You’ve Heard of Long COVID. What About Long Vax? The two conditions are surprisingly similar. The good news seems to be that long Vax is extremely rare compared to long COVID. The bad news is that it is equally challenging.
How Many People Have Long COVID?
No one really knows how many people in the US have developed long COVID symptoms after catching the SARS-CoV-2 virus. According to the Government Accountability Office (March 2, 2022):
“It could be in the range of 7.7–23 million…”
According to the Household Pulse Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau (May 17, 2023):
Roughly 11% of Americans who have had a run-in with COVID-19 are still reporting symptoms of long COVID. That translates to over 15 million adults suffering debilitating complications from this virus. Worldwide, it is estimated that 65 million people could have long COVID (Nature Reviews Microbiology, Jan. 13, 2023).
Long COVID Remains Mysterious and Debilitating:
We will not list the many symptoms of long COVID in this article. Should you wish to learn more, here are links to articles we have written and experts we have interviewed on our nationally syndicated public radio show:
What Are the Most Common Symptoms of Long COVID?
The Cardiac Effects of COVID-19 Are Really Scary!
Show 1327: What Have We Learned About Long COVID?
Doctors are beginning to recognize a rare, but worrisome, complication of the COVID vaccine. Some are calling this reaction long Vax:
Awareness About Long Vax:
Let me start by saying that scientists have been very cautious about identifying “long Vax.” That’s partly because they did not want to be perceived as anti-vaxers. The antivaccine movement has taken on a life of its own. As someone who suffered from polio as a child, I find it hard to understand how vaccines have become so political.
Putting that aside, however, I recognize that it is crucial to approach adverse reactions from vaccines with an open mind. One of the first reports of long Vax we discovered came from Alabama. Dr. Sujana Reddy and her colleagues reported a case of “postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) in the journal Cureus (May 4, 2021).
Here is what they wrote:
“A 42-year-old male, with no prior symptoms of sinus tachycardia [rapid heart rate] and presyncope [dizziness/fainting] episodes, is diagnosed with POTS secondary to the first dose of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. Symptoms to this date include sinus tachycardia, dizziness, headaches, and fatigue that are often triggered after a large meal or standing for a longer duration. Numerous diagnostic tests and images failed to confirm any other diagnosis other than POTS. There was a sequential connection between the onset of symptoms approximately one week after taking the first dose of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.”
Dr. Reddy has continued to pursue long Vax cases.
A report in DRUG Discovery & Development (July 5, 2023) states:
“She later learned of more than 250 people with similar health concerns. Reddy is working on a study documenting POTS cases, which includes 55 people who developed symptoms one to two weeks following vaccination.”
An article in Clinical and Experimental Emergency Medicine (March, 2023) adds:
“We also found three case reports of POTS after COVID-19 vaccination…In the three cases of postvaccination POTS, the symptoms and signs were almost identical to those of PASC [postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 syndrome], indicating that COVID-19 vaccines share the same target autoantibody epitope with PASC presenting as immune-mediated POTS.”
Dr. Krumholz and Long Vax:
Dr. Harlan Krumholz and his Yale colleague, Akiko Iwasaki are paying attention to patients who are reporting post-vaccination symptoms in their new study, LISTEN.
Dr. Krumholz is a very heavy hitter in the world of medicine. He is a cardiologist and is director of CORE (Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation at the Yale New Haven Hospital). He co-founded YODA (Yale University Open Data Access). He has too many awards and achievements to list.
He told Science (July 3, 2023):
“‘I’m persuaded that there’s something going on’ with these side effects, Krumholz says. ‘It’s my obligation, if I truly am a scientist, to have an open mind and learn if there’s something that can be done.’”
Symptoms of Long Vax:
Let me repeat: Far fewer people develop long Vax than long COVID. Symptoms include fatigue, recurrent headaches, brain fog and abnormal blood pressure and heart rate. In addition, there may be neuropathy, manifested as shock-like sensations.
POTS and Long VAX:
Some people also develop symptoms reminiscent of long COVID. They have been called POTS, which stands for postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. Dizziness on standing, fainting, heart palpitations and rapid pulse are typical symptoms. People with long COVID often suffer from similar reactions.
Doctors frequently treat POTS with beta blockers to control the rapid heart rate. In addition, they may recommend increased salt and fluid intake for better blood pressure control. The bottom line is that to date, there are no magic wands to treat either long COVID or long Vax.
The article in Science quotes a researcher:
“Postvaccination illness is ‘a long, relentless disease,’ says Lawrence Purpura, an infectious disease specialist at Columbia University…who treats both Long Covid patients and those with chronic symptoms after vaccination.”
Dr. Krumholz and his colleague Dr. Iwasaki have recruited about 1000 patients with long COVID and nearly that many with long Vax. They hope to release results from their LISTEN study later this year.
Have You Had Either Long Vax or Long COVID?
Please let other people know what it is like to live with long COVID or long Vax in the comment section below. What symptoms have you experienced? If you have had POTS, please describe this condition. What have you tried to ease your symptoms? Has anything worked?
