CLEVELAND — For some, it's hard to believe it's been five years since the pandemic began, but others can't forget, because they're still experiencing symptoms today.

What You Need To Know

  • There are over 200 documented long-COVID symptoms

  • Once thought to be a respiratory disease, it can affect the whole body and multiple organ systems

  • Long COVID typically affects those over middle age

Patricia Hill said before COVID-19, she never struggled with climbing a flight of stairs.

“Girl, I can tell you, I know my age now,” Hill said with a laugh.

Hill had COVID twice — the first time in 2021 — and still struggles with long COVID.

“A week after quarantine was over with, I was in the bathroom, I coughed up some green phlegm. It was a nightmare from that point on,” Hill said.

Hill battles pain, rashes, gout, ringing in her ears, brain fog, dizziness, tachycardia, lack of breath and fatigue.

“Over 200 symptoms of long-COVID that have been documented in the literature, and I think i have seen them all. It's not uncommon for patients to come in with 15-plus symptoms when they first see me,” said Juliane Torer, nurse practitioner at University Hospitals COVID recovery clinic.

She said all sorts of pain is common: muscle pain, joint pain, headaches and nerve pain.

Her patients run the gamut from being bed-bound to no longer being able to run as much as they used to.

“I recommend for patients not to push the limits because once they hit that wall, everything falls apart,” Torer said.

She said activity is good but patients with long COVID have to be mindful about how much they do.

When asked whether she thinks this is life long concern:

“I wish had an answer to that. I get that question often, but I just don’t know. It’s still so new,” she said.

Torer said doctors didn't really start to understand COVID until a full year into the pandemic, and there are still a lot of unknowns, but added her patients seem to have fewer flare ups with time.

Dr. David Rosenberg, the medical director at the University Hospitals COVID recovery clinic, said the condition can affect anyone but is typically seen in those middle age and higher.

And said while COVID was initially thought of as a respiratory condition, it can be much more.

“Obviously, many patients have respiratory problems but it can affect the whole body and multiple organ systems and the lungs are problem more on the minor side, relatively speaking,” Rosenberg said.

He said the number of times a person is exposed to COVID and the more severe their symptoms the more likely they are to experience long COVID but added a lot of these symptoms can be caused by other conditions, so it’s important to do a complete evaluation.