6 ms·

I'm hopeful that research into whatever "long covid" syndrome is/isn't leads to excellent new medical knowledge that applies to much more than just COVID edge-c

I'm hopeful that research into whatever "long covid" syndrome is/isn't leads to excellent new medical knowledge that applies to much more than just COVID edge-cases. I suddenly got similar symptoms since getting a nasty version of strep throat last October. Notably I had an elevated fever (>102F) for quite a few days straight. I've never had COVID but I did get the mRNA vaccines + booster. Since that fever, my heart goes into light arrhythmia all too frequently. It used to be maybe once or twice a year I'd notice 1-3 seconds of "off-beat" heart pattern. All of of a sudden it's a few times a week. I'm also getting older (entering mid 30's now), live in some of the worst air quality in the US (next to a bunch of chemical plants which are frequently releasing quantities of ethylene oxide/mercaptans/styrenes/acrylates/etc), and haven't been exercising much at all the past few years (largely due to air quality issues). My diet isn't the best either, but I incorporate a lot of fresh salmon which keeps my blood pressure down, triglycerides low, and HDL really quite high. There's probably more I could do to help myself using just current medical knowledge, but additional knowledge and medical practices are always, always welcome IMO.

superbaconman 5y ago
Tell your doctor about your symptoms and then ask for an ECG. You want to know if you have an underlying heart condition. Depending on what you find, there may be options that will eliminate your arrhythmias.
- dmichulke 5y ago
  Anecdotally, I also had arrhythmia and after a few months and visits to doctors I figured out it was the type of coffee I drank. Changed back (from Espresso so standard) and the arrythmia was gone. YMMV
- therealcamino 5y ago
  I agree, if you think you are having arrhythmias you should see a cardiologist as the first step. Try to exhaust the well-known medical avenues before considering that your health problems are from an unknown cause. Strep infections in particular can have cardiac effects (rheumatic heart disease).
kingsloi 5y ago
I had similar symptoms in January 2019, I went to Urgent Care and then the ER because of heart arrhythmia, I felt sick, but no major fever. I put it down to anxiety (never suffered with before), but part of me wonders if it was COVID. Out of curiosity, where do you live? I too live next to a bunch of chemical/steel plants and have been tracking air quality, weather, traffic, etc. https://millerbeach.community https://millerbeach.community in Gary for a few years. Winds from North>South produce the best air quality, E>W or W>E produce worse, same with S>N.
- runnerup 5y ago
  Propublica has some excellent research published lately (it's an entire series of articles based on one primary analysis): https://www.propublica.org/article/toxmap-poison-in-the-air https://www.propublica.org/article/toxmap-poison-in-the-air It's based on somewhat-voluntarily reported data, rather than measured air samples. Mainly because we don't have effective air monitoring stations in anywhere near enough density to any kind of useful data science.
- nradov 5y ago
  There was no COVID in January 2019. However there are a zillion other infectious diseases and other medical conditions that can cause cardiac symptoms.
- TechBro8615 5y ago
  You might be interested in reading this (very long, amateur, pseudononymous, non-peer-reviewed) analysis theorizing "SARS-CoV-2 presence in China as far back as March 2018." [0] [0] https://theethicalskeptic.com/2021/11/15/chinas-ccp-concealed-sars-cov-2-presence-in-china-as-far-back-as-march-2018/ https://theethicalskeptic.com/2021/11/15/chinas-ccp-conceale...
  - mikeyouse 5y ago
    You'd be more informed (less uninformed in reality) reading a tabloid about bigfoot on the moon than whatever the hell that is.
JPKab 5y ago
I have a recommendation for you: You need to exercise. You are in your mid-thirties now. It's a big problem if you don't. But you have bad air quality where you live. I've dealt with this myself in the past. A relatively inexpensive solution that I recommend for anyone in areas with poor air quality is to build your own filter fans. Get a standard box fan, get a furnace filter that has HEPA ratings, duct tape the furnace filter to the back of the fan. One of these in a whole house does a good job. Put three of them in there and it's crazy how big of a difference it makes. My wife has respiratory issues and my son has asthma. My wife had to be hospitalized twice for wildfire smoke in my neighborhood. Once I started doing the filter fan trick the issues went away. You can then work out in your home. Used cardio equipment is ridiculously easy to come by. I purchased a reflex punching bag for my basement a few months ago and it's the best piece of cardio equipment I've ever gotten. Doesn't take up too much space wasn't too expensive either. I applaud you on your diet though. You definitely have a good grasp of the metrics that matter. Low triglycerides and high HDL are crucial, and good for you keeping that blood pressure solid. That diet is clearly doing good things for you. Just keep in mind that exercise does great things for mental health by relieving stress via hormones. One side note: You may have contracted covid and never known it. The only reason I knew I caught it back in February of 2021 was because of my complete loss of sense of smell. If not for that single symptom I would have never known I had it. It didn't impact me in any other way. My wife and kids caught it as well and had absolutely no symptoms. They only knew they caught it because they got tested along with me.
- Karunamon 5y ago
  >Get a standard box fan, get a furnace filter that has HEPA ratings, duct tape the furnace filter to the back of the fan. Please be very careful with this. This significantly strains the motor of your average cheap box fan, and hot motors tend to die faster and can get hot enough to melt plastic and start fires. I'd really recommend an actual air purifier instead, especially if it will run while you're asleep or not at home.
  - JPKab 5y ago
    I always run it on the lowest setting, but yes, you need to be careful. Good point.
chaosmachine 5y ago
> I've never had COVID but I did get the mRNA vaccines + booster. > my heart goes into light arrhythmia all too frequently. It used to be maybe once or twice a year I'd notice 1-3 seconds of "off-beat" heart pattern. All of of a sudden it's a few times a week. I'm also getting older (entering mid 30's now) This is my situation exactly, starting a few weeks after getting my second booster (Moderna). I've read enough anecdotes and news reports to believe there are many people dealing with this: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/myocarditis-ottawa-mrna-vaccines-1.6088122 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/myocarditis-ottawa-mrn... https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/she-thought-she-was-having-a-heart-attack-it-was-a-rare-reaction-to-a-covid-vaccine/wcm/0a95c30e-c655-4b73-a954-660f2555dadb/amp/ https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/she-thought-she-wa... It gradually improved (enough to stop waking me up), but I still get a lot more "off-beats" than I used to. Got my third booster recently (Pfizer), so far no major regressions.
- TechBro8615 5y ago
  > Got my third booster recently Out of curiosity, if you noticed these negative side-effects affecting the health of your heart after the second shot, why did you choose to proceed to get a third shot?
  - anonfornoreason 5y ago
    Not the parent poster, but I stopped after first Pfizer dose due to chest pain that lasted for three weeks. My entire family and all my coworkers berated me to get the second dose. Not saying parents friends/family did that to them, but there is a subset of people that don’t believe you should opt out of the vaccine if you have adverse reactions. Lesson learned in honestly answering “are you fully vaccinated”. I still get told I should do it 8 months later.
sva_ 5y ago
Are you sure it's caused by COVID, or perhaps ever since you were sick you were exercising less? I had similar symptoms to what you describe after just not being very active for quite a while, but it resolved after I did regular cardio (cycling) for a while and ate better.
- runnerup 5y ago
  I noted: > I've never had COVID.I did get the mRNA vaccines + booster. Regardless of root cause, probably just need to exercise more. See a doctor for good measure. Could be age/underlying condition, but exercise improves most of these things.
inglor_cz 5y ago
I had heart arrhythmia after a full-blown covid. The 1-3 seconds of strange patterns sound very familiar. It slowly resolved itself after some 4-6 months, but not on its own, I needed small dosage of Concor prescribed by the cardiologist.
nradov 5y ago
Any one of us could have had an asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection without knowing it. But there are myriad different medical conditions that can cause arythmia.

superbaconman 5y ago

Tell your doctor about your symptoms and then ask for an ECG. You want to know if you have an underlying heart condition. Depending on what you find, there may be options that will eliminate your arrhythmias.

dmichulke 5y ago
Anecdotally, I also had arrhythmia and after a few months and visits to doctors I figured out it was the type of coffee I drank. Changed back (from Espresso so standard) and the arrythmia was gone. YMMV
therealcamino 5y ago
I agree, if you think you are having arrhythmias you should see a cardiologist as the first step. Try to exhaust the well-known medical avenues before considering that your health problems are from an unknown cause. Strep infections in particular can have cardiac effects (rheumatic heart disease).

kingsloi 5y ago

I had similar symptoms in January 2019, I went to Urgent Care and then the ER because of heart arrhythmia, I felt sick, but no major fever. I put it down to anxiety (never suffered with before), but part of me wonders if it was COVID. Out of curiosity, where do you live? I too live next to a bunch of chemical/steel plants and have been tracking air quality, weather, traffic, etc. https://millerbeach.community https://millerbeach.community in Gary for a few years. Winds from North>South produce the best air quality, E>W or W>E produce worse, same with S>N.

runnerup 5y ago
Propublica has some excellent research published lately (it's an entire series of articles based on one primary analysis): https://www.propublica.org/article/toxmap-poison-in-the-air https://www.propublica.org/article/toxmap-poison-in-the-air It's based on somewhat-voluntarily reported data, rather than measured air samples. Mainly because we don't have effective air monitoring stations in anywhere near enough density to any kind of useful data science.
nradov 5y ago
There was no COVID in January 2019. However there are a zillion other infectious diseases and other medical conditions that can cause cardiac symptoms.
TechBro8615 5y ago
You might be interested in reading this (very long, amateur, pseudononymous, non-peer-reviewed) analysis theorizing "SARS-CoV-2 presence in China as far back as March 2018." [0] [0] https://theethicalskeptic.com/2021/11/15/chinas-ccp-concealed-sars-cov-2-presence-in-china-as-far-back-as-march-2018/ https://theethicalskeptic.com/2021/11/15/chinas-ccp-conceale...
- mikeyouse 5y ago
  You'd be more informed (less uninformed in reality) reading a tabloid about bigfoot on the moon than whatever the hell that is.

JPKab 5y ago

I have a recommendation for you: You need to exercise. You are in your mid-thirties now. It's a big problem if you don't. But you have bad air quality where you live. I've dealt with this myself in the past. A relatively inexpensive solution that I recommend for anyone in areas with poor air quality is to build your own filter fans. Get a standard box fan, get a furnace filter that has HEPA ratings, duct tape the furnace filter to the back of the fan. One of these in a whole house does a good job. Put three of them in there and it's crazy how big of a difference it makes. My wife has respiratory issues and my son has asthma. My wife had to be hospitalized twice for wildfire smoke in my neighborhood. Once I started doing the filter fan trick the issues went away. You can then work out in your home. Used cardio equipment is ridiculously easy to come by. I purchased a reflex punching bag for my basement a few months ago and it's the best piece of cardio equipment I've ever gotten. Doesn't take up too much space wasn't too expensive either. I applaud you on your diet though. You definitely have a good grasp of the metrics that matter. Low triglycerides and high HDL are crucial, and good for you keeping that blood pressure solid. That diet is clearly doing good things for you. Just keep in mind that exercise does great things for mental health by relieving stress via hormones. One side note: You may have contracted covid and never known it. The only reason I knew I caught it back in February of 2021 was because of my complete loss of sense of smell. If not for that single symptom I would have never known I had it. It didn't impact me in any other way. My wife and kids caught it as well and had absolutely no symptoms. They only knew they caught it because they got tested along with me.

Karunamon 5y ago
>Get a standard box fan, get a furnace filter that has HEPA ratings, duct tape the furnace filter to the back of the fan. Please be very careful with this. This significantly strains the motor of your average cheap box fan, and hot motors tend to die faster and can get hot enough to melt plastic and start fires. I'd really recommend an actual air purifier instead, especially if it will run while you're asleep or not at home.
- JPKab 5y ago
  I always run it on the lowest setting, but yes, you need to be careful. Good point.

chaosmachine 5y ago

> I've never had COVID but I did get the mRNA vaccines + booster. > my heart goes into light arrhythmia all too frequently. It used to be maybe once or twice a year I'd notice 1-3 seconds of "off-beat" heart pattern. All of of a sudden it's a few times a week. I'm also getting older (entering mid 30's now) This is my situation exactly, starting a few weeks after getting my second booster (Moderna). I've read enough anecdotes and news reports to believe there are many people dealing with this: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/myocarditis-ottawa-mrna-vaccines-1.6088122 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/myocarditis-ottawa-mrn... https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/she-thought-she-was-having-a-heart-attack-it-was-a-rare-reaction-to-a-covid-vaccine/wcm/0a95c30e-c655-4b73-a954-660f2555dadb/amp/ https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/she-thought-she-wa... It gradually improved (enough to stop waking me up), but I still get a lot more "off-beats" than I used to. Got my third booster recently (Pfizer), so far no major regressions.

TechBro8615 5y ago
> Got my third booster recently Out of curiosity, if you noticed these negative side-effects affecting the health of your heart after the second shot, why did you choose to proceed to get a third shot?
- anonfornoreason 5y ago
  Not the parent poster, but I stopped after first Pfizer dose due to chest pain that lasted for three weeks. My entire family and all my coworkers berated me to get the second dose. Not saying parents friends/family did that to them, but there is a subset of people that don’t believe you should opt out of the vaccine if you have adverse reactions. Lesson learned in honestly answering “are you fully vaccinated”. I still get told I should do it 8 months later.

sva_ 5y ago

Are you sure it's caused by COVID, or perhaps ever since you were sick you were exercising less? I had similar symptoms to what you describe after just not being very active for quite a while, but it resolved after I did regular cardio (cycling) for a while and ate better.

runnerup 5y ago
I noted: > I've never had COVID.I did get the mRNA vaccines + booster. Regardless of root cause, probably just need to exercise more. See a doctor for good measure. Could be age/underlying condition, but exercise improves most of these things.

inglor_cz 5y ago

I had heart arrhythmia after a full-blown covid. The 1-3 seconds of strange patterns sound very familiar. It slowly resolved itself after some 4-6 months, but not on its own, I needed small dosage of Concor prescribed by the cardiologist.

nradov 5y ago

Any one of us could have had an asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection without knowing it. But there are myriad different medical conditions that can cause arythmia.