I had covid 6 months ago and it lasted 2.5 months. But it was partially psychological: whether that partial was 10% or 50% or 80%, you can judge. The acute ph

I had covid 6 months ago and it lasted 2.5 months. But it was partially psychological: whether that partial was 10% or 50% or 80%, you can judge. The acute phase lasted two weeks. I had a very strong mix of what was a bad cold and allergy symptoms, progressing to a dry cough from a very bad wet cough. I also had dizziness, forgetfulness, and at one point everything in the world smelled of orange for a week. I had terrible, terrible health care, I was given steroids that spiked my resting heart rate to 110-120 (normally 55-60), told nonsense advice ranging from "it's just a cold" to "here's a Z-PAC in case it gets worse" (I never took it), and of course I never qualified for the antivirals for reasons best left not mentioned here without causing a political argument, the part that makes me the angriest of all. Anyway, after that for two months I had shortness of breath, strange sleep issues, dizziness, and chest tightness. I went to see a lung specialist in a long covid specialty part of a famous hospital chain in the first two weeks of that period. I was told I was at risk for mitochondrial dysfunction, that I should never do strength training again, that some of the other patients became crippled after one year. That POTS was a risk, etc. That athletes have the highest risk for permanent disablement from long covid. I became distraught, and during this time had some of the darkest thoughts of my life. Can't exercise? Risk for POTS? Disabled? That's it for me. I had dark circles under my eyes and fell into a sort of depression. Dysautonomia is the generalized name for the disorder. Anxiety was triggered, and it played its role. I remember I'd taken an Uber at one point who told me that the vaccine gave him symptoms, and he described all the same stuff as me: shortness of breath, waking up at night sweating randomly, dizziness. He was wide-eyed as I explained long covid / dysautonomia. He had had covid prior to the vaccine, and I told him that was the cause. Then one day I went back to the specialist and I brought with me a printout of an endoscopy I'd done a few months prior that showed esophageal inflammation and a GERD diagnosis. I also had a detailed printout of exercise attempts, and notes and dates for what I experienced that night, the next day and the day after, rating the shortness of breath, sleep disturbances, etc. I did a stress test with a cardiologist that showed I was exceeding the markers at every level, was cleared. After that both cleared me for exercise. Overnight my mood change, my physical body felt more healed, and I went full speed ahead in revamping my exercise regimen. Literally everything was fine, then. Well. This weekend I was exposed to covid and today, day 4, I'm testing negative but experiencing some cold symptoms and some chest congestion. How much of the above is in my head versus actual is open to debate. I honestly don't know the answer. But sometimes I wonder, if no one ever told me anything about covid, and ignorance were bliss, how much healthier I'd probably be and how much better the last six months would have been!