Simone Ravera lifts her pants, takes off her slippers and socks and cautiously enters the cold waters of the Baltic Sea.
The 50-year-old rheumatologist is slowly recovering from her life after contracting COVID-19 last fall, apparently recovering and recurring again with severe fatigue and “confusion” four months later.
“The symptoms were almost as bad as in the beginning,” Ravera said.
Almost desperately, he found a clinic that specialized in patients with what were called persistent symptoms of COVID or post-COVID-19.
Located in Heiligendamm, a seaside resort on the north coast of Germany, popular since the late 18th century, the clinic specializes in helping people with lung diseases such as asthma, chronic bronchitis and cancer.
In the last year, it has become a major rehabilitation center for coronavirus patients, serving 600 people across the country, explained its medical director, Joerdis Frommhold.
Some of his patients were on the verge of death and had to relearn how to breathe properly, regain resistance and overcome a number of neurological problems associated with serious illness.
But Frommhold also treats a second group of patients who have had mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19 and who, in the worst case, have spent a short time in hospital.
“These patients have symptoms of recovery after one to four months,” said the doctor.
Most are between 18 and 50 years old and have not previously had health problems, he added. “They are the ones who usually never get sick.”
After recovering from a COVID-19 outbreak, these patients suddenly woke up breathless, depressed, or had difficulty concentrating, Frommhold said. Some suffer from symptoms similar to those of dementia.
A former dialysis nurse found her kitchen flooded because she forgot to turn off the tap. “Others are not able to do their homework with their children because they do not understand the questions,” Frommhold said.
Doctors do not always take your symptoms seriously.
Despite hair loss, muscle and joint pain, irregular blood pressure and dizziness, the results of routine tests for these patients are usually normal.
“They look young, dynamic, high-performing, but they can’t do anything out of their habit,” Frommhold said.
In the clinic, therapists initially focus on stabilizing patients’ breathing. Then they worked to regain endurance and motor coordination through occupational therapy and postural training. Cognitive therapy and psychological support are also part of the program.
In the past year, similar “long-term” clinics have sprung up around the world, including in the United States. In Germany, these treatments are increasingly offered through the national network of over 1,000 medical rehabilitation centers, of which 50 specialize in lung disease.
“This does not yet exist in many other countries,” Frommhold added.
How many people have persistent COVID-19 is not known at this time, in part because the condition is not yet clearly defined. Scientists are still trying to understand what is behind the wide range of symptoms that patients report.
“No two patients have the same experience and vary from patient to patient,” said Elizabeth Murray, a professor of e-health and primary care at University College London.
“The symptoms she is experiencing this week are not necessarily a guide to the symptoms she will continue to experience,” said Murray, who worked as a family doctor. “This complicates it for everyone; it makes it very, very difficult for patients. “
The UK’s National Statistics Office said a survey of 9,063 people who tested positive for COVID-19 found that more than 20% reported some persistent symptoms after five weeks. About 10% of participants suffered from fatigue, while a similar number said they suffered from headaches or loss of smell and taste.
To date, more than 140 million coronavirus infections have been confirmed worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University, which means that even if a small percentage of them suffer from persistent COVID-19, this would affect millions of people. people.
“It’s a lot of people in addition to being treated and no health care system has a large spare capacity,” Murray said, adding that the economic impact of so many people stopping work could be devastating, especially since many of the those affected are women who also carry a disproportionate burden at home.
Murray is developing a digital program, funded by the British National Institute for Health Research, to treat the symptoms of COVID-19 in the long term and to reach more patients even faster than through traditional rehabilitation facilities, ensuring that they do not they feel abandoned by the system.
Frommhold noted that a similar program could help Germany cope with the likely increase in patients with persistent coronavirus, but noted that greater acceptance of the condition will be needed for those who do not fully recover.
“In my opinion, we first need a campaign like HIV awareness, which explains that there are different ways even after recovering from COVID,” he said.
Making patients, their families and employers understand that they are now chronically ill could prevent those affected from turning into depression and anxiety, Frommhold said.
Heike Risch, a 51-year-old kindergarten teacher from the eastern town of Cottbus, could barely walk without assistance after being discharged from hospital after passing COVID-19.
“I felt like I was 30 years old in a short amount of time,” he said.
At the clinic, Risch could not hold a table tennis ball on a paddle or walk back. You still can’t read a clock correctly.
“You no longer trust your own body. You don’t trust your own head anymore, “Risch said.
However, he hopes to return to work one day: “I like working with children, but I need to be able to concentrate. I have to be able to do two things at the same time. “
Ravera, the nurse, said that she has come a long way thanks to the therapy in Heiligendamm and she is happy to have the support of her family and friends.
But he doubts that he will be able to make three shifts again in the same weekend at the Bavarian hospital where he worked.
“You do not know when you will be well again. The disease is coming in waves, “he said.
But he is thinking of using what he learned in rehabilitation to help others with breathing problems again after COVID-19.
“It’s a journey into the unknown,” he said.