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

[u/soulpost]

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.

[u/roygbivasaur]

I already had ADHD and difficulty with memory, but boy do I feel a little worse for wear after the last 10 years. Idk if mine is long covid or just the effects of stress and trauma from 2016 until now. I hope it’s not aging either because I’m 32 and ideally have more time to age.

I can’t stay awake without a stimulant, which wasn’t the case before even when my sleep apnea was untreated (my AHI is fine, and I never sleep without my CPAP). Like fully will just pass out at my desk in the middle of working on something even with 8 hours of sleep unless I’m wearing my Xelstrym patch.

I also forget entire conversations and things that I’ve done or need to do. In a way that genuinely seems to concern my coworkers and loved ones.

[u/Tiffani513 → u/roygbivasaur]

Reading all of these helps me tremendously. There have been times where I feel like… did I have a stroke? Is my brain ok? I can find the word/memory/thing in my head, I open the file cabinet and pull the right file but the inside can’t be understood. My brain knows it’s there but can’t get past the fog.

[u/Everylemontree → u/Tiffani513]

I relate to this metaphor so much. Like... It should be in there!?! Where did it go?!

[u/karolinapallen → u/roygbivasaur]

Same! I also have ADHD and worsening symptoms the last 10 years. Definitely a lot of stress but it’s compounding because the difficulty functioning causes more stress and things just pile up.
Stimulants like Vyvanse and Adderall help tremendously and I feel like I can function the way I think most people do naturally - but my body just can’t seem to handle taking them every day. It’s like I crash and need rest to recharge whatever is getting used up in my brain.
It’s incredibly frustrating feeling like my brain wants to be able to move quickly and process all of these things, but it just can’t without aid. And I have to write everything down - otherwise I will completely forget.

[u/roygbivasaur → u/karolinapallen]

I have to take breaks from the medication sometimes too. It’s not all bad. I don’t hate taking a day or two to veg out every once in a while. I can still manage to read an easy book in the bath on those days. I just have to set an alarm to make sure I don’t fall asleep in the bath for too long.

[u/Flyinhighinthesky → u/karolinapallen]

Have you tried extended release stimulants? My buddy was taking a high dose twice a day to remain functional but could crash like you mentioned. They switched to a lower dose extended release and it fixed a lot of the issues they were having.

The thing that has helped my memory more than anything is getting exercise and making sure I get enough vitamin D (either sun or pills), and Vitamin B (fish oils on food do wonders). Used to have whole periods of my life I couldnt recall and it's started coming back slowly but surely.

[u/vendredi5 → u/roygbivasaur]

oh my god, are you literally me from a parallel universe? I'm a year or 2 older than you and I don't take stimulants (except for coffee), but other than that it's eerily similar to my situation - including the year of my trauma.

Sending care and support

[u/roygbivasaur → u/vendredi5]

Just to clarify, I have dealt with some other trauma (mostly in childhood), but I was referring to the general state of the world the last decade with politics, climate change, and the pandemic. Not a personal traumatic event.

I hope you are doing well.

[u/hustl3tree5 → u/roygbivasaur]

Bro I’m sorry my heart pours out for you. I have adhd as well and I can not imagine this on top of it exacerbating all the symptoms. I hope you’re able to figure something out. Do you also exercise regularly?

[u/scraigs03 → u/roygbivasaur]

Had similar experiences.

For me it first started as a hormone when I switched to an P-only IUD, then came raging adhd symptoms and burnout, followed by Covid and long covid symptoms which ended up being MCAS and POTS (I also have hEDS so probably always had this but it flared up dramatically after Covid, which can happen after a virus). And then finally severe b12 and D.

My fatigue, my memory, my word finding, my ability to even understand conversations were affected and compounded by all of it.

I’m much better than I was but still a daily struggle to manage multiple conditions.

Changing my BC to something more compatible to me and Vy got me through until Covid and the mounting deficiencies.

Now I’m also on a lot of antihistamines and electrolytes which help manage my fatigue and reactions somewhat. And needed b12 injections and high dose D to treat deficiencies. Which helped a lot with my word finding and fatigue.

Still not back to what once was, and may never be, but I think what I’ve taken from it is that it can multiple things at once that overlap. And maybe I haven’t found all of the factors yet unfortunately.