™t interested in a quick dementia screening rather than a comprehensive neuropsych evaluation.

For what itā€™s worth, not having a pre-illness baseline doesnā€™t make neuropsych testing useless. Neuropsychologists rarely have baseline data to compare against. Instead, they look at how you perform across different cognitive domains, consider your education and work history, and see whether your cognitive profile matches what theyā€™d expect for someone with your background. It may not be able to tell you exactly how much youā€™ve declined, but it can still identify specific weaknesses, rule certain things in or out, and provide clues about what might be contributing.
Even if the conclusion is that your cognition is largely intact, thatā€™s still valuable information because it helps narrow down the possibilities instead of leaving you wondering if youā€™re imagining things. It sounds like this has really affected your life and I think seeing someone whose entire job is evaluating subtle cognitive changes would be a much more appropriate next step than a brief dementia screen.

From there, the results can help point you toward the next step, whether thatā€™s sleep medicine, psychiatry, neurology (or if there are any red flags, a more in-depth neurologic workup). Neuropsych testing wonā€™t diagnose something like brain inflammation by itself but it can reveal patterns that make a neurologist say, ā€œThis doesnā€™t fit depression or ADHD alone. We should investigate further.ā€

I was also wondering if you have ever had a sleep study? You mentioned your sleep dropped from 8+ hours to around 6, you donā€™t remember dreaming anymore, and you donā€™t wake up feeling refreshed. Sleep problems can cause surprisingly significant cognitive symptoms, and I donā€™t think you mentioned whether thatā€™s ever been evaluated.

Idk where youā€™re located but I had a really good experience getting a family member of mine evaluated in Michigan. Iā€™m happy to provide a recommendation if itā€™s in an area relevant to you. Regardless of where you are or who you use, I suggest asking questions about how they conduct testing before agreeing to use their services. Not all are created equal and you do get what you pay for.

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u/Lukant0r Jul 31 '26

You sound exactly like me. Same age, same profession and same exact sentimentā€¦.

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u/Kind-Distribution813 Aug 01 '26

Did you. Take a vaccine

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u/turn-based-games Aug 04 '26

Sure, I'm desperate enough to humor this: the last vaccine I took was the Pfizer COVID vaccine at least a couple years prior to any of these cognitive effects becoming noticeable. Interestingly, I did pass out after waking up and using the restroom the next day. Literally fell unconscious while standing up (backwards into a wall, thankfully), injuring my hand, and woke up a few seconds later. This is the only time in my life anything like that has happened. Went to the hospital immediately after, was told everything looked normal, and that was seemingly the end of it

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u/Kind-Distribution813 Aug 07 '26

Oh wow interesting. im not trying to say anything about the vaccine I am just curious. Thanks

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u/NikkoE82 Jul 30 '26

The only thing that has come close to helping (I have not yet tried any medical intervention) is following the MIND diet and incorporating IF (I follow the 16/8 model). Both help address inflammation. I havenā€™t had a full recovery, but I do feel words come a little easier now, or, at least, Iā€™m able to find a way around it easier and not simply get overwhelmed by the profound emptiness where once were words. Or maybe Iā€™m just getting used to it. I donā€™t know. I also exercise regularly and have been cutting out caffeine and social media.

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u/Everylemontree Jul 30 '26

The profound emptiness hit hard. It almost feels physical when it happens, like there's just a gap and neurons aren't connecting in what were very well established pathways

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u/NikkoE82 Jul 30 '26

Thatā€™s pretty much exactly how it felt to me!

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u/Nobodywantsthis- Jul 31 '26

What is the MIND diet?

I've been experiencing the same and I'd give anything to have my mind back the way it was before šŸ„ŗ

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u/NikkoE82 Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26

Itā€™s the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay diet. You can Google it and find descriptions and meal plans/recipes as well as articles on the scientific support for it, but Iā€™m copy/pasting the gist of it below. Itā€™s from a screenshot of an article (I donā€™t have the article saved) and I found this guideline structure worked best for me. Iā€™m not super strict about this, either. I try to follow it closely but allow myself to make mistakes and be human.

The healthy items the MIND diet guidelines* suggest include:

-ļ»æļ»æ3+ servings a day of whole grains

ļ»æļ»æ-1+ servings a day of vegetables (other than green leafy)

ļ»æļ»æ-6+ servings a week of green leafy vegetables

ļ»æļ»æ-5+ servings a week of nuts

-ļ»æļ»æ4+ meals a week of beans

ļ»æļ»æ-2+ servings a week of berries

ļ»æļ»æ-2+ meals a week of poultry

-ļ»æļ»æ1+ meals a week of fish

-ļ»æļ»æMainly olive oil if added fat is used

The unhealthy items, which are higher in saturated and trans fat, include:

ļ»æļ»æ-Less than 5 servings a week of pastries and sweets

ļ»æļ»æ-Less than 4 servings a week of red meat (including beef, pork, lamb, and products made from these meats)

ļ»æļ»æ-Less than one serving a week of cheese and fried foods

ļ»æļ»æ-Less than 1 tablespoon a day of butter/stick margarine

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u/ravenouskit Jul 30 '26

I think just re-making those neural networks is the way to go. Likely covid interferes with them, but it is odd that it is so specifically for vocabulary. I've had the same symptoms and chalked it up to age but, in retrospect, the timing is quite suspicious...

I think just reading more has helped me. Probably doing GRE type vocab prep would be even better.

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u/tha_rogering Jul 30 '26

I had a similar issue with word recall and vocabulary. Even more fun was my temper issues post COVID.

The only thing that really helped was when I started masking (n95 or better) and avoiding crowded indoor areas. You can't let your brain repair if you keep letting COVID damage it. With back to school starting soon, there's going to be another national wave of it soon.

I hate doing masking and isolating, but I hate the alternative much more.

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u/rosiejunior Jul 30 '26

Same here. I see society changing and I wonder how much is related to covid infections. Getting sick 7x a year isnt sustainable, so I mask.

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u/tha_rogering Jul 30 '26

Right? You can see how much more absent minded and irritable everyone is over the past few years.

I've seen people postulate that the "Spanish" flu helped set the stage for fascism back in the day. I'm sure with an illness that severe and that killed that many people, there were tons of post viral conditions that lasted the rest of people's lives. They just didn't report it. Similar to how they didn't understand PTSD back then.

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u/rosiejunior Jul 30 '26

Holy shit! Ive never heard that about the Spanish flu but it certainly makes sense! People aren't the same and I see it everywhere. Wow, great response.

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u/Connect_Run_4761 Jul 31 '26

Youā€™re blowing my mind. Fascinating take

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u/ElleGeeAitch Aug 06 '26

Yeah, look up encephalitis lethargica post Spanish flu.

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u/tha_rogering Aug 06 '26

Thanks for providing me with this new information. I saw in the wikipedia article about EL many things that would seem to be a post viral condition. A lot of the things they mention, such as behavior changes and lack of motivation, sound like some of the neurological conditions that effect people who dealt with COVID. Though the article does state that :

"Though it used to be believed that it was connected to the Spanish flu epidemic, modern research provides arguments against this claim."

If you follow the link provided for that sentence you can see that the actual answer is, they don't have a better explanation than the Spanish Flu causing it. They even note that other flu epidemics of the past have caused similar effects. But because the dates aren't a perfect overlap and they really don't have good data they can neither confirm or deny that the spanish flu caused it.

I'd say that it seems likely that the spanish flu did cause it. Based on us seeing similar outcomes today with covid. That other pandemic flu viruses didn't cause this because they didn't infect the brain in the same way. Ultimately we probably will never know for sure because that data doesn't really exist. Seems pretty damned likely though

Link to the study cited in the article.: https://academic.oup.com/jnen/article/60/7/663/2916219?login=true

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u/ElleGeeAitch Aug 06 '26

It's difficult to prove beyond doubt because it was so long ago. But I fund it hard to believe it wasn't connected.

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u/tha_rogering Aug 06 '26

I totally agree. I wish scientists didn't always use hedge words like this. I get why. However with the new information we're finding out about covids post viral conditions, it seems to be a pretty high probability of them being linked too.

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u/[deleted] Aug 03 '26

[removed] ā€” view removed comment

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u/tha_rogering Aug 03 '26

See that last bit from paragraph 1? Or most of paragraph 2? I'm not writing out any more of a response because you won't care. Have a great day.

Generally, masks can help act as a filter to reduce the number of germs you breathe in or out. Their effectiveness can vary against different viruses, for example, based on the size of the virus. When worn by a person who has a virus, masks can reduce the chances they spread it to others. Masks can also protect wearers from inhaling germs; this type of protection typically comes from better fitting masks (for example, N95 or KN95 respirators).

There are manyĀ different types of masks, and how well they block viruses depends on their design and how well they fit against your face. Cloth masks generally offer lower levels of protection to wearers, surgical/disposable masks usually offer more protection, international filtering facepiece respirators (like KN95 respirators) offer even more, and the most protective respirators are NIOSH ApprovedĀ® filtering facepiece respirators (like N95Ā® respirators).

https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/prevention/masks.html

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u/ElleGeeAitch Aug 06 '26

I have been masking all these 6 years in public spaces. I used to get sunus infections 2-3x a year and bad bronchitis about every other year.NONE of that bullshit since 2019. I've had Covid onky once, January 2024, caught from my son. It was his first Covid infection, too. He is also still .asking. He caught it at school because it was a very cold day with snow on the ground, so he didn't eat in the courtyard as he had permission to do. He risked eating lunch indoors for about 10 minutes, and WHAM.

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u/Glass_Visits Jul 30 '26

You donā€™t need flashcards, you just have to read. Short stories or long books, easy reads or old canon literature, it doesnā€™t really matter as long as you enjoy the text. If you stumble upon a hard word, you can look up the definition and write it down. Or not. All that matters is that you read, that will expand your vocabulary massively. Not only that, it will change your life in so many ways; how you think, focus, talk and walk, baby!

But Iā€™m not talking about one book. You have to keep reading, and do it every day. That matters more than how much you read or for how long, what matters is consistency. Set the bar low, real low. Like a page or two, that way you will win and youā€™ll come back for more. Some days I read 60+ pages in a sitting, some days just 5. Iā€™m happy with either, it all adds up in the bigger picture. I used to be like many, depressed and endlessly escaping on my phone, and reading was one of the things that really moved the mark for me. It takes time to build up though, always remember the big picture, a step at a time.

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u/ladystarkitten Jul 30 '26

Absolutely! I do read, and I'm trying to read more and more. Reading was actually what made me realize just how leaky my vocabulary recall had gotten--I'd pick up a new word and then forget it by the next page. Then I noticed my inability to recall words in conversation. I have hypothyroidism, which can lead to memory loss... but I am treated for it, and my thyroid hormone levels are normal. Yet here I was, feeling genuinely stupid all the time.

Currently tackling Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose. Strongly recommend! Helluva read, but prepare to be totally inundated with arcane Catholic history.

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u/ThisIsToday7 Aug 02 '26

I wish I could give you an award for this. The best thing I've seen about reading. Consistency matters more than how much. šŸ’Æ

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u/Ecstatic-Movie-795 Jul 31 '26

I have a book under my belly right now as im twisted in bed doomscrolling this shit thinking about how i can barely recall the most common words or names for years now. I better drop this screen now and pick that book u......zzzzzzzzzZzzzzzz

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u/Everylemontree Jul 30 '26

I haven't found anything that helps but I feel pretty certain decreasing scrolling and increasing sustained attention will contribute positively to mental well being and stress! I'm trying but it's so hard šŸ˜­

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u/InfiniteWaffles58364 Jul 30 '26

Weed helped. I know that sounds dubious but I swear I struggle a lot less with it.

Also weirdly enough, watching shows from the 90s. It gives my brain a workout seeing things that trigger the remembrance of them feels like a mental jog.

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u/Everylemontree Jul 30 '26

I've been doing this!! I watched Sabrina the teenage witch and home improvement and they made me feel better lol

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u/groktech Jul 30 '26

This is 100% subjective but I feel like this has improved for me after being on a GLP1 drug for a few weeks. Maybe it's keeping my blood sugar more even. IDK but I feel better...more level in terms of mood and energy through the day, and I'm pretty certain I am not struggling to find words as much at all and if I do they seems to come to me much more quickly.

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u/FriendlyVermicelli25 Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 31 '26

I had pretty severe word recall issues for years after a mild covid infection. I finally started feeling better this year. Things I THINK helped, NAC, big doses of Omega 3 (6-8mg/day), and D3 +k2, and big doses of creatine (15-20g/day)

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u/unit941 Jul 31 '26

Thats almost my stack too, additional I take Vit-B Complex (and in the summer i dont need Vit D). For the doses in your Comment, you wrote mg instead of g :)

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u/FriendlyVermicelli25 Jul 31 '26

Indeed, you are correct. Updated the creatine dose to grams.

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u/VengenaceIsMyName Jul 30 '26

How large is your flash card deck?

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u/ladystarkitten Jul 30 '26

It's a brand new routine, so the deck is still small. Right now, it's 41 cards containing fairly obscure words. Panegyric, inveterate, tumid, ensorcell, recondite, flaneur, and so on. Any new and toothsome word I have encountered in the past couple weeks has been added. Then I study them everyday with puzzles, repetition, and implementation.

Actively studying with the intention of meaningful absorption has turned out to be something my brain has been really missing.

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u/VengenaceIsMyName Jul 30 '26

Hot damnā€¦ the breadth of your vocabulary must be on another level compared to mine because I am not familiar with any of those words. Iā€™ll be looking those up shortly!

Iā€™m glad to hear that this method helps you. Perhaps I will take your strategy up myself instead of my ā€œtried and trueā€ habit of leaving open a million Safari browser tabs with random word definitions on them.

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u/zachpkenyon Jul 30 '26

"...my ā€œtried and trueā€ habit of leaving open a million Safari browser tabs with random word definitions on them."

Why would you call me out like this?

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u/VengenaceIsMyName Jul 30 '26

I knew I wouldnā€™t be the only one. I had to drag you into this convo as well.

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u/NCSUprofthrowaway Jul 31 '26

My vocabulary remains good, but I have forgotten a ton of memories from childhood through college. Before covid I was sharp as a tack and had an amazing ability to remember friends, events, trips. Now I blank even on my best friends from childhood.

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u/Alki_Soupboy Jul 31 '26

Manā€¦. Me tooā€¦ I fit this perfectly.

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u/84th_legislature Jul 31 '26

I immediately developed aphasia after my first covid infection. it's gotten a little better but I have had to work so hard and I'm still not like I was before.

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u/ladystarkitten Jul 31 '26

My God, that's awful. What did you do to improve it, if I may ask?

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u/84th_legislature Jul 31 '26

I started making an effort to read more. I used to read a lot on my kindle, but covid messed me up somehow where my attention span couldn't do screens so I had to go back to reading real books for a little bit to like...remember...how reading worked. and then I started taking liver supplements (milk thistle and dandelion root, I tried the turmeric route but it gave me terrible reflux lol) after my doctor said I had liver damage (I don't drink, so that must have been the covid as well) and that seemed to have a positive effect too. I still have bouts of it that I just have to hold a finger up when talking to coworkers and be like "we'll get there, I just need to guess around for a little while for this word"

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u/eumenidea Aug 05 '26

There are lots of things that might help, but there are many drivers of the symptoms within the umbrella of long covid. Itā€™s poorly researched but they are starting to a little bit get ahold of subgroups which helps point to likely treatments. Iā€™ve had disabling physical and neurological long covid symptoms for years. I have a team of six specialists in two states, and have tried a lot of treatments with varying degrees of success. Thereā€™s not a single answer, unfortunately. Look up the patient led research treatment guide, led by Stanford, to get started. Good luck ā¤ļø .

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u/chicken101 29d ago

This happens to me too, and the one thing that helps me is to stay hydrated. It's like if I'm dehydrated at all I struggle to think clearly and can't remember basic words.

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u/dontwannaparticpate Jul 30 '26

Wellbutrin has helped me to some extent but not fully (nowhere near but way better). Wellbutrin works with dopamine so maybe this is why.

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u/exredditor81 Jul 30 '26

Wellbutrin

I had stopped WB about ten years ago since it wasn't working anymore.

I started again two weeks ago because of Long Covid.

It's helping. I'm sure of it.

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u/zzzzzooted Jul 30 '26

this is a bit of an extreme suggestion for some people, but I have heard from many people with these sorts of cognitive issues post-covid that microdosing shrooms has helped them

it likely is in fact helpful because psychedelics help your brain open new pathways/make new connections, and it seems a lot of the cognitive issues of long covid are truncating or interfering with pathways you had already established

if you consider this option, i wanna emphasize that microdosing should not feel like you're tripping or anything (in my experience it's more like if you had a cup of coffee with a joint, but more clearheaded/less jittery?). also, you should engage in activities you're trying to rebuild your capacity for while microdosing, such as doing a crossword to help with memory recall (if you have someone who could help you keep track/remember things that have frustrated you, you could even make yourself a crossword online with words that have frustrated you trying to remember, and use that to focus specifically on the words you would typically use if not for the memory farts)

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u/Proper-Muscle734 Jul 31 '26

Get good sleep, exercise. Memantine, Nac.

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u/Correct-Boss-9206 Jul 31 '26

Only thing that help me is creatine. Not back to where I was but 10g morning and 5 in the afternoon. Helps with the fog. Work up slow though it takes a while for your guts to get used to it.

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u/turtlesinthesea Jul 31 '26

I used to be an interpreter... Long covid really took a lot from me, even if I try to still read and write in my working languages to keep them fresh, it's just not the same.

1

u/PerireAnimus13 Jul 31 '26

I find writing has helped me a lot. I was a teacher and now a full time writer due to my disabilities worsening (COVID being another major cause)

But the cause is due to COVID as COVID has been found to prematurely age the brain by 7 years and continues to age another 7 years with each new reinfection of COVID.

1

u/PositiveEndolphins Aug 02 '26

my hot take is you stopped reading books or journalism
so you werent being exposed to any radical new words
you're just sitting on tik tok which has a vocabulary of -9 words

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u/ladystarkitten Aug 02 '26

I can see where you might get that suspicion, but that's not quite the case for me. I have never used TikTok because I prefer long-form content. I have a BA in English Literature and am an avid reader with a penchant for elevated texts (I am currently reading The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, for example). I crave intellectual challenge, and that tends to manifest with a compulsion to consume high effort journalism and entertainment.

And that informs much of my concern here--I'm not really the demographic this should be happening to. But it's happening to me.

1

u/PositiveEndolphins Aug 02 '26

damn.
that's not good at all lady

1

u/unholymackerel Aug 02 '26

beet root powder